Like An Open Book

Chapter 2

It was Monday morning and Jonny was annoyed.

And cold. And freezing. And did he mention fucking cold? His fingers were about to fall off. No one should walk through this amount of snow on an early Monday morning, but here he was. He grumbled and tried to bury his hands deeper into his pockets, an action that was hopelessly futile.

Chris better have the heating on high.

I'll probably stay grumpy. I will try to at least. Chris, you...

His phone beeped and with great resistance he unlocked it to see a message. Not before reaching up to wipe his nose though.

Are you on your way jay

For a split second Jonny imagined going back to his warm house. Dive back underneath the snug covers, go back to sleep, and deal with whatever was going on later. But seeing as he had never been a great ''No'' person, and his best friend had sounded weirdly disoriented on the phone, he quickened his pace. He wasn't cruel, and though he would never admit it, he did kind of like the feeling of being needed by Chris. Though the exhaustion he'd heard in his voice was worrying him.

''Can you come over so we can work on something?''

''What? You mean now?''

''Well, if you aren't busy.''

''It's 5 in the morning, Chris. I was hoping to sleep a bit more.'' Jonny had tried to sit up in his bed. ''And we worked really hard yesterday.''

''I know, I'm so sorry Jay, but I just need to-''

There had been a pause and a sigh.

''I haven't slept well and I need to show you now, before I'll lose- before you work with Will this afternoon, you know. And you have a dentist appointment anyway. So, you know...''

''But that's only at 9.'' He'd yawned. ''We can't work on it later?''

Chris had gone silent. Now that Jonny had managed to fully wake up, however, it had been more disconcerting than annoying.

''Chris?''

''...I don't want to fuck this up, Jonny.''

Chris' voice had sounded unusually small while Jonny's frown had softened. ''Okay. But I have to get out of bed first.''

The snow crunched under his shoes while he crossed the street. He was barely hearing the sounds. What was so important? What was Chris wanting to show so bloody early? And he had wanted to say more. Jonny had caught that, he had caught those words.

''I haven't slept well and I need to show you now, before I'll lose- before you work with Will this afternoon, you know.''

Before I'll lose. Before I'll lose what?

He rang the bell and the door swung open.

The first thing he saw was a dark coloured pair of jogging pants. The second a very loose, thin t-shirt that was way too cold for this time of year. And the third- well, that was it, really. Jonny wasn't able to see the rest of Chris, because the rest of Chris had immediately turned around and walked away after opening the door. What?

''Chris?'' Jonny called out. He frowned, shrugging out of his coat. After hanging it, he felt relieved to feel warmth envelop him and he paced to the living room.

It had changed from last time.

Several strings of Christmas lights were twinkling in the dim, early morning light, poorly secured with tape and almost falling off of the wall, which gave the impression they were put up hastily. A tiny fake Christmas tree stood on Chris' piano, and the radio was playing softly. Stopping in front of Chris' couch, Jonny glanced at the man, who was sitting against a pair of cushions.