Chapter Text
“I don’t want him going.”
Wes’ mother said once again as she pouted to herself and fiddled around in the kitchen. Wes eyed his father knowingly, but Jeff just kept his eyes trained on the newspaper in front of him and didn’t respond. The seconds ticked by with Wes eating his breakfast being the only sound in the entire house until Sheryl sighed heavily, more to show her annoyance than out of annoyance.
“Wesley is eighteen years old,” Jeff said calmly, his eyes never leaving the paper. “He can do as he pleases.”
“He’s our son,” she continued as if Wes wasn’t even there. Frustrated, she gave up moving things around on the counters and came to sit at the table between the two men. “I don’t want you going, Wes. Please reconsider.”
The blond finished his french toast and shook his head no. “Sorry, mom, but everything is all set. Travis and I are driving up to the mountains tomorrow. We’ll only be gone a week and we won’t be doing the harsher hikes alone, don’t worry so much.”
Since moving out, Wes rarely saw his mother. Not that he saw much of her before but now it was even less. Because he was of age, there was no agreement in place about how often he would see her and the two never discussed it. She came by sometimes to see him though, and Wes figured that was meant to be nice. She was usually more of a pain than anything else at this point but he appreciated the gesture. Or at least told himself to.
Jeff still worked a lot but he and Wes had carved out breakfast out at least once a week and every other week Travis joined them. The three often had dinner together as well but more often than not the couple were left to themselves there. At first it really bothered Wes that things seemed to fall apart so quickly after they seemed to come together but after the initial annoyance, he realized it was inevitable. It just wasn’t meant to be and the more he thought about it, the happier he was that he took that shot with Travis.
At least he knew they’d never have the same types of problems.
“Camping can be dangerous.”
“Money got us an RV. We’re sleeping inside.”
“What if it breaks down?”
“Travis is a mechanic.”
“Money?”
Wes started to pack his things to start getting ready to head over to Travis’. They had wanted to leave bright and early this morning but Travis hadn’t’ wanted Wes to miss out on breakfast with his dad. If Wes had known his mother would be stopping by, they would have gone out to eat. “You mean his brother or actual money?”
“Actual money, dear. Do you have any?”
“Plenty, just in case.” They weren’t expecting to need too much with all their preparations in place but Wes, if nothing else, was a planner. They both had money stashed away but his dad had been more than generous in helping them. He thought it was a great idea for them to get out before their summer jobs started and because school was technically over for both of them, he didn’t care what Wes was doing with his time now.
“I just think you’re too young to be vacationing with your boyfriend, honey.”
“I’m sorry, mom, but Travis and I aren’t planning on slowing down in this. If the University wasn’t so close already we’d move in together.”
“He’s always welcome here, son,” Jeff interrupted, partly because he truly wanted to remind Wes and partly to annoy his soon to be ex-wife. Wes and Travis had slept there together as many times as Travis’ place now. He really liked the young man for all his wild and spontaneous tendencies. He didn’t say it but he truly hoped he stuck around. The way Travis helped Wes and supported him when he and his mother had not spoke volumes of his character and while he’d never just say it out loud unprompted, he’d stick up for the young man in an instant.
A shared smile between them was the only acknowledgment of what was said. “Gotta go, love you both.” He kissed his mother’s cheek and hugged his father before rushing out the door before his mother could call him back.
If he knew the new dynamic of them by now, his father would continue to read the paper in silence until his mother gave up and left the house. His father would then rearrange everything back she moved. His father didn’t cook much before the separation. The kitchen was his mother’s area so the first thing his father did after she moved out was rearrange the place. Whenever she visited she tried to put everything back.
He tried to put it all from his mind but couldn’t manage it until he pulled into Money’s shop and saw Travis checking over the RV for what Wes knew was probably the tenth time in the last several days.
“I just want to make sure it’s good,” Travis insisted as he shut the hood. He was sure he and Wes could handle any problems. If nothing else, Jeff, Money, and Wheels were only a phone call away to help. He could see the look Wes was giving him, but luckily the blond said nothing. He just wanted everything to be perfect.
“Are Money and Wheels here?”
Travis shook his head. “Money had something for work he needed to do and Wheels went off to Alex’s early. So that means…” Travis inched closer with each word, taking Wes’ face in his hands and kissing him deeply. “...just us.”
Wes let out a breathless laugh. At the beginning of the year, he would have absolutely hated that idea. Now he hoped it was that way forever. “We should get going.”
“One thing…”
Travis reached in his back pocket and handed Wes a neatly folded piece of paper. Wes opened it carefully, his eyes widening for just a moment before he jumped happily into Travis’ arms, kissing him again. “I told you you were going to get in!”
Travis smiled. “Yeah, baby, you did.”
Honestly, Travis thought Wes was the only one who really believed in him. Wheels and Money were supportive but sometimes there was too much damage; too much “bad things happen to us” mentality to really believe in anything good. Wes had received his acceptance letter earlier in the week, though it remained unopened. They talked about opening them together but Travis knew there was no doubt Wes had been accepted, especially since he was already being scouted as an assistant coach for the tennis team, and Travis was worried he wouldn’t get in.
Wes wasn’t foolish enough to give up his own dream school to stay with Travis. Besides, there would be no point, what with the university only being forty-five minutes from them. But Travis knew it would ruin their plans and he wanted Wes to be proud of him.
“Come on, let’s go.”
As they settled into the front seat, Wes reached for the radio but Travis put his hand gently over his, stopping him. “What’s that saying? Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cakehole.”
“That’s not a saying, it’s a quote!”
“Should be a saying.”
“Well, it’s not. So shut your cakehole and move your hand.”
“Rap.”
“Jazz.”
“Jizz, did you say?”
“Travis,” Wes warned with no real heat other than the embarrassment on his face at the word.
“Every other song we switch?”
“No! We’d wind up switching the station and it’d be halfway through a song.”
“Tell you what: tell me how you feel about me and I’ll let you pick whatever music you want.”
Laughing, Wes said, “I love you, you idiot.”
Travis took his hand away and started off down the road. Wes played with the music a little but eventually settled on Travis’ favorite station and reached over to take Travis’ hand.
After a moment, Travis reached forward and changed the station to jazz. “I love you, too.”