Robert and gavi

Chapter 5

Gavi anxiously ran both hands through his hair. He was just putting off the inevitable. Eventually he'd have to speak to Pedri. But the very thought made him nauseous. He remained quiet in the car as Robert drove, hoping to not piss him off any further. Because surely Robert didn't want to spend his day babysitting him after what should have been a simple hookup.

A call came in over the car's sound system. Robert answered. "Hey, Marco."

"Hi, honey. Where are you?"

Gavi's ears perked up. Marco was his husband.

Robert chuckled and sighed. "It's a story. I'll tell you all about it later."

"You can't talk now?"

"Not really."

There was a pause. "Okay. Will you be home for dinner?"

"I'll be a bit late, but yes," Robert said.

"Okay. See you then. Love you."

"Love you too."

The music resumed in the car. His husband sounded nice, a little soft-spoken. How had they met? How did Robert know he was the one? Did opening their relationship make it stronger? Or was one of them ready to let go?

Instead of asking these out loud, Gavi said, "Honey? He calls you honey?"

"Yes," Robert said through gritted teeth. "Like you have cause to criticize. I'm sure Pedri has a million pet names for you."

Gavi blushed. "He calls me his prince sometimes," he confessed. "I think it's weird but I've never told him to stop."

"'Little Prince'? Like the story?"

Gavi's eyes narrowed. "No. Just 'prince'. I'm not that little."

"You are though. You both are."

Gavi made a face. "Let me guess. You and your perfect husband are both tall as fuck." He knew they were both tall, judging by Robert's Instagram pictures.

Robert laughed. "I'm not saying there's anything bad about being short. You two make a really cute couple."

"Ugh, can we please stop talking about him? He's only ever been nice to me and I just cheated on him. I'm an awful person!" Gavi buried his face in his hands. "He deserves better than me."

Robert was quiet. Minutes passed where Gavi thought he wouldn't say anything in response. Then Robert asked, "Do you love him?"

Gavi slowly looked up and turned to Robert. "Huh?"

"Do you love him," Robert repeated.

"I..." Gavi hesitated. He was pretty sure he did. Yet at that moment he couldn't quite bring himself to say it. Because surely if you loved someone you didn't cheat on them.

Robert continued. "If you love him, you need to be honest with him. Whatever that means for your relationship. Maybe it's time for you to give each other space. Or maybe you want to explore what else is out there. You're young, Gavi. You have time to figure it out."

Gavi stared straight ahead at the road. He wished someone would just tell him all the answers. He felt like any decision he made would be wrong. He could talk to his sister about it. She was a few years older than him, Pedri's age. She would probably be at their parent's house since it was a weeknight.

Robert made good time, arriving in just under an hour as he pulled the black Audi to Gavi's parents' block. Gavi indicated it was the white house with lilac trim. But as they got closer Gavi saw that both of his parents were outside, gardening amongst the flower beds in the front yard.