Best Friends (BxB)

A Smidge of Sunday but Mostly Monday

Chapter 21: A Smidge of Sunday but Mostly Monday or The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

Jamie woke up Sunday morning, face down on his bed, wondering if his head was going to literally explode.

He was alone which was both a very good thing and also a very sad and bad thing. He remembered most of last night. Remembered drinking, sort of, for the first time. Remembered finding Taylor blowing Luke, not more than an hour after Luke and he almost got together. Remembered jumping into the pool and Noah bringing him home. Vaguely remembered something else with Luke, and there being a copious amount of barf.

Suddenly he remembered something else. Something extremely important that he'd forgotten.

He grabbed his pants, and dug through the pockets. Laying back on his bed with a sigh, the beads tight in his hand. After a few seconds, panic subsiding, he sat up and went to the closet, digging in all the random boxes. He found the spool of black silk cord he'd bought for a school project at one point, sat at his desk, and rethreaded the beads into a bracelet. It was awkward, trying to tie it around his own wrist, but he made it work. It was important.

Then he untied it and took it off. Stared at it.

Maybe it was a sign. When it broke. Not a sign that he should be with Luke. He wasn't interested any longer. All the slow build up, the tiny seeds of affection and caring and attraction that he'd allowed to sprout in his heart, weeds in his fully developed garden of love for Noah, died last night when he saw how casually Luke treated sex. That just wasn't for him. Yeah, he himself kissed Luke, maybe went a tiny bit farther, but only when his ultimate goal was to make Luke his boyfriend. He hadn't been looking for a quick fuck or a hook up. Just thinking of Luke, actually gaming, while his friend casually sucked him off..... it was horrible.

And to think, he'd almost gotten together with him. Almost opened himself up, literally, to someone who probably would keep sleeping around even when they were together. Because to Luke, sex wasn't that big of a deal.

But it was a big deal. To Jamie.

And he knew it was a big deal to Noah, too.

That's why seeing his friend with Sara on Friday night, he knew it was more than just sex. Because Noah would never do that. Never randomly sleep with a girl to get his rocks off. Jamie knew, there must be feelings growing between them. He remembered the paintings. Remembered what Ms. Gibson, the art teacher, said. That there was something special about the portraits they'd done of each other. That there was a magic between the two of them. He remembered the way they'd looked just yesterday, sitting in the garden together. Like the perfect couple.

So he looked at the bracelet, undecided.

If he put it back on, wasn't that just prolonging his own heartache? Maybe, maybe it was time.

To let it go.

===

Jamie, feeling a bit better after four Ibuprofen, sat in Dane's kitchen as the tall, quiet boy got out everything they needed to make orange marmalade monkey bread. Baking was Dane's go to activity to decrease stress and distract anyone from their unhappy thoughts.

Jamie had baked a lot with Dane over the years.

A lot.

Thankfully they both had crazy fast metabolisms. They'd made countless cakes, cookies, breads. Tried savory pinwheels with basil, garlic and cheddar cheese. Made coffee cakes with sugar dusted walnuts. Made coffee flavored doughnuts with custard centers.

Maybe Jamie was a little hungry. Good thing monkey bread was easy. And fairly fast.

Jamie sat quietly as Dane did most of the mixing of ingredients. Occasionally he passed Dane stuff, or came to stand next to him sometimes, his head on Dane's shoulder, watching, giving silent support. Drawing comfort from his friend's centered, calm, assured personality.