One and Only

Chapter 10

It was a little past 11 o'clock when Gojo heard the front door open and close. He had laid in bed for hours, unmoving and completely shattered. The sound of Geto's keys jingling in his hands until they dropped onto the kitchen counter was a familiar sound to him. He used to wait for that sound when Geto would go off to run errands and come back home. For the longest time, he couldn't understand why he was so attached to his best friend. He'd wonder if it was healthy to be that way. There were times when he'd catch glimpses of Geto while changing and a feeling of desire would surge through him. He should have known what that meant, but it took until now for him to realize. He continued to listen to Geto's slow footsteps going into his room across the hall. They slowed even more when he got to the threshold of the space that divided their separate rooms. Gojo hoped he would turn right and walk into his space, but he didn't. His footsteps went silent once he shut the door of his room on the left side. That seemed to make the tears come back again. He expected that to happen.

For some reason, he felt inclined to call Shoko. Normally, he'd talk to Geto when he felt this way. Only Geto has seen him so vulnerable. He knew all of the right words and just his presence alone could fix everything. But tonight, he couldn't just waltz into Geto's room. Shoko was the closest thing to comfort right now. It's all he had without Geto.

"You do realize we have 8 A.M.'s tomorrow, right?" Shoko scolded, using that as a greeting instead of saying 'hello.'

"I know." Gojo didn't have anything to quip back. If he were okay, he'd say something like "You never sleep, anyways."

"What's going on?" Her tone shifted once she realized. Even through a phone, she knew Gojo wasn't himself. "Are you and Suguru fighting again?"

"He went on a date tonight." He wasn't sure why he'd start out with that information, but he did know that was what bothered him most.

"With who?" Shoko seemed rather surprised. She put heavy emphasis on 'who.'

"I don't know," Gojo sighed. "Some girl."

"Girl?"

Gojo raised an eyebrow even though she couldn't see him. "Yes, a girl. What did you think?"

"He doesn't date girls," she explained loosely. "I thought even you knew that."

Gojo was confused. There is no other way to put it. He didn't catch what she meant by that. Geto didn't date because he was focused on school, or at least that's what he believed to be true.

"Well, he does now, obviously," he choked out. "We argued about it earlier and now we aren't speaking."

The truth was seeping out of him little by little.

"Why did you two argue about it?" she prodded.

"He didn't tell me about it. He just dropped the information like a bomb."

"Is that really what bothered you?" she questioned. "Or is it something else? You know, something you can't seem to admit out loud?"

Gojo felt paralyzed. The answer danced on the tip of his tongue, but he still couldn't find himself admitting it. She had him pinned. The woman was brilliant so it was no surprise that she picked up on all the little clues. She probably saw this coming years before.

"Satoru, Geto never dates girls because he likes guys," she elaborated. She could tell that Gojo was being dense. "He likes you and I think you like him, too."

Gojo hung up the phone not because he didn't like what he was hearing, but because he felt there was no time for formal goodbyes in this dire situation. He was out of bed faster than when he is running late in the morning. His heart was pounding in his chest from adrenaline and his hands shook at his sides. "Suguru?" he called out into the dark, empty hallway.