Chapter 19

S hit. The zipper on Cory's suitcase wouldn't close. Grumbling to himself, he tried to shove the stubborn clothing down farther, just enough to shut the bag. Maybe if he sat on it… Ugh. He really should have done this last night. He was going to be late.

The sudden knocking on the front door indicated that he already was. Dammit. Cory continued to put the last of his things in boxes as he heard Derek's and Nic's voices greeting his mom before coming to his room.

"Shit, Cor. You're still packing?" Nic looked at the two open boxes on Cory's bed.

"I just kept remembering things I'll need, and time got away from me." Cory threw in some of the cords for his desktop computer and sealed one of the boxes. "I swear I'm almost done."

"Okay, finish up. Nic, let's get the cars loaded up." Derek grabbed one of the boxes Cory had laid on the floor and headed back out of the apartment, Nic toting a second box behind him.

Cory ran to his closet, deciding that he did want to bring his old video game consoles after all. He might run out of things to play, right?

The boy's college visit a month and a half earlier went well. More than well—the boys thought the school was wonderful. Cory loved the state-of-the-art computer lab and felt right at home when he had a chance to nerd out with some of the students there. Derek still had no major picked out, but the school had a ton of options, and he had been looking through the course catalog almost daily since. Even Nic was looking forward to seeing what playing on a college team would be like, impressed with the way he heard some of the other student athletes talk about their coach. The boys all sent in their acceptance letters the day after they got home.

And it wasn't just the school; the city itself was also great. After they finished touring the school, the boys wandered around downtown D.C., taking in the sights and trying not to seem like tourists—they were probably going to live here, after all. Once the boys had all made their decision, they quickly moved on to figuring out their living situation. While dorms could be an option, none of them really liked that idea. On top of the fact that one of them probably would have to have a stranger for a roomie, the general lack of privacy would get annoying pretty quickly when they wanted some alone time.

Luckily, one of the boys had a mom and dad who were currently feeling very guilty for being neglectful. With his parents' help, Derek and the boys found a nice three-bedroom apartment—one they wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. It was a close distance to the school and had a shuttle they could take there and back, letting them save on gas money. Derek and Nic were both taking their cars with them, which is what they were loading Cory's boxes into now. The apartment was fully furnished, so they only had to bring things like clothes and electronics, nothing they needed to rent a truck for.

Cory packed the last of his things into the box and sealed it up before walking it outside to Derek and Nic. Nic took the box from him and loaded it into his backseat. Things were tight between their two cars, but they were just able to get everything in. After talking it over, Cory decided he would be riding with Derek, something Nic had groused about, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity for road head. Derek assured him that the next time they had to take two cars, Cory was all his. Cory was just hoping they could take another road trip in an SUV like last time sometime soon.

Not that the boys were planning on leaving the city anytime soon. Ever the prepared daddy, Carl had already put them in touch with a few friends of his in the area, most of whom were more than happy to take a trio of kinky young men under their wings. Carl knew that, with the distance, he wouldn't exactly be able to continue being hands-on with their training, so he wanted to make sure they would be well taken care of. He also gave them the names of the local dungeon and told them about some of the more kink-friendly gay bars, should they want to explore. They boys had already promised to visit when they came home next and tell him all about it.

Cory just walked back outside with another box when he saw a familiar car pulling up—Stephanie! Excited to see her, Cory put down his box to go over and hug her as soon as she was out of her car.

"Hey, nerd!" Stephanie squeezed her friend tightly.

"Says the girl who got into one of the best tech schools in the country," Cory responded. Steph would be headed to TIM for her first semester any day now. "What are you doing here? Don't you leave, like, tomorrow?"

"I wanted to come say goodbye!" Stephanie looked over at the cars being packed. "And help pack, but darn—looks like you guys are almost done."

"Still plenty of boxes inside, Steph." Derek walked past the two to his car, loading some of Cory's clothes into the trunk next to his own.

Stephanie rolled her eyes but followed Cory inside, saying hello to Julia and grabbing a few boxes. Cory was glad he got to see her before he left. She was going to be in an entirely different state now. Who knew when he'd get to see her again? They promised to keep in touch, texting or calling whenever they could. He was really going to miss her.

Between the four of them, they finished loading Cory's stuff into the car in less than an hour just as they had planned. As they were wrapping up, two more cars pulled up to Cory's apartment—Derek's and Nic's parents. Derek's brought pizza, and Nic's brought his sisters. Everyone's parents had come out to get together and have lunch before sending their boys off.

Squeezing back into the small apartment, everyone sat around the living room together, talking, telling stories, and maybe a little crying. All five parents of course had advice for the soon-to-be college students—the best times to take classes, how to find cheap textbooks, and, of course, where to look for free food on campus. Derek's dad even gave them some info on joining a fraternity, something that at least Cory had no intention of doing. Plans were made for return visits over the holidays with Nic's mother outright making him swear that he would be back for Christmas this year. Once all the pizza was gone, it was time to go. Cory looked in his room one last time before he joined everyone walking outside to the cars.

"Alright, son. You drive safe, and you let us know as soon as you get there." Derek's father hugged him again.

"Derek, I know you're going to be far away, but your father and I want to make sure we are still there for you however we can." Derek's mother squeezed him from the other side. "Please, whatever you need—just talk to us. We'll answer in a flash."

"We're very proud of you," his father continued. "We love you, and you've shown us that you've grown up a lot, far more than we expected. We're very impressed by the man you're becoming."

"I love you guys too." Derek kissed his mother on the cheek one last time. "Promise to make you proud."

Nic's parents were currently speaking to him in rapid-fire Spanish, so fast that he only understood about half of it.

"Mama, I know, I know." Nic hugged his still-speaking mother close. "I'll call you as soon as we get there."

"And every Friday." She poked him in the stomach.

"And every Friday." Nic fought to not roll his eyes. He knew this was hard on her.

"Lucy, he'll be fine." Nic's father patted him on the shoulder. "We raised him well. It's time to let him grow up."

This, of course, set Luciana off on another crying fit, which her husband immediately attempted to soothe.

"Oh god, she's going to be like this for weeks," Gabriela commented, shaking her head. "This is all your fault."

"The last time she cried this much was when Abuelo died," Daniela added. "That lasted for almost a month."

"Okay, could we maybe not talk about me like I'm dying?" Nic requested. "You could at least pretend that you're gonna miss me."

Gabby sighed and crossed her arms, fixing her brother with a look before relenting and hugging him close.

"Of course, we're gonna miss you, idiot," Gabby grumbled. "Still your fault."

"I'm gonna miss you too," Dani told him when it was her turn for a hug. "But I'm not gonna miss Gabby moving into your room so I can finally have my own."

"I had my own room until you were born!" Gabby scoffed.

"You were two ." Dani turned to look at her sister. "You didn't even know what a room was!"

Nic smiled. Between his parent's blubbering and consoling and his sisters' fighting, he felt right at home. He was gonna miss his family. At least a little.

"Cory, I just want you to know how proud I am of you." Julia held her son's face as she spoke to him.

"I know, Mom." Cory blushed at the praise.

"No, really." Julia's voice grew more somber. "Things haven't always been easy for us. For so long, it's just been the two of us. We've had to work hard… You've had to work hard to get here. And I just couldn't be prouder to have raised a son like you. You are going to do amazing things in college."

"Mom…" Cory wasn't sure what to say, lest he start crying himself. His mom had always put him first, always worked hard to make sure he had everything he needed. He hoped he could one day return the favor. "I love you. I promise to keep making you proud."

"I already am, Cory." Julia hugged her son again—there was never going to be enough. She released him, taking some tissues from Luciana to dry her face.

"Ugh. I don't wanna get all sappy and stuff," Stephanie said into Cory's ear as she hugged him. "It's been a really crazy year, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Cory laughed, mostly to himself since none of the adults here had any idea just how crazy. "Hopefully college is a little … less."

"I doubt that it will be." Steph gave a sad smile. "But I think we'll survive. But you better keep in touch. Not like that H.A.G.S. bullshit people wrote in our yearbooks."

"Same goes for you. I'll try and get my PC set up as soon as we get there so we can game together." Cory promised. "I wanna hear about all the hot nerds at TIM. With pictures!"

Once all the goodbyes were said and all the hugs passed out, everyone knew it was time. Derek, Nic, and Cory piled into their respective packed cars as their families stood and watched, waving them off. Before he got in his seat, Cory turned to give one last look at the apartment he had called home for the last decade and a half, thinking of all the times, good and bad, spent there. It felt like the end of an era.

Smiling, Cory wondered what the next one would hold.