My Infinity 》Renga

13

Chapter 13- Langa's POV:

Reki barely stops talking as we walk back to the restaurant. He's completely elated, like he's a little boy who's eaten too much sugar.

"Can we race sometime?" He asks.

"Yes, definitely." I reply, my mind elsewhere.

I'm thinking about what Joe said earlier. We have one week. One week until Reki and me are no longer fake dating, and he'll probably end up with Kaiyo...

This thought is the only thing I can focus on. I can't help it.

After Reki beat Shadow and I caught him at the finish line, I really didn't want to let him go.

When he looked at me, all excited and cute with his hair all messy, it felt different. Something clicked. It was like that was where he was meant to be. In my arms. It felt natural, like it happened every day. But it must have just been my imagination.

I help Joe with the dishes and watch as everyone files out.

"Want me to help you?" Reki asks.

"That's fine, get home to your mum. Tell her I hope she's feeling better."

"She's doing alright. Will do! See you!"

I wave him goodbye, but as he gets to the door he runs back to give me a hug. I bury my face in his mess of hair, once again, not wanting to let go.

"I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yep, bye!" I smile.

Once he has left, I feel eyes on me and look up to see Joe sitting on the bench, looking intrigued.

"What's that look for, then?" I demand.

"You really like him, don't ya?"

"Aren't we cleaning dishes...?" I mutter, turning back to the sink of hot, soapy water.

Joe hops down from the marble bench.

"Yes, and having a discussion, because I can tell something's bothering you." He says.

"One of our friends is head over heels for him!" I blurt out, spinning around so quickly that the plate I'm holding slips out of my hand. The porcelain smashes on the ground and I cringe, murmuring apologies and something about getting a broom.

"Oh, no you don't." Joe says, taking hold of my wrist and spinning me back around, leading me to the table and shoving me into a seat, him taking the one next to me.

"Okay, what's going on with this friend? People don't go around smashing plates if everything's fine." He says, looking concerned.

"I'm sorry," I say, my voice shaking, "I just don't know what to do..."

"You can start by telling me who this admirer is."

I do. Before I know what I'm doing, I tell Joe everything that's been going on with this messed up love triangle.

"Sounds like you have quite the dilemma there, my friend." He says when I have finished.

"It shouldn't be a big deal," I sigh, "I just get scared."

"What're you scared of?"

"What if Reki and Kaiyo date, and then they break up? What if this boy treats him badly? I don't want to see Reki sad. Every time I see him anxious I already feel like I'd do absolutely anything to make him smile."

"Why?" Joe asks, seeming as though he knows something I don't.

"Because I care about him?"

"Are you sure that's the only reason?"

"Because he doesn't deserve it?" I suggest, beginning to get more passionate as I speak, "Because he's an amazing person? Because he would never hurt intentionally someone?"

As I continue to list reasons why I wouldn't want to see Reki distressed, the questioning tone in my voice vanishes and I'm just making statements.

"Because he's beautiful. Because seeing him hurt breaks my heart."

Joe listens as I speak, hot tears that I barely notice falling fast from my eyes.

"Because he deserves someone as great as him. Because I wish I could be that person. Because I love him so mu-"

I'm cut off by my own sobbing as I state the last few reasons.

"You already knew that, didn't you?!" I cry, looking up at the man sitting across from me, my vision blurred from the salty tears.

"Yeah. Looks like you didn't."

I look down at the polished wooden surface of the table, wiping my eyes with my sleeves.

"I wish I was the person who was brave enough to ask him out." I whisper.

"Why don't you?"

"Because he'll say yes to Kaiyo."

"You don't know that, Langa!"

"Even if he says no, what if I do ask then screw up? What if I'm the person who goes out with him then accidentally breaks his heart?"

"You're not an idiot. You're a teenager."

"That doesn't excuse my stupidity."

I bury my face in my hands, tired and fed up. What a cliché. This feels like a predictable, angsty, main-character-crashes-and-burns film that I'd have no interest in seeing.

"Everything alright?" Cherry asks, entering the room.

"Yep," Joe smiles, "just giving some life advice."

"I don't believe that." Cherry replies, wearing a disbelieving look.

Joe grins up at the other young man, wrapping his arms around his waist, to which Cherry smiles, embarrassed, trying to move his hand away.

"I fell in love with my best friend, too," Joe says, returning his hand to the small of his boyfriend's back, "and look how well that turned out."

"Yeah, and you didn't make it obvious at all." I joke, starting to laugh as the couple's expressions melt from contentment to sarcastic disapproval.

Cherry leaves after a few more minutes, and I continue helping with dishes, sweeping up the pieces of the plate I broke.

"Are you feeling better?" Joe asks.

"A bit."

"If you ever want to talk about anything, I'm around. Okay, Langa?"

"How long did it take you to get Cherry to love you back?" I inquire.

"Five years." He replies casually.

"What!?" I gasp, "It took five years?"

"Yeah," he laughs, "but it's worth it. It'll always be worth it."

I cock my head to the side, looking inquisitively at my friend.

"Always?"

"Those five years I spent infatuated? Yes. But you don't need five years. You sound like you've figured yourself out a lot quicker than I did."

He gives me a hug. Joe doesn't hug people very often.