Tristan's High School Life - 30. Chapter 30

The banging on the door stopped us dead in our tracks but not that we were doing anything. I got up and opened the door to find Mack, Rory, and TJ standing there.

"Can I help you?" I asked
"Is Xander here?" Mack demanded
"Yes," I replied
"He snuck out last night," Rory said, and I looked at the bed.
"You should have known better than to sneak someone in," TJ said
"I had nothing to do with it," I said, putting my hands in the air
"Sure, he came here on his own," Mack said, rolling his eyes.
"I did sneak out last night, but Tristan didn't ask me to," Xander said
"Let's see you're in his room," Rory said before Xander interrupted, "Look, Hunter came to see me and told me that Tristan needed a friend, and I decided to come down, and Tristan brought me in."
"Sneaking out after everything that's happened is not a smart move," Rory said
"I snuck out because you are smothering me and Tristan makes me feel safe," Xander shouted.
"I'm not smothering you," Rory said, getting angrier by the minute.
"Look, guys, let's talk this out," I said, trying to calm things down.
"Stay out of this," Rory said
"Get out of my room," I said through gritted teeth.
"Come with us, Xander; you're grounded," Rory said, reaching for him.
"He's staying with me," I said, blocking the way.
"We need to all calm down," TJ interjected, "before this gets out of hand."
"Too late," I sarcastically replied.
"Look, everyone, calm down," Mack said, "It's obvious something is going on, and we need to have a calm and collected chat."
"I think we need to set boundaries," Rory said.
"Boundaries?" Xander said, "I'll tell you about boundaries; you aren't my parents."
At that point, everyone got quiet, and Xander made his way into my bathroom, slamming the door.
"I'll talk to him," Mack said
"No, let Tristan do it," TJ said, looking at them, "We need to talk."

I went into the bathroom and found Xander sitting in the shower on the floor, hugging his knees bawling his eyes out. I got on the floor next to him and pulled him into a hug, and held him. We sat there for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes.

"I know just what you need," I said. "Freshen up, and I'll go to your room and get some clothes." I teleported to his room and got some clothes, and saw Grandma in the hall.
"Grandma, you have a second," I asked her, causing her to jump.
"Good morning honey, what's on your mind," she said
"I think Xander needs a day away. Can he teleport with me?" I asked, and she seemed to think before answering me.
"Yes, he can, but I'm not sure Rory and Mack will let him since he snuck out," she replied
"Hunter brought him to me last night," I said, and grandma interrupted. "I need to get that boy a bell. I thought I saw him here." "Look, Tristan, Rory is going to have a hard time because of what happened."
"I understand, but Xander told Rory he felt smothered and even went as far as say they weren't his parents," I said, which caused Grandma's face to fall.
"Come with me," Grandma said, and we teleported to the living room where the adults were sitting there.
"Listen, I understand there were some emotions here, "Grandma said
"You went and told your grandmother Tristan how mature," Rory said, rolling his eyes.
"Listen here, Rory," Grandma thundered. "He was getting clothes for Xander and came to talk to me. No one was a tattletale, and he wanted my advice. I am authorizing the two of them to take a day trip. Any with an opinion otherwise can keep it to themselves."
"As Xander's guardian, I object," Rory said, which caused Mack's face to drop.
"I don't think you heard me, Rory; I said keep your opinion to yourself," Grandma said sternly. "Aren't you do at work in ten minutes anyway?"
"Tristan, you have my permission to take Xander on a trip," Grandma said. "If anyone gives you grief, you let me know, and I'll deal with them."
Grandma left in a huff, and I just stood there.

"Tristan, you can take Xander on a trip," Mack said and looked at Rory. "You can settle down before you drive people away."
"You can use your card for anything," TJ said
"Rory, I understand you are upset, but please believe I have his best interest at heart," I pleaded and saw TJ smile.
"I believe you," Mack said and elbowed Rory.
"Fine, whatever," Rory said.

I went upstairs to find Xander on the bed wearing only a towel, and he looked sexy.
"I got you some clothes," I said, holding them out. " We are taking a day trip, so let me shower and get dressed, then we can head out."
"Like Rory and Mack will let me," Xander huffed.
"All ready cleared it. Grandma kind of drive the point home," I said
"What do you mean?" He asked, and I told him what had transpired.

While I was showering, I could hear Xander talking to someone and couldn't make out who it was. When I got dressed and came out, I found Xander and Hunter engaged in conversation.
"Hey, Tristan," Hunter said, jumping up.
"Hey Hunter, everything ok?" I asked
"Yes, I overheard the blow-up this morning and wanted to apologize to Xander for getting him into this mess," Hunter said
"Very mature of you," I said, flashing him a smile
"You two have fun, and if you need me, you know how to get a hold of me," Hunter said and walked out.
"So, where are we going?" Xander asked nervously
"A small hike and then somewhere we can walk around," I said. "Take hold of my hand."
We teleported to a park that I had been to a few times in Northern Maryland, Cunningham Falls State Park, and I took us right to the trail-head.
"Wow, that was crazy," Xander said, looking around.
"Yeah, first time gets everyone," I said, smiling
"Is that a lake?" Xander said pointing
"Yeah, that's Hunting Creek Lake; in the summer, you can find great eye candy there or down at the falls," I said
"The falls?" Xander asked
"Yeah, it's the longest waterfall in the state," I said
"Ok, Mr. Wikipedia," Xander said, laughing
"My Great-Grandpa Ron had a friend who lived near here, and Great-Grandpa Tony would visit him, and they spent some time here at the lake and falls since it is so peaceful," I said
"How do we get to these falls?" Xander said
"We could teleport, but that takes the fun out of it," I said. "Let's take the easy trail as it's only a half-mile. The other trail is a bit harder and three-quarters a mile."
We strolled to the falls holding hands, and it was nice since it was early fall and the place was empty. As we approached the falls, you could hear the waterfalls and the stream. We walked down the boardwalk towards the viewing area.
"Can we go over there," Xander said, pointing at the rocks.
"It's frowned upon, but at your own risk. We are risk-takers," I said, and we walked around the fenced area and walked across the rocks and stream.
"Somewhere at home, there are pictures of TJ climbing up the front," I said
"This is harder than it looks," Xander said
"Here, follow me," I said and climbed up the front with no problem and waited for Xander to join me, and we took a seat on the rock.
"What's up there?" Xander said, pointing further up
"A small pool of water more falls and the feeder stream," I said. "They also cleared the area where the old homestead for the original landowner."
"Could we climb higher?" Xander asked
"Sure," I said, leading the way.
We found a nice place to sit and look down over the falls.
"This is so beautiful," Xander said
"Yeah, it is; I come here when I need some quiet time," I said
We held hands and sat in silence. I knew where we were going, and since he was a West Coast boy, I knew he'd probably never been.
Without warning, I teleported us to our next destination.
"Where are we?" Xander asked
"Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, Maryland," I said
"I sure am hungry," Xander said as his stomach rumbled
We were seated and ordered some food. Our conversation was pretty light, and Xander kept smiling the whole time. I felt these tingles every time I looked at him, and I'm pretty sure he felt the same way. We left the restaurant and took a stroll through Historic Annapolis, taking in the different sights. Xander's face lit up when we approached the U.S. Naval Academy entrance.
"Holy crap, you got to take a picture of me in front of this sign," he gushed, and I took a picture.
"Here, let me take one of you both," a Military Policeman said to us and took our picture. "You guys look great," he said with a wink.

We walked through the Academy taking in the sites, visiting the Herdon Monument, where mid-shipmen climb after their plebe year to celebrate finishing the first year. We made our way over to the USNA Chapel to look at the historic chapel and then over to the Nimitz Library. We walked through the library and had a few midshipmen look at us and smile, and then we visited the U.S. Naval Academy Museum and took in the Naval history. We strolled through the Academy and landed up near the water.
"In the summer, people are usually out in the water on their boats," I said
"That sounds like fun. Do you have a boat?" Xander asked
"No, we don't," I said
"This has been a fantastic day," Xander said
"I've enjoyed it too," I said, turning to face him.
He leaned in for a kiss, and it was earth-shattering.

"Hey, look, it's some fags" we heard someone say and broke our kiss.