Running Out of Time (BoyxBoy)

Twenty Three

Gill
  "Tobyyyyy, wake up! I made lunch!" I pouted and shook Toby's shoulder. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, and smiled up at me.
  "Lunch? What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" He sat up and stretched. He held his arms out in front of him and did the little grabby hands thing toddlers did when they wanted to be held. I rolled my eyes, but stepped closer, climbing onto his lap.
  "We were up late last night, you looked tired. Also you look super cute when you're sleeping."
  "Well someone thought we should watch the first eight seasons of The Simpsons in one sitting." He wrapped his arms around my waist. I hadn't left the pack house, apart from going to school in almost two weeks, so we'd been binging a lot of TV.
  "Shhhhh. Details don't matter." He rolled his eyes and held me tighter, puckering his lips. I gave him a small peck.
  "So...you made lunch?" I smiled and nodded eagerly. I'd also been watching a lot of cooking shows and have been eager to try a ton of new recipes.
  "It's not much. There wasn't a lot in the pantry or fridge. But I made BLT's! And I made this weird sauce thing that I saw on TV and I can't pronounce the name of it but it's really yummy!" He smiled and kissed my cheek.
  "It sounds delicious, love. Why don't we go eat, and then you can make a list of all the food and ingredients you'd like while I take a shower, and we can go to the store together." I nodded eagerly and climbed off his lap. I took his hand in mine and pulled him off the bed. We made our way to the kitchen and I shoved him into one of the dining chairs before grabbing our plates from the counter, setting one of them in front of him.
  "It looks great, baby." I smiled and sat beside him to eat. We finished fairly quickly, and not to brag, but it was pretty good. I gave Toby a kiss and grabbed his plate when he was finished.
  "Hurry up and shower, I want to goooo!" He laughed and made his way down the hall. I put our dishes in the sink and found a small note pad in one of the drawers, alone with a pen, slowly making my list. It wasn't long before I heard a sharp and rushed knock at the front door. I frowned and set down the pen. I made my way to the door and looked through the peephole, only to see Andrew with tears running down his face. I gasped and quickly opened the door.
  "Drew? What's wrong?" He looked up and let out a sob.
  "Gilly...he found her. Noah found his mate. I didn't know where else to go I just...I don't know who else to talk to about this so I just ran here, I'm sorry." I frowned and pulled him inside, hugging him tightly.
  "Gill, who's at the- Drew? What's wrong?" Tobias stood in the hallway with wet hair and new clothes on.
Drew gave me a pleading look and I nodded.
  "Hey, Toby. Can you go to the store alone? I left the list on the counter. And get like a shit ton of junk food too." He frowned.
  "Uh, yeah sure. Is everything okay?" I nodded.
  "Hey Drew, why don't you go sit on the sofa and I'll be over in a bit. I'm just gonna talk to Toby for a second. Don't worry, I won't tell him." I whispered the second part.
  "You can tell him...just don't tell him who..."  I nodded and pulled away, dragging his feet over to the sofa. I went back into the kitchen to grab the list and followed Toby out the front door.
  "Gill, what's going on?" He asked as soon as we stepped into the hallway.
  "He has a huge crush on someone and he just found out that he found his mate, so he's feeling a little heartbroken right now. We're just gonna eat ice cream and cry and probably binge sad movies." Toby frowned and nodded.
  "Okay, just call me if you need anything, okay? I'll try to be fast." I smiled and hugged him tight.
  "We will. And don't forget the junk food. It's essential for curing heartbreak. That's what me and my dad did when my mom left. And then I did it after the thing with Travis. Though it doesn't really work as well when you're by yourself."
  "Okay, just don't get sick. I love you." I stood on my tip toes and pressed my lips against his softly.
  "I probably will. I love you too! And please, be safe. Those psycho hunters are after you just as much as they're after me." He sighed and nodded.
  "I'll be careful. Maybe I can convince Jax to come with me. This looks like a long list, I could use the help." I laughed and kissed him again.
  "Good, here's the list. Text me or call me if you get confused." He gave me an odd look.
  "Why would I get confused?"
  "Do you know the difference between baking soda and baking powder, other than the name?"
  "Uh...there's a difference?" I rolled my eyes.
  "Just call me, okay?" He nodded and kissed me for a third time, took the list, and headed off. I made my way back inside and headed straight for the freezer, pulling out a pint of ice cream, then retrieved two spoons from the dishwasher.
  "So, Toby's really boring and only has vanilla right now, but I'm sure he'll pick up more." Drew looked up at me with his sad, watery eyes.
  "Ice cream?" I smiled and nodded, plopping down beside him on the sofa.
  "Essential for curing heartbreak. I also told him to get a shit ton of junk food." He cracked a small smile and took one of the spoons.
  "It sounds like you know this from experience?" He sniffled.
  "My dad and I did this when my mom left. We were both sad and miserable for a long time and we saw these teen girls do it on TV so we decided to try it, and sure enough, we were sort of not miserable after. And also I had a boyfriend a few years ago back in New Mexico. It didn't really end well and so I did it alone. Didn't work as fast that time." He sighed.
  "How can I be heartbroken if I wasn't with him though? Like, I hardly knew him. I mean I knew him enough, obviously. But we never hung out unless doing patrols or training counts. I've never had a conversation with him that wasn't about tracking, or taking out rogues, or anything else pack related. How did I let myself get so attached? I'm so stupid! I should've just waited until I met my mate." I shushed him and shoved the pint of ice cream closer.
  "Drew, you're young. I may not know as much about what it's like being a werewolf, but I do know quite a bit about having crushes, and I know you usually don't get to choose when or how they start, or who they're for. They just sort of happen on their own. It doesn't make you stupid for falling for him. It makes you human. Well I know you aren't actually human, but you get my point."
  "I know, I just... I wish I would've just tried to move on at least. Save myself some of this embarrassment." He took a bite of the ice cream, finally.
  "Growing up human, you have no clue about any of this whole mate stuff. I mean, people talk about soulmates, but that's just the kind of thing people say in any relationship they get in, whether they believe it or not. There's no inner wolf to tell you when you've found the one, you figure it out on your own. You have to navigate your relationships and your crushes on nothing but how you feel, and sometimes, it ends in heartbreak. I know this sounds cheesy, but everything happens for a reason. My mom and dad met and fell in love and adopted me. They ended up not being soulmates and that did end in heartbreak. But without that, I wouldn't be here with you, now would I? And I would have never met Toby, or at least not as soon as I did." He gave me another sad smile.
  "Thanks, Gill." I smiled back and took a big bite of the ice cream.
  "Of course, Drew. I'm always here for you."
  "I'm really glad you met my brother. You make him really happy. And it's nice to have another big brother. Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, but he's not very good at stuff like this. At least with me he's not."
  "Of course! I'm an only child, so it's cool to have a little brother." I smiled at him and cuddled up to his side.
  "So, this whole heartbreak remedy cannot be effective unless we binge watch something that will make us cry. The Notebook is a classic, though overrated. Honestly, I think we should steer clear from Nicolas Sparks in general. Disney might be good. It can be sad, but there's always happy music too."
  "Disney is fine with me." I grabbed the remote from the coffee table and we eventually settled on Coco. I took the now empty ice cream container and set it aside while Drew pulled the throw blanket from the back of the sofa, draping it over the both of us as we slowly began the healing process.