Pick it up

The familiar feel of his boyfriend's lips on his distracted him from the looming presence behind him.

"This is a public space." Alhaitham's voice broke the supposedly romantic moment, though Kaveh wasn't as mournful as he should be.

"It's a hallway, and I know for a fact you have nowhere to be." Kaveh rolled his eyes without looking behind him, not willing to give Alhaitham the attention he was trying to draw to himself. "Go away." Kaveh warns, not satisfied until he hears his roommate's footsteps disappear back into the house.

"Do you really have to stay with this guy?" Kaveh turns back to the man that had just spent minutes trying to eat his face, "I'm not comfortable with you living with him." The blond suppresses a groan, unwilling to deal with these insecurities.

He understands that his living situation may be confusing, given how much he complains about Alhaitham's behaviour, but he hasn't been dating this guy long enough for him to be in a position to make demands about who he chooses to share a home with.

"I don't have an alternative, and at least I know I can trust Alhaitham." Kaveh sighed, because that was the sad reality. He couldn't afford a place of his own, and there are too many weirdos out there for him to shack up with a stranger. Alhaitham may drive him insane, but he's known him for years. He knows that when the chips are down, they will be there for each other, and that he can rely on the man.

"You could live with me?" The man in front of him asks, hesitantly. It's a ridiculous idea, and the guy is probably aware of it. "It makes no sense for you to live with someone you despise when you can live with someone you love."

Presumptuous. Kaveh never implied his feelings were that deep. He enjoyed his time with him, but to say he loved him? When he thinks of love, a different face appears in his mind. But neither his lack of feelings for one person nor his suppressed feelings for the other were issues he was willing to address today.

"It's nice of you to offer," Kaveh began, a polite smile sat on his face as he tried to make the rejection as painless as possible. "But to live with someone I'm dating so early on? I can live with Alhaitham because it has no meaning." That is a lie. He pushed the intrusive thought away as quickly as it came.

"You shouldn't put your faith in him so easily. He's clearly interested in you." The man's tone became hostile, and his demeanour became just a little more aggressive.

"Even if he is, the fact that he hasn't acted on it proves that I can trust him." Kaveh didn't like the implication that Alhaitham couldn't be trusted. It was incredibly rude, and this guy didn't even know him. Only Kaveh is permitted to say such things about him.

The man moves closer to Kaveh, his grip on his arms tightening, causing Kaveh to flinch. "You're being naive!"

"And you're insecure. Which is no excuse for mistreating me." Kaveh yanked himself free of his grip, separating the two. "You should leave."

"Insecure? Anyone can see that there's something going on between the two of you."

"And I assure you that there isn't. It's one thing to distrust Alhaitham, but what have I ever done to earn your suspicions?"

"Easy guy, living with a good-looking man who is clearly interested in him?"

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?" He wasn't even quick to jump into bed with this guy, and it's not like he knows anything about his previous sexual encounters. It was a bold and downright rude assumption to make.

"You know what, I'm leaving. I'll call you later when you've calmed down." The man says, trying to keep the conversation from going any further; he didn't expect Kaveh to bite back as easily as he did.