Conversations From Afar

50 / bathtub chatz

*alec shrugs in the most alec way possible* SO MUCH LOVE AND ITS TUESDAY I JUST REMEMBERED

  song: she's thunderstorms by the arctic monkeys

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"You're hiding in here, and you left me out there." I have my hands on my hips and am strongly reminding myself of Cam's mom when Akari and Gabriel tried to make a swinging rope that would drop them from the top of the stairs to the front door, and Akari almost broke his arm.

They're sitting side by side in the bathtub, their legs thrown over the side with Milo's phone and a bottle of wine. Cam isn't attempting to suppress his smile, and the sight warms my heart.

"Feel free to lock the door and join us." Milo says, slouching back against the blue tile. He drinks straight from the bottle. "So, as I was saying...I broke up with her because I didn't like her anymore."

"How did you just stop liking her?" Cam asks, his eyes tracking me as I hop up onto the counter and lean against the wall. I take out my phone and open Tumblr.

"I don't know, like, I miss her but she...I just didn't like how she acted and how she was always smarter than thou, you know? And she was always bugging me to study even if I didn't need to like she was my mom. Plus she kept bugging me about West and how he was shedding everywhere and she couldn't invite anyone over because they didn't like dogs."

Cam makes a face and scrolls through Milo's phone. Music fills the small echoing room. When I was young...I should have known better... "That's out of line."

"Right? I had Westie before we were together, he's like my kid."

"Speaking of, where's my godson?"

"Locked in the spare room because my cousins can't look at dogs or their allergies will explode and choke them." He holds up the bottle like he can't figure out where to put it. "Someone take this, I can't get drunk in front of them."

Cam takes it, then reaches to offer it to me. I put it next to the sink. I prop my elbows on my knees, "So, are you okay about it now?"

"It's weird. Like, I miss her, but I miss the way she was when we were friends, not how she was when we were together."

"She changed that much?" Cam sounds skeptical, but kind.

"Didn't you guys change when you got together?"

We stare at each other. "No?"

"I think we're pretty much the same as we were when we were friends." Cam says.

"Well, good for you. Can I have my wine back?"

"No," we both reply, and Milo smiles.

"It's nice to have Mom and Dad back." He rests his head on Cam's shoulder and sighs. "I'm not okay."

"How not okay?"

"I just want to go to bed and listen to Lana Del Rey until I die. And also drink copious amounts of Gewürztraminer until I don't remember why I was drinking."

"Hope you're not turning into an alcoholic on me," Cam says it lightly but pats Milo's hair with a concerned expression.

"Hey, that Gewürztraminer was celebratory bro-wine."

"Yeah, okay."

"How are you guys?" He looks up at me and I look down at Cam.

"We're okay."

Milo frowns.

"Then why aren't you sitting by Cam?"

I didn't even consider sitting there. They were reconnecting so I sat up here. Cam's eyes meet mine, "We may be going through a little long distance drama but it's fine."

"Oh, that reminds me. I found a song and it made me think of you guys." He takes the phone back and changes the song. We listen, and he closes his eyes. "This part."

She's thunderstorms in an unusual place when you're feeling far away she does what the night does to the day. 

Cam smiles at me, and leans back against the tile beside his best friend. I take a picture of the serenity with my phone, while their eyes are closed, and make a mental note to download the song when I get home.

The next time I look up, Milo's lilted to the side and snoring quietly. Cam disentangles himself and hops over the edge to sit on it.

"Kat," he murmurs, looking up at me with the most earnest expression.

"What?"

"Can we be okay now? I know that it feels weird and far away, but right now it doesn't feel like that and I miss you so much."

"I miss you too. I just...like I said, you just felt far away and I didn't know how to say it."

"Whenever you feel that way, just say it. Okay?'

"Yeah, okay," I reply, and he stands up to press a kiss to my forehead, then my lips. My fingers trace over his arms braced on either side of me.

He sneaks Milo out of the bathroom and into his room, dropping him on the bed then we're walking out past the family now watching football and wondering where he escaped to.

"What now?" He asks, swinging our arms with a new lightness to his shoulders.

"Want to go back to your house?"

"Everyone's there, you know."

"I've missed them." I tell him, and he smiles, dropping an arm around my shoulders and tells me he thinks that's a perfect idea.