Love Hurts (boyxboy)

Chapter 19: Queens

"You know Jomama is always wise."

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"Let's go out." Josh announces, just as they had given themselves a second bath, with Peter about to pull on his old spiderman t-shirt, ready for bed.

"What, now?" He questions. "Where the hell too?" 

"I need to show everyone my new accessory." Josh says, wriggling his fingers on his left hand at Peter. "Come on, just to Queens. I wanna tell Jojo... please." 

Peter watches Josh's enthusiasm and relents. "Ok, ok." He pulls the t-shirt back over and off his head, now looking for something more suitable to wear to their favourite local bar…

***

"Hello boys! To what do I owe this pleasure in the middle of the week?" Jojo, owner and leading lady of Queens drag club asks, as the two males approach the bar.

"Hey Jojo." Josh says, slotting himself into one of the green velvety bar stools, with Peter following suit, next to Josh. Josh then begins to tap the nails of his left hand on the mirrored counter, causing Jojo to look down.  She soon spots the ring adorning his ruby finger, glancing up at Josh, before again looking back at the hand and looking back at Josh again, who was wiggling an eyebrow.

"Is this what I think it is, young man?" Jojo says with excitement, pulling Josh's hand a little closer to her for further inspection, her painted blue nails digging a little into Josh's palm. 

"Yes." Josh replies, a smile unable to keep away from his face. 

"Fuckinghell! At least one of you put the other out of their bloody misery." Jojo says, releasing the hand in order to playfully push at Peter's shoulder. 

"Trust me, Jojo, it wasn't easy. He's so suspicious." Peter replies, side eyeing Josh, who was now looking down at the ring as he twisted it around his finger.

"Well, I'm made up for you both." She says, momentarily turning her back on the pair to retrieve something celebratory from the glass fronted chiller, along with two champagne flutes. "On the house, boys." She says, popping the cork, with the bubbles spilling slightly down her prosthetic cleavage...unbeknown to her. 

"Thanks, Jojo." Josh beams, taking the glass being offered to him with Peter doing the same. 

She watches them chink their glasses together and take a mouthful of fizz before asking. "So...when's the big day?"

Peter and Josh look at each other, they hadn't really spoken about dates as yet. "We've not gotten that far yet, but I guess next year, maybe the year after?" Josh shrugs. He didn't know much about planning weddings, but had watched enough 'Don't tell the bride' episodes to know that they were not cheap and could be stressful.

"I want to get married this summer Josh. You know... a beach wedding abroad, something like that." Peter suggests, taking another sip of his champagne. 

"Pete, we can't do it this year. Not with my freelancing. I've not got as many clients as I used to have. Not with technology changing. I need to invest in more software to just keep up, and that stuff isn't cheap." Josh says a little apprehensively. He can tell he had already burst Peter's bubble, and they hadn't even started on any other plans. 

"I can ask for more shifts at the pub." Peter suggests. "They always want people to work extra hours." 

"No offence,  but I don't think it will make much difference. Not on your wage. How much does a chef at a pub chain actually make?" Josh side eyes a rather offended Peter. 

"Fuck you Josh. Do you think I don't work just as hard for a shitty wage while you follow your IT dreams? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have even gotten your little business off the ground."

"Hey boys!" Jojo puts a hand on either male's shoulders. They both turn their gaze away from each other to look at her big green eyes. "Congratulations, yay, you're getting married. Woohoo! Marriage! The wedding is just for the day. The commitment is for life. What's more important, hmm?" 

She can feel the tension leave both males as their shoulders relax under her hold. "I just don't want you to work your fingers to the bone for this." Josh says, now running a hand up Peter's thigh. 

"I know, I guess I can wait a year or so." Peter replies, putting his own hand on Josh's, with Jojo finally releasing her hold. "Thanks, Jojo." He says, now smiling back at her. 

"You know Jomama is always wise. If I haven't seen it or done it, it's not worth knowing about."  She graces them with a smile before leaving them in peace to serve someone else. "What can I get ya hun?..."

Peter now sandwiches his hands around Josh's. He sighs heavily. "I love you so much, Josh. I just want to be with you." 

"Hey, I know. Me too." Josh replies, leaning forward to kiss Peter on the lips. "Maybe I could find work somewhere while my business is quiet... give you the day of your dreams. 

Peter pulls back from the kiss a little, catching Josh's gaze. "Hey, it's ok. I can wait." 

Josh now sits back fully on the bar stool. He looks at Peter's hands surrounding his and pulls his hand away to grab his drink. He takes a sip before clearing his throat. "Actually, I've been meaning to speak to you for a while now about something." 

"Oh? What?" Peter asks, sitting up a little straighter on his stool.

"I actually need to go back into an office… just short term, just until I can get enough money to get my business going again." He looks at Peter, not sure how the proposition was going to go down. 

"I like you at home Josh. I know where you are." Peter says. His response, though anticipated, still gets Josh's back up. 

"When are you gonna let it go Pete?  It was five years ago. Five years! I don't even know where the fuck he is now. I'm not in love with the guy. Jesus! I wasn't even in love with him then." Josh turns away a little from Peter. Fed up of the same recurring conversation about him and that one guy he had once had a huge crush on. 

Peter pulls at Josh's shoulder, trying to get him to turn around. "Hey...I'm sorry ok?" Just... I just…"

"You make me sound like the office bike Pete. I do have self-control." Josh feels like he wants to cry. He hated feeling out of control of his own decisions.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just love you Josh. I don't want to lose you." Peter says, his voice now sounding remorseful. 

"You have me Pete. I'm wearing your ring for fucks sake! If I go back to work it will be for us. I'm doing it for us." Josh reminds Peter of the fact again by flashing the ring before his fiance's eyes. 

"I get it." Peter says, having enough of the conversation already. Josh would never really understand exactly why he felt the way he did. He just hoped history wasn't going to repeat itself.