Avery ducked into the bar and looked around. It was rumored to be a gay bar, but it was really hard to tell. It wasn't as obvious as Avery had hoped it would be. He walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the wooden stools. He glanced up and his eye caught a strong looking man. His hair was cut short and it fell in waves just above his eyes. Avery was instantly attracted to him. He watched the man a little longer, not knowing how to approach him. Finally, the man looked up and saw his admirer. Avery blushed and looked down. Finally the man stood and walked over to him.
"Hello." He smiled.
"Hello." Avery nodded.
"May I..." The man glanced up around them discreetly. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asked. Avery blushed.
"Yes, I would really like that." Avery nodded. "I'm Avery." He held out his hand and the man shook it.
"I'm Thomas Night. It's nice to meet you." The man smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas Night was the best thing that had ever happened to Avery. The man was charming, and sweet, and gorgeous on top of all of that. He liked classical music just as much as Avery and they went to the symphony a couple of times. He was also discreet. They both knew it was socially unacceptable for two men to be together, so they kept their little secret together. it helped that Thomas had already had a child with a woman. He was twenty now and his kid was two years old. He wasn't together with the mother though, they just raised the kid together. It made it easy for people to see him as a family man.
Avery on the other hand was a loner. His father was never around and his mother had died of cancer four years ago. He was left to care for himself and was fine with that. It meant he got to see who he wanted, when he wanted. Such as Thomas.
Thomas, at least, hadn't fallen into the 'peace and love' phase of the 70's. Avery was convinced it was a phase. No one could be that high for that long, anyways. They both preferred to stay inside and entertain themselves with more...physical activities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Avery, this is Martha." Thomas introduced Avery to the mother of his child. The small four year old boy walked up, a toy in his hands. "This is my son, James."
"Hello, James." Avery smiled.
"Hello." James blushed and hid behind his father's leg.
"How old are you?" Avery asked, though Thomas had already told him.
"Four." He held up a finger for each year.
"That's pretty impressive." Avery winked at him. He giggled and hid behind his fathers leg again.
"Go and play, James." His father said. There was a reason they had come there that day. James took off with a plane in hand, making engine sounds.
"What's wrong?" Martha asked, already aware that they were on a mission.
"Give us a second, Avery?" Thomas asked. Avery nodded and went to keep James company. He sat there playing with toy soldiers with him when he saw Martha cover her mouth and start to cry. Thomas tried haphazardly to comfort her, but she refused to let him touch her. Instead, she slapped him hard across the cheek. He sighed and tried to say something but she interrupted by screaming something at him. Thomas lost his temper and screamed back at her. James and Avery both watched this and Avery couldn't help but feel guilty.
"Come on, Avery." He said. Avery stood up and waved goodbye to James before running after Thomas. The reason they had come there that day was because Thomas insisted on telling Martha what was going on between him and Avery. Avery felt her hateful gaze on his back as they walked away. Thomas was tired of sneaking out and didn't care what it meant for their safety, he just wanted to be free.
~~~~~~~~
Martha told everyone. Soon, the entire little town they lived in was against them. Thomas and Avery packed quickly, and fled to California. They settled down in a small town where nobody knew anything about them. Thomas knew he had family there and they had offered their home to them. Avery and Thomas had moved in right away, but were shocked when they saw the very large mansion they would be staying in. Avery loved the house. It was old and rustic and had a wise feel to it. Thomas always just saw it as a house, only the flaws were obvious to him. Thomas's Aunt and Uncle owned the house. The three story mansion was kept spotless and Avery and Thomas were each given a room, though they always snuck into each others at night to sleep together.
"One day, we'll own this house. We'll live here together and we wont have to worry about what anyone thinks. We can just be together." Thomas said.
"Promise?" Avery asked, he wanted nothing but that. he would be completely content if all he ever had was this house, and his lover.
"I promise." Thomas said. Avery fell asleep in Thomas's arms. Happy with the promise of peace, and the rustic mansion.
~~~~~~~~
Thomas's Aunt died 12 years later. When his Aunt died, his Uncle moved to Florida. It took longer than they had hoped, but their dream was becoming a reality. His Uncle gave him the house, and everything in it. The door shut as he left and Avery and Thomas stared at each other, it was theirs. Their dream was theirs, their house was theirs, and they had each other. It was all either of them could ever want.
They began living together. Sure, they had been living together before, but this was different. Avery would walk around the house singing and smiling. Thomas would pinch his ass playfully and they would stop and kiss like horny teenagers every five minutes. The master bedroom was theirs now. They were loving it. The large Casement window was Avery's favorite place. He would just sit there for hours. He would read a book, or listen to music. But it would always be by that window, with the two glass sides swung open. Months after the house became theirs, Thomas got a phone call.
"Hello?" He answered the phone. Avery looked up, they didn't get many calls. The person on the other end spoke and Thomas went a little pale. "Yes..." He said, and waited for the other person to speak. Avery put down his coffee and watched Thomas who stared blankly into space. "Wow...Yes of course. When?" he asked. Avery turned his head to the side and mouthed 'What?' but Thomas waved his hand at him dismissively and turned away. Avery walked around so he was facing him again. "That's great, I'll be there as soon as I can...Congratulations." He said. They said their goodbyes, and he hung up.
"Who was that?" Avery asked.
"My son." Thomas looked up at him, still holding the phone.
"How is he? He's about sixteen now, right?" Avery asked, putting a bowl in the sink and washing it quickly.
"Yeah...He just had a son." Thomas looked up at Avery who raised his eyebrows and turned to face him. "I'm a grandfather." Thomas laughed. Avery smiled a little.
"He's...young." Avery said..
"I know...But he's responsible. I'm sure he and his girlfriend will be fine." Thomas took a drink of coffee.
"You don't seem very worried." Avery leaned against the counter.
"Well...I'm not." Thomas wrinkled his nose. "I don't know the boy well enough to judge him anyhow." Thomas said.
"Do you ever regret that? Don't you want to know your son, and your grandson?" He asked.
"That's none of your business." Thomas snapped. Avery looked down, clearing his throat after an awkward silence.
"Sorry, you're right. I need to go start laundry." He excused himself, and walked out.
