When Keith was so boldly truthful as to say what was on his mind and call Tanner out for being afraid, all the smaller teen could do was quietly nod. Looking up into the large young man’s beautiful blue eyes, Tanner sincerely apologized, “Keith, I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair of me to be frightened of you because of your size, and it certainly wasn’t fair of me to be so clumsy that you could tell”, he chewed his lip, “I guess it’s because, in school, all the big guys used to tease me because my family was kind of poor and I wore thrift store clothes”, he shrugged, “I didn’t really have the money to buy popular sneakers or expensive jeans. I gave all my money to my mom for food and rent and stuff”.
As they stepped outside, Tanner continued, “See, I’m the oldest of 6 kids and dad left us when I was 9. Poor mom was devastated, even though he was an abusive bum”. Taking a deep breath and running his fingers back through his hair, he chuckled, “Man, what am I doing? Trying to scare my roommate off?”. He really didn’t want to do that, because he liked Keith. Yes, already, he liked this big, kind, handsome guy that he was blessed to be roomed with. Walking this close to the big guy, Tanner felt a warmth wash through his body and he wondered at it. He had known for awhile that he liked guys as well as girls, but he had suspected in the last few years, that guys were getting a bit more of his attention. Before they had stepped out the door, Keith had said they both looked good. He emphasized the word good and Tanner hoped that meant something. Maybe he was just being silly.
“British Columbia! I did watch the Winter Olympics. What I got to see was beautiful, plus I have seen photographs in National Geographic. I’d love to see it sometime”, he looked up into the sky, “there are so many places I’d love to go”. Smiling, he snapped himself out of his dreamy mood and chuckled, “I’ll just settle for somewhere to sit down and have something good to eat for now though”. Looking up at Keith, Tanner wondered how tall the big man actually was; the slender blond looked small in comparison, even though he was 6’1”.Then again, he did have the build of a muscular 14 year old; the thought made him grin. The fact that he didn’t get beefy, like the Koskinen side of the family, had pissed his father off to no end. Looking up, Tanner thought he might see some places, “Keith, up there! Is that a cluster of restaurants?”, he asked expectantly.