Page 56 of Out of the Storm

“We’re okay, Gare,” Jeff said.

Gary let out a long breath. “Thank you.”

Jeff continued to watch the sky, rubbing the back of Gary’s hand with his thumb, and even though the storm was cool, what was happeninginsidethe car was much more exciting. Much moreterrifying too. God, he really, really liked Gary. He wanted them to be together.Togethertogether. Boyfriends.

“Gare?”

“Yeah?” Gary said in response, his voice trembling slightly.

And that trembling made Jeff wince. Despite now badly he wanted to ask Gary to label what they were, he couldn’t bring himself to broach the topic, not while Gary was fucking falling apart from sheer nervousness like this.

“Gare, I want you to be my boyfriend.”It was on the tip of his tongue, but...

He heard one more of Gary’s inhales, shaky and uncertain.

Now wasn’t the right time.

“Cool, isn’t it?” Jeff asked instead, nodding out the window.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Gary said through an uneasy chuckle.

Just then, the funnel kissed the ground, and Gary sucked in a breath. Which was... wow. Fucking adorable. Jeff squeezed his hand. After a moment, Gary squeezed back.

“Best one I’ve ever seen,” Jeff said, still rubbing the back of Gary’s hand with his thumb. “Thanks for coming with me, radio man.”

Jeff noticed Gary’s eyes were becoming misty. He fought back a laugh. What a sap.

“Sorry,” Gary choked out. “Geez, I’ve never experienced anything like this. I think I’m... overwhelmed.”

“I know. I was too, the first time I saw one.”

“And I think the hand-holding, while sweet, is not helping me feel less overwhelmed.” Gary tried to smile but seemed uncertain. “All of this is... pretty scary.”

“I know.” Pushing past his own uncertainty, Jeff raised Gary’s hand and kissed it. “We’re okay, though, Gare.”

At that moment, while Jeff still couldn’t make sense of the mess that was inside his own head, something told him that heand Gary might be okay. After all, he was holding Gary’s hand, contemplating a relationship, and somehow, he wasn’t panicked. He wasn’t pulling away. He felt safe with Gary, and hopefully, that feeling of safety might mean that the two of them could betogethertogether someday soon. For now, Jeff squeezed Gary’s hand once more, surrendering himself to the moment, and let himself enjoy being kind-of-intimate with his sort-of-boyfriend while they watched the funnel spin.

***

That night, while Gary was propped up in his bed lost in a book, Jeff was in his own bed trying to read too. But it was useless. Even though his book was supposed to be a compelling horror novel, Jeff couldn’t seem to manage to lose himself in the story. Probably because his mind kept focusing on something more terrifying—the possibility of intimacy—real intimacy—with Gary Goddamn Graham. Fuck, Gary was only three or four feet away. Jeff’s eyes flitted over to him the moment Gary licked his finger to turn the page of his book. God, that was cute, though not exactly hygienic. Fuck!

Jeff realized he must have made a noise—some kind of needy, horny whine or something—when Gary looked over at him and said, “Hm?”

“Nothing,” Jeff said quickly, returning his eyes to his book.

He scanned the page but not one word made it into his brain. Instead, he had to concentrate on not looking back over at Gary. Dammit, the whole situation was infuriating. If Don had neverhappened, he’d have climbed right into Gary’s bed and kissed the hell out of him.

Again, Jeff looked over at his kind-of-boyfriend, taking a second to appreciate Gary’s stupidly cute face, and then forced his eyes back to the page. Minutes later, he was fighting the urge to look over there again so hard that it felt like he was more or less trying to burn a hole in the book with his eyeballs when Gary cleared his throat. Jeff was so wound up, he nearly jumped at the sound.

“Do you... want to sit next to me?” Gary offered.

Fuck.

Tension filled the room, and the three feet of space between them started crackling with electricity, with the possibility of something more, something wonderful. And, God, Jeff wanted more with Gary. Much, much more.

He had to try.

“Yeah,” Jeff said, trying to keep his voice level, even though his hands were starting to tremble. Hopefully Gary wouldn’t notice.

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