The Present: This Far

There is a saying that goes, when good things happen, they happen in twos and they were.

This was what Leo was thinking as he sat in class after the end of his lectures. Yes, he was here now. In the University of Keya doing the course of his choice. He was waiting for Dylan and he was taking longer than usual.

He looked around and smiled. He couldn't help remembering all those days he was just wishing and hoping but here he was. At the university of his choice.

He took out his phone to check what was new on social media as he waited for Dylan so they could go home together and he ignited the looks he was getting and pretended that he also couldn't hear them talking about him.

'Did he say home?' He smiled. Yes. Dylan's house was now like a second home to him. He even lost count of the times he had spent his nights there. Sometimes he even failed to understand Dylan.

Leo was supposed to be the housekeeper but at the beginning of his second year in the University, Dylan insisted they get a woman to help when they were in school. Leo tried arguing that he could do it but Dylan would have none of it. Leo then agreed but on the condition that Dylan cut his pay in half which Dylan agreed to but Leo still received his full pay and whenever he confronted Dylan about it, the man said that he forgot to ask his secretary to call the bank. This had gone on for years now and he knew that Dylan just didn't want to do it and so, he went with the flow.

He even smiled at the thought that people in the university call them boyfriends. He doesn't mind it because who wouldn't love to have a gorgeous man as a boyfriend anyway? But he hoped that Dylan didn't hear it since Leo didn't want him to be or feel uncomfortable in any way.

Over the past few years, Dylan had become the anchor that Leo could rely on. It was because of him that his brother now was in a good high school, his mother had a professional nurse tending to her and here he was. All because of the pay he got from Dylan. And miracles never cease to happen because he even got a scholarship from the university in the condition that he maintains his GPA above 4.2 which was no problem at all. That he could do. It was like the heavens were paying him for all the pain.

Emma and Emily were still in the same university but they had stopped harassing him every chance they got because they knew he was under the protection of Dylan. But that didn't stop them though. They made sure that Leo didn't have any friends in the school. They spread gossip and rumours but that didn't deter him. It was even better for him because he had all the time to do his school work since he didn't have any distractions except...

"Hey there? Sorry I'm late. Didn't mean to keep you waiting. Our last lecturer for today kept us explaining some things because we have to go in the field starting next month," Dylan said as he interrupted Leo's train of thought.

"Have you decided on which company you will do your attachment in? Have you even applied for it?" Leo asked.

"I don't need to apply. I will just do the attachment in my company," Dylan said.

Leo smiled at that. He sometimes forgot who Dylan was. Dylan held Leo's hand and pulled him up.

"Let's go eat. I'm starving. Plus I want to take you somewhere," Dylan said with excitement evident in his voice.

By now, Leo was used to the intimacy from Dylan. Dylan had no problem holding his hands, hugging him, giving him pecks and even cuddling him when they slept. Dylan insisted they sleep in his bed whenever Leo would spend the night and by now he was used to it all. Right now as they walk through the corridors, people were giving them stares and as usual, Dylan pretended not to see them as he talked to Leo.

Leo was trying to ask where they were going but Dylan was telling him it was a surprise. They left the campus walls and boarded Dylan's vehicle and Dylan drove away.

Leo couldn't help but reminisce about all the times Dylan had treated him better than his family had. Dylan had been like a big brother to him and he was still questioning himself on whether all this was real or it was a nice dream that he would soon wake up from and go back to that hell hole he had been living in before Dylan.

This was the life.

Leo couldn't ask for more. He was happy and content and he wasn't a greedy person.

But fate is unpredictable, isn't it?