InsaneJournal

Who: Evan Olson & Ron Martin
What: Picking up boyfriends and meeting family members!
Where: Ron's aunts place in Omaha, Nebraska
When: Afternoon, December 29th (backdated!)
Rating: SFW

It had been long Christmas break. Not that it was any longer than any other, but Ron had felt strange away from Dalton, his friends and his boyfriend. As bearable and even nice as the time spent at his aunt´s place was, he was looking forward to seeing them again. On the day when Evan was supposed to arrive, he could not sit still, he was so excited. He could not wait. Even though they have spent a lot of time on the phone with each other, it was just not the same.

Even Aunt Sophia pointed out how bouncy he was, unusually so. He simply blushed and shrugged. He had admitted over Christmas dinner that Evan was his boyfriend and it was accepted with a lot less fuss than he had expected. Aunt Sophia was actually very curious to see the boy that made her nephew so happy.

He had given his boyfriend the directions and now he was trying to sit still and focus on reading and not stare at his watch too much. It was difficult, though. And aunt Sophia probably felt the same because she had walked out of the kitchen several times to ask if Evan had called. Every time Ron had answered that no, he had not, she seemed a little disappointed.

She really did want to know what Ron´s boyfriend was like, because she liked how alive the boy seemed these days and she suspected that this Evan had a lot to do with that. If she had some guess about what this boy would be like, she was definitely not guessing right. How could she? She expected someone very similar to Ron, not someone so strikingly different.

Satellite navigation was a godsend. Evan was sure that he would have been completely lost without it, seeing as the journey was supposed to take around nineteen hours. He had set off from home with the promise that he would cut the journey in half, spending the night in a motel in some town in Wyoming. He had stopped late and started early, eager to get to Nebraska and to Ron.

It was around 3:30PM that Evan eventually passed into the city of Omaha. He was far from tired, having stopped for food and a short rest already. Plus the anticipation of seeing his boyfriend again was definitely adding to his alertness. It did take him a while to follow the satnav but he eventually wound up outside of a rather nice looking house that the screen in front of him relayed as the home of Ron's aunt.

Getting out and brushing himself off, he made his way to the door and rang the bell, waiting (im)patiently for somebody to answer.

Ron was on his feet before the bell even stopped ringing and at the door a short moment later. He opened at it and rewarded the boy on its other side with a wide grin. "Hi," he said, wanting to throw himself around Evan´s shoulders, but waiting for his boyfriend to do it instead. He was vaguely aware that his aunt walked out of the kitchen and was hovering somewhere in the background, but at the moment he paid her no mind.

Evan was surprised just how quickly the door opened. Not that he had much time to think about it before he found himself moving forwards, launching himself at the other boy and coiling his arms around him. "Hey," he whispered happily, nuzzling his face into the crook of Ron's neck as he closed his eyes and savoured the feeling of being so close to his boyfriend. Their time apart hadn't even been that long but it had felt like forever to Evan. Truthfully, he didn't want to let Ron go but he knew that he'd need to at some point. He wasn't going to be the first to pull back though.

They had not been apart for that long, but it was the first time they had been apart since they started dating. It was not surprise it had been difficult. Ron returned the embrace eagerly, pulling the other boy close to himself. "I missed you," he whispered. He was very reluctant to end the embrace, but not even the best things could last forever. After a moment that was without doubts long but felt all too short to him, he pulled back. "It is so good to see you. How was the drive?" He would be lying if he said he had not been concerned for Evan, knowing that the other boy was undertaking the long journey on his own.

As Evan felt Ron pull back, he copied him and quickly stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket in order to stop him touching his boyfriend. He didn't want to make any bad impressions. He was more than aware of the woman watching them, and he offered her a bright smile as he waited for Ron to introduce them.

"It's been okay so far," he said, his gaze flickering back to his boyfriend momentarily, "Long, but I feel the final leg of it will be a lot better."

Ron could not stop smiling, but he knew that he could not just start making out with Evan even though he really wanted to. "I hope so," he said, blushing softly. He shook his head then, suddenly remembering his manners. "Aunt Sophia, this is Evander Olson," he said, his tone almost shy, and gestured for his boyfriend to step inside properly. "Evan, this is my aunt, Ms Sophia Hunter."

Ron´s aunt had been watching the boys´ greeting much more curiously than she probably should have. She did not want to intrude, but she could not hide her curiosity. This boy looked nothing as she had expected and she was eager to learn more about him. When Ron introduced them, she offered the visitor a smile and reached her hand towards him.

Grinning at the woman, Evan moved forwards and made a point to close the front door behind him before reaching out for a handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said politely, remembering the manners his mother had drilled into him. He really did want to make a good impression and Ron's aunt was the first member of his boyfriend's family that he'd met. "Just Evan is fine," he then said, sending a small pout Ron's way at the sound of his full name.

Ron answered Evan´s pout with a small grin and a shrug. Really, Evan should be glad Ron had not included the middle name as well.

"It is nice to meet you, too," Sophia said, searching the boy´s face curiously. "We are glad you have got here safe. Ron says you´ve driven the whole way from Idaho?"

Nodding as he released Sophia's hand, Evan stepped back and returned his hand to his pocket as he moved back to Ron's side. "I set off yesterday morning," he explained. Although he ought to have sounded defeated by the drive, he was his usual happy self. "I figured that coming and picking Ron up would be easier than getting flights and such. I had to pass through here anyway." Turning to look at his boyfriend, Evan flashed him a smile and tried not to stare at him too much.

Returning Evan´s smile, all Ron could think about was how they could get past all the formalities and things as soon as possible just so that he could have his boyfriend only to himself now. Sophia was of a different opinion. She wanted to get to know this young man. She used to be rather worried if her nephew would ever grow this close to anyone and she was happy to see how excited Ron was to see Evan. "Good thinking," she said with a smile and a nod. "Even though that drive has to have been tiring..." She sighed. "Ron, you ought to get your licence one of these days."

Ron nodded. "I know," he said and that was all he was going to say on that topic. He simply did not feel ready to drive.

Aunt Sophia cast him a suspicious glance before shrugging. "Well, why´re we standing in the hallway, anyway? It´s nicer in the kitchen. And we still have some cookies that Ron hasn´t eaten yet." She gestured towards the kitchen and fully expected the boys to not need much prompting to follow her there.

Keeping quiet as Ron's aunt prickled him about getting his license, Evan removed one hand from his pocket and slipped it into Ron's own. He had tried to resist but he simply hadn't been able to manage it. It wasn't too bold a gesture and was definitely not inappropriate, therefore he felt it was okay.

"Cookies would be awesome!" the blonde exclaimed, giving his boyfriend's hand a light squeeze before waited to be led to the kitchen. They weren't in any hurry and Evan was eager to get to know at least one member of Ron's family. So far, his aunt seemed really nice.

Ron was happy for the hand in his and he squeezed it right back. He was definitely not complaining about it and as far as he could tell, his aunt was not complaining either. She led them into the kitchen, though she could not help but be surprised at the excitement of the blond boy. He was way more expressive than Ron and seemed so much more confident... she had not expected that. She was, however, not complaining. Hopefully he would be good influence on her nephew.

"Sit down and help yourself," she prompted them. She knew that when it came to all things sweet (or at least chocolate) Ron did have to be told twice and she had a suspicion, based on Evan´s enthusiasm, that the visitor would not be much more reluctant. The table in the kitchen was still set with a Christmas-themed table cloth and there were large plates with Christmas baked goods on it. "What would you like to drink? We have soda or tea or coffee... I´m not going to offer alcohol to the underage driver," she added with an amused smile.

Letting his fingers slip into the spaces between Ron's own, he followed obediently and sat down when prompted, keeping a loose hold on his boyfriend as he allowed himself to look around. Unable to stop the small chuckle at the mention of Ron's addiction to sweet things, Evan nodded. "Thank you," he said, leaning over and picking up one of the cookies before looking at his boyfriend with a grin.

"Soda is fine, thank you," he replied, pausing for the briefest of moments before taking a bite of the cookie. He hadn't eaten too long ago but to Evan that felt like forever, and so he made the smallest of groans as he swallowed. "They're really good."

Ron sat down to Evan, returning his grin and letting his knee press against his boyfriend´s under the table. He then reached for the cookies himself, taking one as well while his aunt served Evan soda and then leaned against the counter, watching the boys. "I´m glad. Don´t be shy and take as many as you want. We have plenty," she said. She wanted to ask many questions, but she did not want to be intimidating. It could wait.

Evan definitely didn't need to be told twice. Grinning broadly at the woman, he nodded in thanks as his drink was placed before him and he made a note to pick up a few of the cookies before they left. "So," he said after a moment, letting his eyes flicker from Ron to his aunt and back, "Had a good Christmas?" He had already heard a lot from Ron on the phone but it was still polite to ask.

Sophia liked this boy. She definitely liked how comfortable Ron looked around him. "It was pleasant," she answered his question and looked at Ron, who nodded in confirmation. "How was yours? Nice, I hope."

Pleased to see that both Ron and his aunt were in agreement, Evan shrugged slightly. "It was really awesome getting to go home," he admitted, sure that he would be unable to properly display just how nice it had been to go back to Boise. In being a family-orientated person, he relished the time he got to spend with his parents and siblings (even LJ, though Evan would never admit that). "I'm still pretty disappointed that there was no snow," he went on to say, the smallest of pouts on his lips, "But I guess everything else made up for that."

Ron chuckled. Of course Evan would complain about the lack of snow. "I am glad you have nice Christmas," he said. He had to admit, the Christmas with his aunt´s family was rather enjoyable as well. A lot less tense than it would be with any other part of his family.

"So am I," Sophia nodded with a smile. "We had some snow, but nowhere as much as we´re used to. So, what´re your plans next? Ron tells me there is some party..." She failed to cover the scepticism in her voice. Her nephew willingly attending a party? She had trouble believing that.

Evan's attention peaked at the mention of a party. He didn't fail to notice the look on Sophia's face and he couldn't help but laugh at her expression. "Yep, that's the plan," he replied with a grin, his gaze flickering to Ron for a moment, "It should be a lot of fun. Right?" Giving his boyfriend a cheeky look, the blonde squeezed his hand gently and hoped that Ron was simply hiding his enthusiasm. He didn't count on it, though he did hope that the other boy was at least looking forward to it a little.

Ron chuckled and blushed. He shrugged. "It should be fun," he admitted. "I am still taking a book, just in case."

Somehow Sophia was not at all surprised. She laughed and shook her head. "Is that even allowed?"

Scoffing, Evan shook his head and rolled his eyes affectionately before looking at Sophia. "He won't get a chance to read it," he said in a stage whisper, smirking ever so slightly as he gazed back at Ron. "It'll be fun enough without a page turner," he assured his boyfriend with a chuckle.

"It will probably be too loud to read anyway," Ron admitted, amused. "At least, it had been quite difficult last year..." He shrugged a little.

Sophia nodded. "It´ll be good for you, to have some fun," she said to Ron. Evan seemed determined to make Ron enjoy himself and she could only approve of that. She had no reason to worry her nephew would party a little too much and therefore she did not see a reason to offer a warning.

At the mention of the year before, Evan grinned happily. "It'll be a million times better than last year," he said confidently, "I won't make such a di- fool of myself this time around." Happy that he managed to catch his swear before he said it, he offered Ron's aunt an apologetic look just in case before taking another bite from his cookie to stop himself saying anything more.

Sophia arched and eyebrow while her nephew blushed and grinned. She was certain there was a story to go with that statement... "Should I ask?" she asked curiously. "Or am I better off not knowing?"

Knowing that Ron wouldn't tell the story, Evan quickly swallowed his cookie before shrugging slightly. "I got really drunk and ended up kissing him," he explained, not feeling the need to try and cover up his actions. It was what it was and Ron's aunt seemed cool enough not to judge. Besides, it had been a party. Surely everyone knew that teenagers got drunk at such things? "It wasn't exactly the best first kiss and we weren't together but it just happened..."

Ron blushed furiously. He wanted to say it would have been an okay first kiss if Evan had not spent the next few days apologizing, but he did not and instead shoved a cookie into his mouth. Sophia laughed. "Oh, that doesn´t sound so bad. The things I did when I was a teenager..." She shook her head. "No, you don´t need to know all that. I need to save my authority and dignity."

With a small laugh, Evan watched Ron and mimicked him, taking up another cookie and promptly devouring it. They really were very good. The conversation was also amusing and had Evan known Ron's aunt a little better, he would have pressed for a story or two. As it were, he didn't want his boyfriend to hear anything he might not want to, so he kept quiet and took a sip of his soda instead.

Having swallowed the cookie, Ron shrugged. "Maybe one day," he suggested. Not that he was not curious, but he was afraid to hear some of those stories. There were things one did not need to know about the authority figures. Aunt Sophia just chuckled and nodded. Maybe someday sounded like a good compromise.

Offering Sophia a smile, Evan remained quiet for a few more moments as he finished eating. Once both the cookie and his soda was gone, he sighed contently. "Thanks," he said again before turning to look at his boyfriend curiously, "When did you want to go?" He was content to stay as long as Ron wanted but it never hurt to know how much longer they'd be staying.

At Evan´s question, Ron bit his lip. "I can go whenever you want to," he said. "It is probably good that you get some rest, but it probably would not be good if we started the drive too late..."

Aunt Sophia shrugged. "As far as I am concerned, you are welcome to stay as long as you need."

With another nod, Evan pulled his cell phone out in order to look at the time. "We can just drive until we get tired," he said thoughtfully, "So as long as we leave fairly soon, it should be okay." Looking at Sophia, the blonde smiled, "Not that I'm eager to leave." He didn't want the woman to get the wrong idea.

"Don´t worry about it," Sophia said with a smile. "I won´t be offended if you boys leave soon - it´d be best for your safety to not drive through the night."

Ron nodded. He squeezed Evan´s hand and stood up. "Will it be okay if we steal some of these cookies?" Happy when his aunt nodded, he went on to search through cupboards to find some box to take the cookies in.

Standing as Ron did, Evan let his boyfriend's hand go before edging over to his aunt. "It was really nice to meet you," he offered, wondering if it would be too bold to offer a hug. Unlike Ron, Sophia didn't seem too terribly awkward or adversed to physical contact with someone who was pretty much a stranger. Therefore he held his arms open slightly, looking at the woman innocently with a small shrug.

Ron glanced at the scene with a small amused smile and started putting cookies into a box. He was glad that of all his family members, Aunt Sophia was the first one Evan got to meet. Meanwhile the woman was a little surprised to see the sign that he would accept a hug from Evan. Used to Ron, she did not think teenage boys were all that eager for hugs. She was, however, happy to offer one. "It was nice to meet you, too," she said and hugged the boy gently. She wanted to say how much she appreciated how happy Evan made Ron, but she did not want to do that with her nephew being there. "I hope you´ll visit again."

Pleased that the woman didn't deny him, Evan wrapped his arms around her briefly before pulling back with a grin. "We'll definitely do that if we're ever near," he said, only stopping and thinking about the term 'we' after he'd said it. Stepping back with a light blush, his hands returned to his pockets as he waited for Ron to finish packing away the cookies.

Ron blushed slightly at the pronoun. He still wondered how their relationship got so serious and stable so smoothly, but he was not complaining. "We will," he said with a nod before his aunt could react to it. He handed the box to his boyfriend and accepted a hug from Aunt Sophia as well, though a little reluctantly. "Thank you for having me over," he said as he pulled away again. She just laughed and nodded. "It was good to have you here." She looked at Evan: "Make sure you´re near more often. Because Ron always has a reason not to."

Accepting the box and holding it to his chest, Evan couldn't help but smile as he watched Ron hug his aunt. He'd never seen Ron with a member of his family before so it was interesting to witness. He couldn't help but notice how brief it was and although it ought to have made him frown, he couldn't bring himself to. He was feeling far too happy to be anything other than completely positive.

Upon hearing that Ron avoided being near, Evan's eyebrows arched and he glanced at his boyfriend before nodding. "Yes, ma'am," he said, "I'll do my best."

Aunt Sophia smiled at the blond boy gratefully. "Thank you," she said. She wanted to say that to her Evan looked like a keeper and Ron should definitely keep him (if for nothing else than for how happier her nephew seemed now than when she had seen him last) but she did not want to embarrass anyone and she had a suspicion Ron would be embarrassed.

Ron reached for Evan´s hand once the embrace was over and his hands were free. This had gone much better than he would ever have expected, but now he really just wanted to be with his boyfriend alone.

More than happy to resume holding hands with Ron, Evan followed him out to where they had begun and waited patiently for any final words or actions before they left. "Where are your bags?" he asked quietly as he stepped a little closer to Ron, "I'll go and put them in the car while you say your final goodbyes?"

Ron smiled at Evan. He kissed his cheek and then blushed. "That would be nice, thank you," he said. He nodded to the living room, where his luggage was waiting for him. "I will be with you in a few minutes," he promised.

Grinning at the chaste kiss to his cheek, Evan nodded and moved to where Ron had indicated. Grabbing his boyfriend's luggage, he made his way back outside and shivered slightly as an icy breeze ruffled his hair. He made short work of adding Ron's bags to the trunk, closing the door before moving to lean back against the driver's side door in order to wait for his boyfriend.

Ron made a short work of saying goodbyes to his family before following Evan outside. He paused on the steps for a moment, grinning at the boy leaned against the car. This was an interesting sight. If someone told him a year ago he would have a boyfriend to pick him up and drive him to a party... He would have probably considered it rather amusing. He made a point of enjoying the moment before walking to Evan and wrapping his arms around his neck. "We can go," he said before brushing his nose against his boyfriend´s.

Wrapping the arm not holding the box of cookies around his boyfriend's waist, Evan beamed at the small display of affection. "I missed you," he whispered, leaning in and pecking Ron's lips lightly. Of course, he was talking about the entirety of the break and not just the past few minutes, although that was definitely included too. As much as he wanted to give his boyfriend a proper greeting, he was unsure whether or not Ron's family were watching from the windows. Since everything had gone okay so far, he would have hated to ruin it now. So he vowed to wait until they were both in the car before doing anything further.

Kissing the other boy lightly again, the blonde smiled. "How do you like my new wheels?" he asked, turning his head to peer at his car for a moment before grinning at his boyfriend excitedly.

"I missed you, too," Ron said. He smiled at the short kiss, but he could not wait to get a proper greeting - he really had missed the other boy a lot. He looked at the car. "It is really nice," he grinned with admiration. It was a nice car, even though Ron had never cared much for vehicles.

Evan was very much under the same impression. He had been ecstatic to have received a car and honestly hadn’t expected such a grand gesture from his parents. He really was extremely lucky.

“We should get going,” Evan eventually said, unhappy to have to break from Ron but eager to get inside the car. At least in there they would be able to get warm.

"We probably should." Ron nodded, pulling away from his boyfriend rather reluctantly. He walked over to the passenger´s side.

Once both of them were inside the car and buckled up, Evan turned to his boyfriend and smiled. Although it was going to be a long drive, there wasn’t anybody else who Evan would have wanted to share his car’s maiden voyage with.