Silent Worlds || BOYxBOY ✔️

Four

The following days passed by in a blur of lectures, study sessions, and solitary moments behind the four, safe walls of Thomas's apartment.

On Wednesday, after finally submitting his essay, he returned to the café that he loved so dearly, feeling a mixture of relief and exhaustion. He wasn't planning to sit inside it this time. He wanted to just grab a coffee and go back home so he could get tucked away under his thick bedsheets and watch endless Netflix. He was completely and utterly exhausted. His sleepless nights were starting to catch up to him. He could barely keep his eyes open in his lectures. He nearly fell asleep half way through. He just wanted to go home and catch up on some sleep. Unfortunately, the universe had other ideas.

He walked over to the counter and ordered his usual coffee. The girl behind the counter took his order and his money, and then got to work. As he stood there waiting, Thomas pulled a book out of his backpack to read.

The familiar rustling of pages brought him a sense of comfort. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, his mind still clouded with the residual stress of completing his essay and the world of fantasy he was currently reading. He let out a sigh, feeling the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him. He really needed to see a doctor to speak about his insomnia, anxiety and probably even mild depression. He needed to fix the problem before it got out of hand.

Suddenly, he sensed a presence beside him and looked up. There, to his surprise, was Nathan, his warm eyes twinkling with recognition. Thomas's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected to see Nathan today, especially not with his plan to grab a coffee and retreat back to his sanctuary. He said he only worked part time, but he seemed to always be here. He took a surprised step back as Nathan was far too close to him for his own liking.

Not even noticing the little step back, Nathan smiled and gave a small wave before reaching for a pen and a little notepad he seemed to have handy on the counter. He quickly wrote, "Hey! Thomas right? How are you?"

Thomas couldn't help but crack a small smile back, feeling a little less tired. He hesitantly reached out and took the pen, much to Nathan's surprise, and wrote, "Hi I'm good. You?"

Nathan read the note. He could tell that Thomas didn't really speak much, but his smile widened, nevertheless. He wrote back, "I'm good too! How is that essay coming along?"

"Oh," Thomas muttered, surprised that Nathan remembered. He was about to reach for the notepad and pen, but Nathan stopped him with a shake of his head. Then he pointed to Thomas's lip. Oh. Thomas was so stupid. Of course Nathan could read lips. He had done it before, he could do it again. Thomas just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Clearing his throat, he plastered a weak smile onto his face. "I, uh, just submitted it this morning. Done and dusted."

"That's great!" Nathan quickly wrote back.

"Yeah," Thomas nodded.

"Black coffee?" a girls voice interrupted.

Thomas quickly looked to his side. Upon seeing Thomas turn his head, Nathan also turned his head to see what Thomas was looking at. He saw his colleague and friend slide a coffee across the counter which Thomas gratefully took.

Nathan met his colleague's gaze. Sarah, who was only a year younger than him, smirked. "Get back to work," she signed to him. He rolled his eyes, deciding not to reply. He knew Thomas didn't understand sign language and he didn't want to make him feel awkward. And he was right, because Thomas did look uncomfortable when he saw Sarah use sign language. He didn't understand it at all and he felt stupid all over again.

Nathan hurriedly wanted to offer a distraction because he hated the way Thomas looked so uncomfortable right now. Quickly, he scribbled down more words on his notepad. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"