Luan awoke feeling groggy and hungover, again. He snuggled back into Thoma's guest bed and willed sleep to take him but his headache had other plans. Exasperated he threw the blankets off and stumbled his way into the kitchen where he was surprised not to see Thoma.
He wanted to call for him but near the coffee pot lay a note.
Lu - I headed out first to meet a friend. The coffee pot is ready you just have to press start and there's some oatmeal in the fridge for you, it needs warmed. Don't worry about locking the door, it locks automatically. Have a good morning. - Thoma
P.S. don't forget to contact Charlie
Luan read and re-read the note though it didn't say anything special. He appreciated how thoughtful Thoma was and he even enjoyed studying his handwriting. It fit him perfectly.
He slipped the note into his pocket and started to get his breakfast ready.
Luan took his time in the morning drinking his coffee and scrolling through his phone. He'd even put on an episode of a show he'd watched countless times while he ate breakfast. After he was done he washed his dishes and went back into the guest room to shower and get ready to leave.
He softly sung to himself as he showered but as he rinsed his hair he paused. He was making himself far too comfortable at a friends house. He decided to quickly finish his shower and make it look like no one had ever stayed here.
He couldn't decide whether or not to wash the sheets before he made the bed. He realized it'd take too long and he wasn't even sure where the washer and dryer were located. He made the bed as best he could and decided to leave Thoma a note before leaving.
Thoma - thanks for letting me stay here and for once again handling my drunken self. See you at practice! - Lu
Luan giggled realizing they both could've just texted each other this information but he liked the old fashioned way.
As he let the door shut behind him he paused and took Thoma's note out of his pocket.
"He addressed me as 'Lu' in the note. Has he ever called me that before?" Luan wondered and a memory flashed in his mind.
"Call me Lu," He heard himself saying but it must've been in his drunken stupor. He didn't remember anything after his second drink.
"I hope I didn't do anything embarrassing," Luan worried but he figured he could ask Thoma or Thoma would just tell him.
Luan decided to text Thoma right away.
Luan - Hey thanks for breakfast and coffee :) both were very good. Also thanks for taking care of me last night, I'm afraid I made a fool of myself. I was out after that delicious second drink 😝. Hope you have a good day!
He worried he sounded too childish but Thoma never seemed to mind.
".... You treat me like a child," he recalled himself saying last night.
"What had Thoma said back to him? He couldn't remember at all."
He looked at his phone but seeing that Thoma hadn't read his message yet he shoved his phone in his pocket and walked back to his campus. Halfway there he remembered he couldn't return to his dorm quite yet and decided to call Charlie.
"Hello?" Charlie said with a cheery voice.
"Hey Charlie! I'm not aware if you'd had a chance to talk to Thoma about the development of everything with my ex, but uh... well basically I can't return to my dorm for a little while. A-and umm.. well Thoma thought I should ask you to stay with you until I went to court and got a proper restraining order against Mikey... so yeah."
Luan felt very awkward asking someone he knew even less than Thoma for help but Charlie was the less awkward of the two choices. Luans feelings for Thoma were growing beyond his expectations and he didn't trust himself around him. He was bound to do something stupid sooner or later. And Thoma wasn't even into guys, as far as he could tell.
Charlie didn't reply right away and was instead talking to someone near him.
"Sorry about that," Charlie returned to the phone and Luan assured him it was no problem, "let me sort some stuff out this afternoon but it should be fine to have you stay with me. About how long do you think you'll stay here?"
Charlie didn't ask in any aggressive way, more just general curiosity, but Luan felt terrible all the same.
"Umm... I don't know how long this stuff usually takes but I don't think more than a couple weeks...?" Luan said but he heard someone talking to Charlie yet again through the other end of the phone.
The voice sounded familiar and Luan couldn't stop himself from asking, "is that Thoma?" His heart begun to race as he waited for Charlie's reply.
"What? Umm no, it's my friend Anthony. I run the theatre with him. You've definitely seen him around." Charlie explained and Luan shook off his disappointment.
"If not Charlie, who was Thoma meeting this morning," Luan worried but realized he shouldn't care. There was a lot he didn't know about Thoma, why did it matter that he was meeting someone Luan didn't know?
"Anyways," Charlie interrupted his thoughts. "If you stay here I would just ask you to help pitch in for groceries or simply buy your own. Just because we'll be eating for two. Don't worry about paying me for other accommodations though, I understand you're going through a lot right now. Also I won't be able to drive you to your classes or play practice if that's okay."
Luan assured him everything he asked for was reasonable and offered to make dinner most nights. He hung up feeling much more at ease than when he called.
Luan realized in all the craziness that he hadn't had a chance to do homework all weekend. He texted his roommate to check if he was in the room and being reassured he was, Luan hurried back to drop off his clothes. He'd have to come back later that night for them again but he didn't have any place to store them for the time being.
After grabbing his needed textbooks he opted to go back to the coffee shop. Thankfully he hadn't been scheduled this weekend or else he'd had had to call off.
He plugged in his music and was making his way when he stopped dead in his tracks and hid behind a pillar.
About a block away he had spotted Thoma who was talking to someone he hadn't seen yet. Once they walked out and were crossing the street together, Luans breath hitched in his throat.
Thoma was with a dark haired woman laughing as they crossed the street together. Luan turned right around and went back to study in his dorm.
YOU ARE READING
Sincerely, Yours
Roman d'amourLuan was doing well in his life. He had a stable job, a good circle of friends, good grades at the college he attended. His goals were bright and simple in front of him, all it was gonna take was time. Thoma had had a rough hand in life. He'd lost...
