Page 61 of Hilarina and the Ogre

Trenton looked so vulnerable. So young. “I—” He seemed to want to run. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know. It’s alright, Trent. Really.”

“Why is this happening?”

“It could be a fluke. Dicks are weird. They do whatever they want. It doesn’t have to imply anything.”

“I know what it implies.”

“I mean, it doesn’t change anything. If you want to explore it, great. If you don’t want to explore it, also great. Either way, you’re stuck with me for life. What’s anything else next to that? Just a rounding error.”

“A rounding error.” Trenton blinked. Then his eyes grew wet.

“Shit. Sorry, I suck at—"

Trenton hugged him, a real hug, tight as always—even if it did make that part of him touch. “It’s okay?”

“Of course it is. You’d say the same to me, right? Could I be gross to you?”

“Sometimes. When you chew with your mouth open.”

“I get congested!”

Trenton grinned. Then he got misty-eyed again. He clapped a hand over his face. “Sorry, I—I’m just like this today.”

“Me too.” It had been an emotional morning. “I cried earlier, remember?”

“Is it a competition?”

“Yes, and I’m winning.”

Hilary pulled the hand away, went up on his tiptoes, and kissed that perfect mouth. “As long as you let me do that every day, we won’t have any problems.” He should have left it at that, but then he got that mischievous itch again, and added, “Though if I’d known I had a chance, I would have played the whore sooner. You like tights? What about thigh highs?”

Trenton ducked his head into his shoulder to hide. “You’re teasing me.”

“I’m serious about the thigh highs. Should we go and buy some? Or are all purchases off the table until we’ve topped off the car fund?”

Trenton stayed hidden. “If this is just a onetime thing—I mean, if it doesn’t happen again, will you be disappointed?”

“Do you think that you could be you and I could be me and ever be disappointed?”

Trenton stayed a little lost after that. Shy and nervous and sweetly innocent, but it was alright. Hilary just kept him close, keeping his hold like the boy was his little duckling. They both cried watching Tokyo Godfathers, an excuse to vent their feelings. “I just love you a lot,” Trenton said while he was attacked with tissues. “I thought about what you said. About being homeless together. I want to have a family with you.”

“Homeless?” Annette was alarmed. “What’s this about being homeless?”

Hilary forced some water down Trenton’s throat. “We’re already a family, silly.”

Chapter Seventeen

A Real Honeymoon Destination

It was that very night that they decided to drop out of school. Not just Wednesday hooky, and not just showing up until they were kicked out—but proper dropping out. And it wasn’t because of the bullying or the Liquid Ass. It was just that they were ready for the next stage of things. Winter break had given them a taste of what was to come, and they wanted more of it.

It left them quite a hurdle, though.

“Chocolate croissants,” Hilary told his partner. “That’s the only thing that has a chance of getting us through this alive.”

Trenton hadn’t done well going up against the school-obsessed Annette, but he’d been fighting the battle alone. This time he’d have help.