Stay (Boy × Boy) ✔

CHAPTER 6

Hope can be dangerous, indeed.

William had to learn to accept the fact things were changing and they would only grow more and more distant with Aydan. Not that Aydan had done anything to hurt him nor meant to change things between them, there were just the subtle yet incontrovertible alterations in him.

One day Aydan came to the practice wearing blue jeans, which would have been a totally normal things to do for anyone but him.

Aydan never wore anything else but black and dark grey. No one could have made him wear any other colours, and it had become his thing. Not that it was anything unsettling, it was just a tangible sign of the change.

One day he was wearing an orange shirt, which was particularly odd to William, since he knew that was the only colour Aydan couldn't stand of. William was almost certain he would soon see Aydan clothed in lavender from head to toe.

Then he would be a perfect match for Claudia, William thought sourly.

Still and all, colours were just colours. Seeing Aydan wearing something else than black or grey wasn't going to change anything between them. Seeing him wearing other colours didn't offend William in any way, but there was something else he found alarming.

Lately Aydan had been late from the practices (he didn't always make it to William's ride) and he had even skipped a couple of them, which was something you really shouldn't do as competitive swimmer. To skip a practice was only acceptable if you were dying on pneumonia or something worse.

His records only kept getting worse, and William was starting to worry he would soon be kicked out of the club. Swimming just didn't seem that interesting to Aydan anymore.

They had quarrelled about the topic for a couple of times, until William had decided it was easier to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to pick a fight on those occasions they still were together.

The words "we'll always be together" and "I won't leave you" didn't mean much, when Aydan's actions indicated something else. They were just empty promises and pretty words with very little meaning behind them.

Yet he wasn't totally different, and there were moments when Aydan seemed just as he had always been. William wondered if he had even noticed these changes or cared about them as much, if he wasn't in love with Aydan.

How can you un-love someone? Was something William asked himself more and more these days.

Another thing he wondered about was if his listless mood was actually changing to depression. Meaning that he wasn't just moody, but actually clinically depressed.

William had noticed how his mood was getting worse and worse by the day: he didn't feel like getting up from the bed in the mornings, his appetite was nonexistent and he didn't even feel that enthusiastic about swimming anymore. Swimming was simply something he felt like he was obligated to do, just like every day was just another day to get through.

Hiding his joylessness was getting difficult, especially after his mom came back from Sweden — with a man. Actually it wasn't just any man, but the man who was the reason why his parents had divorced.

Olle was a handsome, 45 years old man, who had light blue eyes and blonde hair. He spoke with an accent, but otherwise he didn't seem that much of a northerner. William had a deep antipathy towards the man, yet there he was eating dinner with him and his mom.

''Olle and I have decided to try dating one more time.'' Sophia, William's mom, said as she placed another salad bowl on the table.

Sophia was already near her fifties, but no one could have believed she was day older than forty. She was really strict about her diet, so her body was in perfect shape, which she didn't hide.