The Price of Popularity (BoyxBoy)

{15}

Asher was attached to the house. He hadn’t realised it until he was packing it up. It wasn’t that the cream coloured walls of the hallway had some deep connection to him or that the broken wood on the top stair had found its way into his heart. It was the memories that came with them. He walked through the hallway as he juggled a big box in his hands and saw those cream coloured walls. When he saw them he remembered the way he pushed Danny up against them after many of their dates, unable to wait until they breached anymore of the house before their hands were on each other, desperate for skin.

The house was a constant reminder of times past, of endless nights and beautiful days spent inside its walls. To leave it felt like a loss of some kind. Danny, on the other hand, wasn’t in the same nostalgic mood as he was and that just made Asher feel silly. He didn’t even live in the house and yet he was the one brooding and staring at the walls as if waiting for something.

‘Are you coming?’ he heard Danny call out from outside.

Asher looked past the front door and out into the yard. The large moving truck was stationed in the driveway, half filled with the contents of Danny’s former home. Danny was standing next to it with a box in his arms, looking back at Asher somewhat expectantly. The emotion was only half portrayed in his features as it was contradicted by the giant smile that had graced his lips the entire day. If it had been any other person, Asher would have sworn that someone couldn’t be happy for such an extended amount of time, and yet it was Danny and there was no such thought in Asher’s mind that the smile wasn’t true, through and through.

‘I’m coming,’ Asher called out as he repositioned the box held haphazardly in his arms. He was sure it was going to hit the ground a couple of times as he walked but managed to catch it just in time. He reminded himself that just because he had muscles didn’t mean that he could manage a giant box filled with thick, hard cover books on his own. Those things were damn heavy.

‘Let me help you,’ Danny stepped towards him as Asher neared the moving truck, it’s steel door pulled up to reveal the contents it held.

Danny reached out and grabbed the other side of the box. Asher thought it was almost comical the way that the box was practically as big as Danny. Well not really, but it would definitely rival his weight.

Together, they managed to place the box in on top of a few others against the wall of the trucks side. It was a little hot inside the metal box they were standing in and Asher was happier when he jumped out the back of it, feeling the cool breeze and light sun against his skin. It was a clear day, the kind of day that was so perfect that it felt alike to a crime to let slip through your fingers. He imagined pulling a picnic blanket out of nowhere and pulling Danny down to the ground to eat sandwiches while they enjoyed the perfect day in each other’s company. Asher would reach over for Danny’s hand as the light breeze blew Danny’s hair around his face in a way that would make him look more alike a model than your average teenager.

Danny had other ideas to use the day, of which Asher wasn’t exactly going to oppose. They had spent the last five hours knee deep in moving boxes. It wasn’t exactly fun, but Danny was so pumped about his goodbye party that afternoon that he didn’t seem unhappy once throughout the day. Asher couldn’t help but be influenced by his boyfriend’s good mood and found himself having fun as he packed up dishes into boxes, occasionally stealing a kiss from Danny in the odd moment.

Danny stepped out of the truck behind Asher, looking back at the house. ‘I can’t believe that this is really happening,’ he murmured more to himself that to Asher. The next question was aimed at Asher, however. ‘How many times have we dreamt of living closer together?’

‘Countless,’ Asher admitted even though Danny surely knew the answer. It was true, they had spent countless hours in their bedrooms talking about what the future held for them. Living closer together, or even in the same apartment was usually the main topic of discussion. The hour distance between them wasn’t that big, Asher thought, considering what it would have been like if Danny had lived in another state or something. Yet, the small distance felt like hundreds of thousands of miles away when Asher was alone in his bed at night with only thoughts of Danny to keep him company.