Flesh and Blood

Chapter 4 - So How Does That Make You Feel?

Luke was not crazy. If he were crazy, he would tell people that he had to see a therapist once a month, but seeing a therapist did not make him crazy. After all the shit he had been through, it was amazing that he only had to see a therapist to maintain his sanity.

Luke liked his current therapist. He was understanding. He listened to all of his complaints without judgment. It was probably because he was being paid to listen to his complaints, but he had been seeing him for years, so his non-judgmental attitude could not have only been motivated by money.

He could talk to him about anything. But he wasn't sure if wanted to talk to him about Damien.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" his therapist asked.

Luke had told him everything that had been bothering him, except for the one problem that was truly bothering him, but he did not want to talk about Damien. "No, that's everything."

His therapist gave him a tight grin. "I've known you for years, Luke. I think by now, I would know if something is bothering you, and it seems like there's still something that's bothering you."

"It's nothing," Luke sighed.

"I'm sure it's not nothing if it's making you sigh like that."

Luke sighed once more, realizing that he couldn't keep anything from him. If he was going to talk about Damien, he was going to be as vague as possible. "There's this guy I've been trying to befriend."

His therapist leaned forward. "And how's that going?"

"I don't know. I can't tell if he's actually busy or if he just doesn't like me."

"Well, if you want to be friends with him, you've got to be more open."

"Open?" Luke muttered, imagining all of the very inappropriate ways he could open up for Damien. He clenched his teeth before his imagination could go too far.

"Yes, more open to what he wants to do."

Luke nodded stiffly, wondering what Damien would want. "What if I don't know what he wants?"

"Then ask him."

Luke then shot up from his seat once the clock hit the hour. "Thank you for the advice," he said, before shaking his hand and leaving the office.

***

He asked Damien if he wanted to go to his next game. It was probably a stupid thing to ask. Damien was probably going to say no.

He thought that maybe he could actually try during this game, actually impress Damien this time, but why would that matter if Damien was going to say no?

"When is it?" Damien asked, to his surprise.

"Tonight, at seven."

"Yeah sure, I'll go."

Luke nearly jumped into the air and yelled out triumphantly. Instead, he grinned and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, cool, thanks."

He practically skipped to his next class. He didn't know exactly what he was expecting from this game. He didn't think that Damien would run up to him and kiss him once he scored a goal. He wasn't even sure if he wanted Damien to kiss him in the first place. But he wanted Damien to be there.

***

It was turning out to be a good game. He managed to score two goals before half-time. But he had been so busy trying to score these goals, he never got the chance to look for Damien.