Faith in Us

14

Robert stared at the plate of food before him, his appetite having left him since last night when Mary stormed into the bar and yelled at him about forgetting the dinner he promised he would be at. Robert had dark circles under his eyes, due to the lack of sleep he suffered last night; and not to mention his aura radiated misery.

The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was eat, even though Porl had spent so much time making this just for him.

“Is something wrong with the food robert?” porl’s gentle question brought robert’s attention away from his thoughts. Robert lifted his head and looked at his feminie friend, not realizing that he had been staring at the now cold plate of food for a good 5 minutes now,

“Uh, no sorry I just… i'm not very hungry..'' Robert said awkwardly, averting his gaze back down to his lap before he sighed. “Though, I feel bad since you went out of your way to make this..” he muttered quietly, his knee bouncing quickly under the table.

“You don't have to eat it if you don't want to robert, you don't have to force yourself.” porl said sweetly before taking a seat across from robert. 

Last night, after everything that had happened porl invited robert over to his house in the morning for breakfast. Robert wasn’t stupid, he knew that porl was probably going to lecture him or something but to be frank robert wasn’t really in a talking mood.

“Listen robert… last night, the way you reacted to Mary when she screamed at you in front of everyone and embarrassed you… I'm worried that you have become codependent on her. What she did was not alright, she embarrassed you in front of strangers and your friends, not to mention she said something very cruel to you.” porl said, his gaze steady on robert’s face.

“I know you love her… I know she is important to you, but just because she is special to you does not mean she has the right to treat you like that.” porl said simply, tilting his head to the side. “Could you possibly be holding on so tightly to her because of what happened between you and simon?” porl asked honestly, he wasn’t one to shy away from sensitive topics of conversations especially when it concerned people he cared about. Porl considered Robert a close friend, he wanted to help in any way he could if Robert would allow him to.

Unconsciously Robert tensed. What did Simon have to do with any of this? As far as Robert knew Simon was off having a grand time with his new band, messing around with his new friends and doing whatever he wanted. 

“Simon has nothing to do with this.” Robert said sharply, his hard gaze lifting to stare at porl. “Simon has no place in my life any more. He made his choice and I made mine; I did what was best for me.” Robert said, his words laced with subtle anger.

Porl pursed his lips before nodding his head. “Alright. I understand.” he said, tucking a piece of hair behind his head. “However…” he continued, a smile creeping onto his face for a moment. “That doesn’t mean you dont still care about him, and what he is doing. I get it, really I do.. People change, and sometimes it's not for the best but that doesn't stop you from caring.” porl said, reaching a hand over to place it upon robert’s.

“Mary is not simon. However, do not allow her or anyone to treat you like shit because you feel like you deserve it because you dont robert.” porl said, watching as robert’s shoulders relaxed.

Robert let out a weak breath and shook his head, “yeah… you’re right, you are always right.” robert let out a small laugh before placing his other hand on top of porl’s. “Thank you porl. I needed that. Where were you last year?” Robert joked, making porl giggle.