Chapter 22: Strawberry Pie

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With blue lips and chattering teeth, the boys poured back into Robin's room. Kissing in the waves had been wonderful, but neither of them had considered how cold the journey home in wet clothes would be.

"You need a warm shower," Robin told Tyler as they sat down on the bed. He rummaged around and found a blanket to wrap around Ty's shoulders. It was the same cat blanket he'd wrapped his boyfriend in a few nights earlier, when the rain poured down outside. Before Tyler had been his boyfriend.

Everything in Robin's life seemed to be defined as before or after that night. That's how cataclysmic the event had been. Like a volcanic eruption that parted land from ocean.

"So do you, Robby," Ty replied and held out a corner of the blanket to tuck it around Robin. Huddled together their bodies shared what little heat remained between them.

"You can go first," Robin mumbled with jaws that would barely cooperate with him as they kept clanking together.

Showering together didn't seem like an option, as it would expose Tyler's leg and make him uncomfortable. So Robin figured it was better if Ty showered first and then he could jump in afterward. If it meant Ty was safe and warm, he could stand freezing for a while longer. Robin would even go sit in a snow pile right now if it meant Ty was taken care of.

"I... I can't really stand in a shower," Ty admitted while hiding his face in the fluffy blanket. "It gets so slippery. I have a stupid shower chair back home."

"I could have driven you home instead."

"I didn't want to go home. I wanted to be here with you."

In the cover of the blanket, cold numb lips met briefly. Robin could barely feel the touch but he still enjoyed it.

"I have a bathtub, you can use that, right?" he suggested. "I'll fill it up for you with a lot of bubbles. Des left a bottle of bubble bath here a few weeks ago. Her room doesn't have a tub so she likes to borrow mine. I can shower when you're done."

"I don't want you to be cold while you wait, Robby." Tyler wrapped his hands around Robin's to rub them. The touch felt surprisingly warm. Since Robin had been behind the steering wheel when driving home, he'd been unable to warm his extremities and could by now barely sense his hands and feet. "Maybe we could... both get in there. If we have a lot of bubbles you wouldn't... see anything."

It sounded like Tyler had pondered this suggestion for a while. Perhaps he'd planned it during the journey home as a way to test his boundaries when it came to closeness.

"That would be nice," Robin said as chills went through his body. A warm bath did sound heavenly for his frozen limbs. And having Ty in there sounded enticing for other parts of his body. Parts that despite the cold started to tingle at the mere thought. "If it's fine with you, Ty."

"Can't let my boyfriend freeze." Ty got up from the bed. Standing precariously on his one leg, he reached his hand toward Robin. "Let's get warm, cutie."

***

Hot steam and a strong scent of strawberries welcomed Robin when he walked into the bathroom. With bubbles up to his shoulders, Tyler waited for him in the tub. To make sure that his boyfriend felt comfortable, Robin had waited outside while Tyler got into the foamy water.

The bubbles appeared to be about to take over the room. Foam climbed over the side of the tub and up on the walls. It was like a wild bubble jungle. Perhaps they had used too much of the bubble bath liquid. After all, neither of them had used such a product before, so they weren't sure how much to dispense. Des would probably scold them when she discovered her bottle was empty.

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