As we barrelled down the motorway in my old, banged up second hand car I could feel Ash getting more and more anxious with every mile that racked up. Around half an hour ago he'd put it in his earphones while he stared out of the passenger window and I could hear upbeat k-pop music spilling out into the car and mixing with the sounds of passing traffic and the running engine. He'd been nervous about this trip for weeks and I'd had to spend a lot of time trying to keep him calm and reassuring him that everything would be fine. It had been two months since that fateful night that we had been intimate for the first time and I felt my heart start to race a little as I thought back to the moment I'd first seen him in his lingerie. Adjusting my cock in my trousers, I refocused on the road ahead, periodically glancing over at my best friend turned boyfriend as we drove. We passed a road sign as we approached our junction,saying that there was only ten miles to go until we reached our final destination. I could see his hands shaking slightly as his breathing got heavier, the telltale signs of an oncoming panic attack. He was doing his best to calm himself and I kept a careful watch over him as I drove, keeping an eye out for safe places to pull over if we needed to.
It was hardly surprising that he was so anxious, up until now, our relationship has been a total secret, only the two of us knew about the romantic and sexual bond we had formed. During the day, we went about our lives as normal, going to classes, the gym, grocery shopping, attending social functions with our classmates, acting as if we were nothing more than childhood friends. Our flat had become our sanctuary, our safe haven, where we could be ourselves away from prying, judgemental eyes. We'd shower together, eat together, cuddle and watch television together and of course, have sex, wonderful, intimate, romantic and sometimes extremely dirty sex. Ash had really bloomed over the past two months, settling into the role of a doting boyfriend, making sure I was always well fed and taken care of and in return, I protected him and kept him safe, holding his precious, bandaged heart in my hand and making sure that no-one would ever hurt him again.
He was almost always in Femboy mode at home, unless he was sick or particularly tired and it was easy to tell when he wanted some extra attention as he'd slip into something more revealing and provocative to catch my attention. We'd engage in a little game where I pretended to be clueless as he pranced around the flat in barely anything, bending over to show me his arse, fluttering his eyelashes at me and making suggestive comments to try and get a rise out of me. Sometimes when he really wanted to be dominated he'd start being deliberately bratty, refusing to clean up after himself and engaging in pointless minor arguments. We both knew what he wanted of course and once the tension had built up enough, I'd give him the hard fucking he so clearly needed as he apologised repeatedly for his bad behaviour, although we both knew he'd do it all over again the next time he wanted a thorough pounding. My cock swelled in my trousers thinking about all our sexy antics together over the past few weeks, but now was the time to push that down, he needed a loving partner and friend right now. 'Daddy' could, and certainly would, come out at a later time, but for now he needed to remain dormant.
As we pulled into the outskirts of town, he reached out to find my hand on the gearstick, holding onto me for support while continuing to stare out of the window. His breathing seemed slower and more measured now which made me relieved. He always seemed to relax more when he was touching me, like I was his safety net and just knowing I was there always made him feel better. Physical contact was definitely one of his love languages and we were almost always connected at the hip when we were at home, but now we were venturing out into the big wide world, more specifically our home town and as we pulled onto my parents driveway he finally pulled out his headphones and looked over at me. He was trembling like a leaf, lip quivering in poorly restrained fear. My heart almost burst with sadness and I reached over to pull him close to me.
"It'll be okay baby," I promised, "and I'll be right here beside you the whole time."
"Do you really think we need to tell them?" Ash asked in an almost pleading tone. He'd been hesitant ever since I'd suggested the idea, but I knew deep down it was for the best and so did he.
"We've talked about this," I answered, trying my best not to sound frustrated. "I don't mind keeping our relationship a secret at university, but I can't lie to my parents. They'll see right through me and you know how understanding they are. It'll be fine, and even if it's not, I'll still be here for you, always."
Ash leaned forwards, pressing his forehead against mine, eyes closed as he took long, deep breaths, fingers interlocked with mine as we sat in the silent car. "Okay. Let's do it," he said, "I trust you baby."
We shared a quick kiss before getting out of our respective doors, each looking around to see if anyone had noticed as I locked the car. It was such a rush, being intimate like this in public, but we were still afraid of the potential repercussions, as if some homophobe was going to jump out of a bush at any moment to hurl slurs at us. We walked to the door side by side and while I had my keys with me, I knocked regardless, waiting to be greeted by my parents.
The door was flung open as mum leapt forwards to wrap us both up in a huge cuddle, kissing us both on the head as she fussed over us, my dad leaning on the door frame with a kind smile on his face. "Oh I'm so happy to see you!" Mum exclaimed in between various excited hugs and squeezes. "How was your trip? Studying hard? Met any girls yet?" she asked in a chaotic stream of questioning that neither of us even had a chance to answer.
"Okay love, let the boys breathe for a second," Dad said with a chuckle as he stepped out of the house and took his mum by the arm to pull her back from us for a moment. "Good to see you lads," he said, rustling my hair while he gave Ash a warm smile. "Hope my Bruce hasn't been getting you into any trouble?" he asked Ash, with a raised eyebrow.
"N... no," Ash replied, as his cheeks flushed red, quite the opposite Mr Marston!"
Dad laughed, "how many times do I have to tell you Ash, you don't need to be so formal, you can call me Neil, you know that!"
"Yeah, I do, sorry Neil," Ash replied with a little smile as my dad stuck out his hand for a masculine handshake, my boyfriend's petite digits quickly engulfed by his tough, working man's hands. Despite them basically being his surrogate parents, he still had trouble accepting them as his own, not from any lack of love, but in my opinion, from fear of being rejected after his own parents had abandoned him so many times. A lifetime of being let down has got to result in you expecting it after a while.
"Come in, come in!" mum insisted, gesturing towards the house with her arm to welcome us in, "you boys must be so hungry after your journey and I've got a roast in the oven for tea!" she explained. Mum had always loved being a parent, it was what she lived for, which was partially why she'd so willingly accepted Ash into our home. She was the perfect housewife, cooking and cleaning to make sure her boys were well taken care of, but she was far from an outdated stereotype. She was a published poet and had actually won a few awards over the years and in truth, while dad came across as more gruff and stoic, it was mum who wore the trousers in the relationship. She ushered us both inside before heading off the kitchen to check on the food. "Cup of tea fellas?' she asked, head sticking through the kitchen door, a beaming smile on her face, absolutely overjoyed that her babies were home. We, of course, gladly accepted her offer.
Myself, Ash and Dad took a seat in the living room, me and Ash on the larger sofa and my dad on the little two seater on the opposite side of the room. We talked for a couple of minutes, Dad ranting about the current fuel prices for most of it, before mum came bustling in with a tray of mugs. She doled them out to each of us before taking her place next to Dad, giving him a glance which subtly said 'shut up Neil, you're boring everyone with your incessant petrol price chatter,' making him instantly clam up. Mum had always had a way of conveying things with just a look and it instantly made me feel at home seeing how they were with each other. I couldn't help but consider whether any of their habits had carried over to my relationship with Ash and without even thinking, I placed my hand on his thigh before quickly withdrawing it. Mum definitely noticed, but seemed to decide not to say anything as she bombarded us with questions about university life. We sat like that for the next twenty minutes, happily chatting away and I could tell that Ash's anxiety had lifted a little now that we were here.
Before we knew it, mum was getting up from the sofa to finish off our evening meal and the three of us joined her in the kitchen to try and assist as best we could. It was pretty cramped in there, but it allowed me to stand next to my boyfriend, soothingly stroking his back in between assisting my parents in plating up all the food. Once we had all been served, we funneled into the dining room to tuck into one of mum's famous roast dinners. A perfectly cooked chicken, crispy roast potatoes, stuffing, an assortment of veggies and generous lashings of gravy had me salivating in anticipation. I loved university life, the independence, the freedom, the new experiences, but if there was one thing I'd missed more than anything, it was my mother's cooking.
We all tucked in and for a few minutes, we mainly focused on eating, but conversation was quickly struck up again by my dad, who apparently had a burning question on his mind.
