It's Just You And Me

Chapter 4

Smut warning for this chapter :)

"Do you want a drink?" Mew asks after a moment of silence. He stands up, offering a hand to Gulf who gladly takes it.

"Sure, what are you thinking?" Gulf follows him through to the kitchen. It's just as beautifully designed as the rest of his house. A granite island stands in the centre surrounded by black and silver appliances. Gulf watches as Mew stands behind the island, reaching down to open a cabinet and presenting a bottle of wine with a name Gulf could not pronounce.

"Alcohol?" Mew raises a brow as he gets to work at popping the cork. It's as if nothing had happened, the only tell tale of Mew's breakdown were the puffy eyes and slightly sniffly nose.

"Okay." Gulf agrees. He justifies it by the fact that it's the weekend and he's just completed his last lot of exams before summer break. He's allowed to let loose.

Mew smiles, reaching for two glasses and pouring the red liquid, filling them halfway. He pushes one over to Gulf who waits patiently on the opposite side of the island. "Thanks." Gulf takes the glass, picks it up and brings it to his nose, smelling it like the wealthy characters do in the movies. He then tilts the glass in Mew's direction, raising a toast to the slightly more than stranger. "To Mew, for..." he looks at Mew, their eyes meeting and Mew looks at him with expectancy.

"Having an emotional breakdown over something very stupid?" Mew finishes Gulf's sentence much to his dismay. He says it with such nonchalance, following his words with laughter. Gulf just stared at him, not understanding the joke.

"No. What I was going to say was: cheers to Mew for being emotionally vulnerable. And thank you for sharing that with me." Suddenly Gulf sounded elderly; his words holding some kind of wisdom he didn't know he had. It may have looked like an act, the words sounding so out of character but he meant it. It wasn't often Gulf saw another man breakdown like that, he treated the moment as if it were sacred. Mew just stared at him, confusion apparent on his face. He didn't understand why Gulf was congratulating him on what just happened, Mew wanted nothing more than for it to be forgotten. Although it did make him feel...supported? Cared for?

Not lingering on that conversation for too much longer, the two return to the living room. Mew finds his place on the sofa, Gulf sitting next to him. Perhaps too close from an outsider's perspective but Gulf wanted to be there for Mew, wanted to be a shoulder for him, wanted to be the warmth Mew was hunting for. Neither say anything, rather they take their time sipping the wine and clearing their throats as if to speak but repeatedly rejecting the idea entirely. They supposed they were both scared of what to say. Gulf wanted Mew to open up to him but equally didn't want to force Mew to talk if he didn't want to.

However, that didn't last long before Gulf broke the ice. "So how long have you been living alone?" Gulf begins. He thought better than to bombard him with questions about his earlier breakdown, that would just be cruel.

"Uhh...around seven years, yeah seven," Mew answers, he swirls his glass around as if contemplating his answer.

"Oh, that's quite a while," Gulf states and Mew nods his head, pursing his lips and raising his brows. "Does it get lonely?" Gulf presses, though the answer feels obvious.

"Of course it does. I thought about renting out the spare room again but after the last time, I don't think I should risk it," Mew explains. Gulf looks at him, unsure of what to say.

"What happened...last time?"

"We had been colleagues for a few years before I opened up my business. He needed a place to stay and you know, I was lonely and gave him my spare room." Gulf listens tentatively, nodding his head at every pause as if taking mental notes of what Mew was saying in case he would be quizzed. "We got into a relationship, it was messy and cruel and nearly got the both of us fired - I think that's when he realised we had to stop fooling around. Since then I decided to live alone and stopped...listening to romantic feelings, y'know?" He admits. He didn't like to think that their relationship had shaped Mew to become the person he was today but it sort of had - he had solely fixated on work and put aside every relationship opportunity that had arisen. "I think that's what got me to where I am now."