Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 2

carefully to avoid jostling my ankle.
    My arms immediately wind around his body and into his hair. His hand caresses my back.
    "I'm not a slut."
    "I know, Flower."
    "Fleury."
    "Petal?"
    "No."
    "Pansy?"
    "NO."
    "What's wrong with 'Flower'?"
    "What's wrong with 'Fleury'?"
    "You're no fun."
    "I beg to differ. I think you just had a lot of fun with me."
    "Yeah, I did." He smiles the heart-melting smile I've been waiting for all semester. Then it morphs into a mischievous grin. "I guess you could say I 'deflowered' you, right?"
    I groan at the hideous pun. "I hate to break it to you, but this is not the first time I've heard that. You knew I wasn't a virgin, right?"
    "Yeah, I knew."
    After a few quiet heartbeats, I work up the nerve to ask, "So you're bi?"
    Heath frowns slightly and puffs an exasperated sigh.
    "I don't like labels. I do like you. Isn't that enough?"
    I think about it for a minute. I don't really care if he's gay or bi. I'm just really glad he likes me.
    "Yeah, it is."
    After another couple of minutes of silently holding each other…
    "Heath?"
    "Yeah?"
    "Tell me why you were so worried about being kicked out of the house."
    He stiffens in my arms.
    "Why can't you leave it alone, Fleury?"
    "Why won't you tell me?"
    "Because there's nothing you can do about it."
    "Try me?"
    Heath withdraws and rolls over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. Tentatively, I reach for his hand with mine and twine our fingers together. He sighs heavily and squeezes my hand before rolling back over.
    "My dad caught me kissing a guy right before it was time to come back to school for the start of the cross country season. He told me to take everything I wanted with me because I wasn't allowed to come back. Ever."
    "Shit. So everything you own…"
    "Is in this room. He also cut me off financially, so the only money I have is the scholarship. I wasn't able to apply early enough for most grants. I had to do my own taxes so I could apply for FAFSA money." He ends with a whisper, "It's been a rough year."
    "What can I do?"
    "There isn't anything you can do. You're graduating in a month. Sure, you'll be around the month after for the end of the outdoor season, but then what? You'll be off looking for a job, right? It's up to me to figure out how I'm going to survive."
    "What about when they close down the house and you have to move out all your stuff? Jesus, Heath, where are you going to go?"
    "I don't know. I'll figure out something by then."
    "Have you tried talking to your parents since the summer?"
    "Fuck no. I'm going to do this on my own."
    "What about your mom?"
    "She hasn't tried contacting me. That says more than enough."
    "Why didn't you tell us? We might have been able to help."
    "I didn't want anyone to know. I don't need pity. I don't want the gossip."
    "The gossip already exists. And I wasn't offering pity. I was offering assistance."
    "I don't need your help either."
    Stubborn fucking man.
    "What's wrong with taking help when it's offered? You got a shit draw. You have to ask for more cards from the deck to actually make a hand or you're going to be stuck with garbage."
    "A poker analogy, Fleury?"
    "It works in this case."
    "So you're offering me a hand?"
    I take a deep breath. "I've been giving you a hand all semester."
    "I know." He wedges his knee between my legs, pulling me closer until our soft cocks nestle together. I've never been this intimate with anyone before. "I need to thank Drew too."
    "You knew?"
    "The third or fourth time one of you said you were headed to the cafeteria also, it finally dawned on me. I don't know how you figured it out."
    "There was no food in the house, you couldn't afford to buy laundry detergent or deodorant, and you were starving when I offered to buy pizza."
    "Mmmm," Heath smiles, "that was the best pizza in the history of ever. You have no idea." He pauses before adding, "Hated the delivery guy though."
    I chuff at him quietly. "Tell me something I don't know."
    Heath laughs with me for a few moments until we fall into a much more comfortable silence, gazing at each other.
    I twist a lock of his hair between my fingers because I can. It's more wiry than I thought it would feel.
    "Fleury?
    "Yeah?"
    "What's 'CJ' stand for?"
    "Cocky jackass."
    "You answering the question or calling me names in bed?" He grins.
    "Yes," I smile. "You were a real douche when you first joined the team, you know. You kept going on and on about how great you were."
    "I am great, Flower."
    Finally, the