Leroy Adkins is an underperformer. He barely graduated. He barely got a job, and he hardly socializes in his day-to-day life.
Zachary Turner has been sick for as long as he can remember, and as he grows older the crushing realization that he never...
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As early as six in the morning on Saturday Zachary was sitting in his wheelchair next to the full-length window in the sunroom.
The event of the day was Leroy coming over. Since the man had asked if he was allowed to come over on the phone on Friday even, Zachary was barely able to catch a wink of sleep. The past week of deep anxiety and crying over the state of their relationship, had molded into panicked pacing in his room and staring up at the ceiling deep in the night as he waited for the aforementioned Saturday to come around.
The whole week had been hard on his body. Dehydration from crying and lack of sleep. Forgetting to eat and being constantly on the edge checking his phone even though the light hurt his eyes.
He didn't feel well.
In fact, that whole situation was something he'd probably need a week or two to recover from, but he didn't want to turn down Leroy coming over. The thought of seeing the man after he thought Sunday was probably their last day meeting made his chest tight and face warm. So, he watched from the sunroom, patiently waiting for the lean man with thick eyebrows and a head of shiny dark hair.
"He's taking his time, isn't he?" Zachary said, turning over to one of the cats who had walked up to him and meowed. It was only maybe nine in the morning now, but Zach was impatient. He tapped his feet against the floorboards and occasionally looked back to the sitting room area to look at the clock right about the sofa. Time moved so fast, and he wondered why he'd never noticed that before.
He wasn't sure what they were going to do besides talk. They hadn't planned for anything besides meeting up, but Zachary couldn't really care less. They'd figure something out.
Leroy didn't text Zachary until a few minutes to eleven in the morning.
MESSAGE FROM: LEROY.
I'll be heading out in a bit. Had to talk to my mum and sort some things out for work.
SATURDAY, 10:48 AM.
Zach stared at the text, nibbling on his lower lip as he read it. He sent Leroy a thumbs-up emoji as he tried to figure out when exactly Leroy might get there. From how long it usually took Leroy to confirm he's gotten home after leaving his place, he would guess it was anywhere from a ten to twenty-minute walk, and if Leroy wasn't leaving right away, he would probably leave at eleven on the dot, so Zach started to expect him anywhere between eleven ten to eleven-thirty.
Time continued to pass slowly, and at a point, Zachary was even counting the seconds, he was so focused on that, that he didn't hear the knock on the door, and the cat meowing from outside. It was only when his ears picked up Leroy's voice did, he look up and was met with the sight of the man on the porch squatting and petting a cat. His face flushed and he felt like there was something lodged up in his throat.
