Love Hurts (boyxboy)

Chapter 17: True feelings

"I guess bathroom encounters are your thing."

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12 months later…

"I can't believe you wanted to eat here, I mean, look, it's full of kids." Peter pulls a slightly pained face at the sound of children's voices echoing around the restaurant.

"I was really craving pizza, and this place does the best pizza." Josh grins.

Peter rolls his eyes. "Ok," he never could say no to Josh.

Their empty plates are taken away, and Peter asks for the bill.  He takes Josh's hand and pulls it across the table towards him. "I'm so proud of you, Josh. It's amazing to think I'm boyfriends with a CEO."

"Shut up. I'm self-employed." Josh laughs. But it was true. Josh was the CEO of his own little software company, working from home, and had done for the past 6 months.

"All the same, the best thing you ever did was get out of that place."

"I second that." Josh nods in agreement, but the smile suddenly drops a little "Shit… don't look." His mouth opens a little in shock.

"What, what's happened?" Peter looks confused, looking around him. Of course he was going to look. Peter turns to see none other than Neil Rose, with his wife and not one but two children, a preschooler and a baby. Peter looks at Josh. "Are you ok?"

Josh takes a long look at Neil and sighs. Those feelings that got unleashed every time he saw the man seemed to not have disappeared entirely, but seeing him as the family man was the wake-up call he needed to see. "I nearly ruined their lives." He says, feeling burdened by what could have been.

"But you didn't." Peter places his hand on Josh's, trying to reassure him.

"Oh." Josh suddenly looks away. He had caught Neil's attention, and now Neil was staring at him. Peter looks at Josh, then over at Neil, who now looks elsewhere when he sees Peter looking.

"The bill." The waiter approaches.

"I'll get this." Peter smiles as Josh excuses himself to go to the bathroom.

As he washes his hands, the bathroom door opens. "Hello Josh, long time no see."

Josh turns around to see Neil standing a few feet away. "We have a habit of meeting like this. I guess bathroom encounters are your thing." He reaches for the paper towel dispenser.

"I just wanted to..." Neil looks down, clearing his throat before looking back up.  "I see you're with someone."

"Peter. An old school friend." Josh wonders why he hesitates to elaborate... "You might remember him?" Neil just shakes his head. "You had another kid." Josh diverts the attention from him.

"Uh, yes. Callum." Neil looks away. His eyes lightning up at the mention of his child. So much so that even Josh catches it. That look of pure love in his eyes. A reminder that he needed to walk away.

"Ok, so nice catching up." Josh tries to exit the bathroom, but Neil holds his arm out to stop him from leaving.  He lighly grabs his shoulder.

"Can you...can you just wait, just a minute?"

"Why?" Josh pulls his arm away from the grip. "What else could you possibly have to say to me?"

"I....I...think..."

"What's going on?" Peter now enters the bathroom, causing them both to turn to him.

"Nothing is going on, Pete.  I want to go home." Josh pushes past them both, leaving Neil and Peter alone.

The two males look at each other in brief silence. "So you're Peter, Josh has just told me about you. I'm sorry, but I don't remember you from school." Neil holds out a hand for Peter to take, but he doesn't reciprocate, with Neil slowly putting it back down.

"I left that school at 14... you might not remember me, but I remember you… Neil Rose. Josh's crush. All he did was drone on and on about you. Yeah, I know all about you. I know what you did to him when he worked for you, how you played him. Your colleague... Simon, was it? Yeah, he told me all about how you were playing with him, stringing him along. I wasn't going to stand by and let you do that to him."

Neil's eyes widen at Peter's words. "You... you were the one threatening to tell my family?" Neil's voice gets louder and angrier at the realisation he had been had.

"Oh, you've finally get it. "Yes it was me. You didn't deserve his love. It's me who has loved him the longest. You will never have him. He's mine."

"You're sick. You know that?  You manipulated the both of us. I'm telling him right now." Neil goes to leave...

"Are you sure about that, Neil? Your loving family is out there. What will they think? You made your choice a year ago."

"You threatened me. I was..." Neil cannot finish the sentence. Josh was right. He was weak. So very weak.

"Well, it was lovely catching up, but I must go see my boyfriend. Goodbye, Neil." Peter leaves the bathroom, with Neil feeling the aftermath of these revelations. He pushes open the door just in time to see Josh and Peter leave.

Joshua Barrett. The guy he has had a ridiculous crush on since the age of 16....and still does.