⁎𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔇𝔬𝔢𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔍𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔙𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔥⁎

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 : 𝑊𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝐵𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠

b͟i͟l͟l͟i͟e͟

Henry called me and said that he was waiting for me at the airport. I told him that I'd see him soon, and then searched for this idiot.

I found him sitting on a bench near the gate, wearing a red baseball cap backwards and a pair of sunglasses that he probably thought made him look cool. He looked up when he saw me, and a grin spread across his face. "Hey, you made it." He stood up, and I could see that he was a little taller than I remembered. "You ready to see your boyfriend again?"

I slid his sunglasses off and I wore it. "Now that's my boyfriend."

I smiled at him, feeling a warmth spread through my chest. Maybe, just maybe, I could find a way to be happy again. With him.

"You want anything? Strawberry donuts?"

"H-How'd you know strawberry donuts are my favorite?"

"They really are huh? Rose told me."

I smiled at him, feeling my heart flutter. "You know, I think I could really get used to having you around."

He kissed my cheek and smiled. "I could get used to having you around too, you know. You're pretty amazing, Bil." His voice was soft and genuine, and it made me feel warm all over. "Come on, let's go find us some strawberry donuts and see what kind of trouble we can get into."

We spent the next few hours wandering around the airport, laughing and teasing each other like old friends. Henry kept stealing glances at me, a smile playing on his lips, and I couldn't help but feel a rush of happiness every time I saw it. It was like he was seeing the real me, the person I'd hidden away for so long.

"The kids are at my mom's place. Don't worry she'll take care of them."

I looked at him, nodded.

I went to the office in the airport just for a while, retrieving some files. Henry followed me and the office was empty, don't ask me why. I was searching for some files and Henry saw my phone lying on the table, which was unlocked and fuck he saw Jesse as my home screen wallpaper. But he smiled and turned to me. "He looked like he would've been a great dad to Rose."

"You're right." I said, a little shaky.

We walked out of the office, and I could feel the weight of Henry's gaze on me. "Hey, you want to tell me about it? About you and Jesse? Anything you wanna pour out? Vent?"

"I think. . . Life isn't only about venting so hard until you reach a point where you leave happiness behind. I've grieved, vented, did the world's bad things a depressed human could do. But I would've killed myself long ago but I didn't only for Rose. She's the only thing that keeps me going. I need to be there for her. And. . . And I think I need you too." I smiled at him, my voice shaky. "I don't know what to say, but I need to try. You make me happy. I know we have our shit, but I want to try. You make me laugh. I want to be the person you see when you look at me. I wanna be yours."

He smiled and kissed my lips, softly at first, then deeper, as if he needed this connection as much as I did. "I need you too, Bil. I want us to try this. Together. I want to show you that you can be happy again. That there's more to life than just surviving."

We walked out of the airport, hand-in-hand, laughing and talking. It felt so natural, so right. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of us, and I couldn't help but wonder if this was what happiness truly felt like. As we drove home, Henry reached over and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. "So, how do you feel about living with me?"