Complement, p.15
Complement, page 15
part #3 of Connectivity Series
They put together Nick’s go-to meal, of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with apples, some mixed nuts, and a bag of pretzels. It wasn’t the best meal for a day hike, but they would manage and were only going to be a short distance from town. Learning from his past mistakes, they filled every water bottle Ash could find and even took his bathroom’s first aid kit. They grabbed hats and glasses and just as there were locking the door, Nick shouted that they needed sunscreen.
Ash only had sneakers and his regular socks, but they determined that after their hike if he really liked it and wanted to continue doing more, they should get him a good set of boots and socks. Nick couldn’t say enough about the merits of having good footwear and that brought them around to a conversation about Rick.
As Ash drove them out of town, he explained that Rick and his dad had been friends in college and had remained close ever since. Rick was only one of a handful of people who knew about his parents’ Connectivity and had helped him and his mom immensely when his father had died.
Rick had apparently often tried to convince Ash to seek solace and comfort in the outdoors, saying that he’d discover more about himself and learn to enjoy his own company and therefore wouldn’t be so affected by the thoughts of others and pressures of being trans in high school.
Nick had to agree and found the advice a welcome reminder of his own personal successes with regard to his life in recent months. Hiking had given him something to look forward to and to plan for, not to mention the confidence he’d gained, even if his only endeavor had ended poorly. But again, he chose to look on the bright side and thanked his lucky stars for his little tumble. In all actuality, he’d been really lucky to only have gotten the injuries he’d sustained. It was simply the fact that he’d needed Ash to wake up that had landed him in his worst bit of trouble.
Pulling into the parking area alongside the road, they slathered each other in sunscreen, donned their hats and glasses, and each of them grabbed their respective backpacks with their divided supplies. After realizing a few of his mistakes from his last trip, Nick suggested it would be a good idea to divide their supplies equally, in an effort to equip them both should something go wrong. Granted if something happened to Ash and they were to become separated, Nick wouldn’t be able to do much, but the area was popular with day-hikers and the trail was considered moderately easy.
It took them less than forty-five minutes to get to the top and they stopped a few times to catch their breath or take in the view. The trail was very clearly marked and did ascend several hundred feet but other than going around the occasional boulder or rotted out stair situation, it was pretty unremarkable.
The end of the trail, however, was what everyone went for. There was a rocky outcropping that had three distinct arches or holes in the rock, creating a cave-like feel without the roof. You were inside the rocks but also outside because of the openings.
Other people milled about and Nick asked a girl, who looked around their age, if she wouldn’t mind taking their picture. She had plain brown hair and a cotton candy shirt on and it turned out her name was Crystal and she actually attended the same school as Ash, though she was only going to be a junior. She explained that she was on one of her family’s “required outings” before school started again. She and Ash chatted for a little while about what teachers she was going to have and Ash explained that he wasn’t going to be finishing school on campus.
“Why not?” Crystal asked with her hand on her hip. “Are people being jerks to you and giving you a hard time? God, high school kids are such jerks sometimes.”
Ash blushed at being put on the spot and wrapped his arm around Nick. “No, not really. Or not any more than usual. No one really ever says anything to my face, but I know people whisper behind my back. I’m not that naïve. I’m just going to finish from home since I’m having surgery in a few weeks. It’ll be easier for me to study and do what I need to do from bed while I recover, instead of missing a bunch of classes and having to do weeks of make-up work. Plus, Nick is going to be a freshman and we can spend our time studying together.”
Nick gave him a squeeze around his shoulders for his perfect cover. Everything he’d said was one-hundred percent true, he’d just left out the primary reason he couldn’t attend anymore, and that was perfectly fine with Nick.
“You’re having surgery?” Crystal asked with raised eyebrows. Ash nodded and she continued, “Holy cow, you’re really brave. Are you even eighteen yet?”
“No. My mom had to set everything up for me. She and Nick are going to be right there for me the whole time, though, so I’m not really doing it alone.”
“That’s awesome that your mom supports you and is so accepting of who you are.” Crystal looked away and her eyes turned down, her lively spark from moments ago dying out. Nick looked at Ash and he seemed to have noticed her reaction as well.
“Well, hey. If you ever want to hang out or study together, you’re more than welcome to come over. I had Mr. Welker last year and I could give you some pointers on what to expect on his tests,” Ash offered.
Crystal’s parents looked over and called her, saying they were heading back down. She looked back and offered a sad smile. “Cool. Can you text me your number?” She rattled off her info and Ash shot off a quick text so she would have his number as well. “Thanks. I’ll see you guys around. It was nice to meet you, Nick, and good luck, Ash. I hope everything goes great for you.”
Once she was out of sight, Nick hugged Ash close and pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head. “You want to climb up top and have our lunch? We can explore a little bit more after we eat then head back down?”
“Can we stay up here for a while?” Ash asked as they walked over to the spot everyone seemed to be using to climb the rocks. “It’s kind of cool to just hang out and listen to life for a while, you know? We never really take the time to just stop and listen. And with school starting next week, this may be one of our last chances to get a break from it all. Even the last couple of weeks, finding you and everything between us, things have seemed a little crazy, but I guess after this morning, I feel more settled and peaceful, you know? Like things are good. And I think this was the perfect place to come today to just reconnect and recharge.”
Nick smiled as they made their way up the rocks and over to where Ash pointed out a spot and took a seat.
“Sounds good to me, boo,” he replied and Ash chuckled at the use of his pet name.
They both pulled off their backpacks and sorted through their lunch items, each of them choosing water first then their sandwich. They chatted a little about Crystal and Ash said he’d seen her around but had never met her or even known her name. He thought she was in band or something but really didn’t know if that was true or not.
Crystal had seemed like a pretty nice girl and had a little bit of fire in her, but any mention of her family and her little spirit seemed to wither away. Ash suggested she could be struggling with a religious upbringing as so many people were in Utah. Apparently, there was a lot of tension in the LDS community with anyone who didn’t fit the norm. Although Ash said things seemed to be changing, change was slow and people were set in their ways.
Nick realized he’d never thought about things that way before. He hadn’t been raised in a religious family and Oregon was pretty liberal to whatever lifestyle you chose to live. Everyone was laid back and easy going, taking things in stride, while at the same time pressing for better healthcare, jobs, wages, and equality. Oregonians liked their diversity and everyone had their unique way of showing it. He supposed it was a pretty far cry from what Ash was talking about.
But as they chatted and reapplied their sunscreen, talk turned to schedules and planning for the upcoming semester. And eventually, they made their way back down the mountain, stopping for water and pictures, then loaded back into the car and headed toward town.
Opting for a quick dinner, they stopped at the market and picked up some supplies for the hotdogs Ash wanted to grill. They also grabbed up chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers to make s’mores in the backyard. With neither of them having had much of a fun summer, they joked about squeezing in one last camping trip, but Nick quickly remembered his tent and camping gear and grinned to himself, wondering if he could surprise Ash by setting up his tent in the backyard.
It was definitely too far away to do on his own but maybe he could tell Ash he had a surprise and needed his cooperation. Ash would probably play along and it would be a really fun thing either way, but he hoped to be able to pull it off on his own.
While they got set up for dinner and Ash was manning the barbeque, Nick asked if he would stand outside the garage so he could look for something he needed from his belongings that were in storage.
Ash rolled the hot dogs. “What do you need? Can we look for it after dinner? If I leave these too long, they’ll burn.”
Realizing he was going to have to share something to satisfy Ash’s questions, Nick replied, “I want to do something for you, but I need some stuff from the garage. Can you just let me have a little fun and surprise you?” Ash eyed him but a smile crept across his face.
“I guess,” he replied slowly. “What do you need me to do?”
“Well, I can’t go in there alone since it’s too far, so I’ll need you to stand outside the door and promise not to peek. Then after dinner, you need to sit inside but close to the back of the house. I have to get your surprise ready out here so you can’t be too far away.”
Ash glanced at his hot dogs and turned the burner off. He moved them to the other side of the grill and came over to Nick. “What are you up to, mister?” he purred as he wrapped his arms around Nick’s waist.
“Can’t tell you. That’s the nature of surprises, they’re a surprise.” He grinned down at his boyfriend and pecked him on the nose. “Come on, it’ll be fun. You’ll like it, I promise.” He grabbed Ash’s hand and led him to the man door at the side of the garage. “No peeking,” he said, pointing sternly at Ash.
Ash grinned and mimed crossing his heart. “I cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” he sang and Nick busted up laughing.
“Oh my God, you’re such a dork,” he laughed. “I haven’t heard that in ages.”
“Oh, cause you’re so old,” Ash teased, swatting at him. “Go. Dinner is getting cold and I promise I won’t look.”
Nick took a quick but lingering taste of his boy’s lips, grinned at him, then ducked inside. His camping stuff was all together in one corner and he went right over and grabbed the tent, his camping bag with his flashlights and camping stove, and on a whim, he grabbed a little pocketknife he stored in his first aid kit.
Trying to be as quiet as possible the stacked the items just inside the door and returned to Ash, closing the door behind him. “All set,” he said and Ash uncovered his eyes.
“Wow. Great surprise,” Ash deadpanned as he realized Nick didn’t have anything with him and Nick smiled then led him back to the patio.
“I already told you, I need to do it after dinner. I just got what I need ready but didn’t want you to see it. Let’s eat, then I can get started. You can watch YouTube or something with some headphones on while I’m busy.”
Ash eyed him again but Nick could see that he was just putting on a show. He was trying really hard not to smile and grin like Nick knew he wanted to. He wondered if Ash had had many good surprises in his life and hoped he could do his part to provide him with some. They may not be rich or have lots of money, but little things like what he was planning, he hoped would be enough to bring some joy into his life. Ash needed more smiles and reasons to laugh. He’d had to face and overcome so much in his young life and Nick wanted to be the one to make him happy for the rest of it. As such a likable guy who was quick to laugh, he needed someone to lighten the load and be silly with. Nick hoped camping in his backyard would be a good start to bringing a smile to his sweet face.
Gathering their dinner, they went inside to top their hotdogs and grab some sodas and chips then they plopped down on the sofa bed to watch a little TV while they ate. They talked about their hike and Ash said he’d had such a good time that he’d be interested in purchasing some boots so they could go out more and he’d be better prepared. Which led talk around to them possibly finding jobs to help offset their own adventures and things like hiking boots.
They tossed ideas back and forth for a long time but everything they thought of for jobs would never work. It was going to be a real challenge for them to come up with something they could both do, with the same hours, that kept them together, and paid a reasonable wage.
“We’ll have to brainstorm some more later. I’ll text Cory and see what he and Josh came up with. I know they’re working for Cory’s parents a bit but I wonder if they thought of anything else they could do before that came around,” Nick said and got up to take his plate into the kitchen.
“What about just filing or desk work where we can be in the same room but doing different things? That could work,” Ash commented as he trailed behind Nick.
“What if we have to run an errand or take papers to another office or something? I don’t think anyone is going to want us always leaving our desks to go with the other just to deliver a message or something.”
Ash nodded and furrowed his brow. “Well, what are we supposed to do then? I’m more than willing to try anything but it hardly seems like we can find anything that will work for us. My parents were able to make their jobs work because my mom just did medical billing from home and my dad was a remote nurse. I’m not even out of high school yet, and we still have at least four years of college to get through before we can start whatever career we can make work for us, but how will that work? I’ll have to ask my mom what my dad’s parents did. I can’t remember and they both passed away when I was little.”
Nick pulled Ash into his arms and looked down at him. “We’ll figure something out, boo. We’re just starting out and I think it’s probably more important that we focus on our school work and your upcoming surgery right now than hiking and getting jobs. Your sneakers will work for a while and before we know it, it’ll be snowing again. We can probably table this discussion for a while and just think on it for a bit.” Ash seemed slightly mollified by that but still seemed to be pondering the situation. Nick dropped a kiss to his hair. “Come on. I want to get my surprise going and you can just sit by the back door with your phone or something.” They stopped in the bedroom and Ash grabbed his tablet instead of his phone.
“Can you get into the garage if I stay here?” Ash asked as they stopped just inside the back door.
Nick shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.” Then he swatted Ash’s butt and leapt out the door before he could retaliate. He grinned and blew a kiss to his smiling boy, then watched as Ash turned his back and settled on the floor with his back against it.
The distance was pretty far, or at least far for them, and even though the yard was small, the distance was definitely greater than what Nick could achieve without feeling any effects of their Connectivity. He was still a short distance to the door and already felt the fog of darkness closing in. As much as he hated to give in, he tried for one more step and it was enough to cause him to falter and his eyes to darken.
“Nick!”
The word echoed into his mind and suddenly his vision cleared and he realized he’d ended up on his hand and knees just a few feet from the door.
Ash was by his side instantly and helping him to sit down on the grass while he came back from the edge. Ash crawled into his lap and hugged him tightly around his shoulders.
“God, you scared me,” Ash breathed and Nick buried his face in Ash’s neck, closing his eyes as he soaked in the comfort of their Connection. “I could feel you getting farther away, but when I felt a sharp tug, I looked out and you were already reaching out to catch yourself. Why didn’t you stop when you got to the edge?”
Ash was trembling slightly and Nick squeezed him just a little bit tighter. “I thought I could handle it. I knew it was coming but I was so close. It happened so fast. One step it was manageable, then the next, I was down.”
After another few moments, Ash pulled back. “Okay, Superman. Are you well enough to try again with me here this time? I’ll stand against the wall and you can get out what you need then you can walk me back to the house with my eyes closed. Sound like a plan?”
Nick nodded and pressed a kiss to Ash’s lips, then hugged him again. “Thank you for letting me do this. I know you probably want me to just let you help so we can be close together, but I still want to surprise you. I’m sorry for not stopping and I really hate that feeling, but I was so close to getting there. We’re like four feet away.” Nick stretched over and he may have had to scoot a tiny bit but smiled when he brushed his fingertips against the door. “See? So close. How far do you think that was?”
Ash shrugged. “We can measure it after you finish surprising me.”
Nick chuckled. “Oh, someone still wants his surprise, huh?”
Grinning, Ash replied, “Of course I do. I’m a firm believer that you can never have too many surprises. I’ve only a had a few in my life that were really good and I’ve never had one from you. So, let’s see what you got, bae.”
“Well, I don’t know if it will live up to your expectations since this is kind of on the fly and I didn’t really plan anything,” Nick said as they both stood up and he examined the scrape on his palm from the concrete stoop next to them.
Ash took his hand and kissed his palm. “Either way, I’m still excited.” He pressed a few gentle kisses to Nick’s lips and when Nick tried to pull him in for more, he giggled and clambered away to stand against the wall. “More of that later, Superman. Surprises first, thank you kisses later.”
Nick chuckled and dusted off. Ash covered his eyes with his hands and started counting out loud. “Why are you counting?” Nick asked as he twisted the doorknob.
