Warnings:
-None

Clay's POV

All my worries seemed to leave when I was with Bradley. Soon after our kiss, we stood up to go to his, decently large, garden. I was nervous as I walked downstairs with him, knowing his father and and siblings were there.

Bradley held my hand and moved closer to me. 'What do you want me to say and not say to them? I'm obviously not going to tell them about the kiss and such, but can I tell them about soccer and your foster family if they ask or rather not?'

'That's okay...' I replied, smiling shortly. I looked him into his green eyes and felt my body freeze, his eyes lighting up when he noticed I was staring at him.

He looked back at me and his lips curled into a grin as well, his hand going down to mine. 'You're staring, cutie.'

'Shut up!' I exclaimed, quickly looking away from him. 'You're making me feel so embarrassed now.'

'I was staring too, there's no need to feel any embarrassment,' he comforted me, his arms around my waist. 'I feel so special around you, so comfortable and relaxed.'

'You're very special to me,' I admitted. 'Because I finally understand what my brother meant... I've never felt these butterflies before for anyone.'

Bradley chuckled softly and pulled me closer, his lips connecting with mine. I kissed back and held my eyes closed, my fingers intertwining with his.

We both melted away in the kiss, our hearts beating against the other's chests. I felt happiness, genuine happiness which was something I hadn't felt for years, if not longer.

Bradley broke the kiss when he was lost for air and smiled at me with redder cheeks. 'Holy shit, I'm genuinely just falling more and more for you and we've just met.'

'Same...' I answered with a shaky voice, our hands still locked as he pulled me to the door.

'Let's go downstairs and then go to my garden to do whatever comes up in our mind. We can play some soccer so I can teach you!'

'Okay.' I giggled nervously and walked after him as he went down the stairs, his eyes turned to me as he was about to open the door.

'Ready? They won't say anything mean and I won't talk about your sexuality or... your amazing love for me.'

'Shut up!' I exclaimed again, my cheeks heating up the more he teased me.

He gave me a soft kiss on my cheek and then opened the door, his father's gentle expression moving up to us, his siblings pausing their games as they glanced at me.

'Is he your boyfriend?' his youngest sibling, a girl around the age of eight, yelled out excitedly. 'Have you finally got a new boyfriend?'

Bradley laughed and moved his hands up. 'Calm down, Evelyn! Clay is just my friend and I wouldn't tell you if anything was going on between us. Anyway, dad, this is Clay.'

His father stood up straight away to introduce himself, shaking my hand. 'Nice to meet you, Clay! How did you meet?'

'He was new at soccer and just not everything went too great so I suggested taking him home, which I did.'

I was nodding slowly, awkwardly fidgeting with my hands as his father smiled. 'You seem really nervous, but that's genuinely not necessary! There's not many things that will upset us, but we ask you to respect our religion and the choices we made.'

'I respect Christianity completely. I don't know what choices you make, but I'll not comment on anything.'

'Before dinner, we always pray for a while. We have the ritual to sing a song in the end to praise the Lord and feel very comfortable and happy during it. Some might think it's strange, but we love it.'

'I won't judge, I sometimes wish I would have been raised in such a family, but my-.' I froze when I mentioned my family, even more aware of being in a foster family when they had such a warm and tight bond.

'Is it okay if I tell them about your situation at home?' Bradley asked me to make sure I wouldn't get upset with him. 'I don't know a lot about it either, but it might be useful to know about it.'

'Yeah, that's... okay,' I replied, a soft nod following.

'Clay lives in a foster family,' he announced. 'And it's difficult for him. But you have a very great family now, right?'

'Yes, they seem very sweet so far, but I've only been there for a few days.'

'Oh, I'm really glad you have a nice family right now! And don't feel ashamed about it, there's barely any family that's perfect. I divorced from Bradley's mother when he was five and raised his siblings and him alone. I don't think there's a perfect family.'

I smiled shortly and swallowed, my mouth dry again. 'Thank you, sir. I've not had many good experiences, so it's a bit rare for me to be in a loving family...'

'Do you want to have dinner with us?' his father asked sweetly. 'We are getting pizzas!'

'I have uh- trouble eating,' I replied uncomfortably. 'It's called... AFRID and I can only eat a certain pizza from a specific brand.'

'I know that disorder, my sister dealt with it when she was younger. She doesn't anymore,' Bradley said. 'Anyway, do you want to go outside?'

I nodded. 'And the pizza?'

'Don't worry, I'll go to the store later so you can take time to decide which one you want.'

Bradley grabbed my hand and pulled me outside, his arms wrapped around my waist. 'I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here so if you would rather not stay, that's okay. We will do our daily ritual with praying and singing. You don't have to participate, but our religion is very important to us.'

'I'm not uncomfortable,' I replied with a soft smile. 'And feel interested in being there once to see how it goes.'

He nodded and gave me a short peck on my lips. 'You look beautiful.'

'How does your religion work with homosexuality, though?' I asked. 'Because I've always heard it's not okay to be with the same sex in the Bible and it's a sin and whatever...'

'You know... I've struggled a lot with it, but I think because I'm forgiven by Jesus and saved by Him, I don't think He won't accept me the way I am. I believe Jesus died for my sins and no matter how difficult homosexuality is in certain religions, I believe I'm accepted the way I am, loved and forgiven.'

'It calms me down to think about being saved by someone who always loves me.'

'You can always talk to me about it,' he answered, a tight hug right after that. 'Want to play soccer?'

I nodded and then heard the door open, Bradley's sister running outside. 'I SAW YOU KISS!'

Bradley rolled his eyes and moved back from me. 'Leave me alone!' he yelled with a laughing voice.

'Are you together?' she exclaimed, happily jumping up and down. 'Do you like boys? Are you boyfriends?'

'We aren't boyfriends,' Bradley replied. 'Don't ask someone for his sexuality, okay? It's uncomfortable for some people!'

'Oh... okay,' she mumbled. 'But I like him! Can he be your boyfriend? Can I hug him?'

'Of course,' I agreed, kneeling down in front of her. I wrapped my arms around her and smiled softly. 'I'm also into guys, but that's our secret, okay?'

'Okay,' she shouted happily. 'You should be Bradley's boyfriend. He is very sweet and you seem sweet too...'

'I'll see,' I replied, ruffling her hair up.

1286 words