Today was supposed to be like any other day. Max and I were just going out for last-minute shopping on a Tuesday for a friend’s birthday. But we were soon to find out that today would not be as easy as it sounded.
Max took my hand as he led me out of our two-bedroom house and opened the door of the car.
“Thanks, Babe,” I shout as he shuts the door and heads around the driver’s side. He always drives, because I don’t like to and well… I suck at it. We head to the mall as we listen and screen out the lyrics to our current favorite album in order because that’s how he enjoys listening to them.
We arrive at the mall and park andit seems that it is not very busy today, which makes sense because it’s not a weekend. As we stroll in past the food court, we see our favorite store. It’s a cute local place that sells all kinds of odd knick-knacks.
We do as we normally do and split up at the front of the store to try to optimize our time and find the right gift or gifts.
Walking around it, I get a weird feeling down my spine like someone is watching me, but I look around and see no one obviously looking my way. I kept looking and picked up a couple of things, but ultimately put them back because they weren't perfect.
Right when I think I spot something that would be amazing, a oice came from behind me…
“Seth?” The voice said.
I turned around to see a tall man with a nicely trimmed beard, square shoulders, and a tight, muscular frame. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place where I knew him from.
“Hey, I thought that was you. How are you?'‘ The man approaching me said enthusiastically.
“Ummm,” I started to go about asking this man how I knew him, but before I could get anything past a mumble, he interrupted me.
“Dude, it’s Darrius! From middle school,” he exclaimed.
HOLY FUCK! HOLY FUCK! HOLY FUCK! Darrius, my middle school bully? What was he doing here?
“Oh, hey! How have you been? “ It’s been forever since middle school,” I asked. Weary of what to say to my bully-turned-hunk standing right in front of me.
***
12 YEARS AGO
Darrius stood before me, blocking my way as I was heading to my next class.
“Oh, look who it is, guys?” He says to his two friends who surround me.
“It’s Fruit Loop, and it looks like he needs some help with his face,” Darrius says as he points to my face.
“W-w-w-what’s wrong with my face?” I asked Darius, as his friends were staring at me, laughing
“You’re missing my fist,” he says as he launches his fist into my cheek, forcing me to fall back on my butt.
I sat there, afraid to lift my head up to look at him, but hecrouched down, forcing my face into his armpit.
“Yeah, take the smell of a real man, homo,” he exclaimed, then got up and laughed as he walked away with his friends.
***
“Yeah, my family moved around for a while, but I have since moved back and am trying to reconnect with some old friends,” Darrius stated as he fixed the way the tank top was sitting on his shoulders.
“Friends? Since when were we friends? As I remember, you made fun of me every chance you got. What was the nickname you gave me again? Oh yeah! Fruit Loop! A nickname that stuck with me for far too long,” I said with a little too much sass as I bit my tongue not to curse him out.
"Yeah, man, about that! I am sorry; I was insecure in myself and my sexuality, which I had not fully understood. It seemed you had a good grasp on who you were, and I was jealous of it.”
“Well, just saying sorry to someone does not negate the damage you have done,” I said, taking a step back, looking for a way to escape this conversation–and my bully.
“I know, and I am not asking you to forgive me completely. I am asking for a chance to make up for the mistakes I have made towards you–”
“Nice to see you again,” I said, cutting him off. I just couldn’t stand a full conversation with him. My damn bully. It brought up too many old memories I shoved down long ago.
I walked away without saying another word, feeling the tension in the air stretch thin as I walked further away.
Turning around, I headed towards the back of the store, picking up my pace to get away from him. When I turned the corner, I found Max standing by a shelf holding a little trinket that had seemed perfect for what we needed.
“Hey Babe, I see you found something that would definitely put a smile on his face,” I said to Max as I strolled up beside him. The tightness in my chest eased a bit at the sight of him.
“Yes, I thought of a couple of different things, but kept coming back to this! Did you find anything?” Max asked as he turned with me, with a big smile on his face, somehow making his blue eyes shine brighter.
“Unfortunately not,” I sighed as I guided him towards the front, hoping Darrius had left the store.
We checked out and left the store, hoping to grab a bite, but ultimately decided to go home and cook, since we needed to cook more at home.
After arriving, I prepped for dinner, as I was more of the cook in this house, but he also did his fair share in other aspects of the home.
“Babe!” Max shouted with excitement from the living room as if we were getting a delivery of some sort.
“Yeah?” I hollered back, wondering what had been happening from the tone of his voice.
“We have a new neighbor! Someone is moving in right across the street,” he said to me whilst entering the kitchen.
Max was always more outgoing than I was. He got excited to meet new people and somehow got his energy from being with them, while I got my energy from being alone, reading, or playing video games, or whatever I could do by myself. Alone. When he dragged me out, I usually went because I knew how special it was that I was there with him, even though sometimes it felt as if he had abandoned me to go mingle or talk amongst other sociable people.
“It looks like some guy about our age is moving in. A big moving truck is parked out front of the house,” He explained as I started to sauté the onions and green peppers for the chicken entrée I was making.
He wandered off back into the living room before I could respond to what he was telling me, but what of it? We did move into this up-and-coming neighborhood, and it was not super surprising to know more people were moving in; that was the point of up-and-coming.
Suddenly, there was an audible gasp from the living room as if something wild had just happened. A lot of the time, he made crazy noises; it was nothing–he was just very reactive to things. But I just never could tell the difference between him simply remembering something…and a huge explosion about to envelop us all.
“What’s going on, Max?” as I stepped out of the kitchen after I took the pan off the stove but was still holding the spatula. I came to look at him, mouth agape, staring out the window across the street. I stepped closer to see what he was looking at, but there was nothing in my view except the big moving truck that he had mentioned.
“You’ve never seen a moving truck that big before?” I joked as I turned towards him and brushed a loose strand of his long blonde hair out of his face.
“Our new neighbor was moving stuff in and then took off his shirt, and I got to tell you that man is HOT,” he claimed as he sat down on the couch that was right under the window.
“How hot is this neighbor that had your jaw drop so far you could probably drive that Moving truck right through it?” I said to him, sitting beside him.
He had never made this big of a deal over a man the whole time I had known him. Not that he was not superficial, because he always believed looks were only a small part of a person, but he did enjoy the sight of a beautiful man from time to time, as did I. That’s partially why I am with Max. To say he was beautiful was an understatement, but he actually had the personality to match.
“Like phoenix fire HOT! Almost as hot as you, babe!” He claimed, as he looked back into my eyes and gave me a wink that made me weak in my knees.
“Looks like I missed him, or maybe you were just seeing your reflection in the mirror while you were flexing,” I said, laughing as I headed back to the kitchen to finish dinner.
After we had finished dinner, Max cooked some chocolate chip cookies with a sprinkle of sea salt on top, which were so delicious. He never could cook that well, but boy could that man bake. He took the dishes into the kitchen to wash as I sat on the couch ready to snuggle into a book and read for a bit when I saw Max come out with a plate of some more of those yummy ass cookies on a plate wrapped in cellophane.
“What are you doing with those?” I asked as I set down my book and arched my eyebrow at him.
“I wanted to give our neighbor a proper welcome to the neighborhood and bring a little treat,” he said casually as he strolled towards the door.
“Are you sure you’re not going over there just to see his treats up close?” I smirked
“Maybe I do wanna see his muscles up close, but I also want to be friendly…never know when we are going to need those muscles to help us move something,” he said, reminding me that being friendly sometimes paid off.
“Alrighty, but don’t be gone too long, and never let him take you to a second location! Also, if you’re gone too long, I will be coming over with pepper spray.”
“Retract the claws; I will be fine, and I won’t be long! I love you!” he declared, the latter part being a nod to one of his favorite singers’ early songs, which we both enjoyed listening to.
After the door shut, I leaned back, grabbing my book as I started reading and drifting off into the movie in my mind that the book inspired to appear.
After what felt like maybe thirty minutes of reading, I heard the door opening, and I looked to see Max strolling in with a big grin on his face.
“I take it that went well, and he was shirtless when he came to the door?” I questioned as he sat down beside me.
“He was not, unfortunately, but we did talk about him moving in. He just moved here from out of state and doesn’t really know anyone here. He works in finance and loves playing video games and working out. We have some video games in common, and that was cool. I also invited him over for dinner on Saturday,” he said as he grabbed the remote for the TV that was sitting on the coffee table.
“Oh, so you want me to cook dinner for your new boyfriend now?” I teased as I set down my book.
“I mean, you are the better cook, and he’s not my boyfriend. We are just being welcoming neighbors, and maybe we can make a friend as well.
“Okay, well, I guess we will see how dinner goes and go from there,” I said reluctantly, knowing that it would all depend on the day if my anxiety could handle it.
We spent the rest of the night watching trash reality TV because we both enjoyed it, and then went to bed with knots in my stomach about Saturday.
Saturday came around, and I had warmed up to the idea of meeting the new neighbor if it gave us the chance to at least know someone close, and maybe Max could have someone to come over and game with him instead of dragging me out so often.
I had Max ask the neighbor if he had any restrictions on food, and he said he did not, so I decided to make a family favorite: Chicken Parmesan, which was one of my favorites, and Max said it was delicious. I finished cooking and kept everything hot while Max finished making dessert. He decided to make fresh cannoli, which was one of my favorite desserts of all time, so I know he was trying to impress us both.
I had just finished setting the table when I heard the doorbell ring and assumed it must be the neighbor. Max ran to the door, opening it and greeting the man.
“Seth! Come meet our neighbor, and he brought a bottle of wine!” Max said as he opened the door wider for me to see the broad-shouldered man standing in the doorway.
I was happy to know we didn’t have to drink our own wine. When I saw our guest…my jaw dropped to the damn floor of the foyer.
The man standing next to Max–with a half grin on his face, like he was surprised and happy to see me at the same time–was Darrius, my fucking middle school bully.
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