halfwitted dense dumbass

Part 2

Three years.

Three amazing and terrible years.

Three years and Alberu really might be at his limit.

Looking into his exhausted reflection he let out a sigh and brought his attention down to the sink to get his toothbrush. There, in the most mundane of locations, was a reminder of his current predicament.

There, sitting next to his toothbrush as domestically as could be, sat Cale's toothbrush. It was hard to say how long ago Cale started to keep a toothbrush here but Alberu had the faint memories of encouraging it.

What was he thinking?

Three years was just a really long time.

Cale, thankfully, no longer lived with his terrible roommates or ran into his scum of an ex. Once Valentino was made aware of how terrible his friends truly were, he had been the one to room with Cale for about six months.

Alberu suspected they might have been more than roommates. Maybe Valentino was the mysterious crush that Cale still kept tight-lipped on.

Tight-lipped was the wrong word. He was rather loose-lipped on the matter, always joking that it was Alberu without a single idea how those words made him feel.

The two parted on good terms and Cale finally reached a state of financial stability that allowed him to live alone.

Not that it mattered where he lived. Whether it was with his toxic roommates, with Valentino, or all on his own, the place he spent the most time in was Alberu's condo.

He really couldn't understand why Cale didn't just take up his offer to be roommates but Cale always adamantly refused the offer. It scared Alberu a bit, was it possible that Cale realized his feelings? What if he didn't want to live with Alberu because of it?

But in that case, why would he spend so much time here? Why would he confide in him? Why were they so close?

Three. Fucking. Years.

Alberu had reached a stage beyond frustration and into a sort of madness that any good unrequited love can drive a person towards.

He knew he needed to tell Cale. Even if it was only to be rejected. He couldn't keep it inside anymore.

Arms slid around his waist and Cale's chin plopped onto his shoulder as Cale made his presence known, casually embracing Alberu as though it were the most normal thing to do in the whole world. "Whatcha thinking about?" He asked, reaching for his own toothbrush from behind Alberu with apparently no intentions whatsoever of moving from his new preferred spot.

It was just very hard to keep inside when Cale insisted on acting like this.

If he was honest, sometimes it felt like they were already in a relationship. The only difference being that sometimes Cale dated other people and they were never intimate with one another.

Cale hummed as he began to brush, leaning his head lazily against Alberu's neck as he practically draped himself onto his friend.

Well. They weren't sexually intimate at least.

Cale had pushed just about every physical boundary Alberu had and found how pliant Alberu really was to him with sadistic glee.

It was really hard not to wake up every day, look Cale in the face, and declare his deep feelings of love. Maybe pull him into a kiss for effect.

Not that it would be their first kiss. Cale had already kissed him a few times while drunk and Alberu had his suspicions that Cale had been a bit more sober than he pretended while doing so.