The Increasingly Misnamed Short Story (AKA, This is A Not-So-Short Story, pt. 23)

I’ve been away longer than I meant to. Here I am, back and ready to bring you another installment. Curious of how it started? Wondering what recently happened? Falling behind on the earlier parts of the story? You can always go here to catch up.

Now sit back and enjoy!
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And here they are, that same boy is asking to date him. Given all the changes and discussions had, he shouldn’t have been too surprised by this turn of circumstance. Yet it was totally out from left field. He had no idea of how to react. He was ambivalent to embark on this new relationship given that he also was giving his fiancé a chance to come with him on this journey.

The more he thought about that, he had already accepted that she was not going to come along. Even though he knew that, he still wanted to keep up the slightest glimmer of hope. You never know when someone’s ready to change. He wouldn’t expect to be back with his boyfriend if you had asked him about it 2 years ago… yet here they are.

While he was thinking about all this, they quickly found themselves in front of their boyfriend’s door. The boy still holding tightly to his hand. He had forgotten that he was holding it. Now that they were about to go back in to the apartment, he could feel the weight and warmth of the hand.

“Oh, excuse me…”, he said, “We probably shouldn’t do this in front of him. I still haven’t decided if this is what I want to do.”

The boy nodded and let go of his hand. He scratched the back of his head.

“Sorry, it felt like the right thing to do…”, the boy said.

“You’re right, it is…”, he said, thinking of all the bad things that have happened in his boyfriend’s life.

The boy opens the door and they both walk in. As he walks in, he scans the room for where his boyfriend is. He fears that the conversation his boyfriend had with the boy might have upset him more than he will admit. All He could think of was holding his boyfriend and talk to him. He would do whatever was needed to convince him that he wasn’t leaving him again… at least not yet, if he even ever really got it in his mind to leave. He feels a happiness that he hasn’t felt since those carefree days in high school. The time when he could freely be with his boyfriend. That’s something he cherishes more than he could probably ever explain.

The boy holds the door open for him and allows him to walk in first. The boy follows quickly behind him. He earnestly looks for his boyfriend. He knows that this topic upset him… and after the talk, he thinks he understands why. His boyfriend doesn’t want to lose him again, and certainly not to someone he think he can trust.

He finds his boyfriend sitting in the same spot he was after that first night together again after many years apart. Even though time has passed, he remembers how awkward the room felt afterward. He walks over next to his boyfriend and sits down next to him. He gently rests his head on his shoulder.

“Are you upset about…”, he asks, gesturing to the boy and him, “About the boy being interested in me?”

The boyfriend shakes his head.

“Are you afraid that if I start seeing someone else that I’m going to leave you?”, he asks.A moment passes after he asks the question. He already senses what the answer is. He would rather give his boyfriend the chance to answer and not just assume.
(To be continued)