VOTE AND COMMENT 💖💖💖

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When I first laid my eyes on you...

They sat on opposite sides of the lunchroom. But neither could keep their eye off one another, one trying to be more discreet than the other.

"You been staring over there for a minute now bro, what you looking at." Joshua asks the boy who hasn't taken his eyes off of the strange new kid at school who he was forced to show around about a week ago. Anthony watches him as he slowly nibbles on some strawberries he took out of his book bag. The new kid takes out a binder and starts scribbling on a sheet of loose leaf, completing his homework. But all the while he was doing this, he kept trying to steal glances at Anthony, each time getting caught by Anthony's lingering gaze.

Anthony looks away from the new kid and back down at his phone, ignoring Joshua's question. He tries to distract himself with sports videos, but he can't get his mind to stray from wondering about the kid. So, he stands up from the table where he should belong, the one full of football players and pretty girls, and without announcing his departure, walks all the way to the other side of the lunchroom to where the new junior was seated. As he was approaching, the junior quickly looked down at his binder, hoping he didn't get caught staring. Anthony takes a seat across from him. The shy junior notices the intimidating seniors presence but doesn't acknowledge it, fearing that if he does, he'd start to obviously display his attraction to him.

Anthony taps the side of the table closest to Cameron, now making him look up from his homework. Cameron blushes and displays a friendly smile. He hopes that he appears to be calm on the outside, because on the inside he's freaking out. He's never had a crush like this before while back home in California, especially because he used to attend a high school that wasn't very diverse. So, he doesn't know how to act around Anthony. He always wants to be his best self around him, but it's impossible to him when Anthony is so intimidating.

"Why you keep looking over there?" Anthony asks Cameron who's hands are now getting sweaty due to the accusation.

"I-I wasn't I just—"

"I was watching you watch me."

"I- ugh," Cameron places a hand on his forehead and sighs "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"I don't care if you sorry. That's irrelevant. I asked you why you looking."

Cameron blushes. He surely can't say he was admiring Anthony's appearance, looking at him so that he could imagine scenarios of them being close friends— and possibly even boyfriends. He would never say slouch a thing because he knows that expression would come with a price, and not a pretty one.

"I just— um, I don't really have anywhere to look and you were straight ahead. And you're the only person I'm familiar with in this school. I didn't know where else to look." Cameron lies. He could have paid attention to his homework, so it was a weak excuse that even Anthony caught onto. Anthony stares at Cameron, liking the fact that Cameron got nervous whenever he was looking.

"Don't be staring at me like that," Anthony insists. He wants it to come off as a sort of threat, stop staring at me or else. But really, he wants Cameron to stop staring at him because he finds himself liking the attention from Cameron. He shouldn't be flattered that the new gay white kid has a crush on him, but he is.

"I promise, I won't anymore. I'm sorry."

Anthony up and leaves the lunchroom abruptly, without saying anything more to Cameron.

When we first got together...

Cameron squeals and smiles brightly when he sees the familiar black car pull up in front of the school building. He secures his backpack on his back and speed walks to the car, trying to remind himself to calm down before he gets inside. He takes a deep breath and gets himself together. Cameron pulls open the passenger seat and climbs inside, immediately met with the smell of weed and a beautiful cologne. He blushes before he even does anything, before even looking at Anthony. Cameron throws his book bag in the back seat and then looks at Anthony who is staring back, expectantly.

"Hey," Cameron says quietly and adverts his eyes from Anthony.

"Nah don't be shy now," Anthony begins "I saw all that energy you had out there. Where it's at?"

Cameron blushes in embarrassment and covers his face.

"You was looking all happy to see me, smiling, fixing your hair and shit. Why I'm not feeling it."

"I was nervous," Cameron admits.

Anthony smiles, but notices that he forgot to put his gun back into the glove compartment. Cameron is staring at it so he quickly, but carefully grabs it and puts it away. He licks his lips.

"Ain't nothing to be nervous about baby, now come here," he mumbles with a smile.

Cameron's cheeks become red and he leans over to Anthony's ready and moisturized lips. He puckers his lips and places a small, boring kiss on Anthony's mouth. Anthony doesn't waste time on correcting Cameron's interpretation of a kiss and instead grabs Cameron's body and easily manages to bring him to the drivers side, right on top of his lap, but not without Cameron squealing and protesting that he's too heavy to sit on his lap. Anthony, of course, ignores him.

Without warning, Anthony places his full lips against Cameron's smaller, yet also full ones and Cameron closes his eyes, immediately melting under Anthony's touch. Cameron holds Anthony's face between his two small hands and turns his body so that he's completely straddling Anthony's lap. Anthony found this to be the perfect opportunity to explore the new found comfortability they have with one another— since they are going on four months of being together. So, he's takes the chance to explore Cameron's body with his hands.

They kiss for a while, Anthony possessing a sensual lead to the kiss, finding every chance to lick and suck on Cameron's lips. Cameron smiles as his and Anthony's tongues slowly massage against one another while their lips stayed in close, passionate contact. Anthony could keep going, but soon Cameron began to feel overwhelmed with the level of intensity that he was feeling and that the kiss was leading into. His mind focused on Anthony's hefty hands firmly placed on his most prominent feature. He liked it, but he didn't want anything to escalate.

Cameron pulls away from the kiss and smiles at Anthony, "Was that better?" He asks.

"You could answer that yourself," Anthony pecks Cameron's lips three more times for good luck, and Cameron returns to his seat.

Cameron completely forgot they were still in front of the school, but Anthony's tinted windows came in handy for times like this.

"How was school?" Anthony asks, now driving off in the direction of Cameron's apartment building. He really wanted to take him back home with him, but Cameron had work to do for school and he wouldn't get it done if he had went to Anthony's apartment.

"It was fine. I just wish you came to school more, I miss having you there with me."

"Imma be there tomorrow. I ain't gon' get no work done anyway if i show up. I be too busy looking at you," Anthony rested his right hand on Cameron's left thigh and of course, as usual, Cameron blushes.

"Aw," he smiles and hides his face by turning towards the window.

"It ain't aw, you distracting me from graduating," Anthony jokes.

"Shut up," he turned his body back towards Anthony and lightly hits him.

The remainder of the ride is full of playful banter between the two boys. When they reach Cameron's apartment, Anthony parks right in front getting ready to bring Cameron up to his door. He gets out of the car and opens the passenger side up for Cameron.

"Thank you," Cameron smiles as Anthony grabs his book bag from him and wears it in the frontwards direction.

"Get on my back," Anthony stands still, waiting for Cameron to get onto his back. Cameron giggles and tries to jump up onto Anthony's back, eventually getting a grip and climbing up the rest of the way. He rests his face on Anthony's shoulder, smiling in delight. Every time he's with Anthony, he always manages to make him feel like he's on top of the world. He enjoys every little moment with him, like this one.

Anthony walks in the direction of the building, both of them getting strange stares from strangers. But, they were too caught up in each other to notice anyone else.

"Take the elevator, where are you going," Cameron asks as Anthony passes the three elevators and goes in the direction of the staircase. "You can't walk up all those stairs like this, let me down," he protests. Anthony dismisses him and on his own terms makes his way up the stairs.

"I'm tryna spend more time with you." Anthony admits, now on the fourth flight of stairs with thirty more to go. Cameron sighs, at this point being reminded that he is absolutely, positively, deeply in love with Anthony. He hasn't admitted it to Anthony yet due to fear of him not feeling the same way. And he doesn't want to ruin this relationship for anything. But he'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't crazy in love with Anthony and stayed up late nights daydreaming about him.

Anthony is now on the twelfth flight of stairs.

"Aren't you tired?"

"You ever seen me tired from physical shit?" He replies. Cameron thinks for a second.

"No, but—"

"Shh, you thinking too much."

Cameron shushes, and decides to enjoy the way up with his boyfriend. He secretly takes multiple deep inhales of his skin, Anthony's natural body scent being one of his favorite smells.

"You wanna meet my parents today? You should," Cameron asks, realizing today would be a good time since he is here already.

"Nah, not today baby. I got some shit I gotta do after I drop you off."

"Please? Only for a minute. They really want to meet you formally."

"No."

Cameron sighs, "alright, another time." He's a little bit disappointed, but he won't pry too much into it because he knows if he does, Anthony will get irritated. He's been trying to get Anthony to meet his parents for months, but Anthony has been purposely avoiding meeting them "formally". He's never been in a situation where he had to have a potential sit down and talk with someone else's parents. And, he's seen what happens with the father and the boyfriend. And if Cameron's father says something slick, or something meant to be a threat, he knows he won't receive the threat as a joke, rather as a literal threat. With his anger issues, he won't react well and he doesn't want things to be awkward for Cameron. So, he rather keep his distance.

"You're really gonna come tomorrow?" Cameron asks hopefully.

"Yeah."

"Yay," he squeezes Anthony's shoulders.

Anthony is now on the twenty seventh flight of stairs, seven more to go. He's not tired because he's used to intense physical activity, him having to run endlessly during football practice.

"Nooo, we're almost there. I want to spend more time with you."

"Facetime me soon as you get settled, Imma pick up. We can talk as long as you want."

Cameron blushes, "Alright."

Soon enough, they've reached Cameron's floor and with Cameron still attached to his back, he carry's him to his door. It's when they reach the front that he finally lets him down.

"How are you not out of breath?" Cameron asks and Anthony shrugs. Cameron sighs and grabs his book bag off of Anthony's chest and wears it on his back. He pouts and wraps his arms around Anthony's torso, sad that their time together is coming to an end. Anthony hugs him right back and kisses his forehead.

"I hate being apart from you," Cameron sighs and buries his face into the black hoodie his boyfriend is wearing.

"I know, spend the night with me tomorrow."

"I'm going to ask my parents. I hope they say yes, I want you to hold me all night."

"And kiss you." Anthony adds, unintentionally licking his lips at the sighs of Cameron's.

"Yes," Cameron breathes out while Anthony's face moves closer to his own "and kiss me." He manages to say before Anthony puts some actions to his words and kisses Cameron. Cameron, feeling on top of the world, places his hands on Anthony's chest, Anthony's hands on Camerons waist as they fill the apartment hallway with the display of their affection towards one another.

Unlike the kiss in the car, this one is cut short by the opening of Cameron's apartment door. His father stands in the doorway, not expecting to see his youngest son kissing a man right in front of his eyes. He was only on his way to Home Depot to get some supplies.

They immediately part from the kiss, Cameron being the initiator since Anthony could care less. Cameron's cheeks heat up and he fiddles with his fingers.

"Hi daddy," Cameron squeals.

"Uh...hi," his father chokes out.

"Uh, this is my boyfriend A-Anthony," he doesn't look into his fathers eyes.

"I see," he replies. Anthony didn't want to deal with any formal introductions, so he quickly finds a way out of the situation.

"I gotta go," he hugs Cameron briefly before heading in the direction of the steps and eventually disappearing from Cameron's sight into the staircase.

Cameron stares at his father awkwardly and shifts on his feet.

"Let's pretend I didn't see that. I'll be right back," his father finally concludes and Cameron's happy that he let it go so quickly. As his father leaves, he goes inside and closes the door. In his room, he undresses and changes into something more comfortable. He looks for something to eat in the kitchen and pulls out two different flavors of chips and makes himself a sandwich. Along with a bottle of water, he takes it all to his room and begins his homework while chowing down on his after school meal. Like Anthony said he could, he FaceTimes him and Anthony answers on the third ring.

"Hey," Cameron smiles stupidly like he didn't just see his boyfriend not too long ago. Anthony is driving to his best friend Tyler's house to pick him up so they could handle something. He smiles at Cameron and even though he would feel too soft admitting it, he missed seeing his face even after being apart for only less than an hour. He just loved being in the presence of that beautiful spirit, and that gorgeous smile.

They stay on the phone until Cameron is done with all of his homework, laughing, joking, being in love. They were both in love, but neither wanted to admit it for different reasons. Cameron being afraid of rejection, and Anthony being afraid of someone having such a strong effect on him. He's never been in love with anyone. But the way Cameron makes him feel, he's not confident that the cycle won't be broken.

Wherever you go, I'll be right behind you

The car is filled with silence, except for the sounds of Cameron's muffled sniffling. His face is pressed into Anthony's chest, and Anthony caresses his back in an attempt to soothe his boyfriend while they speak to one another.

"You don't understand how much I needed you, and you just left," Cameron cries quietly, trying not to wake Tyler up who is fast asleep in the backseat.

"I need you more than you probably needed me. You got family. People that love you, that you trust. All I got is you and Tyler. But I had to leave. I was mad, and I didn't want to hurt you."

"But you did hurt me. It hurt me not knowing whether or not you were okay. It hurt me knowing that you really believed that I would ever voluntarily kiss somebody while I'm with you. I've always given you all of me, and only you. Why would I venture out to somebody else?"

"I was just mad, I ain't have time to think about it. But I can't say I care. Im sorry for hurting you, but I'm not sorry for the nigga who pushed himself on you. I'm mad he ain't—" Anthony decides to not finish his sentence because he doesn't want to trigger Cameron's emotions even more than they are. He's mad he's not dead. He's mad that he didn't get rid of the person who had the audacity to put his lips on what's his. And he's mad that he didn't get rid of the person who sexually harassed his boyfriend.

"I just wish none of this ever happened," Cameron sighs. "Imagine where we would be. Not here, that's for sure."

"Where would we be?" Anthony questions in curiosity.

Cameron laughs through a sob, "I don't know, We'd probably end up graduating together. You'd be able to meet my parents and have a good relationship with them. I would move into your apartment and we'd go to college together, you with your football scholarship. We'd cuddle every night," Cameron giggles "we'd get married then adopt some babies or get a surrogate. And we'd grow old together. Very old."

Anthony leans his head back onto the headrest and closes his eyes, "we could still do all of that. I won't get no scholarship or to to college. But we could do all of that." Anthony knows that they can't, but he finds that Cameron is relaxed when he feeds him these false promises. Since they're not impossible, but likely won't happen he doesn't feel like he's lying to Cameron. Just feeding into a too good to be true reality to help cope with the actual reality.

"I hope so, but what if we can't do that? What will we do?"

Anthony opens his eyes and sighs, then plants a kiss on Cameron's forehead, "I don't know," he mumbles against his skin.

"Just know wherever you go, I'll be right behind you. Right next to you. With you ever step of the way, no matter what happens," Cameron looks into Anthony's deep eyes with a seriousness in his expression.

"You my ride or die huh?" Anthony smiles when Cameron nods confidently.

"I love you," Anthony kisses his boyfriends neck and Cameron closes his eyes from the contact.

"I love you more."

Let's add to our love

"This is not the flavor I wanted," Cameron pouts while sadly staring at the tin of pistachio ice cream.

"Huh? That's not mini chocolate chip?" Anthony asks and Cameron grunts.

"For the third time, it's mint chocolate chip and no, this is pistachio ice cream."

"But it's green," Anthony says in confusion.

"Just because it's green doesn't mean it's it. Does that now make wasabi a pistachio ice cream? Or pesto a mint chocolate chip ice-cream? All I wanted was some mint chocolate chip ice cream and even that's too much to ask," Cameron exhales deeply and closed his eyes. He shakes his head to himself.

"Watch your fucking attitude. I'll go get you the right one but you needa relax."

"No, I will act how I see fit," Cameron crosses his arms.

Anthony decides to ignore his six month pregnant boyfriends banter and leave the apartment to get the right ice