Take A Walk With Me (One-Shots and More)

Mono (Merome)

It was just banter. He had just been joking. We were just good friends; Jerome could get away with a peck on the lips.

Just banter...

"Hey Mitch!" Jerome called, and I could hear him dropping his suitcase.

"Biggums!"

I went to meet him, and he grinned at me. "I'm still sick, Mitch."

"So what?" I asked, taking the bag from him.

"Why are you being such a gentleman?"

"My main Bacc is back!"

He laughed, running up behind me and slinging an arm around my shoulders. I tossed his suitcase on the bed.

"That's all the help your getting."

"Jesus, Mitch."

"No, Jesus Christ."

"Fuck you."

"Please."

"The banter is high, boys!"

I jump, not expecting to hear Lachlan, or see him in the door.

"Lachy!"

"Yeah. Jerome found me. I was gonna surprise both of you, but..."

"No, it's--"

"Mitch! The banter levels are over 9000!"

Confused, I turn to look at Jerome. "What?"

He quickly stepped forward, wrapping his hand around the back of my head. Figuring he would do something stupid, I tried to pull away, but instead, he lay a quick kiss on my lips.

"Told you I would give you a smooch. Feel the Mono, Mitch!"

Why the hell would he pull something like that?

I was his best friend. We'd been best friends for as long as I can remember. I knew everything about him...

I had to.

He was Jerome Robert Aceti, his favorite animal was a penguin, he'd had the Bacca character stuck in the back of his mind for years, and he was straight as could be, just like I was.

That's how it had always been.

"Jerome...?" I call, setting my feet up on the desk.

"Yeah, Mitch?"

"You're... You're straight, right?"

His laughter echoed from the kitchen. "Mitchell Hughes, are you asking me if I'm gay?"

"Yeah...?"

Knowing him, he probably sighed snd put down whatever he was doing. A few moments later he was standing in the doorway of my office. I tilted my head back to look at him.

"I'm bisexual, Mitch. I thought I told you?"

"When?" I ask, confused. He didn't tell me shit.

"Right before I left. You probably weren't listening. You never do."

He didn't leave like I thought he would. Instead, he waited.

"Jerome..."

"I know, you're ADHD. You have tendencies to 'space out.' I've heard it all, Mitch."

"Jerome, my headphones block noise. You kn--"

"You didn't have your headphones on, Mitch."

I don't respond. Instead, I swing my legs down from the desk, ready to apologize.

"No. I know. You're sorry. You promise it won't happen again. But it will. We both know that."

Swallowing hard, I don't respond. Jerome had the courage to come out to me, to tell me he was bisexual, and I didn't even care to listen. Guilt weighed me down.

"You're in love with me, aren't you?"

My voice is soft, and he knows why.

"Yeah. I am. I have been for a few months now, and you never noticed. I thought it was obvious. Preston, of all people, figured it out. And yet, it went right over your head."

"And you knew I was straight."

"That too, I guess."

I'd never thought about Jerome in that way before. I can't say I liked it, but I can't say I didn't.

"Let me... Let me see how it turns out with Jess."

"What if it turns out great? What if you completely fall in love with her? What if you marry her? Where does that leave me? This is your way of letting me off easy, isn't it? Fuck you, Mitch. Fuck you."

This time, he did leave.

And, as cliché as it was, I went after him.

"Jerome, it's not going to work out with Jess. I'm almost completely sure. Getting it right the first time is almost impossible."

"It's not your first relationship, Mitch."

"It's the first since I turned eighteen. I count that as a milestone."

He looked down at me, halfway up the stairs. I smiled innocently, and he chuckled.

"Goddamn it. Why do you do this?"

"The banter," I reply, walking up to him and wrapping my arm around his shoulder like he did to me. "And because I'm willing to try it with you. Even if it doesn't work out, we'll still be friends."

"How do you know?"

"We're inseparable, Jerome. You kissed me, and honestly, it didn't bother me."

"Shut up," he growled, ducking away from my arm.

"Not unless you shut me up."

Jerome flipped me off, and I just laugh. He scowled and ran upstairs. I raced after him.

"Why no kisses for the Benja?"

"I don't actually want to give you Mono, bastard!"

"So the banter wasn't over 9000? I think that was only a 1000."

"I kissed you, for fucks sake!"

"Yeah, only 1000. It was a peck on the lips."

He turned to look at me, back to the door of the guest room. "Come here, Benja."

When I moved closer, he reached up and kissed me.

Yeah, I could get used to this.