Chapter 31

Once the investigation was officially underway, I started feeling overwhelmed again. I mean I definitely wasn't depressed like I was before- I was just stressed out. When I wasn't busying myself with school I was either in the art building working on my painting and talking to Alex, or I was at Vic's apartment. Most days I did both. For the first time in a long time I felt relatively organized, like I had all my ducks in a row. Juggling school and friends and a boyfriend wasn't easy, but it became remarkably easier when I was actively trying to distract myself.

"And you don't even know when the court date is?" Alex asked, while I kept my focus on the canvas in front of me. I was working on the base of it still; wanting to make sure every bit of it was perfect. It just absolutely had to be perfect. This particular painting was very tedious . . . and that was actually a good thing, because it gave me something to focus on besides everything going on.

"Nope, not yet," I sighed, not breaking my concentration. I knew he was standing in front of me, leaning against his desk. There were no students in the studio besides the two of us, and I kind of liked it that way. Everything was quiet and there wasn't any pressure. That, and Alex was able to carry conversation with me without having to pay attention to the other students at the same time. "I don't even know if they've found him yet."

"Would they tell you if they did?" he asked. I shrugged. I really didn't know much about how these sorts of things worked. "Well, hey, you know to let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"You're already doing it," I smiled, reminding him that he was letting me use his office hours to just sit with him and paint so I would have someone to talk to. I continued on my painting as Alex walked around

to see what my progress was. As I felt him looming over my shoulder, I sat up a little straighter, observing the painting as he did. I was more than happy with my progress on it.

"I think this is the best work I've seen from you," he said, after taking a few moments to watch me paint. My chest swelled with pride.

"Well, thanks, I've still got a lot of work to do on it, though . . . I'm really excited about it," I said, smiling. I set my paintbrush down so I could look up at him.

"You know, there's the spring art show coming up, I think you should enter this piece," he suggested. I thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. Art shows were great, but my goal wasn't to win anything with it. My goal was to use my passion to express my love for a certain Vic Fuentes.

"I don't know, I really want to give this to Vic when it's done," I sighed. "Won't I have to put it in the gallery for a while if I do that?"

"Yeah, but you'll get it back eventually, unless someone wants to buy it, in that case, it's up to you . . . I mean, you could always just bring him to the viewing."

"I don't think it would be very considerate of me to bring my blind boyfriend to a viewing ," I chuckled. Alex shifted a little uncomfortably. I always noticed that people who weren't used to being around Vic, or anyone with a disability for that matter, they seemed a bit more cautious with their words.

"Right, I'm sorry, I totally forgot," he apologized, shaking his head. "It's okay," I assured him. "Speaking of boyfriends, how's Gabe?"

"Oh, he's great," he replied, giving me a smile that I knew all too well. I knew it because I smiled the same way whenever I thought about Vic. The shining eyes, the upturned lips that just couldn't seem to stop. That was how I knew that Alex must have really loved him. And I really loved Vic.

I stayed just a little bit longer, until I reached another stopping point in my work. There was a bit of exhaustion that came with working on this one. More thought went into it, more research on a certain

style I was trying to achieve. It was a lot of work, but it was for Vic, so it was definitely going to all be worth it in the end. Just to see that beautiful smile on his beautiful face.

--

I knocked on Vic's door, with a smile slapped across my countenance. Seeing him was always the highlight of my day no matter what. And after a long day of working on my painting, there was nothing more I'd rather do than curl up with him and relax.

I waited for a few moments before the door opened to reveal one of their roommates, the tall one with the dark blond hair. I couldn't remember his name, mostly because I rarely saw either of the other people he and Mike lived with. Not by choice, of course. I would have loved to get to know the roommates Vic spoke so highly of, but everyone always seemed to be coming and going at different times.

"Vic's boyfriend, right?" he asked, placing who I was without any awkward explanations. I nodded shyly and he invited me inside. I looked around for Vic and Mike but I didn't see either of them anywhere. "I'm Dan, by the way, I don't think we've formally been introduced."

I smiled sweetly and said that it was nice to meet him. Which it was, he seemed like a very nice guy. "Where's Vic?" I asked.

"He's in the shower I think," he shrugged, leaning against the kitchen counter to reply to some message on his phone. "Mike and Jamie are out and I'm about to leave, too, so yeah. You kids have fun."

I smiled awkwardly as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. He gave me a quirky little wave before grabbing a jacket out of the front closet and heading out the front door. Once I was by myself, I could faintly hear the sound of the water running on the opposite end of the apartment. I had a small internal debate with myself over whether or not I should wait for him here, in his room, or just waltz right over to the bathroom.

I smiled and walked down the hall until I got to the bathroom that I knew he and Mike shared. I was about to knock on the door when the water shut off.

"Who's out there?" Vic's voice called from inside. I felt a bit of a smile tugging at my lips, because of course he heard me, and I just found that so endearing.

"It's just me," I said, evenly.

"Oh, hey, I'll be right out, give me like two minutes, sorry," he shouted through the door.

"Yeah, okay, I'll wait in your room," I told him. I sighed quietly and walked across the hall to the bedroom I knew was his and sat down on the bed. His room here was so bland in comparison to his room at home. There was nothing on the walls. I guess he didn't really have the time to ironically plaster his walls in photographs, and everything was clearly set up in such a meticulous way so that he could memorize easily where everything was. I didn't remember his room at home being this organized. Perhaps that just made it easier, I didn't know for sure.

A few minutes later, Vic emerged from the bathroom and walked into the bedroom. His hair was slightly damp, and he had only a towel wrapped around my waist. I couldn't help but blush a little as my eyes scanned over his body. He was thin and lanky, but breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hey you," he said, coming towards me. I stood up and met him halfway for a kiss. He smiled against my lips as his hands found my waist. His skin was warm and I could feel a bit of wetness from the shower still on him as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I love you," I told him, hugging him tight after I came out of the kiss. I rested my head against his shoulder, pressing my face against his neck.

"I love you too, of course," he grinned, still holding me. "How are you doing?"

"Good, I'm good . . . even better now that I'm here," I said, quietly. "I just want to cuddle, I've had a long day."

"That sounds good to me . . . let me at least put some pants on first," he laughed. I stepped away from him and sat back down on his bed. He moved over to his dresser and I'll admit I watched while he dropped his towel and felt around for a pair of boxers in his top drawer. My cheeks burned crimson, despite the fact

that I'd seen him naked before. Once he had the boxers on, I stretched out on his bed, shifting awkwardly to try and make it seem like I wasn't just watching him get dressed.

"Alright," he said, climbing into bed behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I smiled happily to myself and lightly placed my hands over his, fully taking in his warmth. "So that's what you came over for? Just to cuddle?"

There was a playful, teasing tone to his voice, so I just smiled the usual smitten smile I had when I was with him and twisted in his arms so I was facing him. He grinned slightly before parting his lips, his sweet breath tickling my cheeks.

"I just want to be with you, I don't care what we do," I told him, honestly. He held me tighter and placed a soft kiss against my jaw. I freed one of my arms and reached up to run my fingers through his dark hair. Our bodies were pressed close, and I could feel this intense warmth radiating off of him, which just made me want to be closer to him. I could never, ever, in a million years get enough of him.

"You're wonderful, Kells, you know that, right?" he breathed; letting his hands roam over my back. I noticed that as soon as he got too close to the lower region, his hands would jump ever so slightly and move back up. It was so small, but it meant that he was still respecting my boundaries, still trying his best to not upset me. Which, of course I appreciated, but . . .

"Hey Vic," I said, barely above a whisper. "Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say . . . you're . . . you're allowed to touch me if you want to," I said. My voice might have been wavering but I was genuinely okay with that. I loved Vic and I trusted him and I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. We had been through so much together in the past several months, and he had proved that to me in so many ways. I wanted to be intimate with him again, and I didn't want some asshole like Zack to take that away from me.

"Only if you want me to," he replied, softly. I studied him for a moment, my hand still gently resting against the side of his face. After only a few seconds more of contemplation I pressed my lips firmly

against his. My chest buzzed with excitement as his soft lips moved against mine. His scent was just absolutely intoxicating, just making the whole sensation that much more intense.

"Of course I want you to," I finally said.

"Well, that is good news, Kellin Quinn," he smirked, before rolling us so that I was on my back and he was hovering over top of me. I actually giggled as he tickled me, easing any serious mood that might have been there before. This was a safe place. Any place with Vic would be a safe place.

"Vic!" I laughed, as he dipped down to kiss my nose. When he popped back up, he had a hard time keeping down a laugh.

"That was totally lucky, I had no idea where your face was," he joked, rubbing his free hand obnoxiously over my face and making me laugh even harder. Something told me there was at least a little bit of truth to what he said, but he was playing it off as a joke anyway.

Once our laughter died down, though, the mood shifted again. The weight of his body on top of mine was comforting in a way, because I knew we both had control over what was bound to happen. He lowered himself over me, pressing his mostly bare body against mine. It felt good, and it felt empowering to be lying there, holding the man that I loved and kissing him like there were no worries in the entire world.