Page 54 of Spoonful

He’d touched Jaylin’s hair several months ago while they were kissing on the couch. Jaylin hadn't dreamed it would have bothered him that much, but he'd had a full-blown panic attack. Hiro had gentled him through it and begged forgiveness and had never touched Jaylin’s hair again. Not once.

Jaylin looked down at the book in his hands.

Maybe he was ready for more.

“Hey,” Hiro said, poking his head into the kitchen. He smiled. “There you are. It smells amazing in here.”

“I made broccoli cheddar soup for dinner,” Jaylin said, smiling goofily back.

“You’re a marvel,” Hiro said, with such enthusiasm that Jaylin laughed.

“It’s just soup.”

“‘Just,’ he says,” Hiro grumbled. “It’s my favorite soup and you canmakeit. Before you, I had to buy it everytime I wanted some.”

“Well, I made a double batch,” Jaylin said. “So there’ll be plenty of leftovers for later.”

“Did you plan this?” Hiro asked, coming into the kitchen. “Is that why you brought that crusty bread you didn’t let me eat yesterday?”

Jaylin’s cheeks heated as he clutched his book to his chest. “Maybe.”

Hiro leaned down to kiss said hot cheek. “That’s why you know best.”

“Also,” Jaylin started, taking a deep breath, bracing himself. “Also I have something to show you.”

“Okay,” Hiro said.

“Can we go to the living room?” Jaylin asked. “Sit on the couch?”

“Sure,” Hiro said. “Though now I’m really curious.”

“I mean, you only have to be curious for like three seconds,” Jaylin said, trying to hide his nerves as they walked to the living room.

He wanted Hiro to understand.

Once they were sitting next to each other on the couch, Jaylin shoved the book at Hiro.

“I, um, I made this,” he said. “For… for you.”

“Made it?” Hiro asked, taking the book. “The Adventures of Captain Kuwabara, Explorer of Deep Space. Proof.” He looked pleased but puzzled as he looked over the cover. “You… drew this?”

“Yeah,” Jaylin said, biting his lip.

Hiro blinked down at the book and opened it in the middle, flipping through a few pages while Jaylin sweat next to him. When he looked back up at Jaylin, his eyes were wide. “Youdrewthis? All of it?”

“Y-yeah,” Jaylin managed.

Hiro looked down at the book in his hands, then back at Jaylin. “Can I read it now?”

“If you want to,” Jaylin said, doing his best not to squirm.

Hiro smiled at him and turned his attention back to the graphic novel, opening to the very beginning, wherePROOFwas again stamped in big letters across the inside.

“To the one who believed in me,” Hiro read aloud as Jaylin wrung his hands together. He’d wanted the dedication there, it had seemed only right, but having Hiro read it out loud felt like it was laying Jaylin bare.

“Keep going,” Jaylin said quickly, when Hiro paused to look at him, spots of color in his cheeks.

“Right,” Hiro said, clearing his throat. He turned back to the book, and Jaylin scooted in next to him and followed along as Hiro read, watching Hiro’s expressions and reactions to what happened on the page.

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