Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

children. She allowed him as long as he kept up his private studies, and did not argue with her regarding his future.
    The light at the intersection changed, and his car slid forward. From the corner of his eye, he saw the bus pull into place on the cross street, blocking his view of the teens waiting for transportation to school. At least at school he could belong. The popular girls kept him almost as a mascot, but Hinata could not begrudge them their silliness. They truly cared for him, and so were protective. His mother approved his adoption by what she termed the "proper" class of friends. Hinata shrugged, turning his head to watch a tall boy with broad shoulders race up the sidewalk toward the bus. Perhaps one day, when he was grown he would be free to make his own choices in friends.
    "Would you like to stop for lattes for your friends, Mr. Hinata? Sam, your old driver told me you used to do that every Monday during the school year. Except for the Mondays you had off for holidays." Startled from his lingering assessment of the running boy's long legs, Hinata jerked his head around. Andre met his gaze once again, warmth pouring from his brown eyes.
    "Yes. Yes, that would be… nice." Hinata's lips turned up at the corners of their own accord, and even his mother could not find fault with exhibiting polite behavior. "That would be very nice. Please be sure to get one for each of us as well, Andre." The big driver's skin crinkled just at the corners of his eyes. Hinata ducked his head, a ball of warm emotion unfurling in his chest. He thought, maybe, just maybe, Andre might be what one could call a friend. Not a close friend, because Hinata would not presume so much, but… perhaps very like a distantly related uncle who thought kindly of one. He tilted his head, glancing at the man's enormous shoulders and the one cocoa colored hand he could see on the steering wheel. Hinata kept his lashes lowered. He wanted to be polite, after all.
    "A vanilla latte sounds wonderful. Do you have a preference for what you want?" Andre's bass tones rumbled through the car. Hinata's face flooded with heat, and the tips of his ears burned. Andre sounded pleased. He shook his head in a rapid negation. Whatever Andre was having would be fine. "Alright then, Mr. Hinata, it's off to Starbucks we go."
    Hinata giggled softly, hiding his smile behind his hand. The sun shone in through the window, warming his cheek, and the right side of his face while his driver's honey brown eyes warmed the cold places inside him. He missed his old driver, but at least the new man smiled, and treated him like a person. A frown pulled at Hinata's brow. Mother would not approve. He firmed his delicate jaw. He would make sure she did not catch wind of Andre's kindness. He would not lose his job as the last man had.
    Hinata shivered, and huddled closer to the window. His mother meant well, but she did not see him. Mother's lovely almond shaped eyes saw only a scion of the Kenkyusha line. Another shiver wracked his slender frame. Glancing up, he found Andre's eyes on him, a pucker forming between the man's neatly arched brows. "Are you warm enough, Mr. Hinata? I can turn the heat on if you're feeling chilled."
    Andre's deep tones rumbled out of his chest, tumbled over the lip of the partially open partition between the driver's seat and the back of the limo, and wrapped around Hinata. A quiet similar to the inner stillness he found in the mornings in his family's garden after he danced settled into his bones. He nodded, and then shook his head. "I— no thank you, Andre. I am well now."
    Silence fell between them, and the big black car rolled down the street. Hinata closed his eyes. Sunlight danced against his face, the red and black patterns resolving themselves into the image of the tall boy from the bus stop. Hinata allowed his mind to linger over the image. The other boy looked like a crane about to take flight, all long limbs and awkward angles… and unearthly grace. He'd smiled at the two girls who were waiting at the stop, and in that moment, a crushing weight pushed against Hinata's chest. He wanted the tall boy to smile at him so freely, to laugh and throw his head back in abandon. Hinata's belly twisted inside, a slow rolling motion he'd never felt before.
    "Oh." The word slipped past his lips in a nearly breathless whisper. Hinata's eyes popped open. He scanned his surroundings, finding Andre's eyes turned to a large truck rumbling by on the other