Take My Breath (KShaw)

Chapter 16

Everyone files slowly out of the room after the auction. JJ gets up, too, following behind Ethan and Tobi, both bent together, whispering excitedly.

"Olajide." He turns, eyebrows raised, to find Mrs. Davies looking at him expectantly, and then he remembers. "Oh, right." He quickly heads over to her, and she hands him the leftover money from the two hundred pounds he'd given her to bid on Harry's piece. "Thank you." "I still don't fully understand why you couldn't bid yourself, but it wasn't a bother," she says with a wave of her hand. "You can take your painting whenever you'd like." "Is it okay if I leave it here until Thursday?" He doesn't want to bring it back to the room and have Harry realize that he'd bought it. That'd defeat the whole purpose of having her bid for him. "I leave then, and this way I don't have to keep it in my room." "Of course, dear." "Thank you," JJ adds once more. This time she only waves him off, moving on to talk to someone else.

JJ pockets his money and leaves, heading for his room. It's thankfully empty when he gets there. That's what he'd planned, so he's grateful, even if it puts him off every time he comes home and Harry's bed is unoccupied, or he's not sitting at the desk. Not that Harry has to wait for JJ to come home like some obedient puppy, or his stay at home boyfriend or something, but whenever he is there when JJ gets back, it makes something warm bubble up inside of him.

He's a little nervous as he moves about the room, hanging up the Christmas lights he'd borrowed from the art room, ones that weren't needed for decoration. He also turns on the stereo, just a bit of soft music in the background, one of Harry's CDs that he listens to a lot (and he knows Harry hates it when JJ touches his stuff, but he thinks it might be okay, just this once). When he plugs in the lights and shuts off the overhead one, the room is cast in soft, glowing light. It looks romantic, or something. Not that JJ's good at romance, but he's trying and that has to count for something, right?

When he's done he takes out his phone, flitting through to his last contact. He'd gotten Harry's number off Simon weeks ago, not that he's used it. Simon still teases him about it, and JJ's stopped arguing with him over it because Simon's teasing is justified. Remember how I asked to talk? Can u come to the room? It's JJ btw he sends, hands shaking just a bit. He's not going to get too excited over this, though. That'd be lame. But he does busy himself with pulling Harry's gift out of his dresser, holding it tightly in his hands. It's not an expensive gift. It's just one of those lights that you stick on the top of your books so you can read in the dark. JJ figured it'd make his life easier, since he and Harry constantly fight over Harry keeping the light on to do work while JJ tries to sleep. And it didn't seem like an extravagant gift, either. Like something that he'd spent weeks picking out (even if he actually did).

Fifteen minutes pass without a reply or Harry coming into the room, and JJ starts worrying, his lip between his teeth. Twenty minutes, and he starts pacing the room. Forty-five minutes later and he gets a short text that reads Sorry, I can't. My brother came to pick me up. I'm on my way home. Happy holidays. JJ slowly blinks down at the screen. And then he gets up, tossing Harry's present into the bottom drawer of the desk before he tears down the lights and crawls into bed, refusing to be upset about this. He should have known something like this would happen. JJ's always so stupid; Harry knows it, and he knows it, too. Why would this be any different?

*****

Being at home, for Harry, is like being able to breathe again. Even if the ride home hadn't been exactly pleasant. Four hours alone in a car with Josh and his shitty music...

But as soon as he's home, his mother hugs him and it makes up for the rest of it. He also gets to sleep. No matter how comfortable he gets in his dorm room, it's just not the same as being in his bed. Having an entire room to himself. No JJ snoring beside him. Blissfully, happily, wonderfully, completely alone. He can't imagine anything better. That's what he tells himself, at least, but that first night, even though he doesn't get home until about one in the morning, he lies awake for what feels like hours, the silence in the room unbearable.