Moving to 215 SummerWood St.

"Apparently not. It's weird as hell that there's so much furniture and shit leftover. Isn't it normal to take most of your stuff with you when you move out? Or to have some family inherit it if you die? Or for someone to at least sell it?" Tom eyed the odd circular bed. He had slept on a few in hotels, and he wasn't too fond of them, a person his size usually just didn't fit right on it. He wondered how he and Georg would both fit on one. It would have to work somehow.

Tom turned to his boyfriend. "I don't know, though. The other room is bigger... so it'd be better for the two of us, don't you think?"

"Maybe she really did kill someone..." Georg's eye widened at the thought.

Wait. The two of them?

"Huh? Well, considering there's only going to be one of us living in each room, it's still up to you," he countered neatly, applauding himself slightly. That had been surprisingly easy to say.

"I mean, if you want the bigger one, that's fine. I can take this one just fine," Georg continued, looking around. Maybe he could convince Tom to part with the feathered lamp, though. It was pretty neat.

Tom's eyes widened and his face fell. "Wha-What do you mean there's only going to be one of us living in each room? I thought moving in together... we were going to share a room. And a bed."

Tom was disappointed in every sense of the word. It was one thing to be alone in your own room all of the time, wishing you had someone to lay or cuddle with, and it was another to actually have that someone, but they didn't want to sleep with you.

He held onto hope that a few late-night cuddle sessions would change his mind. "You can have the other room. I like this one."

Really, Tom figured that Georg wasn't used to having big rooms the same way that he was. Plus it would be easier to sneak into Georg's bed if he wanted to.

Georg kissed his nose lightly.

"Look, Tom...I just...think it's a little early for us to officially live...you together. In the same room. I mean...if...if this doesn't work out or whatever, we can be roommates, no problem. But for now..."

He leaned in to kiss his boyfriend gently. "We agreed to take this slow, remember? Just moving into the same house together is a huge step, don't you think? We shouldn't rush things..."

The fact was, he was slightly scared. His only real relationship before this had been with his brother, WinterGustav, and that had happened so fast, yet had to be kept a secret so much...He didn't want the same thing with Tom. Except, what if they didn't work out? Would he end up crawling back to his brother?

He still loved Gustav, yes, but...what he had beginning with Tom was...different. He didn't want to say 'more', though that was how he felt. It was refreshing, being open about a relationship for once. As he looked into Tom's eyes, he hoped it would stay that way.

Tom sighed. He did remember that they would take things slow. He was more the one who had wanted to take things slow in the first place. Right now, though, things seemed to be going so good that they didn't need to take it slow...

But he understood. "Whatever makes you comfortable, babe. I'm okay with that, honestly."

He looked around the room, diverting his attention and trying to mask his disappointment but he felt Georg's eyes on him. He looked at his boyfriend who was giving him a look Tom couldn't read but he felt the overwhelming urge to hold him. He pulled Georg to him and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly and stroking his hair.

"Come on, let's go finish bringing our stuff inside."

"With you holding me?" Georg started, laughing a little, nuzzling his neck as he hugged back loosely.

"Hmmm...I kinda like this, though...don't really want to move..." He took a deep breath, inhaling Tom's scent, relaxing even more. "You like the house, though, right? I know it's a bit cramped..."

He wasn't stupid. He knew Tom was famous, or had been, at least. Tom could afford a much better house if he wanted. But it had been his idea to move here, so Georg figured he should be able to at least go 50/50 on the house.

He kissed Tom's neck lightly, nuzzling it again before pulling back.

Tom kissed his boyfriend square on the lips and looked him in the eyes. "Georg, I love the house. I don't think it's cramped. I think it's perfect. I mean it." He pulled his boyfriend back against him in a close embrace.

Even though he did have some money, and they could easily afford something bigger and better, Tom didn't want that. He didn't need the glitz and glamor anymore. He didn't want a constant reminder of how life used to be in a big house. Two people didn't need a big house.

Tom kissed Georg's forehead. "Come on, we really shouldn't leave our stuff out there," he pulled away gently, "and I think we left the door wide-open. That's practically an invitation for some hostile cannibals."

Georg sighed and nodded, carefully picking his way down the stairs.

"I'm glad we didn't bring too much furniture...don't know where what we have is even going to fit. I know she said furnished, but sheesh! This is a bit overkill."

He walked out to the car, thankful to find everything still there. What should they take in first? The small, two-seat car was filled to the brim of everything they could fit in, with more being shipped in a few days.

"There's not a ton to take in...just our clothes and stuff, if I remember right," he continued, opening the door and pulling out a box.

Tom followed Georg outside. "Hell, I'm pretty sure that we could have gotten away without bringing anything except ourselves."

Aside from the fact that the house probably didn't come stocked with a porn collection the size of Tom's.

"But, yeah," Tom started sarcastically, "not a ton to take in. Just this massive pile of boxes that's jam-packed in the back of the car."

Tom waited for Georg to pick up a box before he picked up one himself. He hoisted it up high and balanced it on his head. It must have been a box of clothes or something, because it was light as hell. He took off running past Georg. "I bet I can bring in more boxes than you can!"

"Like HELL!" Georg shouted back, balancing another box on top of the one he already held. Tom might be faster, but he could bring in two or three at a time. Plus, he already had a headstart, with the one on the table.

Stacking a third box on top, he picked them all up with a slight grunt, waddling towards the house.

"See, I've already gotten four inside, and you've gotten one. Who's winning now?" Smirking, he let the boxes slide to the ground before running out to the car to get more. "And I'm not sure I want to sleep in those sheets until they're washed..."

He frowned as he just realized something.

"The beds are round...and our sheets are rectangular...we'll have to go to the store and get more sheets :/"

Tom narrowed his eyes as he saw Georg hauling three boxes inside. "Cheater! You're going to break something!"

Tom chased him back out the door and toward the car. He beat him back to the car and poked his head back in, ready to take two more boxes inside. From outside the car, he heard Georg say something about rectangle sheets and circle beds.

Oh...

"I guess we are going to have to go the store then... Dammit." Tom pulled out two boxes and held them tightly against him. "Why don't we just buy rectangle beds to fit our rectangle sheets?" he grinned at the prospect of getting rid of the stupid circle beds.

"Nah," Georg eighty-sixed the idea immediately. "I like the circle bed. It's different."

Of course, he had never slept in a circular bed before, either. Come to think of it, there had to be sheets stored in the hall closet for the beds. Perhaps they didn't need new sheets after all.

He stacked up three more boxes and hauled them in, his back beginning to ache from the strain. He ignored it, concentrating on getting their belongings inside. Once that was done, they could go shopping for food...or maybe just lay down in bed together, canoodling.

No, he reminded himself firmly. He was supposed to be getting his lover out of the house. Tom spent too much time in bed as it was, being depressed. Even if he wasn't as bad now, he still had a fondness for his bed that Georg found a little...frustrating.

Tom gave his boyfriend a look, then headed back toward the house, boxes in his hands. "Putting arsenic in your drink is different, too," he mumbled.

He knew he would have to get over the fact the bed was circle with as much time as he spent in bed. Maybe it was part of Georg's plan to get him out of bed more...

That's silly. Georg had only seen the house for the first time himself. And how would he know that Tom didn't like circle beds? But then again, the Internet knew more about Tom than Tom did. He contemplated the matter as he set the boxes down in the hallway.

Georg was good and good for him. Perfect, even. He didn't have an ulterior motive. Although... he couldn't say that. He didn't know Georg amazingly well. Tom cursed to himself. He was just being paranoid. Ridiculous even. He shook the thoughts and went back outside to get the last of the boxes.

"What was that?" he asked, hearing a grumble pass him by. He didn't catch the words, but the look on Tom's face said it all.

Shaking his head, he stacked up the last of the boxes and took them in, locking his car and closing the door behind him. Fishing out a pad of paper and a pen, he sorted through the cabinets, getting a grocery list together. There was surprisingly little to get, it seemed. The house was well stalked.

"Hey Tom, did you want anything from the store?" he shouted, unsure of his lover's placement. "Or we could just go together..."

Tom shut the door and stood in the hallway looking at all of the boxes. Now that all of the boxes were in, they'd have to do a lot of unpacking. He wasn't even sure how they had so many boxes. He left most of his stuff behind with his brother, he'd thought. And he didn't think Georg had too much to begin with....

He heard his boyfriend call and he trudged into the kitchen. "Do I want to go shopping?"

Not really, but he'd be admonished by his therapist if he declined. "Sure. What kind of shopping?" Tom shuffled over to his boyfriend who was making a list. He read over Georg's shoulder. "Why such a short list?"

He looked up in the cabinets to see all of the unlisted essentials in there. "No," he looked at his boyfriend seriously, "we're not consuming any of the food in this house. It's all being thrown out and we're starting fresh."

"Food shopping," Georg replied, looking up at him. "And what do you mean? I mean, if it's here, it's a shame to through it all out...except the cereal, that can go."

He gave a sideways glance towards the cabinets. They had more than enough food for two weeks, and Tom just wanted to get rid of it.

"So we can change the sheets and then go to the store?" He turned around, catching an arm around Tom's waist and pulling him in for a slow kiss. "Maybe see if the tv can fit in one of our bedrooms...since we already have one in the living room."

"Yes, it's a shame to throw out so much food, but it's also a shame to die from eating food that you don't know where it came from."

Tom wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck as he kissed him. "Don't worry about unpacking stuff until we get to the actual unpacking. We have a lot to do and we can do whatever you want, babe. Only the food is going. I'm not going eat or let you eat something I don't trust."

He, personally, couldn't understand why Georg would try to eat some food that was already there. For what? For the sake of saving money? Was it about money? He should know by now that that's something they wouldn't have to worry about... "I'll pay for it all, too."

Tom kissed his boyfriend and carefully pulled away. "Let's go ... and try to find the store!"

Georg sighed and kissed him back. It wasn't so much about money; he knew Tom could pay. It was more about not wasting things. Of course, Tom was right about not trusting the food, even if it was practically free.

"Let's go, then," he replied, taking Tom's hand and beginning to lead him out to the door. He wasn't even sure where the store was. Perhaps they could ask someone for questions?

He locked the door behind them and started for the car.

Bill watched his new neighbors exit the house with mild interest from his spot on the porch. He dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his shoe, watching them walk towards their car.

He got up and brushed some dirt off his pants and walked down the porch steps. "Hey," he called after the two men and blew some of his tangled hair out of his eyes. "Isn't it rude not to say hello to your neighbors?"

Tom was towed along by the hand as they walked out the door. He smiled to himself, liking having someone's hand to hold again. It had been a while that he didn't have anyone ... any lover that he could hold, or touch, or kiss. He watched Georg from behind and even though his flowing hair reminded him of his dead boyfriend, he was happy.

Halfway across the lawn he heard a voice calling after .. them? He turned to the source and squeezed Georg's hand as he saw the boy speaking to them. He didn't know what to say - after all, the street had been quiet since they got here, and even though every house looked kept up, he hadn't been expecting anyone. Despite all of his therapy, he still had a hard time around people that weren't his family or his lover... so he turned to Georg, hoping he would handle the situation.

He swiveled around to look at the speaker, keeping a tight hold on Tom's hand. The first part of him wondered if this new person was a cannibal or murderer or something. Angrily, he pushed that thought aside, turning to smile at his neighbor.

"Oh hey," he greeted, "I didn't see you there. Hello, I guess."

He laughed a little, wrapping an arm around Tom's waist. "I'm WinterGeorg and this is BDTom. Who are you?"

Bill's eyes roamed all over the two men, from their skeptical faces down to the arm the shorter one had around the taller and back up again. He walked a few steps closer and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Well, aren't you two cozy," he said, a slight smirk spreading across his pale face. "I'm 815Bill. Your neighbor." He paused. "If you two make any... noises... I won't hesitate to come knock on your door at night. Just a warning, so you know." He winked at them.

Tom watched closely as their new neighbor walked toward them. Tom didn't like the feeling he got from this guy as he spoke- whatever it was, it made him uncomfortable. Something about him just made him a slightly more frightening version of his brother. And as he winked...

"Don't worry. There won't be noise. We're not noise makers, are we, Georg?" Tom continued, "There might be a little bit of conversation you know, but who doesn't do that, you know?" Tom smiled as he squeezed Georg's fingers hard enough as if to turn them purple.

He didn't know why he was reacting like this. Tom - despite his depression - was always a pretty cool, laid-back kind of guy. All he knew was he did not want to be around this neighbor kid any longer. He just wanted to go shopping....

Georg, on the other hand, was more creeped out by the wink than anything. And naturally, he just had to open his mouth.

"Are you a cannibal?" He immediately asked, mentally cursing himself immediately after. What kind of question was that? Not only that, but now the entire town would know they came from a savage place where cannibals live. Fuck.

"I mean," he stumbled over his words, trying to save himself, "knocking on our door at night or whatever...it was a joke."

He hoped the other person bought it. Hopefully. Maybe. He glanced at Tom out of the corner of his eye.

"But anyway, I don't think you have to worry about us very much. We're generally quiet people. And of course, you're invited to any parties we have."

He gave an easy smile, hoping it belayed the uneasiness he felt.

Bill snorted. "A cannibal?" he asked, chuckling. "You know, I am a lot of things, but... cannibal, that's a new one, even if it's a joke."

Bill was amusing himself. He could see the two men didn't like him very much and that was fine with him, then he wouldn't be bothered much. He had kept to himself ever since he escaped, and he knew he should be careful now when he had neighbors that could recognize him, but he couldn't get paranoid so he shook it off.

"Party?" he continued. "As fascinatingly fun as that sounds, I'm not really a people person. I'm going to have to pass, I'm afraid."
He smiled back at the man named Georg before his eyes landed on the jittery, nervous looking one next to him. "You look anxious," he said. "You don't want to talk to me?"