Page 62 of Fear of Flying

“I know,” Zach whispered, raising one hand to rest on Drew’s chest over his heart. “We should probably go inside and talk, yeah?”

Drew nodded, and then Zach followed his gaze as he looked down. He must have dropped Milo’s leash at some point, because Milo was nowhere to be seen. But before they could even panic, there was another long, low howl—this time coming from behind Zach. They both looked over into the house and saw that Milo had helped himself to a generous section of the couch. The large hound chuffed and laid his head down, obviously comfortable with his new accommodations.

Zach turned back to Drew and let his forehead fall to Drew’s chest as they both laughed lightly.

Drew’s chest rumbled when he spoke. “Sure, Milo, just make yourself right at home!”

Zach kept chuckling, but Drew stopped, and it took Zach a second to realize why. Zach looked up and found Drew’s eyes. “He can, you know? And you—you too, can make yourself at home. You have your bag?” He let his gaze wander in the direction of Drew’s car.

“Yeah. I, uh, I didn’t want to assume anything...”

“Assume! You should assume! Shit, I mean, please stay?” Zach’s breath hitched, and his pulse was racing from the awkwardness, and even though the silence had only been there for a second, it was too long, so he kept talking. “Unless you meant, um, that you got a hotel or something or were planning on it. There aren’t really too many great ones here on the northwest side of town, but the drive isn’t long, especially if there’s no traffic, and—”

“Zach,” Drew cut in softly. At some point, he’d taken Zach’s hand and was now giving it a squeeze. “I was hoping I could stay.” His voice was rough and full of emotion, hesitant too, even after all of Zach’s rambling. Or maybe because of it.

“Please stay?” Zach’s words came out far more desperate and vulnerable sounding than he would have liked. He was beyond grateful, though, that at least there was still this buoyant, joyful feeling, kind of bobbing and weaving in and around the awkwardness and anxiety.

Drew nodded, his brow furrowing with some kind of emotion, and then his gaze dipped to Zach’s lips and back, hopeful but still full of uncertainty, as if he couldn’t quite believe Zach could forgive him, let him in again.

Zach slipped a hand behind Drew’s neck and slowly pulled him in for a tender kiss. As their lips met and caressed and teased, Drew’s hands found their way to the small of Zach’s back, his fingers pressing into him and bringing them closer, their hips now flush with one another. Zach’s body fit perfectly there up against Drew’s, and some combination of arousal and belonging and the warmth and solidness of his frame made Zach feel so safe. And so loved.

When Zach pulled back slightly, he rested his forehead against Drew’s and just kind of swayed gently, enjoying the feel of being in Drew’s arms again. Then he felt a vibration against his thigh, then another. And then three more.

“Do you, um, need to get that?” Zach asked, quirking a smile but keeping their foreheads together.

“Oh! Um, yeah, I-I probably should,” Drew said, giving Zach an apologetic look as he dropped his hands from Zach’s back.

An adorable blush crept over Drew’s face as he reached into his pocket to grab his phone. “My, um, my pocket friends are eagerly awaiting an update.”

Zach was amused but admittedly had no idea what Drew was talking about. He laughed a little self-consciously. “Pocket friends? Update?”

“Um, my Discord friends? On that, uh, Superman server I told you about?” Drew ducked his head. “They’ve been sort of cheering me on? And now they’re probably dying to know what you’ve said.” Drew bit his lip nervously. “And god, sorry, I just realized how that sounded and I promise I didn’t, like, go into detail! But they’re my friends, really good friends. Maybe not as good as Jen is to you, but they’re—”

He paused to swallow back some sort of emotion. “I didn’t realize until recently how good of friends they are and how much they’ve got my back. I just—I just came out to them Friday night. So—so I guess that’s... fifteen people who know. Not just six. And god, that’s a lot and so fast. But it’s good. It’s good. I might need to sit though.”

Zach’s heart was bursting with admiration and pride and love and everything good in this world, and he couldn’t help but pull Drew back in for a hug and whisper in his ear. “I’m so proud of you, baby.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Drew

Drew was in heaven, absolute heaven. They’d grabbed his bag from his car, and then Zach had pulled out a spare dog crate from his garage while Drew settled on the opposite end of the couch from his mischievous mutt, who of course clambered over the second Drew sat down. When Zach got back from setting up the crate, there were some tough negotiations between Zach and Milo about who was to have Drew’s lap. Zach won, of course, settling down on the couch right next to Drew, but the whole thing—the dog and the domesticity and comfort of it all—made Drew’s heart overflow with the most wonderful emotions he’d ever felt.

“They’re throwing confetti and demanding a picture of us,” Drew said, his phone in his hand with the Discord app open. He couldn’t help how wide his smile was or the slight blush he could feel creeping into his cheeks. Drew snaked his other arm behind Zach and hugged him low across his waist.

“Is that so?” Zach’s grin lit up the room and made Drew’s heart swell. “Well, I guess we’d better give them one so you can tell them you’re all mine for the rest of the day.”

Although he was pretty sure Zach hadn’t meant to sound suggestive, warmth flooded through Drew’s body anyway. Zach shifted slightly so their heads were side by side, and Drew held up his phone to take the picture. At the last second, just before Drew’s thumb hit the button, Zach turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Drew laughed and tapped to look at the picture. God, it made his breath catch. It was perfection—their eyes closed, Zach’s lips on his cheek, and his own face with such a soft and contented smile.

Was this really what it could be like? Always?

Drew stared at the picture for what was probably an embarrassingly long time, but when he turned slightly, he only found Zach quietly watching him, looking like he was feeling the same damn thing.

“Send them that one,” he said softly.

Zach snuggled in closer as Drew navigated to Discord and then to the picture-sharing options. Drew tapped on the image and was about to type out a message when Zach gasped.