Serial Dating

Daddy Issues

And then, Christmas happened.

One of Rushil's mothers was Catholic, so the morning of the holiday, she squeezed Lee by the shoulders and said, "You're absolutely welcome to come to mass with us."

"Oh, no, I'm fine here," Lee said with a bright smile. "Thank you, though."

Meanwhile, Rushil's other mom was fiddling with Rushil's tie while Rushil whined, "I can do it myself!" His mother batted his hands away and said, "Hush up and let me do this for you."

Lee walked them all to the front porch. He felt like a grandma waving to her grandchildren as they drove off. Rushil paused at the steps and turned back, and Lee knew what he was going to say long before Rushil ever opened his stupid mouth. "Call him soon, okay?" he said.

Lee sighed and stared off into the distance like he had some great big quest to tackle and an internal crisis the size of Montana weighing on his chest. "Maybe some day," Lee said, mysteriously. He cracked a grin when he looked back at Rushil, who wasn't at all convinced.

"Rushil!" his mom called from the passenger's window.

"I'm coming!" Rushil shouted back. He spun back around as Lee smiled. He pinned Lee down with a pointed finger and said, "I'm serious."

"So am I."

Lee waved farewell from the front porch as they drove off down the street. He could see Rushil in the back of the Morano waving back until they were around the corner and out of the neighborhood. When they were gone, Lee swung open the front door and locked it behind him on his way to the guest bedroom.

The Patels set Lee up in their spare room in the basement. Their basement was small, cozy, and came equipped with an extra bath. The windows were almost too small for a lizard to fit through, which Lee thought might be a hazard, but he didn't mind the all encompassing dark in the evenings. In the mornings, he could barely tell if the sun came up at all and wound up sleeping in to unreasonable hours. His five in the morning schedule was sure to be fucked.

Lee shut his bedroom door and pulled his phone out. He brought up Milo's contact and, thumb hovering over the call button, hesitated.

I won't be able to turn him away.

Do I want to say 'no', though?

Lee pressed the button and put his phone to his ear. He listened to the ringer go off for several seconds. His heart started to beat faster, heavier in his chest as it drew near the end of the attempted call.

He swallowed and it pained him to consider it. His hand shook.

What if Milo had decided he wasn't worth waiting for? Lee figured his own narcissism prevented him from considering that sooner. He put a hand to his face and cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. Of course Milo would be able to move on. Leon Asano wasn't worth it—Milo deserved better—Of-fucking-course Milo knew that.

The thought terrified him enough to hang up, but before he could, Milo answered the call.

"Hey, this is Milo."

Lee slumped onto the bed. He stared at the wall across from him. That momentary existential crisis had knocked the breath out of him—he couldn't recover that quickly. He put a hand to his forehead as he heard Milo's voice in his ear again, hesitant and quiet, "Lee?"

Lee cleared his throat and rasped out, "Yeah. Yeah, it's me."

"Lee!" Milo screamed so loud he had to tug the phone away with a wince. "Lee, I—! I'm so sorry—I'm so fucking sorry, please don't be mad at me anymore. I don't like it when you're mad at me—"