Long Away

Chapter 66

"Look Rami, I know what he's doing isn't great, but why are you arguing with me?" Joe was walking up and down in his living room, tempted to hang up on his friend. They had been going back and forth about Gwil's affair and how shocked Rami was he would do such a thing.

"Honestly, I don't understand how you can be okay with this."
Joe took a sharp breath, clenching his free hand into a fist. He literally told Rami five times in the last twenty minutes that he got his point. It still didn't change anything. Ben was more important.

"Yeah. Seems like there's a lot you don't understand," Joe snarled through gritted teeth.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I told you-"
"I know none of this is easy for you, but Gwil is really taking it too far. You must see that. It's just not fair of him-"
"Well none of this is fucking fair!" Joe raised his voice, and Rami fell silent.
"I can't deal with your judgement right now. And Gwil doesn't deserve it either. We care about Ben. If you can't relate that's-"

Rami scoffed. "Wow. Are you serious?"
Joe wasn't sure why these words had slipped his mouth, but at this point he was too riled up to take them back.
"You know what? I'm done with this," Rami declared with an unusual sharpness in his tone. "I've tried my best to be there for both of you, but this is just ridiculous. Don't bother contacting me again until you have a very good apology."

~~~~

Two days had passed since their fight. Joe's guilt only lasted until he got a call from Gwil, who was struggling to keep it together after Rami had given him a piece of his mind. No, Joe certainly wasn't going to apologize now. Gwil didn't even want to get into the details, but based on the few things he did mention, Rami had gone too far.
Ignoring the social distancing regulations, they agreed that Joe would come to stay with Gwil for the week. Now it was Joe's turn to be there for him.

"I just don't understand why he would be this mad." Gwil had been rambling on about his and Rami's last phone call for what felt like half an hour. Joe looked up from his cutting board. His plan to distract Gwil with cooking clearly wasn't working.
"He said nothing would be worth toying with someone's feelings like that, even if Ben's life literally depended on it."

Joe scoffed, disgusted with what he was hearing.
"I can't believe... that doesn't sound like Rami at all."
The bitter expression on Gwil's face turned alarmed. He tripped over his own words.
"D-do you not believe me?"
"Of course I do." Surprised by the sudden fear in his eyes, Joe put the knife aside and grabbed both of Gwil's hands.
"I talked to him myself, I know how angry he was. I'm just saying this isn't like him. And I don't understand why he would act like this. It doesn't make any sense."

Gwil's shoulders sank, his expression softened.
"I agree."
"Honestly, it doesn't feel like this is about you at all," Joe went on.
"Now that I think about it, I haven't heard anything from Lucy in a while."
An unnerving thought popped into his head.
"Wait! What if something happened between them? We've been so caught up in our own problems, what if they broke up and now Rami is upset we never noticed anything..." Joe reached for his phone, but Gwil held him back.
"No, that can't be it. He was with Lucy when he called me. And she" a resentful growl sounded in his voice "definitely didn't seem to have anything to disagree with him about."

Joe's heart sank.
"Oh. I was hoping maybe she could talk some sense into him. But then again, she has never been that close with Ben, has she?" He sighed heavily.
"I hate this." Joe's mind had painted a hellscape of worst case scenarios over the past months, but not even in his worst nightmares could he have predicted his friend group falling apart.
"No, this isn't right. I have to fix this."
He grabbed his phone from the counter and opened the chat with Rami.
"What are you going to tell him?", Gwil wanted to know.

"I was going to apologize, but Gwil told me about your conversation. What you said to him was completely out of line. I think we need to have another conversation when emotions aren't running as high. I don't want to fight with you, but I also can't pretend like you're in the right here." Joe let Gwil see the text before sending it. He eyed it with skepticism.
"I am not sure he will take it that well, but I guess it's worth a try."
Joe pressed send. He knew he might have better chances if he left any judgement out for now, but he couldn't bring himself to. Even if Ben's life literally depended on it. His words were like a punch to the gut.

"Did he really say it like that?", he asked, hoping Gwil was paraphrasing in a way that made it sound worse than it was. He wouldn't blame him. His anger at Rami was justified either way.
"Those were his words."
Exhausted, Joe let his head sink against Gwil's chest.
"Why?", he grumbled.
"I don't know," Gwil whispered apologetically.
Joe closed his eyes as Gwil's hand wandered up and down his back to comfort him, as it had so often these past months. He had grown used to it, and yet all he could think about was how he wished it wasn't Gwilym who was holding him.

***

Hey guys!

First of all, Happy Pride Month everyone!

I figured we could all use some more drama to celebrate, so here you go.
Jk, here's how we're really going to celebrate:

My goal is to wrap up this story in the next 3-4 chapters. If you have any theories for the grand finale, now is the time to share them. Anyone who gets it right before the revelation is uploaded gets to request a One Shot with a Queen or Bohrap ship of their choice. You can also give me a prompt if you want something a little more specific. Good luck everyone!

Tay