Just between us

Chapter Twenty

2017

" I made a mistake Bright, a mistake that cost us both."

"It's too late now Toota," Bright stood up.  " I'm going to get a drink, do you want one?"

Toota hurried towards Bright and grabbed him by the arm.

"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

"Don't touch me," Bright replied.  Toota hesitated for a mere second and pulled Bright into a tight hug.

"Bright... we can fix this, it's us."

"Don't touch me," Bright said again.

"No!  I'm not letting you go this time," Toota said firmly.

"Toota, don't make me hit you."

"You aren't going to."

"Get off of me Toota, I'm still drunk.  Next thing I know you will ask me to forget everything.  Isn't that what you always do?  Pretend shit never happened?  Forget you met me and get out of my house," Bright struggled to free himself.

Toota hugged Bright harder.

"I'm sorry Bright, please give me one last chance."

Bright stopped moving, going rigid in Toota's arms.

"l need a drink."

Toota backed away and looked at Bright's face.

"What have I done..."

"You didn't do anything.  I did it to myself.  I don't need your sympathy or guilt Toota.  Just let me be."

"No matter what you say, I'm not going to give up.  I made a huge mistake in the past.  I'm not going to repeat it.  Whether you like it or not I'm not going to leave this place until we are back to normal."

"We are not the same people we used to be Toota.  Drop it and go on with your life.  We had been angry at each other for longer than we have been friends, this is toxic."

"Drinking day and night is what's toxic Ai Bright.  You might not make it to your thirties at this rate."

"That is kind of the point, I don't want to live."

Toota almost slapped Bright in anger.

"Go and take a shower, you stink.  We are going out, you need to eat something."

"You are not my mother, get out of my house!"

"I will drag you to the shower if it's necessary, don't test me," Toota said coldly.  He had already decided the only way to break through to Bright was treating him the same way he did when they were in school.

Bright begrudgingly left the sitting room muttering to himself.  Toota mentally patted himself on the back.  Regardless of what Bright had said he hadn't changed at all.  Toota still had his way around Bright.

While Bright was in the shower, Toota started to clean the house.  It was filthier than he had initially thought.  Bright had been living in a nightmare.  Toota's eyes filled with tears at the irony.  When Bright had found out he lived in the storage room of a restaurant, Bright had made him sleep over at his house whenever possible.  He even let Toota do his laundry at his house.

Now Bright was wasting his life because of Toota's selfishness.

Bright returned looking somewhat decent.  The dark circles around his eyes were still prominent.

Toota smirked.

"You look much better."

"Why did you clean the house?  You can't just walk in here like you own the place Toota."