Page 131 of Seeing Grayscale

Alex: He isn’t there?!

Alex: Fml.

Alex: I’m forwarding my Botox bill to him at the end of this quarter. These stress lines are making me age fifty years.

I roll my eyes at his dramatics.

I’ll t3ll him?

I’ll tell him

Sorry. This k3yboard sucks.

KEYBOARd

Alex: For the love of David Bowie, stop.

Alex: I got it.

What a dick.

I toss the phone and pick up my sketchbook and pencil again.

Malone is Xavier’s last name. Maybe the guy is going to back off. He dabbles in drugs and politics; he doesn’t need airplanes and whatever else OAT does. This whole thing is because Hunter had One Tooth Ray arrested. If it had been maybe Dan or someone higher up the payroll, he’d be more cutthroat. I’m leaning towards this important message being just that. Xavier is no longer interested now that he has made his point.

My hand cramps from drawing for so long, but I really want to get this picture right. The one I drew on Hunter’s body was awful. I’d kill for some paint and brushes, or even some more cans, so that I can be more creative, but this will have to do.

Most people prefer to go realistic with their art, especially if they want to be recognized or make any money off it. Or maybe that’s just what I assume.

I never got the chance to look into it as a career path; I only daydreamed about doing it. But my style fits me better.

My life has always been obscured and made no sense, so it only seems right to make my art the same way. I work on shading the plane's wing some more, and I'm not too worried for once when Hunter takes a while.

It can’t be easy dealing with what he does, but he promised me that whatever happens at his parents' house won’t change us. The fact that he even agreed to tell them eventually is huge.

I never really thought that I was a patient person, but I guess I am to an extent since I’m willing to compromise. At the end of the day, I don’t want to be away from Hunter.

I’m in love with him.

Thumping my head against the bay windowsill, I rub my strained eyes and slowly trail my hand down my chest. It beats harder and faster whenever I think about Hunter. My face heats when I recall last night. Not just the sex part, but after. How he cleaned me up and let me spoon him. How he told me I was perfect.

I’ve never been perfect before.

“Damn it,” I say with a sigh.

I’m so screwed.

As I glance down at the picture again, I trace the lines with my finger, careful not to smudge it, and daydream about the future. Since I haven’t received any word on the jobs I applied for, I pretend I’ll get hired at the best paying one. I think my parents would be proud of that. They’d want me to make good money and be in love.

I wonder how much rings cost?

“No,” I tell myself before I Google it. “That’s just crazy.” But is it?

I’ve known for weeks now that I want Hunter. And I’ve known I’ve been falling for him since the beginning, despite fighting the urge to. It was unavoidable.

We are two magnets that had no hope of preventing a collision.

I’m not mad at it. And even though I have to wait, it’ll be worth it. We can stay in our little world where no one but us matters while I keep working to get my shit together.

---