This is the last chapter! Hope you liked it :) (Comments are always appreciated...)
A bit of dialogue from S1E5 is referenced.
TWs: Mention of unpleasant memories/experiences from prior chapters. Nothing new.
It took almost two months of scheduling and rescheduling, but the last Sunday in September that year ended up being what Ted referred to as B-Day.
"Come on, it makes perfect sense," he argued as Trent rolled his eyes yet again. "That B stands for a lot of things, Trent. I mean, we got B for bikes. B for birthdays. B for by ourselves time. Respect the B."
"And I'll ask you to respect my not wanting to call it that, thank you very much," Trent muttered as he carefully maneuvered Allie's SUV through traffic. He wasn't used to driving a vehicle so much larger than his own with or without two bikes attached to the back of it. But Ted still hadn't gotten the grasp of driving on what he kept calling the wrong side of the road, so Trent was behind the wheel, as he was on all their dates they had to drive to. "I can't wait to not be around other cars or people."
Ted held tight to the backpack in his lap, which he hadn't let Trent put in the back seat of the SUV with the picnic basket, cooler, and blanket. Trent had a horrible suspicion Ted got him a birthday present even though they had both agreed to not get each other birthday presents. (Which was why Trent made Ted a birthday present—because that technically wasn't getting him one—and he was ready to defend his actions if/when questioned using that same logic.)
It had been a busy past few weeks. After the article came out, requests for interviews with Ted popped up like weeds in a garden, ranging from in-person panel shows to podcasts to other print publications. Trent's full name hadn't actually been in the article (to his relief), but paparazzi started showing up outside restaurants, classes, and the gates of Nelson Road whenever Ted was leaving and Trent had been with him on multiple occasions so it wasn't hard to put two and two together. It was unsettling for Trent being the one written about instead of being the one writing.
(He was writing, though. The conversation Ted and Giles did gave Trent the idea for a book of interviews and more conversations between groundbreaking LGBTQ+ athletes and/or coaches in professional sports outside of just football. Claire connected him to a publisher friend and Trent got the go-ahead to start researching people he hoped to pair together or talk to himself.)
As predicted, though, tabloids got bored with Ted and Trent after a while because they weren't all that exciting. They knew they were being watched, so they were extra mindful to keep PDA to a minimum. Holding hands or a hand on the other's back was pretty much as far as they went in public. One time Ted was photographed kissing Trent on the cheek. Trent was photographed sitting alongside Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins at a couple Greyhounds matches. He felt bad not being able to bring Alice to any of the opening matches to cheer on Coach Ted, but he was determined to keep her picture out of the paper.
Once the season started, Ted's free time dwindled. Texts and voice messages were exchanged throughout the day and the couple nights a week they were able to be together became sacred. It was never really discussed, but Trent's flat became their home base because of Alice. Though Allie offered to take her niece more nights than she had the year prior around that same time, Trent declined. He didn't want Alice bouncing from one place to another so much during the school week, but her normal weekend stays with either her aunt and uncle or her grandparents were upheld. If his parents were aware that he was dating Ted, it wasn't because he told them. They never asked, but he also never offered up the information. He knew eventually Ted would need to meet them, but he was putting that off as long as possible.
That last weekend in September, though… Alice was with her grandparents until after dinner that Sunday night, so Trent and Ted had almost the whole weekend to themselves. (Except for the Saturday home match… Richmond tied Man City 1-1 with a lone goal from Dani Rojas.) After spending a quiet Saturday night in at Ted's, they dropped Trent's car off at Allie's and borrowed her SUV because they couldn't figure out how to safely attach two bikes to Trent's car.
Though they were technically celebrating both of their birthdays—born just over a year apart—Trent requested to plan their outing by himself. Neither of them were celebrating milestone birthdays and they had only been together four months, so he didn't want to do anything too over-the-top, so that's why he planned for Ted to teach him how to ride a bike then. Trent was wary for a lesson around other people, so he looked up parks on the outskirts of London where he and Ted could picnic and have some space and could potentially be alone. If anything, at least they would be less likely to run into someone they knew.
It was a relief that the park's car park was empty when Trent finally pulled into it. He unbuckled his seatbelt but didn't move to exit the SUV. Ted already had one leg out of the vehicle, but he stopped when he saw Trent hadn't opened his door.
"You okay?" Ted asked, concerned. Trent inhaled through his nose and nodded a couple times, his body tense. Ted looked at his watch. It was nearing 11. "You wanna eat first or try the bike first or…" When Trent didn't say anything, Ted pulled his leg back into the car and shut the door, still clinging to his backpack. "I know you planned today's between birthday adventure, but there is zero pressure from me to follow through with it. B-Day can stand for bail too. Brunch elsewhere. Go back to bed and binge-watch any television show of your choosing including The Newsroom again, even though I still wish you would give Sports Night a gander. I just wanna be with you. Unless you'd rather be by yourself? Because your wish is my command, sir."
Trent's shoulders had relaxed a bit, mid-Ted's ramble. He turned in his seat so he was facing Ted. "Why are you being so patient with me today?" Ted's face immediately scrunched up into a that's a dumb question face, at which Trent nearly scowled. "Fine. Why are you being extra so patient with me today on top of your normal amount of so patient?"
Ted chewed on his lip long enough for Trent to almost tell Ted to just spit it out and not worry about sparing Trent's feelings with the answer.
"Picnic brunch. The bike lesson… I wasn't gonna bring it up, I swear, but I know this was all stuff you were supposed to do with Thomas. And that made me wonder if you wondered how different your life woulda been if those things happened when they were supposed to. If you went to group brunch with your friends that day because you knew how to ride a bike instead goin' back to your place alone with Thomas. Because that was it, right? That was one of those life definin' moments you maybe didn't realize was one while in the moment, but it changed your life forever and now you're either tryin' to rewrite some history or maybe make a new memory you can attach bikes and brunch to," Ted said, almost too quickly. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I went ahead and read way too far into your plans and me sayin' all this out loud is just makin' things worse. Which, if that is the case, feel free to leave me right here in this parkin' lot and I will call a cab back to my apartment."
It was almost unnerving how well Ted knew Trent, though Trent wasn't surprised. He had said it over and over again—Ted could read people far better than he could. And Ted was right—Trent was trying to make a new memory in an attempt to remind himself a little less of one that shaped nearly half of his life.
"Did you have one of those with Michelle?" Trent asked quietly, looking at his hands in his lap instead of Ted. "A life defining moment that you didn't realize was one until well after the fact?"
"We did," Ted chuckled. "In a parkin' lot, actually. It was the first time we met. We were the only two people in this big old parkin' lot on campus. It was empty except for our cars and we were parked right next to each other. It was so random, but later I kept thinkin' how it musta been fate."
"Does that memory still make you happy?" Trent looked up to see that Ted was staring off into space, likely picturing that parking lot and Michelle. "Knowing now where it would lead you?"
Ted nodded, focusing back to Trent. "I mean, it lead me here, right? Michelle and I had a buncha good years before the bad ones. But there's no Henry without that parkin' lot. There's no movin' to Richmond without that parkin' lot. There's no meetin' you without that parkin' lot," Ted pointed out. "No one's guaranteed a lifetime of only happy moments—and I know I've had my fair share of sad ones—but I sure had a lotta great ones too. Plus, I know there's more to come with you."
"Do you think less of me that my memory of Thomas coming back to my flat that day doesn't make me happy? Even knowing all the good that eventually came from it?"
"What? No! Never." Ted let go of his backpack and brought a hand to the side of Trent's face, his fingers sliding easily into Trent's hair. Trent leaned his cheek into Ted's palm. "Didn't y'all have a fight? Trent… if I'm gonna think less of you, it's because you insist tea is an acceptable beverage option, not because somethin' sad still makes you sad."
"Tea is an acceptable beverage option, Ted," Trent said with a small smile.
"It's not," Ted said, faux-dead serious as he pulled his hand away from Trent's face and held back onto his backpack. "But I'm willin' to stay with you in spite of your wrong opinion about it." He put his hand on the handle to his door. "I'm gonna get out now. It'd be my utmost pleasure if it gave you pleasure to join me."
Trent opened his own door before Ted opened his, causing Ted to laugh out loud. While Ted shouldered his backpack, Trent opened the side door of the SUV and grabbed the cooler, as that's where his birthday gift for Ted was.
"Can you get the blanket and picnic basket? Or I could probably throw the blanket on top of this," Trent said as he shut the door with his foot.
"Nah, I got it," Ted said, stacking the blanket on top of the basket, shutting the door with his foot, and then following Trent into the grassy part of the park. "You want me to spread this out under a tree or somethin' or are you a middle of the grass kinda guy?"
Trent laughed as he turned to address Ted, "I love you, but if you think I'm sitting on the ground, you're ridiculous…" He stopped walking, realizing what he just said.
Grinning like he had a secret, Ted stopped next to Trent. "So… I'm ridiculous, huh?"
"Is that the only part of that sentence you heard?" Trent asked.
"No sir, I heard the whole thing," Ted said, still smiling. "You gonna try and walk that back or are you gonna own up to it this time?"
"This time? I—" Trent started before stopping himself. "Wait, why aren't you the least bit surprised?"
Ted laughed out loud as he nodded toward a picnic table. "That one okay?"
"Yes, fine," Trent said as they headed toward the table together.
"You really wanna know why I'm not surprised?" Ted asked.
"Genuinely, yes," Trent said.
"Because you kinda already said it once," Ted said. "I mean, you didn't say the words, but you still said the words."
"When?" Trent demanded.
"When I called you while I was in Kansas over the summer. I was mad at Michelle for tellin' me to move back and then we were talkin' about Alice and sharks and I was makin' all those bad shark puns," Ted said. "You said you liked me more than I like puns, referencin' an even earlier conversation. And I reiterated that I love puns. And you said 'I know.' Meanin' you knew what you were sayin' because you're always real careful with how you word things. So you said it, but you didn't say it. But now you said it."
"I said it," Trent said, setting the cooler on the bench of the picnic table. "I've never 'I love you' first to anyone. I mean, I've only ever said that to two people outside of my family, but…" He grabbed the blanket off of the picnic basket Ted was still holding. "You're still smiling."
Ted shrugged. "Well, you did kinda just make my day, so that's on you."
"And are you going to keep calling attention to it, or can we press on like I didn't just embarrass myself?" Trent asked, spreading the blanket over the table.
"There is absolutely nothin' to be embarrassed about," Ted said as he set the basket down and took off his backpack to help fix the blanket-turned-tablecloth. "I love you too, you know."
Trent stood up and put his hands on his hips. "You don't have to say it just because I did."
"I'm not, trust me," Ted laughed, still fixing the blanket. "I've almost said it many times."
"So why didn't you?" Trent asked.
"I was worried about sayin' it too early." Ted said as he opened the picnic basket and started pulling out containers of food. "Didn't wanna scare you off."
"How early?" Trent asked, folding his arms across his chest. It wasn't an aggressive action, but, rather, one of self-preservation. He thought back to before he and Ted were dating and how he was pretty sure he already loved Ted and had convinced himself of that on more than several occasions. Then, once they were together, he realized the feelings he had felt for the other man throughout the previous football season were actually tepid sparks compared to the ever-spreading wildfire for Ted that started burning inside of him ever since they got coffee after the Brentford match.
"Definitely when you dropped me off at the airport," Ted admitted. "I almost blurted it out right there in the car. And… let's see… that first mornin' after you spent the night. When I saw you wearin' jeans for the first time. Last weekend when I was puttin' away Alice's bedtime stories and saw there were new children's books about Kansas on her shelf. Heck, in the car on the way here when you said, 'I can't wait to not be around other cars or people.' The fact that you actively choose to be around me when I know I'm a handful—how can I not love you for that?"
"So you were going to wait me out this whole time?"
Ted shook his head as he set out plates and the cutlery Trent had wrapped in cloth napkins. "Nah. I woulda said it soon." He frowned. "I wasn't tryin' to be withholdin' or anything and I'm real sorry if it came off that way. No one's ever said they loved me first because I'm always the one jumpin' the gun with my feelings. I didn't mean to make you think you weren't loved."
"Hey, no," Trent said as he came over to Ted's side of the table and took both of Ted's hands in his own. "I have never felt more cared about by a partner than I have by you, and you didn't have to say anything for me to feel that. It's in how you are with Alice. It's in how you are with me. How you're looking at me right now," Trent said softly. "You haven't been withholding, Ted. You give and you give and you give. And I would give anything to give you the whole world in return. I mean that."
"Why would I need the whole world when you're already standin' in front of me?" Ted asked.
"Now see—how am I even supposed to measure up to that? You're the best at loving people. It's your gift," Trent said, as he let Ted's hands go and went back to his side of the table. "Speaking of gifts… I know you got me a birthday present."
Ted's mouth dropped open, looking genuinely shocked. "How?"
"You wouldn't let me handle your backpack and it's suspiciously full," Trent pointed out. "We agreed, Ted. No presents."
"Right. So I hope you didn't get me one," Ted said.
"I didn't," Trent replied. "I made you one."
"What, like a craft?" Ted said with delight.
"No," Trent said as he flipped the lid of the cooler open and pulled out Ted's pie case. He set it in the middle of the table.
"You made me a pie?!" Ted exclaimed as he opened the case. "Wait—what flavor is that?"
"The recipe was titled Aunt Sally's Peanut Butter—"
"Creamy Dream Pie?!" Ted was nearly shouting. "You made my Aunt Sally's pie? Where'd you get that recipe? Two people have access to that and none of them are me."
"Well, that's the thing, see… I had a lovely chat with Janet Lasso a couple weeks ago when I was trying to figure out what kind of cake you would want today. Turns out it wasn't cake her son requested most birthdays, it was pie. But not just any pie. I told her I wasn't the best baker, but I wanted to surprise you. So I guess now three people have access to that recipe and still none of them are you," Trent said with a wily smile.
"Well, heck," Ted said, as he yanked open his backpack and set an oddly shaped, but beautifully wrapped, package on the table.
Even without opening it, Trent knew what it was. "Is that a bike helmet?" he mused, his voice fond from the supremely kind gesture that Ted's gift was.
"Safety is sexy," Ted grumbled. "I can't believe you made me Aunt Sally's Peanut Butter Creamy Dream Pie."
"Don't get your hopes up," Trent said. "It's likely not going to taste anywhere near as good as it should."
"The romantic gesture alone has earned you 10s across the board," Ted sputtered. "'How am I even supposed to measure up to that?'" Ted poorly mimicked Trent from before, accent and all. He gestured wildly at the pie. "You secretly tracked down an all-but nonexistent pie recipe that I know I have never mentioned, Trent. Talk about showin' someone love without usin' words, even though you're the best at usin' words. I know this ain't a competition, but you're obviously winnin'."
Trent waved a hand toward the unopened bike helmet. "Well… you're trying to protect my skull. I would argue that is deserving of high marks as well."
They stared at each other, Ted breathing heavily from getting so worked up over everything. Trent was not so secretly pleased with himself for surprising Ted with the pie, but he was taken aback with how… animated it made Ted. It wasn't a fight, per se, but it was the loudest they had ever spoken at each other.
"Are we bickerin' because we're hungry?" Ted asked, as if could read Trent's mind. "'Cuz I'm not mad at you at all, but I know I was talkin' real loud like I was. You just got me all flustered to the point where I'd probably propose if you pulled out my Uncle Timmy's burnt ends with a side of Mama's coleslaw."
"I only had the pie recipe," Trent said, his cheeks warm from Ted bringing up proposing. "Shall we have dessert first?"
Ted tried to fight back a smile, but he couldn't. "Trent Crimm with a solid idea, yet again." He sat down on his side of the picnic table. "I'm so glad you don't have a peanut allergy."
"Between me or peanut butter, you would choose peanut butter, wouldn't you?" Trent asked as he pulled a wrapped knife and pie server out of the cooler.
"Well, that's a choice I thankfully don't have to make, so I'm not gonna," Ted said. He pulled two wine glasses out of the picnic basket and gasped. "Did you bring that weird sparklin' wine we found?"
"I did," Trent said. "I looked it up online and it said it paired well with chocolate. Not quite sure about peanut butter."
"Come on, grapes and peanut butter have been buddies for a long time. We are elevatin' a classic pair," Ted stressed as he got up and went to Trent's side of the table to grab the bottle from the cooler.
"Would you like to cut this?" Trent asked since Ted was now standing next to him.
"And be the one responsible for destroyin' your culinary masterpiece? I don't think so," Ted said, venturing back to his seat. "I can't believe Mama flat-out gave you Aunt Sally's recipe. I mean, any pie would have been a welcome surprise… but this is…" He got real serious. "I don't even know what I could compare this to so you'd understand how much this means to me."
"Oh, I think I know… it's how you made me feel when you brought Alice two cups of different temperature water on our second date," Trent said, relishing in how easy the knife slide through the pie filling. He hoped that meant he made the pie correctly.
Ted's shoulders dropped. "You tryin' to make me cry on purpose?"
"Never," Trent said with a smile. "How big of a slice do you want?"
"However much you want to give me," Ted replied. "Sometimes Henry likes cold water in the middle of the night. Sometimes he don't. I didn't know what Alice's preference was, so I brought both. I didn't think that was somethin' worth rememberin' months after the fact."
"I hold all your interactions with Al close to my heart," Trent admitted as he placed a piece of pie on a plate and handed it to Ted. "You're so good with her. And I know you'll try and tell me that it's because you're a father too, but it's more than that. And it's more than us being together because you've treated her with the same kindness from the very first time you met her in the park that day."
Half of Ted's mouth slid up into a smile as Trent cut himself a slice of pie. "I always say how I love meetin' people's moms because it's an instruction manual as to why they're nuts… but the rules apply to meetin' dads too. Alice might be the nicest kid I ever met. I knew that from the jump. And I know you don't think she has an accent, but from my point of view, there is nothin' more charmin' than an unprompted please or thank you from a British tike. Alice Crimm is more polite and funny and smart than most adults I know and that's 100% because of you."
"I wonder what you'll think of me after the Gerald and Eliza Crimm experience," Trent said as he stabbed at the end of his pie a little more forceful than he needed to. "I'm actually quite surprised you haven't asked to meet them."
Ted put a huge forkful of pie into his mouth and smiled. "Well… that's not for me to ask," he said while chewing. "Only you get to decide if and when I meet your folks. I know I still don't know everything that's happened between y'all, and that's not for me to ask either. Look… I'm not lookin' to be in a relationship with them, Trent, just because I'm in one with you. You trust me with your kid. Your sister and I get along. You sure seem to like me enough. That's more than I could ever want right there. I'll be glad to meet 'em when you want me to, but I ain't startin' that conversation." Ted pointed at the pie with his fork. "FYI: For a first attempt, you knocked this clear out of the park. I am so impressed right now I could kiss ya, but I kinda wanna finish this first in case this is all just an extremely detailed peanut butter creamy dream and I'm gonna wake up soon."
Trent swallowed his bite and took a sip of his sparkling wine, which did complement the pie nicely. "Thank you for being you." He held up his glass to Ted. "Happy B-Day, Ted. I love you more than you love this pie."
"Oh, boy… that is a lot of love. And you said B-Day. There is no toppin' that," Ted said with his eyebrows and glass raised. "So I'll just say… thank you for lovin' me as I am and thank you for lettin' me love you as you are."
After clinking their glasses together, Trent slid a foot next to Ted's under the table and they finished their pie, chatting about seemingly nothing and everything.
When the wine bottle was empty, with Trent having drank a majority of its contents, Trent held out both hands to Ted. "Present, please."
If Ted knew how tipsy Trent was, he didn't let on, but there was a glint of mischief in his eyes as he handed Trent the wrapped gift.
Trent tore the gift wrap off and shoved it into the cooler so it wouldn't blow away. The helmet was shiny and an odd shade of deep blue. There was a wavy white line cutting through the middle of the helmet. "Is that supposed to match my hair?" he asked as he set the helmet on top of his head. He knew he must look ridiculous, but Ted was staring at him so adoringly that it didn't matter.
"I was right," Ted said. "Safety is sexy."
"Oh shut up," Trent said, not at all meaning it. "We should probably at least put the pie away so nothing can get to it."
"Oh, are we ridin' now?" Ted asked, quick to get to his feet to keep Trent's momentum going. "Yeah, let's cover this up. We're comin' back to it later, though, right? Like we aren't puttin' everything away for good?"
"Right," Trent said, also standing and tidying up a bit (helmet still on). "We're riding bikes and then we're eating more food because I made those bacon-wrapped figs you like and there's fresh hummus."
"Okay…" Ted said, grabbing the knife before Trent could and wrapping it back up.
With things put away, Trent and Ted walked hand in hand to Allie's SUV. Trent let Ted get the bikes down by himself since he seemed to have it under control (and his arms looked really nice in that sweater…).
Ted clicked the clasp on Trent's helmet's strap and adjusted it so that it was snug but not too tight under his chin. "That feel okay?" Trent nodded. "You doin' okay?" Trent nodded again. "All right."
"So…" Trent said with a heavy sigh. "How do I do this?"
"Do you want me to hold the bike for you while you get on it and I can talk you through it? Or do you wanna watch me do it and I can kinda narrate for you what I'm doin' and then we can try it together?" Ted asked.
"The second one," Trent said. "If you could demonstrate, please."
"Okay," Ted said as he undid the kickstand on one of the bikes and walked it away from the SUV. "So… I put my leg over the crossbar like this, see? And then I move my right pedal so the footrest part is up top like this. And then I kinda just go. As I put my right foot down onto the footrest part and pedal forward, I put my left foot on its pedal and then I move both my feet at once while I try to keep my balance and steer with my hands. See?" Ted rode in a large circle before pedaling toward Trent. "And when I wanna stop, I squeeze the brake with my hand like this to slow down and then when I'm goin' slow enough, I put one foot on the ground and then the other." Ted slowed his bike down and dismounted exactly how he described he would. "Ta da." He looked at the incredibly serious look on Trent's face and got a little concerned. "You want me to show you again?"
Trent nodded. "But I want to try to do what you're doing while you're doing it. It does all seem fairly straightforward."
"Okay," Ted said. "Why don't we walk the bikes away from the car so we got plenty of space?" (They did.) "All righty… you tell me when you're ready."
Trent touched his glasses and nodded again. "Okay."
"Okay," Ted repeated.
Together, they did everything Ted was instructing aloud. Trent never needed him to slow down or repeat himself, as the directions were clear and Ted's pace was accommodating.
Despite being just a tad tipsy and more than a little flustered about looking silly in front of Ted and being mad at himself for putting this off for so long, Trent was getting the hang of it. He managed to pedal a couple meters before feeling himself lose balance. He squeezed the brake a little tighter than he probably should and put a foot on the ground, but he and the bike stayed upright. He managed to do this several times, riding longer each time before losing balance.
"You okay?" Ted called over. He was doing slow loops around the car park, never getting too far from Trent, but also not getting too close so Trent could have space.
"Yes, thanks," Trent said loudly.
When Trent didn't push off again, Ted pulled up next-ish to him. "You callin' it quits?"
"No," Trent said defiantly. "I'm going to circle this entire car park once. Then I will pack it in."
"You can do this," Ted said confidently.
"I can do this," Trent said (more to himself than Ted) as he put his right pedal up. After a deep breath, he kicked off. Though he was a little shaky at first, Trent stayed upright and picked up a little speed. It was still slower than even the slowest Ted had gone while showing him what to do, but he was riding the damn bike.
He was grateful Ted hadn't shouted at him during the loop, which was much longer than he thought. Concentrating on all the mechanics of it—the rhythm of both his legs, having to balance himself, turning his arms a bit and leaning ever so slightly into a turn—Trent was prouder of himself than he expected once he stopped his bike near the SUV.
Ted was on the verge of bursting with excitement, but managed to keep it reined in until Trent was fully off the bike and his kickstand was activated.
"YOU DID IT!" Ted shouted as he threw his arms around Trent. When he pulled out of the hug to kiss Trent, Ted almost clocked his forehead on Trent's helmet. "Whoops." Trent fumbled to unclasp the chin strap, but it was Ted's fingers that got to it first. Ted removed Trent's helmet and set it on the ground, never once taking his eyes off of Trent's face.
Trent felt weirdly exposed. He knew his hair was a mess and that his face was flushed from the alcohol and his nerves, but he couldn't move.
With gentle fingers and a wide grin, Ted brushed Trent's hair off his forehead and tucked it behind his ear. Helmet out of the way, Ted cupped his hand behind Trent's head and kissed him slowly. Ted's tongue tasted of peanut butter and it was Trent who was then grateful he didn't have a peanut allergy.
"You're a great coach," Trent said softly when they parted, looping a finger through Ted's belt loop. "Thank you for helping me."
"It was my absolute pleasure. I love learnin' new things with you," Ted said. "You'll be showin' that to Alice in no time."
"We'll be showing that to Alice," Trent said.
"I love hearin' you say we," Ted said with a chuckle. He nodded back toward the picnic table. "You hungry?"
"God, yes," Trent said as he rested his forehead on Ted's shoulder.
"Well, you did bike a lot," Ted remarked, sliding both his arms around Trent. "I mean, you went the whole way around." Trent pinched Ted on the side, causing Ted to yelp. "Ope! Yep! I deserved that." He squirmed away from Trent, though he was still smiling. "You want me to put the bikes back on the car, or you wanna just park 'em near the picnic table while we finish up?"
"We can put them by us at the table for now," Trent said as he picked up his helmet and looped the strap over one of the handle bars.
For the first time in a long while, Trent felt like everything was going to be okay. Sure, there was always going to be challenges to overcome, but in that moment he was unflinchingly happy.
When they got back to their picnic table that sunny September afternoon, Trent sat next to Ted instead of across from him. They leaned into each other as they ate, laughing with—and listening to—one another. Knowing his thoughts and opinions were going to be heard and appreciated meant more to Trent than he would ever be able to articulate. It wasn't that Ted agreed with him about everything—because he most certainly did not—but Trent felt respected and understood in a way he never fully did before. And it wasn't that Ted was trying extra hard to fill that void for Trent… Ted was just being Ted, which in turn allowed Trent to find and be himself.
Nothing's as easy as riding a bike when you don't know how, even though bike riding turned out to be as easy as everyone said it was.
A lot less easy—but far more rewarding—embracing yourself for being exactly who you are and accepting the unconditional love being funneled toward you because of it.