Watermelon

"The Talk"

Shawn was a pretty confident guy.

He was mature for his age. He was well-educated. And he was incredibly sure of himself. It was a rare occasion when he felt genuinely nervous or intimidated by something.

But now, as he stood just below the hatch door that led to Jace's bedroom, he was terrified. Was he looking forward to having this conversation? No. But he also knew that it was incredibly necessary, especially now that he officially had a girlfriend. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door a couple times.

"Come in!" Jace shouted from inside. Shawn pushed up the hatch door and climbed the rest of the way up the ladder and into the large room.

"Hey dude," Shawn greeted. "Good day at school?"

"Could've been worse," the teen shrugged. "I already miss summer break, though."

"Can't blame you there. I miss summer break too and I've been out of high school for a while now."

"Camila all moved in?"

"Almost," Shawn smiled. "She's still got a few boxes left at her apartment but I think she's planning on bringing those over tonight."

After Shawn and Camila decided that she should move in with them, it didn't take long for the packing to start. She started bringing things over gradually, but since most of the furniture came with the apartment the amount of stuff she actually had to move over was pretty minimal.

But Shawn wasn't there to talk about Camila — as much as he would've preferred that. He was up there for a reason and he needed to stop avoiding the conversation that he knew he had to have with the boy.

"So, uh...how are things with you and Chloe?"

Jace smiled immediately. "Good. Really good. She's like...the best."

"She seems really good for you." Shawn sat down on the edge of the younger boy's bed. "I know that I'm not your real dad, but I do like to think of myself as a big brother to you. And as your honorary big brother, there's a few things I want to talk about when it comes to your relationship with Chloe progressing."

"Is this the part where you tell me I should wait until marriage?" Jace chuckled. Shawn snorted and shook his head.

"No. There's no need to do that. I'm not an idiot — and believe it or not, it really wasn't long ago that I was your age and dating girls. I know you're not waiting."

"You would be correct."

"Okay," Shawn said with a nod, clearing his throat. "I'm fine with that. But I do have three rules. They're pretty simple but they're incredibly important. You can't break any of these. Got it?" Jace sighed and nodded. "First rule is to use protection. Hopefully that one is obvious."

"Of course," Jace replied.

"Second rule should also be obvious, but if she doesn't want to do something — you're not doing it. Don't pressure her into anything and don't make her feel guilty if she's not feeling it. Even if you're in the middle of things and she decides she doesn't want to do it anymore, you stop."

"Obviously," the boy shrugged.

"The third thing is something called sexual integrity. Do you know what that means?"

"No...not really."

"It's the idea that whenever you have sex with someone, you need to make sure your partner has a positive experience. They shouldn't be able to walk away from the encounter feeling like they regret it or wishing they hadn't done anything with you. It should be a positive, fulfilling experience for both of you. Does that make sense?"