“Biscuit will take care of you, I promise,” Charlie said, handing the beagle over to his mother. He’d finally managed to convince her that she needed a dog in her life.
Which was just as well, since he was officially moving out today.
Charlie had expected it to be bittersweet for his mom when he left, but she seemed to be taking it just fine. So far, it had been a bigger deal for him.
He wanted to live with Scott. He’d spent the bulk of his time in Scott’s home over the last handful of months, but he hadn’t decided to move out completely until now.
So far, Biscuit seemed like a good replacement for him. Easier to live with, probably.
His mom had put up with a lot of his crap over the years and never once complained. Charlie figured it was time to give her some much-needed peace and quiet.
“Well, if Scott ever stops taking care of you, you know where I am.” Mrs. Jules hugged Biscuit close, scratching behind her ears.
She seemed to like that, judging by the way her tail was wagging. She might have been old, but she had plenty of life left in her. She kept up with Chewie, now a six-month-old handful, just fine.
Or rather, she trailed behind him, but she always caught up. She’d even mostly stopped walking into furniture, although she’d have to learn the layout of this place from scratch.
Charlie knew she was up to the task, or he wouldn’t have let her leave Scott’s house.
Their house, now.
It was strange to think of things as theirs, but it was also really nice.
“I’ll miss you,” Charlie said softly. Even though he was excited to be with Scott, his throat caught at the thought that he was leaving home forever.
Well, he wasn’t leaving home, exactly. He was leaving this home, but he was making a new one.
With Scott.
Just like he’d wanted.
“You’ll be five minutes away. And you can always come back. Whenever you need to.”
“And I have to come to lunch on Sundays, anyway,” Charlie said, knowing the speech by heart now.
His mom was right. He was only five minutes away, and he’d always have a place here. Riley still did. Owen still did.
Charlie was confident that he’d always have his family.
He was just as confident that it included Scott now.
“I love you, mom,” Charlie said, ducking in for a hug. Biscuit made a tiny sound of complaint at being squashed, but Charlie knew she’d forgive him.
Scott’s footsteps on the stairs made him turn around.
“This the last box?” Scott asked, a box full of books in his arms.
“If it’s the last one in my room, yeah,” Charlie said. He felt a momentary pang of guilt at letting Scott do most of the work, but promised himself that he’d make it up to him later.
After all, they were about to spend their first night living together. That called for a little special treatment.
“It is,” Scott confirmed. “I’m amazed we got it all in the car.”
Owen had loaned them his car so they wouldn’t have to carry every box all the way to Scott’s place. It wasn’t far to walk unburdened, but ten trips carrying heavy boxes of books and other things would have been difficult.
Charlie kissed his mom’s cheek and followed Scott out.
“I don’t own all that much stuff,” he said.
“And most of it is books,” Scott pointed out as he loaded the last box into the back seat.
Charlie held out the car keys for him. He still couldn’t keep his eyes off Scott when he was around.
That was love, he supposed.
Whatever it was, it was nice. The thought of getting to come home to Scott every day was exciting.
“I’m driving?” Scott asked.
Charlie shrugged. “I don’t know how, so…”
Scott blinked at him. “I’ll teach you,” he promised without missing a beat. “But maybe not today. Unless you wanna?”
Pressing the keys into Scott’s hand, Charlie barely suppressed a shudder at the thought. “Not today. Maybe sometime. I probably should learn.”
“Then we’ll get a little runaround car, and I’ll teach you. It’s really not all that hard. Once you learn it’s all automatic.”
“I believe you, but only because I trust you,” Charlie said, heading for the passenger-side door.
“You can always trust me.”
Scott climbed in on the driver’s side, boxes stacked high behind him.
“I know,” Charlie responded belatedly. “This is the first day of the rest of our lives, huh?”
“Sure is.” Scott grinned. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“That’s okay,” Charlie said as Scott started the engine. “You’re the person I’d most like to be stuck with.”