Stay (Boy × Boy) ✔

CHAPTER 8

William had never wanted to fall in love with Aydan, but he used to understand why that happened. Aydan was warm, funny and basically everything William thought a person worth loving should be. Lately he wasn't so sure why he still loved Aydan or if he even really knew who he was anymore.

Yes, love changes everyone and not all change is bad, but William had never in his wildest dreams thought love would change his best friend to someone so entirely different.

Entirely different, for William, meant that Aydan seemed distant, like there was a transparent yet insurmountable wall between them, and everything from his humour to gestures had sort of changed. He wasn't sure what exactly had changed, but it felt like he was lost in a house of mirrors every time they were together.

Though it might have been just as much about William, who was subconsciously building a protective layer between himself and the world. He had been hurt so badly, by Aydan's latest whim, that he simply didn't think he could endure any more. It was easier to shut everyone out, than to let them keep hurting him over and over again.

The whim wasn't the one that happened at the pool, but something that took place in late autumn. It might not have been such a huge thing to others, but for William it was something that caused the final decision to alienate from his best friend.

To be fair, it wasn't just about Aydan and his actions, but something else that made William realise how utterly alone he was. So instead of one big occurrence, there were a few small unfortunate incidents, that together were too much for William at his current state of mind. Which was, by the way, not that good even before things started falling apart.

***

When the bell rang, after their last class of the day, everyone started packing up their chemistry books and moving towards the door. William didn't hurry, because they didn't have practices on Fridays, and he had just the empty mansion waiting for him.

Or at least he thought so, until he walked to the hallway and saw Aydan leaning on the wall and browsing his phone.

His blonde hair had grown and it fell back on his face despite the efforts of brushing it off. He was wearing a grey shirt and blue jeans, without doubt looking just as good as he always did.

Still, William's heart didn't fill with affection or joy when he saw his best friend waiting for him. Lately there were few things that evoked any kind of positive emotions in William, so yet again, it wasn't about him not loving or caring about Aydan.

''Hi.'' William said as he walked to Aydan, who raised his head from the small screen and smiled at William.

''I haven't seen you for a while, how are you?'' Aydan asked and placed his hand around William's shoulders while they walked out of the school building.

Aydan lighted a cigarette — William no longer said anything about it — while waiting for an answer.

Do you notice this distance between us at all? William thought, but what he said was: ''Well, you have skipped quite many practices, so that's probably the reason why you haven't seen me.''

He avoided answering the question on purpose, because whatever he could give as an answer, would have been a lie. And there was no way he was going to open up, not now. William looked at his friend, half hoping he would see the true emotions from his eyes, and smiled wearily.

''What brings you here?'' Was all he could muster.

''We're going to a club today. I haven't seen you in such a long time, so you should definitely come.'' Aydan said, and William couldn't help but sigh. Aydan's smile turned to a frown, when he noticed his friends aversion.