Chapter 32
Us Against The World

We lay still, holding each other, feeling each other, and it's the best feeling ever. All of the sadness, the pain, the bad memories, they have been thrown out of the window when Dale wraps his strong arms around me, his lips landing on my temple. I let out a satisfied and contentment sigh.

Dale never speaks, never utters a word, and neither am I. There's a comfortable silence looming over us, and words are not necessary as of this moment. We just like the comfort of what each other brings.

My head rests on his chest, and I feel and hear the erratic beat of his heart, pounding against his ribcage, synching with mine. I shut my eyes, savoring the feeling, wishing that this is not a dream. That's what I feel – I feel like I'm in Heaven, in my own dream, and when I open my eyes and meet his, I know that this isn't. This is reality. He loves me, and I love him, we made everything clear. And that's something I will keep forever in my heart, in my head. It's going to be part of me, part of who I am, part of who I will become in the future.

His fingertips lightly brush, running up and drown, slowly and gently, my naked back while my index finger runs circle around his chest where I feel the beat of his heart against my fingertip. He plants another kiss on my temple, which causes me to sigh. I catch a scent of him – a combination of his manliness, his natural scent, and apple, and of course, the strong stench of sex. Just smelling those odd combinations, but they mix well, send shiver down my spine and I just want to bury my face in his chest, sniff him all day as though I'm a pet dog that is curious of smelling everything, or every inch of his master. I could do that. I could admire him, be his slave, or anything, with an exchange of a deal of him not leaving me again. That's how selfish I am.

"My parents are going to kill me for skipping school," I mutter against his chest and he chuckles, making his chest vibrate and I swear it's the sexiest chuckle ever. If there were any competitions, titled Who Has The Sexiest Chuckle Ever, he could win that award. And he would be able to keep that award for almost forever. "But it will be worth it."

He flips us around, so he's on top of me now. "But I won't let them," he whispers, his voice has become low and seductive. His lips curl up, and I roll my eyes at him playfully. What a great view he is on top of me, I think. Dale leans down, plants a soft kiss on my lips that makes me want for more, crave for more. Then he kisses my cheeks, then the tip of my nose, then my forehead, then the lid of my eyes, then back to my lips. "I want to cherish life with you, you know. And you being dead will definitely not fulfill that dream of mine."

"Cheesy," I tease him. "But you're hot, so it's fine."

"Yeah? You admit I'm hot?" he grins evilly, then leans down again. Our chest is now almost touching. Just almost. But it's enough to set me up on fire.

Rolling my eyes again, I push him, putting my palms on his chest and pushing him back with as much force I can put into arms, but he doesn't budge, and I feel weak. That's because he's there, in front of me, on top of me, looking Godly and all. He's my weakness, my happiness, my world, my life. He's my everything. As cheesy as it sounds, it's the truth. "Yes, yes you are." I admit, grinning up at him.

"Well, because of that, we deserve another round," Dale wiggles his brows suggestively, and I laugh. Then he dives into the cover, dragging me and I laugh out loud.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask him, my voice laced with uncomfortableness.

I didn't expect that he's really sure of this. When we got out of the bed, after fooling around for the second time (and that was a few minutes after we have done the deed), he blurted out to me that he wanted the people, the students, the world to see us a couple. I actually laughed at that, because I knew, deep in my heart, at the pit of my stomach, that he wasn't really ready. But he was being serious – he said it to me with conviction, with a determined voice, and that's when I realized that he wasn't really joking. The whole day I've tried to convince him that we've got time, and coming out of the school, letting people know that he's in love with me, is not really a good idea. But he just shrugged, told me about what Gloss told him and his brother told him, and that his mind was set.

Of course, I remember their story really well: John Lucas Flench (he was one of the jocks that was part of Noah's group, and he was a bully. He used to bully Ashton, but later confessed that the reason why he was bullying him was because he couldn't accept himself. And if it weren't for Derek, my Russian best friend, who had a massive crush on Ashton, John wouldn't have realized how dumb he was) came out of the closet, confessed his love for Ashton, and they became a happy couple. And Kevin and Collins, too (they were part of Noah's group as well). And let's not forget Mike, the boy, who was part of Noah's group also, who is currently in a relationship with the hottest cop alive, Eros. They all came out of the closet, and the school had been cool about this. Now why shouldn't they be cool about Dale confessing his love for me in public?

But still, I worry about him. It's not that I don't want anyone to know that he's mine and mine only, and I'm his and his only. What people think matter – there are some people who have a heart made of steel, and there are some who don't. And if you don't have the endurance to ignore those words pouring out of the people's mouths like a river, then your life will be miserable. What people think matter, at least to me. We try to please people – we always do, but sometimes pleasing them isn't enough.

"Yes," he breathes out, but from the looks of him, he looks like he would be having a panic attack in any minute now. I tug on his arm, but he just slides his hand across my arm until his hand clasped with mine. "I just need you by my side as I do this."

That's enough to lift my spirits up. That means he trusts me enough. "Of course. Always." And that's another way of him saying he really loves me.

Together we trot towards the direction of the school. We aren't even in the school yet but we already feel the gaze of the students, their eyes trained directly at us, or to Dale and I's linked hands. I hear him take sharp intake of breath. I can practically hear the way his heart pounds against his chest, slamming painfully, ringing in my ears. I squeeze his hand, letting him know that I'm here and he immediately relaxes.

Dale tips his head up, as if daring anyone to step up and stop us, but no one does. They part, giving us a way, and their eyes are burning at us, watching every move, watching every flex of our muscles. It's like a slow-motion moment. Dale's back remains straight as he walks, chin up, lips set into a thin line. In my eyes, he looks like a God coming down to save us, to save me.

Then he tips his head down only to look at me. His eyes meet mine, and I see emotions swarming in his beautiful brown eyes. It makes me want to throw my arms around his neck, kiss him passionately, and tell him "I love you" more than 1 million times. Dale stops, leans down, and captures my lips in one swift move, as if he has been trained to do that. He's a well-trained kisser. Because he's a good kisser. The gasp of the students fade out, and when he pulls away, he gives me that boyish grin that makes him so irresistibly cute.

"I love you," he whispers, out of breath, as if that kiss took his breath away.

It took my breath away, though. "I love you, too,"

The story seems endless at Sky International High School. It has been hours ago since Dale came out of the closet, letting people know that he's currently in a relationship with me. From the time we have separated ways, I have heard several stories that aren't even close to the truth about me and Dale. Of course I choose to remain silent. Let people say what they want to say, because it's not going to change our love story. We are the only one who knows what really happened. We are the only who really knows our story. And when we tell our love story to our friends, we might miss small details, but we will always be the one to know the full story.

Today Gloss, Derek, Ashton, Kaila, Homer, and the others are seated on the table with Dale and I. Gloss keeps grinning at Dale, eyes twinkling brightly, as if he's saying I told you so! to Dale. But Dale ignores him like he would just ignore a gum underneath the table.

"So..." Gloss begins, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Cut it out, Gloss," Dale says to his best friend. "I love him. I accept myself. You win." Gloss throws him a smirk. And I get this feeling that Dale wants to punch the smirk off his beautiful face.

Kaila giggles, eating the fries that she has ordered. While her mouth is full, she says, "I suddenly miss Kevin and Collins. If it weren't for me, those two wouldn't have been together."

Gloss rolls his eyes. "It's because you're a nosy little bitch."

"Well, if it weren't for this nosy little bitch, they wouldn't have been together." She says smugly, crossing her arms across her chest. "Aaahh. I miss them so much. Even Noah, and John, and Nero." When Kaila mentions Nero's name, Derek freezes, tenses, and sigh. "You miss Nero." She says to Derek.

There's no denying. So he tells the truth to everyone. "Yes, I do."

"Thanksgiving is near, which means they're coming home. So it's your chance, Derek." Gloss tells my Russian best friend. In reply, Derek nods. "Well... I'm not supposed to say this to you but... Noah might or might not have mentioned something to me about Nero missing you. And... according to Noah, he talks about you a lot."

Derek flushes, hiding his face in his hands. "Really?"

"Really," Gloss assures him. "So Nero might claim that he's straight as a ruler –"

"But rules bend, and when he comes home, you better go ride that cock of his," Kaila ends. When all stare at her with our jaws hanging in the air and she stares right at us. "What? We're not kids anymore. Derek better ride that cock until he comes and until he realizes that he loves Derek. If not, I always have a Plan B."

"That's not going to happen! I don't want to hear your Plan B!" Derek says, his face red in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, you won't." Kaila smiles wickedly, which makes her features dark and I feel Dale shiver. "But let's just think of that as of the moment. Today we celebrate the new gay couple, Dale and Beau." Everyone claps.

Dale links his hands in mine and I feel my heart does somersault, flipping wildly. I smile at our linked hands and think: He was in-denial, and he loved me, but he was in-denial, and that's okay. I love him. He loves me. We love each other. It doesn't matter if he was in-denial; all we know is that we love each other. And that's not going to change. And when I look at him, I know that he's thinking the same thing.

He leans down, captures my lips, and while he does that, he stares right into my eyes. I love him. He loves me. And the beat of my heart, syncing with his, is enough to remind us that we do love each other. And that we're fine.