Page 60 of Find Me Again

Which he would. Any second now. He just wanted to try this, first.

It took a minute and a half for the front door to open, but then Ryan was there—tall enough to take up most of the space in the entrance, where he paused.

Waiting for Neil to come to him.

And Neil felt it, now—that unmistakable, gravitational pull.

He wanted to be where Ryan was.

Suddenly, getting out of the car and grabbing his suitcase took no effort at all, and Neil quickly crossed the small space towhere Ryan was standing.

"Hey," he whispered, curling his fingers tighter around his suitcase's handle so he wouldn't reach out and touch.

It had only been two weeks. They were going to be apart for longer periods of time than this, so he needed to get used to it.

But not quite yet.

"Hey." Ryan stepped back, letting him in. "Come on up."

They went up onto the third floor, and soon enough, Neil was dropping his suitcase in the entryway and looking around Ryan's place as he took off his jacket.

There was the kitchen area to his left and the hall to his right that probably led to the bedroom and whatever else, but Neil's attention was stolen by the living room—an open space with a long couch and very few furniture pieces besides that. Instead, there was a series of framed photos on the walls, most of them black and white, with a splash of color here and there. At first he assumed they were art pieces Ryan had bought, but then he recognized Ryan's grandparents on one of them.

He stepped closer to that one as soon as he took his shoes off.

"Are those yours?"

"Yeah," Ryan said from behind him. "I wanted something more personal than the generic landscape posters."

"These are really good."

Neil walked around the room, taking the photos in. Most of them were portraits, although smaller than the one of Ryan's grandparents, but there were also a few landscapes, including—

"That's the view from the hill," Neil whispered. He would recognize that tree line everywhere.

"Yeah," Ryan repeated, this time from right next to Neil. "I have a fall version of it up in the bedroom, but the winter one looked better here."

At that, Neil had already started towards the bedroombefore stopping himself and glancing at Ryan, who chuckled.

"It's not how I thought I'd introduce you to my bedroom, but sure, go ahead."

If Neil wasn't so curious and so tired, he'd probably have some witty comeback to that, but as things were, he simply headed down the hall.

The photo was a panoramic shot, much bigger than any of the ones in the living room. Hanging above the bed, it stood out against the dark green wall with its deep reds and yellows among the black and white edges.

Neil wanted a copy of it for his apartment in Savannah, too.

After taking in the rest of the room—the large bed with wooden headboard, the floor-to-ceiling window with dark curtains, and the big yellow winged chair in the corner—he headed back out, only to find Ryan searching for something in the fridge.

"Are you hungry?"

"I could eat." Neil paused a few feet away. "But not before I shower."

"You can take your things to the bedroom," Ryan offered, turning around and leaning against the counter as he met Neil's gaze. "Towels are in the bathroom."

Suddenly, it hit Neil that this was his life now—these small moments of domesticity, of making space for each other in their lives. Something he hadn't known he wanted so badly until now, when he got to have it.

He crossed the room and pulled Ryan into a kiss.

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