His Tiny Sun

Chapter 24 - Protective

CHAPTER 24

Protective

“I just realized…”

Jonah looked at Alan, who had an adorable spring in his step as they walked toward the restaurant where he’d left his car. He was grateful for Alan’s suggestion; their leisurely stroll under the late morning sun was melting his tension away. “Hm?”

“In the very first comment you left me, you said I owed you a warm meal.” Alan slowed his pace and gave him a bright grin. “I paid my debt yesterday.”

A pang of embarrassment pierced Jonah’s stomach. He didn’t regret telling Alan the truth—he couldn’t have kept it a secret forever—but he hadn’t expected to feel this vulnerable at the fact that Alan now knew he’d been the author of those comments all along. “You did,” he agreed.

Alan picked up the pace once more, his mischievous blue eyes no longer peeking into Jonah’s soul, easing his discomfort slightly.

When Jonah had started reading Alan’s stories, he had no reason to believe they would one day become more than acquaintances. He was just about to dump Eric, so he simply assumed he would never see Alan again. For that reason, he’d poured more of himself into his comment than he normally would have.

He should have left it at that, but when he became Alan’s friend on social media and saw his post expressing how happy his comment had made him, Jonah couldn’t resist leaving more. Soon, when it became clear that they were both attracted to each other, Jonah had used Alan’s comment section to compensate for all those moments he’d been too scared to do or say what he knew would have put a smile on Alan’s face.

Knowing Alan, he would soon read all his comments again, and study every single word in search of hidden meanings. What if Jonah had written something stupid? Or worse, what if he was no longer able to leave comments like those in the future, and accidentally made Alan believe he didn’t enjoy his writing anymore ?

Alan sighed. “The weather is so nice!”

“It is. This was a good idea.”

Alan made a cute little sound and reached for his hand. His smile was so big, Jonah couldn’t help wondering if his cheeks would hurt by the end of the day.

Probably not , Jonah figured. Alan had more practice than most when it came to smiling.

He must have impressive facial muscle mass.

The silly thought made Jonah smile.

He was relieved to find out that Alan wasn’t nearly as out of shape as he’d led him to believe. The fact that Alan wasn’t intimidated by the prospect of walking one hour to get to Jonah’s car—his own suggestion—was great news.

Maybe they could go hiking from time to time. Alan would probably stop every three minutes to take a picture of a flower, a bird, or a bee, but it would still get him moving and give them an opportunity to spend some quality time together, just the two of them.

Alan squeezed his hand. “Is there something you’d like to do today?”

“Go home and grab a change of clothes.”

“That’s boring.”

“At least I won’t stink. What do you want to do?”

“We could grab some snacks and have a picnic at the park?”

With how fast Alan answered, Jonah had no doubt he’d prepared a list of activities they could do. “Sounds good. My mom made some éclairs yesterday, I’ll snatch some.”

Alan bounced on his heels. “Mmm!”

“Yeah. They’re pretty good.”

Alan halted and looked at him like he was trying to solve an impossible riddle. “I thought for sure you didn’t like dessert.”

Jonah shrugged. “I like it with moderation.”

Alan narrowed his eyes, but his smile widened. “Is there anything you like with no moderation?”

“Uh…” Jonah resumed their journey, focusing on the sidewalk ahead while he racked his brain. His fifteen-year-old self would have known exactly what to say: drink, date, draw—his immature version of the popular motto.

That was before Elliot was murdered, of course. During the year following his death, what he’d done with no moderation was to cry, sleep, and stare at the holes he’d punched into his bedroom wall.

The only thing Jonah did with no moderation nowadays was to worry about Alan’s safety, but Alan had specifically asked what he liked to do, so it wasn’t a valid answer. Not that Jonah would want him to know either way. “I can’t think of anything. You?”

Surprisingly, Alan didn’t seem disappointed by his answer—or perhaps he simply didn’t let it show. He let go of Jonah’s hand and enumerated on his fingers, “I invested two thousand hours in my favorite video game. If I start watching a new series and I like it, I won’t stop until I’ve watched every episode—or until I pass out. I have to stay away from sour cream and onion chips because I’ll keep eating them until I puke. When I like an anime character, I read every single piece of trivia I can find and spend hours looking at fanart.”

Alan stopped walking and turned to face him, the look in his eyes making Jonah’s heart flutter—with a slight undertone of panic. “And…”

“…And?”

“And”—Alan reached for both of Jonah’s hands—“I think about you every minute of every day.”

Jonah’s pulse quickened as he held Alan’s adoring gaze, the warmth in his chest enveloping his anxiety into a blanket of affection. “I guess,” he said, his heart beating savagely against his rib cage, “that’s something we have in common.”

A tiny gasp escaped Alan’s lips, right before he threw himself at Jonah, who caught him in his arms with a chuckle and a kiss.

“Fucking faggots.”

Jonah tensed, every single cell in his body blazing with an inferno of rage as he put Alan down. He turned around to look at the asshole who’d just ruined their moment, the fucker just walking away like a fucking coward.

“Jonah —please don’t listen to him, it doesn’t matter.”

“ Stay here,” Jonah ordered, not giving Alan the time to protest before he’d started walking toward the piece of shit, soon catching up with him. Surely, the dude had a death wish; he was barely taller than Alan and clearly hadn’t seen the inside of a gym in forever. “The fuck did you say?” Jonah snarled as he tugged on his shoulder to make him turn around.

“Don’t touch me,” the man spat out with a grimace of disgust, before turning back around and resuming his walk.

“Tonight,” Jonah said loud enough for passersby to hear, “while you cry yourself to sleep thinking of all the pussy you’ll never get, I’ll be sucking this gorgeous man’s dick—”

Jonah dodged the sloppy fist aimed at his face with ease, then retaliated by punching the pathetic excuse of a man in the stomach, making him double over in pain. Jonah snatched his collar, then whispered into the piece of shit’s cheap cologne scented ear, “And when I make him come down my throat and swallow his load to the last drop, I’ll be thinking of you.”

“You sick fuck ,” the man wheezed.

Jonah snickered as he turned on his heel and walked back to his gorgeous man , who had both hands pressed against his mouth. “C’mere,” Jonah said, pulling Alan into his arms and pressing a heated kiss on his lips.

Alan squeaked in surprise, but kissed him back—albeit hesitantly. “You didn’t have to…” he said with a tiny voice.

“I did.” Jonah cupped the back of his head and looked deep into his eyes. “No one— No. One. —has the right to humiliate you.”

A smile appeared on Alan’s lips. “People are staring,” he whispered. “Maybe we should keep going.”

Jonah grabbed Alan’s hand and resumed their walk, fury and affection fighting for the right to settle in his chest. Giving that man a lesson had felt good, but it didn’t change the fact that the piece of shit had ruined a beautiful moment between them—one during which Jonah had allowed himself to be vulnerable and do what felt right, even if it scared him. It left a bad taste in his mouth, and he feared an irrational part of himself would register the incident as evidence that opening up was a bad idea.

Alan squeezed his hand, pulling him out of his ruminations. Jonah gave him a glance, finding him smiling sheepishly with an adorable blush on his cheeks. “Do you mind if I write a story about it?”

“A story?”

“Yeah…” Alan bit his lower lip for a moment, seemingly trying to convince himself to voice his thoughts. “It was hot.”

Jonah raised his eyebrows—he had not been expecting such a reaction from Alan. “What was hot?” he asked, a small smile growing on his lips .

“You know what I mean,” Alan whined.

“I don’t,” Jonah teased. “Enlighten me.”

Alan stopped walking abruptly and looked him in the eye. “Well, for starters, there’s nothing hotter than a tall, strong, handsome man taking my defense. But seeing you proudly declare your attraction to me? Loud enough for anyone to hear? Please . I can only get so erect.”

Jonah snorted at the last part. There was no doubt about it: Alan and Sean would get along. “Fine, but only if I’m allowed to read it.”

“You’ll be the first to read it.”

“Deal.”

They resumed their walk, all of Jonah’s anger now completely melted away.

“What did you whisper in his ear?” Alan asked after a moment.

Jonah smirked. “Something that will make him remember me.”