**Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. I finally finished med school and internship. Hopefully this means I can write a bit more now. Looking forward to any feedback! **
*****
I still had no idea where we were going. My incessant nagging and poking did not help much in prying an answer out of Todd. He just smiled good naturedly and told me that I'd find out when we got there. It was a brilliant day. The sun hadn't quite reached scorching and the sky was the most pristine blue. The windows were open and the gentle gust of wind tugged neatly at Todd's hair. The light almost made it shine. It was a comfortable silence, one I didn't feel the need to fill with my constant jibber jabber. Every now and then he'd catch me looking at him and smile.
As we continued our journey the labyrinth of buildings and civilization were replaced by rolling hills and grasslands. We were leaving the city. I couldn't pretend that this didn't fill me with some anxiety. I mean, I was city boy at heart. A gay city boy. We don't tend to fare well in the outdoors. My idea of spending time outside is going out onto my fire escape to water my ever dying plants (I'm not blessed with a green thumb but I should get some points for persistence).
"Come now, tell me where we're going," I said, doing my best at a puppy dog face.
"Just because you're acting cute it doesn't mean I'm going to cave," he said, laughing. He reached out and gave my hand a squeeze and started running his fingers over mine. Luckily he drove an automatic. "Tell me something I don't know about you," he asked.
"I like to draw, mostly superheroes, and some animated characters. Aurora is my favorite Disney princess. I like to sing but I'm terrible at it. One of the nurses actually told me I would be a contender on Idols. Then she proceeded to specify wooden mike. That kind of killed my dream of being the next Hannah Montana."
"Is that so. I'll need to get you to draw me sometime, Picasso. Also, I love your voice," he said sweetly.
"When have you heard me sing?," I squeaked, mortified.
"I caught you holding one of the babies in the ward while singing The Circle of Life. It was one of the things that made me like you even more."
I wanted to crawl in a hole. I usually sleuthily scope out the corridors before I unleash my inner Whitney Houston (Yes, I still attempt to hit the high notes even though I know I can't).
"Hey," he said trying to pry my hands away from my face, "Don't be shy."
Thats like asking an apple not to be red. Well I guess you do get green apples. This analogy nosedived quite quickly.
"Look," he said excitedly, "We're finally here."
***
It was my worst nightmare come to life. We were in the deep outdoors. Like deep outdoors. Like the woodlands. There weren't even telephone poles out here. Todd leaped out of the car like a gazelle. I somewhat slumped out and followed him to the boot. He opened it and pulled out a sizable pack which he then harnessed to his body like he was Bear Grylls or something. He handed me a water bottle and a quick kiss, which brightened me up considerably, and asked if I was ready.
"Just a quick disclaimer, the outdoors and me don't really get along but I'll try if you're patient with me," I said, laughing nervously.
"Nick, it's just me. You'll be great," he said, taking my hand. "Let's go."
And thus we were off on an adventure. The path he led me down wasn't quite what I expected. It was neatly marked and smoothed out and instead of being surrounded by scrubby thug looking plants I was met with fields of flowers and lush vegetation. There was some uphill and scraggly bits which slowed us down at times (Okay! Slowed me down times) but it was quite a leisurely journey. Todd walked with me, sweetly guiding me through the dodgier terrain, gently brushing me in the right directions.
He never once got annoyed even when I squealed in terror after walking through a spider's web. He just laughed, a lot, and helped me make sure that was no residual web (or even worse, spider) on me. I was mildly amazed that I wasn't complaining more, usually I'd be ready to star in a one man show after such action filled adventure. It was probably because being around him was like my own personal Xanax.
"Ooooh. We're almost there," he chipped.
He gambled over the last hill while I wheezed along behind him clutching a stitch in my side. When I came over the hill I could see that the long walk to freedom was indeed worth it. I stood looking out over a small canyon with a river flowing merrily at the bottom. The sun enveloped him and accentuated every iota of his beauty. It was quite the sight. I probably would have instagrammed the moment had I not been so breathless.
I walked up to stand by him. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist and pulled me to him. The air was sweet with the smell of the surrounding foliage and of him. I could feel the familiar fluttering of the butterflies from just being close to him and I wondered if it would ever go away. I melted into the warmth of his chest as he pulled me closer. This guy. He had barely broken a sweat.
"Worth it?" he asked, leaning in, his emerald eyes boring into my cerulean ones.
"Being with you? Worth every second," I breathed.
His mouth swept over mine and my world started spinning on a different axis. Todd was an experience. His masculine pine fresh scent, his strong hands running their way up my back, his lips on mine molding me like clay, the bristle of his face against mine. He could make every part of my body respond to him. I caressed his face and ran my hand up into his hair threading my fingers into it. I never want to let go but we both had to come up for air at some point, and I was about five seconds away from passing out.
