Raphael /BoyxBoy/

||Twenty-Four||

I waited a few minutes before they let me in, and Dan looked up curiously from his hospital bed as I felt the nurse leave the room.

"You're skipping class."

"No."

He raised his eyebrows.

I dragged a chair to his side. "So what?"

He glanced at the tray of food by his bedside and shrugged.

He didn't ask again, but I could tell that he wanted to.

There was a single rose now, a new edition to his bedside table. Its leaves were fresh, the petals a deep shade of blood red. He caught me staring.

"It was there when I woke up."

No body else had visited him, and now I wished I had more friends around. Someone to drag with me with to those sad visits. Someone who he could be friends with too.

"Tell me about the friend you're staying with," he said.

"Tell me why you left first."

He tugged at his hospital gown. "Not yet."

There was a distant sound of a machine beeping. The curtains by his window fluttered, distorting the shape of a flying bird.

"She's funny," I said. "And likes being all up in other people's business. But she's really nice, and smart, and-"

He laughed. "Did you sleep with her?"

I frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He laughed again, then winced as if it brought him pain. "You did. And you're still with her. Is she your girlfriend?"

I almost snorted. "No."

"Why not?"

"Dan," I said. "I'm not going to talk about my nonexistent love life with you."

He reached out for a yoghurt cup and made a face. "Why not?"

"Cause yours was very existent."

He grinned. "Yeah. So?"

"So?" I helped him unwrap a spoon from its plastic confines. "So it makes it feel like I've never been in a relationship."

"Don't worry," he said as he filled a spoon with yoghurt. "I've never been in one either."

—

Jake,

Tom and Jesse are kind of back together (still questionable, but things are stable for now). I know you were kinda worried about that when you were here. Maybe you still are, so I thought letting you know would be a good idea.

And I told Ian. He stared at me blankly when I told him, then carried on with his assignment as if nothing had happened. I don't know. Maybe he doesn't care (?), or maybe he's keeping things in for now until it bubbles up and he goes off on a rampage or something. Anyway, I think it was a good idea that I waited until you left to tell him.

I didn't have a chance to let you know when you were here, but they finally tore down that building you liked.

Otherwise, things are pretty normal back here.

I hope your roommate's okay. And talk to Raphael.

Reply soon.

Nate

—

Raphael was leaning against the back door, a cigarette in his mouth. "Hey."

I wanted to walk away but he was there. I was pathetic, helpless, and weak. And he was there. Standing there in his skinny jeans, black shirt made of a see-through mesh material, a sharp plunge that fell halfway down his chest. He might as well have been naked. I remembered how he looked naked. It was hard to forget.