The Only Girl for Stephen

It Was Goodbye

The house was quiet as Stephen shut the door and locked it. It was always quiet when he came home being that he was a single man with no pets, but today the quiet was sad. Stephen sighed as he hung up his coat and walked into the living room. 

He looked around at the world he had created for himself. He realized his house full of things. Nice things, but just things. It never really felt like home. Not like the home his parents made for him and his brother growing up. He was always traveling for work or working long hours, so he kept everything to a minimum. There were a few pictures of his family and his boyfriend, David Walliams. There was the couch, telly, and a few tables to put things on. Other than that the room was bare. The same could be said for the rest of the house. he had been living this way for almost a decade and it never bothered him, but after today he started to notice the little things in his life that did not add meaning. 

Stephen felt the vibration in his pocket of his mobile ringing. Without thought, he removed it from his pocket and answered the call. 

"How was it?" David asked.

"It was sad." Stephen said quietly. 

"I'm sorry, love. Funerals are not something we look forward to." David tried to comfort Stephen as best he could over the phone. 

"He was our age, David. Young. He was my best mate since we were kids." Stephen removed the phone from his ear to gain his composure. When he felt he could talk some more he returned the phone to his ear. "I hadn't even spoken to him in the last few months because I was so busy with BGMT. I was an awful friend and now he's gone."

"Stephen, you are not an awful friend. He knew you were working. He knew you loved and cared about him." Stephen dropped the phone on the floor as he fell on to the nearest chair and let the tears fall. 

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"Stephen?" David whispered as he shook Stephen, trying to wake him. When David heard the crashing sound followed by silence, he knew he had to get Stephen's because he wasn't OK. David found Stephen asleep in the chair. He was in his wrinkled funeral clothes. His face was red from the tears. David gently wiped the dried tears from Stephen's cheeks and kissed them. 

"Stephen, love?" David shook Stephen a little more until he stirred. Stephen slowly blinked his eyes open and looked at David. Without a word, Stephen leaned forward in the chair, pulled David toward him and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around David's shoulders and rested his head on his shoulder. 

"I love you, David. I want to make sure you always know that." Stephen whispered. 

"I do know that. I love you too, Stephen." David pulled back, giving Stephen a kiss, before helping him stand up. 

Upstairs, David helped Stephen change out of his suit and get into more comfortable sleeping clothes. As David tossed the suit jacket toward the hamper a slip of paper fell to the floor. 

"Hey, Stephen? What is this paper? Do you still need it?" David asked unfolding it. There were only a few words written on it and seemed cryptic to him. 

Stephen came out of the toilet with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, "What?"

"This piece of paper? Trash?" David held it up for Stephen to see.

"Oh. No. I need that for tomorrow." Stephen went in the restroom to finish his teeth while David climbed into bed with the paper. 

As Stephen slid under the covers, David handed him the piece of paper. "What is it about?"

"Jonathan's barrister said that he left something big for me in his will. That is the information for me to go and pick it up tomorrow." Stephen placed the paper on his nightstand and turned out the light. 

David curled up next to Stephen in the dark. "Do you have any idea what it is. All the paper says is ruby and then an address. I didn't recognize the address."

Stephen yawned and rolled over so he could look at David. "I didn't recognize the address either. All I could think of was he left me a ruby stone? But I didn't know he had anything like that."

"Hmm. Well, I guess you will find out tomorrow." David wrapped an arm around Stephen and kissed him. 

They fell asleep entangled in each other's arms, their breathing following the same rhythm. As they fell in a deeper sleep, David instinctively pulled Stephen closer to him and held him close, feeling his breath on his neck.