James trudged through the dirty slush that had been pristine white snow when he'd left for work that morning. He knocked his boots off on the bricks outside the entrance to his apartment building, then carefully made his way up the slippery metal stairs just inside. A sigh escaped his lips when he reached the door to his apartment. Christian was probably home already, which meant that there wasn't really any way for James to avoid talking about it. He sighed again and opened the door.
The little hook by the door held christian ' keys, so he was definitely home. James hung his keys beside them and called out, "You home?"
He could hear noise coming from Christian's room and the door was open, so he stepped into his own bedroom first to shrug off his coat and pull off his boots. He wanted to flop backwards onto his bed and wrap himself up in his blanket and never come out, but instead he shuffled down the hallway, knocked on Christians' door, and walked in. Christian was on the floor, halfway inside his closet, with a pile of clothes and shoes behind him. So James threw himself onto Christians bed and rolled himself up inside Christians blankets instead.
"What are you doing in there?" James asked, voice muffled by the blanket that was covering most of his face. Maybe it would be something interesting enough that James wouldn't have to admit that, once again, Christian had been right. That once again, he'd fallen too fast for someone who didn't deserve him.
The mattress bounced and james blinked when Christian pushed the corner of the blanket away from his eyes. "Just looking for something. What's with you?"
"Nothing."
"Liar." Christian laughed and then quietly said, "You don't have to tell me."
James rolled onto his back and wiggled, trying unsuccessfully to free his arms from the blankets. "Chad broke up with me. Don't say it."
Christian rolled his eyes and his mouth twisted into a crooked grin while James struggled with the blankets. "He didn't deserve you, man." He dug his fingers into James side, right in the most ticklish spot. James body jerked and he tried to roll away, but Christian stopped tickling him after a few seconds. Finally, he managed to free himself from the blankets and sit up.
"Yeah, but it sucks because of Christmas." James swung his legs around until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, side by side with Christian.
"It'll be good though. We'll both be stuck here." Christian knocked their shoulders together. "It'll be the best."
"I guess. You have to work though. Like, on Christmas."
"On my birthday too. But it's okay. I'm the new hire and that's kind of the way it goes." Christian stood up and started to kick the pile of his things back towards his closet. "I'm only at the restaurant from like four to close, so we'll have the daytime to do stuff."
"Yeah, alright. Doesn't sound completely miserable, I guess."
"Oh, guess what I did?" Christian smirked and clapped his hands once, then rubbed them together.
"That sounds ominous. What?"
"Okay, well, you know how my parents are always bugging me about getting serious with someone?"
James nodded because, yes, he knew. In the two years that he'd known Christian and in the year that they'd been roommates, it was the one mystery about Christian that he honestly tried not to delve too far into. Christian didn't really date. Sometimes he'd take someone out to dinner or a movie, sometimes he'd even see the same person for a few weeks, but they were never around for long enough for James to remember their names. And sometimes Christian would go out with the express purpose of hooking up with someone, and occasionally he'd bring someone back to their apartment, but typically—thankfully—he'd go back to their place if it was an option. The few times he'd had to hear Christian having sex were branded into his brain. He shivered at the memories.
"Right, well, since I can't go home and I haven't seen them in a while, and they won't stop asking, I lied and told them I have a boyfriend."
"Why? Won't your parents be pissed if they find out?"
"Ehh... Maybe. But they won't find out." Christian got down on the floor and started to force his pile of clothes back into his closet. "I told them we've been together two months and that I was really looking forward to bringing him home with me for the holidays, but I can't because I have to work. I'm not going to see any of them until mid-January, and by then I can just say we broke up."
"What's his name?"
Christian stood up and turned around. "He's not real, J."
"Yeah, but what'd you tell your mom?"
"I didn't. J. I didn't really think about it at the time." Christian gave up on his closet and sat back down next to James. "Just said I'd been seeing a gorgeous guy and I wanted them to meet him."
"You're a horrible person." James elbowed him in the ribs and stood up. "You know, you should give someone a chance. Having a boyfriend isn't a bad thing. It's like... One of the best things." He turned around when he got to the doorway.
"All of your ex-boyfriends are dicks. How would you even know?"
James shrugged. "Even the dickheads have been sweet in the beginning. I just need to find someone who is like..." He held his hand out at chest level, palm facing down and slowly moved it from left to right. "A level amount of really good all the time."
Christian stood up and held his hand out even with James'. "You know, it's really tough being really good all the time. I mean, I struggle with it." He raised his hand until it was over his head, then mimicked James' gesture, moving it from right to left. "And I'm fucking wonderful most of the time."
James rolled his eyes and spun around like a ballerina in his sock feet and headed for the kitchen to figure out what he wanted to eat. And to distract himself a bit. Because every time he suddenly became single again, every time he came home to whine and complain to Christian about his most recent break-up, he was reminded of the one person he wanted to be with more than anything. But it didn't matter, really. They were better off as friends, for sure, because they wanted different things. James wanted love and Christian just wanted to get laid. Yep. It was better this way.
