Windows

Chapter Two: Gay

Emil stayed in his room through dinner and all through the night, probably ranting to his friends online. He was on a Discord server with Lili from Liechtenstein, Leon (also known as Xiao) from Hong Kong, Alfred from the US, and a couple other people. Lili and Leon were visiting Norway right now (which is where Lukas and Emil lived) but they would only be here for a month. Lukas didn't have a problem grounding Emil anyways because he could still contact them through Discord.

The next day dawned too early, and Lukas called and asked when the repair team was coming.

"We'll be there in about an hour!" A cheerful voice answered. Lukas almost dropped the phone, startled at the volume and the accent. Danish accents were funny; Lukas liked to joke that they sounded like they were gargling potatoes.

"In an hour?" Lukas confirmed. "How long will it take you to get the new window in?"

"Oh, it shouldn't take too long," The Dane replied. "I'm good at my job!"

"I'm sure." Lukas hung up.

He arrived half an hour late, but Lukas could forgive him, because he was steaming hot. Lukas felt gayer just by being around him.

The worker shook Lukas' hand and introduced himself. "Mathias Køhler from Denmark, at your service!" He was tall and had spiked-up hair, which only exaggerated his height. He had cheerful sky-blue eyes and was always grinning, flashing perfect teeth. He had a muscular build, but wasn't bulky. He walked confidently, too. Lukas could feel his inner gay surfacing.

"I'm Lukas. Lukas Bondevik. From... here. Norway."

"Good to meet ya, Lukas Bondevik from here!" He laughed, accepted the payment with a flourish, and went to work on replacing the window.

Lukas drank his coffee and watched Mathias work. He tried not to! He tried his hardest not to stare. He worked on his college paper, but inevitably, his eyes kept sliding back to the man as he worked.

Either the Dane was the most oblivious person alive, or he just didn't care.

Lukas was grateful that Mathias didn't make things more awkward for both of them.

When it started to get dark outside, Mathias knocked on Lukas's door. "Lukas?"

Lukas poked his head out. "Is the window done?"

"No, sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his head and smiling awkwardly. "I need to come back and finish it tomorrow. The base of the window was rotting away and I wasn't prepared for that."

That awkward smile was endearing, and Lukas tore his eyes away and stared at the floor. "That's alright. See you tomorrow."

"See ya."

Mathias left.

Lukas felt lonely.