Rentboy

Fox. He was going to give himself away if he wasn’t
    careful.
    “So, Edward, how is everything at LSHTM?” the elder Dr. Atherton asked.
    “Same, you know,” Eddie said. “I hate working with old Howard.”
    “Couldn’t stand the man myself. Never trusted him.” Dr. Atherton frowned down at the large
    portion of goose on his plate. “I suspect he took credit for some of the studies his students did. And he
    was always carrying on with females young enough to be his daughters. Could never work out how an
    ugly little chap like that got them in the first place.”
    “He promises them good marks,” Eddie said, tucking into his roast potatoes.
    Changing the subject abruptly, Eddie’s grandfather asked, “When were they diagnosed, Fox?”
    “Who? Diagnosed with what?” Fox asked.
    “Granddad, I’m not sure that’s a good subject to get into,” Eddie said, but the old gentleman
    carried on regardless.
    “The twins. They’re autistic, aren’t they?”
    “I rather thought that too,” Eddie’s dad said, then stuffed his mouth with goose. “But I didn’t
    want to pry.”
    “I’ve had many a special-needs child in my school, especially in recent years,” Annika said.
    “They must have been diagnosed at some point. They’re thirteen, aren’t they?”
    “Yeah, but they live with my mum, and I haven’t lived there for a while,” Fox said vaguely. He
    could hardly tell the assemblage that the twins had never been taken to a doctor since they were
    toddlers after it became obvious they were different. “I don’t know anything about things like that. I’m
    an…idiot.” He almost said art student.
    “You’re not an idiot.” The affection in Eddie’s voice and the gentle smile on his face drew the
    attention of everyone at the table. Only Eddie seemed unaware that he had just told his grandparents
    there was more between him and Fox than merely friendship.
    “Of course he’s not.” Annika’s high-pitched, slightly alarmed voice broke the moment.
    “Nicoletta, refill everyone’s wineglasses, will you?”
    Nik rose to circle the table with the bottle. When she reached Fox, she whispered in his ear,
    “You’re going to break his heart.”

    * * * *
    A bright sliver of moon offered a small light in the clear night sky, helped a little by myriad

    brilliant stars. “That’s the North Star, and that’s Orion’s Belt. Over there is the Big Dipper.” Edward
    pointed out the constellations, indicating things he thought might interest Fox. Then he remembered a
    teacher when he was nine telling him, “You don’t have to tell everyone everything you know,
    Atherton. They’ll think you’re obnoxious.”
    They leaned on the wooden fence of the horses’ field behind the house. “You’re so clever,
    Eddie.”
    “Only at academics,” he countered. “You made me sound like such a hero tonight.”
    “You are. You’re my hero.” Fox looked up at him, smiling. “How come the stars twinkle like
    that?”
    “I shouldn’t be boring you with this stuff. I only took astronomy as a secondary subject.”
    “There’s nothing boring about you, mate,” Fox said.
    Astonished at the assertion, Edward fell silent for a moment. He’d always believed himself to
    be extremely boring. He’d been told so any number of times in his teens, especially by girls when he
    attempted to date them to convince himself he wasn’t gay.
    “Except your clothes; they’re boring,” Fox amended.
    “What would you like me to wear?”
    Looking into his eyes, Fox said, “I prefer you naked, but if you must wear clothes, you really suit
    nerdy pullovers and cords.”
    Edward gave a quiet laugh. He’d never had so many compliments in his life. It made him feel
    quite self-conscious in a warm sort of way. “Stars don’t really twinkle. They emit a steady stream of
    light. Turbulence in the atmosphere bends the stream of light, making it appear to move.” He slid one
    arm around Fox’s waist. “Dear, I’ve never been so happy.”
    Fox tilted his face and puckered up.
    Kissing him softly, Edward said against his mouth, “I never thought I’d find anyone like you.”
    “I bet you never.” Fox pressed his face into Edward’s shoulder. “A rentboy who nicks your
    laptop.”
    Laying his cheek against the top of Fox’s head, Edward rubbed Fox’s back before letting his
    hand slide all the way down the faux leather kilt to Fox’s bottom, cupping it and squeezing. “Mmmm.
    You’re so hot.” A giggle