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Chapter 1: The Big Envelope

Jason was never one to get too excited about anything. He held the belief that overhype just led to utter disappointment, yet he couldn't help himself this time. This was what he had been striving for since sophomore year.

It was a struggle to stay only five over the speed limit. Too much higher and he was sure to be pulled over by one of the many state troopers that loved to hide around many of the blind corners of the mountain highway. At just five over, they wouldn't bother, it was too easy to have the ticket turned over in court. So, anticipation, along with anxiety, built as the minutes ticked by and day slowly turned to night.

He had been at track practice ever since class had gotten out. He spent most of it running laps since he could quite get it together for triple jump practice. He couldn't stop thinking about the 'Big Envelope' that was sure to be waiting for him, just like how it had been surely waiting for him the past two weeks.

The expected arrival date for the letters from the University of Washington had been two weeks ago and Jason had seen posts from others on Facebook. He had gotten nothing. Did they even send anything if someone wasn't accepted? Surely they did. Of course they did. Mail must have just gotten stuck someone along the road. It would be here soon.

The sun was down and twilight had dawned as Jason pulled off the main highway and onto the dirt road that led to his house and a few others as well. Twenty yards down the road would be the mail boxes, but his mom, who he had told to not message him if the letter came, would have picked up the mail hours ago when she had gotten home from work at the nearby dam. Still, he slowed as he passed the row of colorfully painted boxes just to peak at them. They were all empty.

Sure enough, Jason's mom's car, a red SUV, was parked out front and the lights were on inside as well. Jason could even see the shadow of someone just inside in the kitchen through the drawn curtains. His mom would be making dinner. However, there was another car parked in Jason's usual spot, a black late nineties Mercedes, Anthony.

Jason's heart skipped a few beats. Anthony was Jason's boyfriend. They had been dating since freshman year for Jason, junior year for Anthony. How scandalous.

Anthony had been accepted to University of Washington had was currently studying to be a pharmacist and due to class schedule, they rarely saw each other anymore with one of them making the drive across the state during long weekends or breaks to see the other. They texted plenty, daily. Their relationship was still very healthy despite the distance and plenty were expecting a proposal shortly after Jason graduated.

Anthony always messaged well ahead of his visits. Most visits were planned upwards of two months ahead of time, so Jason was more than a little shocked to see the car there.

Jason parked his car behind the Mercedes and stepped out. He approached the car and set his hand down on it. The slick metal was cool to the touch. So it wasn't his imagination, Anthony had managed to get away from school and come to visit without Jason even hanging an inkling that it was gonna happen.

At the front door, Jason stopped and took a deep breath. His heart was going a thousand miles an hour and he had butterflies. So many emotions were mixing and he had to take a moment to get them all under control before stepping inside.

After a few moments to meditate, Jason stepped inside.

The house he and his mom lived in was old and used to belong to some rich person way back in the day, so the 'front door' wasn't the actual front door, it was a servant's door. The actual front door was down a windy and flourished path, but that was too far of a walk to be practical. Jason stepped into the kitchen where his mom and Anthony both were, with massive grins on their faces. On the table, between them, was a small little envelope with bold letters that read, The Big Envelope.

A smile immediately appeared on Jason's face. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he go to the letter? His mom? Or Anthony first? His mom decided first.

“I'm so proud of you, sweety!" She got up and closed the distance to her son quickly, wrapping her arms around him and planting a kiss on his cheek. “You were so worried, I could tell, but just like I said, you were gonna do just fine."

“You were right," Jason said as his mom let him go. “But... when the letter didn't come..." he looked to the letter and then to Anthony who had a grin, a devilish smile, on his face. “You." Jason pointed at the the blonde college student. “What did you do?"

Anthony got up slowly. “I may have a friend in the admissions office that may have held onto the letter long enough for me to hand deliver it." He shrugged.

When Jason's mom let go of him, Jason went over to Anthony and wrapped his fingers around his neck. He made the strangling movement, but didn't follow through even though a part of him really want to. “You som of a bitch."

“Language, darling," Jason's mom said, though she was watching with an amused look.

Anthony stuck a tongue out of the corner of his mouth and pretended that he was being choked in a comical fashion. “I'm pretty sure that what I did was illegal, but doing someone's biology homework for a few weeks does wonders."

Jason let go of Anthony and stared at the slightly taller man for a moment before hugging him tight. “I've missed you."

“Same here, bud," Anthony said and patted Jason on the back. It was all he could do in the bear hug he was getting.

Jason's mom already had her phone out and had taken a photo before either of them could say anything. She had more photos of the couple than she cares to admit.

“Well," Jason's mom said expectantly. “Open the letter."

Anthony, once he was released from the tight embrace, grabbed the letter and handed it to Jason.

Jason took it and very carefully opened it, making sure to keep the ripping to a minimum. The other two watched as he pulled out the single piece of paper and listened.

“Dear Jason," he started and looked up for a moment before continuing. “Congratulations of being accepted..." he read through the entire letter, savoring each and every word. This was him taking the first steps into true adulthood, a true milestone for him.

Jason's mom made a special lasagna, the kind that Jason had loved since being a small kid, except they did something a little more special as well.

“Your father gave me this before he died," she opened up a cabinet and pulled out a largish wooden box. “Said that we would bring it out only for the special occasions. I think that this counts."

The table had mostly been cleared of food at that point, the last few bites of lasagna cooling down, which made enough room for Jason's mom to set down the box. She opened it up and inside was an unopened box of wine with a label in actual French.

“I know that neither of you are of age, but here at home, I don't think anyone will care," she carefully pulled the bottle out of the box and stood it up. “He bought this years and years ago when he had gone to Paris for some sort of meeting. Never told me how much it cost." She gazed at the bottle, but at no particular part of it. It was obvious that it meant a lot to her, it was a part of the man she loved and lost.

“You don't have to," Jason said and set a hand down on his mom's.

“It's fine," Anthony added.

“He would have wanted to open it up for something like this," Jason's mom insisted and without warning, grabbed the cork and yanked it off. The pop was loud and the room was quickly filled with a fruity, if not, slightly sour smell of the alcohol. “Give me your cups."

Shortly after, each one of them had a bit of the win in their glasses. Not wine glasses, there weren't any. Jason's family had never drunk much and so having special cups for alcohol had never become a priority.

Each of them held onto their glasses in a bit of an awkward silence. The liquid was a deep red, almost like blood. Jason swirled it a few times before speaking.

“A toast," he said. “To my dad, to you mom and to you Anthony."

“Not sure you're supposed to toast everything in the room," Anthony chuckled. “But I'm down." He raised his glass up.

“To you, sweety," Jason's mom raised her glass up. “This is for you tonight."

“To us all, then," Jason raised up his glass and they clinked them together and drank.

“Oh, that's horrid," Jason nearly spat it out. His taste buds were absolutely assaulted by the fermented grape juice.

“I kinda like it," Anthony said with an amused look. He took a second drink. “It's like a concentrated juice."

“If juice was made of death," Jason set his glass down. He pushed it a few inches away and looked around for something to wash the flavor away with. There was nothing close by.

“A little disappointing," Jason's mom finished her glass. “Still nice. However, I don't think your father would have liked it. Was always more of a rum person when he did drink."

“The bottle is already open," Anthony said. “No point in wasting it."

Jason's mom poured them both another glass, but Jason put a hand over his cup. “I appreciate the gesture and the symbolism, but you two are welcome to the rest. I'll dig some real juice out of the fridge."

Later that night, Jason was sitting at his computer desk, looking at potential places to get a job near University of Washington. He had the lights off, with only his laptop giving an illuminating blue glow to the room. Anthony was on the bed, laying back and browsing through the internet on his phone and occasionally chuckling at a meme.

“What's so funny this time?" Jason asked, not taking his eyes off the screen. “More cats? Or is it just dumb people this time?"

Anthony tapped his screen, pausing the short video he had playing on it. “No, none of that. It's these spiders. Little jumping spiders. I think their peacock spiders or something like that," he said and then resumed the video with the volume lowered. The sound of faint Christmas music could be heard.

Jason turned around in his seat and tried to see what was on Anthony's screen, but the angle was bad. “I don't get it. What's with the music?"

Anthony's eyes stayed glued to his phone, a silly grin spread across his face. “The person, uh, the creator, photoshopped a bunch of Christmas shit onto them. It looks like they're celebrating Christmas. Gifts and everything."

“Cute," Jason muttered and rolled his eyes, but smiled. Anthony really was just cute at times. Silly and very much a child when around those he trusted. With others though, most thought of him as the most serious person around. More than once, Jason had been asked how he could date someone so stuck up. He merely responded, “You don't know him like I do."

“I know," Anthony said matter of factly. “But not as cute as you." He rolled onto his side, leaving the phone behind, to face Jason. “Look at you. Going to college. A true young adult. Very sexy." He both being sarcastic and serious at the same time. The tone of his voice was that of a light hearted mock, by his eyes spoke truthfully as they glanced slightly downward for a moment, betraying intention.

Jason noticed immediately and grinned. “No longer just that boy toy of yours." He stood up and waggled his hips.

Anthony grimaced. “That makes me sound like a pedophiles. Not the best flirting you've done."

Jason frowned. “It's supposed to be cringe worthy." He say down on the bed next to his boyfriend. “You're such a tight ass."

“You would know," Anthony said. He propped himself up onto his elbow and nuzzled into Jason's side. “You'd know very well."

“I would," Jason agreed and laid a hand on Anthony's side, giving him a firm rub. Anthony sighed with pleasure from the soft and loving touch. “However, my mom is still here."

Anthony groaned and rolled into his back, his head next to Jason's leg, the hand now on his stomach. He had a raging erection now and not having sex for months with very little self help was driving his testosterone through the roof. He not only wanted this. He needed it. “She knows what we do," he pleaded. “She's walked in on us before."

He was referring to what was officially their first year anniversary. Anthony was visiting and after going out to eat, the two lovers had retired for the night. Jason's mom had a pie baking and shortly after it had finished, went up to Jason's room to let them know. She walked in on them naked and making out with condom and lube in plain sight. She quickly excused herself and the subject was never brought up again.

“We don't need her to walk in on us again," Jason said. “She'll he gone most of tomorrow night when her shift changes to nights. Leave right after I get home from practice."

Anthony sighed and slapped the blanket. “Fine, but we're going out to get some food first." He stopped for a moment and thought, then added. “Janice and Kieth still working at that little taco shop at the end of fourth in Shottsville?"

“Yeah," Jason nodded. Janice and Kieth were a pair of friends in the next town over. They often competed at track meets and developed a friendship from competing against each other so many times. The two worked at the taco shop together and it was a big surprise to most that they weren't dating.

“We'll go there," Anthony said. “I'm sure that they'll be excited to hear that you've been accepted. Plus, I'm dying to have their carnitas again." His stomach growled in agreement.

Jason laid back onto the bed, twisting so that he was next to Anthony. He rolled over and threw an arm around him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He was exhausted now. All the excitement of the moment had drained away.

Anthony turned his head and returned the kiss. It was a longer one. He then snuggled up against Jason.

“Goodnight."