Carter's POV:

It's been two weeks since our first date and things have been going pretty good. We're not officially dating, but we've gone on a few dates together, with Jeremy sometimes taking me out and me sometimes taking him. We call each other almost every night, text on and off all day, and I haven't felt so genuinely happy like this in a while.

For the most part, in my life, everything was kind of muted and I was fine, just going day by day, but Jeremy has lit something in me. All the time, I'm eager and motivated, and there's a passion inside of me that I hadn't even acknowledged until I had someone setting it alight.

Right now, I'm walking downtown to the local shoe store that Jeremy got a job at. He insisted on getting a job so he could pay rent to Vincent, even though Vincent told Jeremy that he was willing to help him out. Jeremy, being the stubborn brat that he is, refused and found a job and has been working after school and on some weekend days.

He still makes sure he has plenty of time with me, so he takes some evenings off and most Saturdays. Also, the place isn't really a hotspot so it's pretty relaxed and his boss is a great person who allows a flexible schedule.

I open the door and Jeremy's boss and the owner of the shop, Avery, looks up and waves to me. They're really friendly and opened the shop after graduating business school.

"Your boyfriend, oh, sorry, boy friend," they say, emphasizing the space between boy and friend, "isn't here."

I look at my watch, showcasing that it's only five. "Doesn't he get off at seven? I brought dinner before we go to my house and make out on my couch."

Jeremy had never really been allowed to have fast food when he was younger, so I've been getting him snacks from different places.

Today, I got him Wendy's because he has no clue what a frosty is and he deserves to try one. I also got him chicken nuggets, which he really likes, and some fries, though I know he prefers the one from McDonald's.

"No, he got off at six," Avery tells me, brushing their dyed hair out of their eyes. "I was surprised you weren't here to get him, honestly. And seriously, making out on the couch? At least take the kid to bed."

I huff. "That's because he told me seven..." I grab my phone from my pocket. "And my bed is for cuddling or sex, so we're staying on the couch."

It's not like Jeremy to tell blatant lies, and he usually lets me know where he's going for safety purposes. He's really relaxed with me knowing where he is, and the fact that he didn't tell me anything unnerves me a bit.

Me: have you heard from jer? he got off work an hour earlier than he told me

Vincent: I'm not sure. The only place I can think of him going to is the church, honestly, cuz he's not here. I'll text him but please find him!

Me: ok

"Well, I don't want this food to go to waste, so here," I say, handing Avery the bag of food and the frosty. "Guess we'll have to go get food before I make out with him on the couch."

Avery takes the food and grins. "Thanks, Carter! Appreciate it!"

I wave to them and head out the door toward the church that my dad goes to, and when I arrive, I find Jeremy sitting in the pews. Beside him is Father Juan, and the two seem to be discussing something together.

Instead of bothering him, I sigh in relief and text Vincent to let him know that Jeremy is alright and I found him. Their talking is too quiet for me to eavesdrop, but I can see that Jeremy is relaxed and I think he may be smiling.

That's good to see; I've never seen him smile in a church before, even though I only saw him at the other church once with his family. Before they abused him to the point that he couldn't walk and he took cover at my apartment.

Fuckers.

Jeremy turns and seems surprised to see me.

Father Juan follows his eyes and waves me forward.

"Hey," I say, sliding into the pew beside Jeremy. "Sorry to interrupt. I went to get you from work and I was worried when you weren't there... you told me seven."

Jeremy shrugs. "I wanted to speak with Father Juan... I don't know why I didn't tell you, but it just felt like something that I wanted to be alone for."

"I can leave you alone," I say, trying not to sound offended because he deserves to have time to himself should he want it. "I didn't mean to interrupt, I was just worried about you."

Jeremy takes my hand in his. "I'm almost done. You can stay now. It was just earlier stuff that was a little difficult."

Father Juan continues to speak with him about his plans for next steps and God's appreciation for him even if his family doesn't approve. Most of it goes ignored by me, because it's Jeremy's business and not mine, and I just rub my thumb over the back of his hand.

"Thank you, Father," Jeremy eventually says, standing up and pulling me with him. "Come on, Carter, let's go."

He leads me out the front doors of the church, still holding my hand tightly. His palms are a bit sweatier than they usually are, which is kind of unsettling. It means he must be a bit stressed, because only stressed Jeremy gets really sweaty palms.

"I got you Wendy's for dinner but ended up giving it to your boss because you weren't there," I say, taking off my jacket and putting it over his shoulders because he's shivering.

Jeremy wraps my jackets further around himself. "We can go to my place and use DoorDash," he says. "It's closer, anyway."

He also discovered how a credit card works, even if he doesn't have one yet, and he likes using DoorDash because it's easier than going out. Of course, I'm the one who actually pays for it because I have a credit card, but Jeremy always offers to pay me back.

Not that I allow him to, because he's way more broke than I am.

He has a debit card, which he recently set up when he got his job, so whenever he wants to take me on a date, he uses that. A lot of our dates just consist of going on walks and being together, or staying in and getting to know each other.

"Alright," I agree, and we begin the walk to Vincent's apartment.

It's pretty cold out, but I know that Jeremy prefers walking to riding in a taxi or an Uber. He also has an extra jacket now (that's actually mine) so he's not shivering like he was a few seconds ago.

The walk to the apartment is silent, but Jeremy did grab my hand earlier and he's still holding it gently. He seems a little on edge and quieter than he usually is around me, but I don't ask him about it because he seems to be in one of his moods where he wants to be left in silence and he'll talk about it when he's ready.

I order food once we get to Jeremy's apartment and sit down on the couch beside him.

He's staring off into space.

There's some kind of Grey's Anatomy-esque show playing on the television, and he's looking at it, but his eyes are glazed over. Our hands are still intertwined, and he's leaning on me a bit, but not as much as I would have liked.

"What's wrong?" I ask Jeremy, and he seems to zone back in. "You seem way to invested in this show and I know for a fact that you're not into medical soap operas."

He smiles softly and looks at me. "I'm okay... I'm actually better than I was for so many years."

"Really?"

Jeremy nods, full of confidence and he's more relaxed than he often is when we're alone and right by each other like this.

"Yeah..." He takes my face in his hands and gently pecks my lips. "I know what I want. I'm not afraid... well, as afraid as I was before. I want to be with you, and I know you'll be able to teach me and be the person that I need. And I'll do the same for you."

I smile as I press my lips against his for the second time, and I can feel him smiling into it as well. My hands curl around his hips and I push him onto the couch on his back.

His hands have found their places- one on my face and one on my shoulder- and he's kissing me back. It's hesitant and I can tell that he's nervous, but I'm just glad he's reciprocating and that he's seeming to enjoy himself.

My tongue pushes into his mouth and Jeremy whimpers against me. I pull away for a brief second to check on him, but he grabs me back and tries to recreate what I just did with my tongue.

It's sloppy and pretty clear he's never done this before, but I find it cute that he's trying. His inexperience doesn't bother me because that means that at least I'll get to be the one to teach him.

That though definitely turns me on, but I try to relax myself a bit so I don't scare Jeremy off.

I reach under his shirt, running my hands all over his soft skin and moving my kisses from his mouth to his jaw and down his neck. It's cute how he runs his fingers through my hair and tries to imply that he wants my attention; I find it endearing.

I make my way back to his lips, but I hear someone clearing their throat behind us and I whip around.

Jackie and Vincent are there, with Jackie clutching a Wendy's bag.

"Hey," I say awkwardly, sitting up with Jeremy blushing as he follows my lead. "Uh... when did you guys get here?"

Jackie hands me the bag of food. "Early enough to not accidentally walk in on a porn show."

"Jackie!" Jeremy exclaims, covering his face. "We weren't going to-"

I gasp and put my hand over my heart. "You don't want to have sex with me?"

"We're not even officially dating, so no."

Jackie cuts in. "You're not officially dating my brother but you're dry humping him on my boyfriend's couch?"

It's my turn to blush. "Well..."

Jeremy raises an eyebrow.

"Jeremy, do you want to be my boyfriend?" I ask, and he grins widely.

"Yeah... yeah, I do."