Sincerely, Yours

14. Let's pretend

Luan didnt show up for practice the next day and Thoma was not able to act like it didn't bother him. He'd waited in his car for a long time after he'd left Luan's dorm, probably around 3 hours, but there was no word from Luan, nor did he spot him leaving from the parking lot. To say Thoma was not hurt would be a lie.

He didn't blame Luan for the way the night went; Luan had looked extremely frightened and uncomfortable by the presence of the punk in his room. He was simply put off by the lack of explanation that came from Luan regarding the matter. There was no text from Luan all night or even today in regards to an apology and explanation.

Charlie looked like there was a lot he wanted to say to Thoma but in the end he just sent him home and said he'd come by after practice.

Thoma knew there would be no rest or relaxation if he left the situation as it was. He drove to Luan's dorm and knocked on his door, determined to see him for some kind of relief.

The opposite happened however when the person who opened his dorm room was the punk from yesterday, disheveled and clearly having just woke up, despite it being 4 in the afternoon.

"What?" He asked with a tired voice until he recognized Thoma and his stature turned hostile.

"You're the jerk from yesterday!" The punk said and Thoma could've laughed at the irony of that statement.

"Where's Luan?" Thoma asked without acknowledging the punks former statement. The punk crossed his arms and scoffed.

"As if you dont know." He said.

Thoma wanted to strangle this kid. Was he seriously this stupid or was he just playing a trick on him? He couldn't decide which one made him angrier.

"Why the fu...Why would I be here if I knew where he was?" Thoma asked and squeezed his skin between his nose. Maybe logic would get through to this kid.

The punk seemed to think on his question before shrugging, seeming to decide that a smart retort wasn't worth it. "Lu was texting you all night, I saw over his shoulder 'Charlie'." The punk said with emphasis.

"Shit I forgot that's what he told the punk my name was," Thoma remembered. "Wait so does Charlie...."

Realizing that Luan had actually been texting Charlie all night gave him a sense of relief and he decided to go back and wait for Charlie to arrive with an explanation.

Before he left he just needed one answer from the punk. "So if Luan didn't come back here with you last night, where did he go?" Thoma asked and the punk looked like he might kill him.

"Stop trying to play dumb I told you I saw your texts! I know he went and stayed the night with you. I bet you guys had a great LONG night together. Nothing that he hasn't done with me before, of course." The punk said with menace and Thoma was finally starting to put some pieces of the situation together.

"I taught him everything he knows. You can have your fun with him for now, but he always needs me in the end. Just thought I'd warn you ahead of time." The punk said and Thoma couldn't describe the disgust that rose up in him at this kids words.

Knowing he was being foolish but not daring to care he retorted, "I dont know or care what happened between Luan and you in the past. But that's the point isn't it? You are in the past. He's grown up from you, kid. So if you want to keep reappearing in his life and throw a fit whenever shit doesn't go your way, go ahead. If past, less mature Luan couldn't deal with you, what makes you think the new self-respecting Luan would ever. You're making an absolute fool of yourself. Grow the fuck up."

The punk looked ready to start settling things with his fists but just then another boy walked into the dorm.

"Whoa, who the hell are you guys?" He asked, a girl hanging on his arm.

"I'm Charlie, a friend of Luan's," Thoma introduced himself. They were both turning towards Mikey when he grabbed his stuff and pushed past them out of the room.

"Fucking squatter. Wonder how he even got in," the kid said and Thoma decided this one was alright.

"Pardon my intrusion. I was looking for Luan when I came upon that squatter. Better watch out for that one and let the RAs know." Thoma advised and the kid nodded.

"Thanks dude. Oh and I'll let Luan know you stopped by. It was Charlie right?" he asked and Thoma nodded.

"Yeah," he said quietly before nodding politely and walking back to his car.

He wanted to hurry home and call up actual Charlie to come over early, in hopes that he'd get some answers. He was heading up to his apartment when he almost jumped seeing someone crouched right outside his door.

He wondered why he was even surprised by the accumulation of strange things that were happening but his guarded stance softened when the crouched figure looked up and familiar eyes met his.

"Luan," Thoma sighed.

-------

"Again I'm sorry for just showing up like this. Charlie just advised me to come here to explain everything to you. He said you were having a rough go of it today," Luan said and Thoma weakly defended himself, "I mean, it wasn't necessarily because of what happened yesterday..." but he knew neither of them believed his words.

"So.." Luan started to talk but Thoma raised his hands.

"Let's get more comfortable. You haven't even taken your coat off yet," He said as he helped Luan out of his coat and hung it up in his hallway closet.

"Okay, well..." Luan started again but Thoma ushered him into his living room and sat him down, which made Luan laugh.

"Thoma!" He exclaimed sarcastically and Thoma put up his hands in defense.

"Now, something to drink. To serve as replacements for the drinks we didn't have last night," Thoma joked and Luan looked away as though ashamed and Thoma quickly tried to backtrack. He liked it best when Luan laughed.

"I have hot tea, iced tea, soda, water, coffee, and alcohol." He said and walked towards the adjacent kitchen while grabbing himself some water.

"Umm, well, alcohol then." Luan said shyly and Thoma smiled.

He wanted to impress Luan with his alcohol mixing skills and decided to go with one of his newfound favorite drinks, though he was unsure of Luan's particular tastes.

He made himself one as well and watched Luan's face as he first sniffed it and wrinkled his nose.

"Whiskey?" Luan asked with clear disdain and Thoma nodded but prodded him to try the drink which Luan reluctantly did. Luan's face instantly changed and he looked at Thoma in surprise. Thoma nodded with a knowing look. "It's delicious!" Luan praised him.

Thoma decided to ease Luan's clearly anxious mind by making light conversation. Thoma also let Luan pick out a vinyl and put it on his record player to have a nice ambient noise while they talked.

"Okay, start from wherever is comfortable," Thoma encouraged.