gotta watch you walk in the room baby, gotta watch you walk out

Chapter Five

Tin slept better than he had in months, probably years. He'd woken up once only and Can had him locked in his embrace, so he'd simply fallen back to sleep feeling content. Good sex must have magic powers. The sound that woke him was that of his front door closing.

Can.

He reached out and found the other side of the bed empty, and his heart lurched. He had never spent the night in the same bed as another person and now it had finally happened that person had upped and left before he woke up.

The clock on the bedside table proclaimed that it was just after nine. Sunlight flooded in through the windows, no one had shut the curtains the night before. It was going to be a glorious day. A day that stretched out before him with nothing but more work to do.

He squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath. Can leaving without saying goodbye was fine. Hadn't he said he had work today anyway? Either way, it had just been a one off and unlikely to happen again, of course he wasn't going to hang around for breakfast. They didn't even like each other as people. Tin had had many hook ups in his time, this one had only rattled him because Can had fallen asleep in the bed next to him. That was all it was.

Can had spent the night wrapped around him.

Can had made such sweet sounds when Tin had been fucking him. God.

"Don't overthink it, Tin," he told himself and forced himself out of bed and into the bathroom in his own bedroom. When he caught sight of his own reflection he grimaced. A small cut on his lip and three red marks on his clavicle. If he needed proof he hadn't dreamt the whole thing then there it was.

After a quick breakfast he retreated into his office and spent a few hours editing his thesis. He only slipped off into reminiscing about the night before a couple of times, though even that was frustrating as usually once he was working, he was able to focus one hundred percent.

Pete arrived home around 3pm looking all sun-kissed and dreamy-eyed. Tin made them both a hot drink and they sat on the sofa, and after Pete had queried where Tin's injury had come from and apparently taken his lie at face value, he had set off talking about what a great time he'd had with Ae, the occupants of the fourth floor flat – and wasn't it unfortunate that Can hadn't made it? – and a couple of those seniors that had been out that first night.

"I really like him, Tin," Pete said, both hands cupping his mug as he stared up at the ceiling as though it held the meaning of life.

Tin still didn't trust Ae one iota. The facts were that Pete was rich, Ae was poor. They were just too many worlds apart. "Just take it slow," he warned, biting back what he really wanted to say. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I know, and I love you for it, but not everyone is another Trump." Their eyes met and Pete sighed. "I'm serious, Tin. I just wish you could see the good in people, have some faith."

"You're lucky I see the good in you," Tin said, palming his face as sudden exhaustion hit him despite his unusually good night's sleep. He did not like that the conversation had turned onto him.

"It's not luck, it's fate," Pete said, reaching out to squeeze Tin's hand. "We've both had times when we've needed each other, and I'll always be here for you, no matter what. Your family did a massive number on you and it's a real cliché to say this, but you can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends and we chose each other."

"When did you get so cheesy?" He made a joke but the voice in his head reminded him, Pete's not yours to keep, he can't always be there for you.

"It's not cheesy if it's the truth." Pete tipped Tin's chip with two fingers, eyes boring into, giving him no option to look right back. "What's up with you anyway? Was having Can here that tiring? I know that guy can talk."