𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕟

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 | ʀɪᴠᴀʟʀʏ

Julian's thumb hurt so fucking bad the next day. It was worse than the day before.

He woke up early, as he'd been doing lately, at five in the morning, and popped a few painkillers.

It was his left thumb that he'd accidentally hurt, not his dominant hand, but he was still worried about being able to continue working on the cabin. He had planned to fix part of the roof today because rain was forecast for the weekend when Owen and Mrs. Miller might visit. He didn't want the roof leaking while they were here.

Thinking about his visitors, he also needed to find time to clean up. The place looked like a total bachelor pad right now—protein bar wrappers everywhere, empty Gatorade bottles scattered around, dirty clothes on the couch, and the cabin itself was dusty and filthy. No one had stayed here in a long time; it needed as much love on the inside as it did on the outside.

Julian felt like he didn't have enough time to get everything ready. With eight hours of work on the computer ahead of him, he didn't even know where to start this morning.

He downed the rest of his glass of water in the kitchen and looked out at the lake. He'd have to go swimming there at least once this summer, maybe even sit by Liam's tree. He wondered if the guys even thought about him anymore like he thought about them.

Shaking off the thought, he put his empty glass in the sink, braced himself on the edge of the kitchen counter, and looked down at the tile.

Something was happening to him out here at the cabin, something he didn't expect, and it was making him all... emotional. It was fucking lame.

At seven that morning, while Julian was still cleaning the inside of the cabin—gathering trash bags and dusting the furniture—his phone pinged in his back pocket.

You know what else was lame?

What Owen was doing to him.

Julian knew it was Owen texting him, and at first, he found it annoying. But after Owen's silence for over two weeks, hearing his phone go off at seven again that morning made Julian's heart race with excitement.

He didn't understand why Owen wanted to talk to him so badly or why he was so persistent. Owen had his own problems and friends—Lewis and Katie. For the first time, Julian realized he appreciated Owen's annoying persistence.

Owen wasn't giving up on him, and that was strange. Everyone else had already given up-his parents, his friends...

Owen might eventually too, but right now, Julian was secretly grateful that at least someone in his life still wanted him around.

Maybe it was because Owen knew he was annoying, talked too much, and that his life revolved around taking care of his mom. Maybe Owen also appreciated people who hadn't given up on him.

Maybe they were both difficult people to be around. That's probably why Julian liked Owen so much.

Julian was starting to understand Owen better after their phone call. Owen had been brutally honest with him, really opening up in a way Julian hadn't expected. It was surprising because Julian had never felt like he created a safe space for Owen to share his feelings, but Owen had opened up anyway.

Julian couldn't fucking believe that Owen had never had a boyfriend.

How had he never done anything with a guy, ever? How had he not even had his first kiss yet?! Julian didn't get it. Sure, Owen was annoying as hell, but he was also cute. Julian had always thought Owen was cute. That should have been enough to attract a lot of guys.

It dawned on him that Owen was probably too shy.

Julian recalled all the times Owen had turned red and shut down around him. That was probably the reason. Owen was a confusing mix of being super loud and talkative, yet somehow, he was also really shy.