His Safety Net

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

       I've been awake for a few minutes now, but I didn't bother getting out of bed. Part of the reason was because I always liked staying in bed, warm and cosy under the blankets for as long as I could after I woke up. But the main reason why I haven't bothered to move yet was because I was cuddling with Jerome.

       Jerome was still fast asleep, surprisingly. He was normally awake before I was.

       As much as I didn't want to be awake without him, I didn't wake him up. I just stayed cuddling with him, tracing circles on his chest with my finger. 

       Jerome woke up a few minutes later, stirring a bit before he opened his eyes and looked at me. He smiled at me when he noticed I was awake. "Morning," he said, gently stroking my cheek.

       I smiled back at him. "Morning."

       "Are you parents going to be worried you didn't come home last night?" Jerome asked.

       "No, I made sure to text them before I fell asleep. I just told them we went to your house to pick up more clothes and I crashed because I was too exhausted."

       "I did exhaust you out, didn't I?"

       My cheeks began to redden as I pulled the blanket up over my head. "Shut up..."

       Jerome laughed softly. "You're so cute." He tried to pull the blanket away from me but I refused to let go of it. "Come on, I was joking."

       "No, you weren't..."

       "Yeah, you're right."

       I was going to stay under the blanket, but then I heard a car outside of Jerome's house beep, as if someone just locked the car. I pulled the blanket away from my head and looked at Jerome. "I thought you said you're parents were out of town for the week."

       "It could be someone else," Jerome said as he got out of bed before walking to his bedroom window. He looked outside of it. "Shit. It's my dad." He sighed and moved away from the window, going to his dresser and pulling out a pair of pants and a shirt. "I'll go see why he's back so soon."

       Once he was changed, he left the bedroom to head downstairs and see why his dad was home right now.

       I just sat on the bed for a bit before, admittedly trying to eavesdrop. However, I couldn't hear either of them from where I was, so I got out of bed. Since the only clothes I had here were the ones I was wearing last night at the school dance, I went to Jerome's dresser and found clothes to wear.

       And by that, I meant clothes that were a bit too big for me since Jerome was taller than I was.

       I hesitated before I quietly left the bedroom. I knew eavesdropping probably wasn't the best idea right now but I wanted to make sure everything was okay.

       I just stood by the stairs, not wanting to walk down it and interrupt Jerome and his dad, who were talking near the stairs.

       They weren't talking for long before Jerome noticed me standing by the stairs. He just gave me a small smile and said, "Hey."

       Jerome's dad looked at me before looking back at Jerome. "Who's this?"

       "This is Nolan," Jerome said. "My boyfriend."

       Okay, so maybe things were okay right now if Jerome was willing to introduce me to his dad as my boyfriend. Sure, his dad already knew that he was gay, but if Jerome knew his dad wasn't okay with it, wouldn't he just lie and say I was a friend?

       I soon got my answer when Jerome's dad looked at me and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Nolan."

       "Y-you too..." I said.

       "Well, I should be heading out again," Jerome's dad said, picking up a file that was sitting on a table nearby. "I'll be back on Friday. And Jerome, please don't mess up the house when we're gone."

       "No promises," Jerome said.

       Jerome's dad just chuckled before he left the house.

       Once the door closed behind him, I walked down the stairs. "Sorry for standing by the stairs," I said. "I just... Wanted to make sure everything was okay. It is okay, right?"

       Jerome hesitated as he looked at the door his dad just went out of. "I'm not sure..."

       "But... He seemed fine with you having a boyfriend," I said. "He even smiled at me."

       "That's not the part I was talking about," Jerome said. "I think he is genuinely fine with me having a boyfriend. He wasn't even the one that got mad at me when Anita outed me. It was solely my mom. But... I don't know. Something just seems... off."

       "What do you mean?" I asked.

       "Well, for starters, my dad would never forget an important file for a business trip," Jerome said. "He literally checks multiple times to make sure he has the files he needs. He checks before he walks outside, after he locks up the house, and when he's in his car."

       "People forget stuff at times," I said. "It's not rare."

       "Yeah, I know," Jerome said. "He could have just had an off day or was running late when he was leaving but... I don't know. I just don't have a good feeling about it."

       "I'm sorry," I said. "I should have just stayed in the room so I didn't interrupt you and your dad."

       "No, don't worry about it," Jerome said. "He wouldn't have said anything if I asked him about it. He was in too much of a hurry and probably would have just told me that he would talk to me about it when he gets back home or something. I'll just call him later when I'm sure he's not driving. So, wanna have sex again?"

       "W-what?" I asked. "N-no. Not in the morning... A-and I should be heading home..."

       "Alright, fine, we'll head there," Jerome said. "I just have to go grab my bag. And your clothes from last night. Speaking of, will I get back those clothes that you're wearing? Because you tend to hide the hoodies you've stolen from me."

       "I don't hide them," I said. "I just put them in a place where you can't find them so you don't stop me from wearing them."

       "That's literally what it means to hide it. You're lucky I can't get mad at you."

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i wonder what's going on with jerome's dad aka benoit :(

anyway stan jerlan