“You ready, Ryans?” Seymour asked over the phone.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, Love,” Everett replied.
“Good, then I’ll be over to pick you up in five.”
“Y-yeah. See you soon.”
Everett hung up. He couldn’t help but imagine Seymour picking him up literally, even though he was the smaller of the two. Then he imagined himself picking Seymour up. He was excited for Seymour to arrive.
Seymour texted Everett to say he was there, and Everett hurried out.
“Thank god my brother didn’t notice me,” he said as he got into Seymour’s car. “He hates you.”
“Dude hates a lot of people.”
“You know what I mean. Even though he doesn’t know that we’re… you know. He’s still a racist prick.”
“Well, you never have to see him again after today.”
“Hell yeah, bro. Let’s leave this shitty town behind.”
Resisting the urge to kiss Everett right away, Seymour began to drive.
“It’s a damn good thing your brother didn’t hear the rumors about me, Ryans,” Seymour said.
“That’s why I agreed to go with you on such short notice, Love. Didn’t want to risk it.”
Seymour had been outed just yesterday, and he made sure to call Everett the first chance he had. He’d only suggested running away together as a possibility, but Everett was already on board with the idea. There was a good reason Everett had never invited Seymour over. He didn’t trust his brother not to commit a hate crime, and he was doubly worried now that Seymour had been outed.
Seymour lied to his own parents about his plan for moving out. He claimed he’d been planning it for a while, and had a place near the college he and Everett had gotten into. Really, they were going to have to figure it out as they went, but they were together. They were together, and they were safe.
And they were finally getting out of this shitty little town.