More Than Just Roommates (Book 1)

11. Realizations

~ Josh

I came back to the room only to be greeted by a wall of tension. I could practically cut it, it was so thick. Kyle was at his desk, writing his homework, Leo was on the couch, a textbook in his lap, and Jackson was at his desk, doing something or other on his laptop. None of them looked up when I walked in, and it was silent in the room.

I just knew something was up.

"Hey, guys!" I said cheerfully.

None of them said anything to me. Looking between the three of them confused, I dropped by backpack on the floor and walked over to Kyle. He still hadn't looked up.

I wrapped my arms around him and laid my chin on his shoulder. "How are you doing, babe?" I asked quietly in his ear.

That finally got a response as he lifted his head to look at me. "Hm? Oh, hey. How was class?" He sounded distracted, and not just because he didn't seem to have heard my question.

I chose not to answer that. Class wasn't all that great. Besides, there were more interesting things going on here than there were in class. At least this was a mystery I needed to solve.

"Are you doing alright?" Something was definitely bothering him. Maybe it was the encounter with Reed earlier. Could that be it? "Does it have to do with Reed?"

"Reed? No. I actually kind of forgot about that." I stood up and he turned in his chair to face me. If Reed wasn't on his mind, what was? "Josh, seriously, I'm fine. Okay? I just have a lot of work to get done right now."

Nodding my head slowly, I went to pick my backpack up. It was only after I walked away that I realized he didn't even kiss me. What was going on in that head of his?

~ Leo

I happened to overhear the conversation Kyle and Josh had, if you could call it a conversation. I didn't mean to, but when there's nothing else making noise in the room, it happens. Right?

Either way, it worried me a little that Kyle wasn't telling Josh what happened between him and Jackson - who still wasn't talking to me, by the way. Did that mean Kyle didn't see it as important enough? Or was there some other reason?

I couldn't stay in this room any longer. Checking the time, I realized it was dinner time. Might as well go now. I was hungry.

I stood and tossed my textbook onto the couch where I had been sitting. "I'm going to dinner," I announced to no one in particular. I just wanted them to know where I went, just in case. A guy with a broken arm could get into a lot of trouble by himself around here if he wasn't careful. I'm just kidding, but you'd never know.

Josh, who had just picked up his backpack, dropped it again. "Great. I'm starving. I'll join you." He turned to the others. "Kyle? Jackson? Wanna come?"

They both declined. Thank god. That would have been the most awkward dinner we've ever had. Even going with Josh was going to be weird, but hopefully it won't be too bad.

Once we were sitting with out food - I got a cheese burger and fries and Josh got some sort of chicken and pasta meal - I knew he was going to start asking questions. It wasn't like Josh to not.

"So, what's been going on today? I feel like I missed something." He stuck a noodle in his mouth, licking the sauce off the fork. It was a little seductive, even if he didn't mean it to be.

I finished chewing my bite of burger before answering, trying to organize my thoughts. I needed to focus. "What do you mean?" What was I going to say, that I walked in on my boyfriend fondling yours? Yeah, that'll go over well.

"Come on, you can't just tell me nothing happened. That whole room is filled with tension!"

I took another bite, trying to figure out how to answer. "I'm not the one you should ask. I think you should talk to Kyle about it."

He sighed and shook his head. "It is about Reed, isn't it? I knew it was going to bother him."

Now I was confused. What did his old roommate have to do with all this? "What about Reed?" I knew his name had come up earlier, but I didn't really think anything of it. Was he actually part of this whole thing, in some way?

"Wait, so he didn't tell you?" I shook my head. "Reed was bashing us earlier. For being gay. I'm fine, it's happened to me before. But it's never happened to Kyle before. He said he was okay, but I wasn't so sure."

Jesus. I knew Josh got bullied in high school because he's gay. But I never thought it would happen here too. And to Kyle. That's just too much. If I didn't have this stupid cast on I would beat his ass right now. Or as soon as I saw him. Only six more weeks? I'll get him when it comes off. Nobody messes with my best friends.

We avoided the topics of Kyle and Reed and just talked about everything else while we finished dinner. It was nice, just the two of us. We hadn't done that in a while, and it was nice.

~ Jackson

I wasn't sure how long after Leo and Josh left to get dinner it was until I got the courage to go over and talk to Kyle. I wanted to apologize. Again. I had overheard him and Josh, and knew instantly that Kyle had what I had done on his mind. And that was causing this rift between the two of them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I was the reason they ended up breaking up.

"Hey, Kyle," I said, walking over to his desk. He looked up at me, but didn't say anything. "I just wanted to say how sorry I am. Really."

"Yeah, no, it's okay. We were asleep." He seemed to get a little flustered, shifting his position in his chair. Kyle wasn't the best liar in the world. Sometimes he could get away with it. Not this time.

"You sure you're okay with it, man?"

He looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to say something or not. Eventually, he let out a sigh. "I'm actually just really confused, to be honest. I wasn't sleeping the whole time. I-I let you keep going. I should have stopped you, but I really didn't want to. Please don't tell anyone."

A wave of relief washed over me, yet I was confused. Did I really like the fact that Kyle liked that I was the one touching him like that? Maybe I did just happen to be dreaming of Kyle, so what? I fell asleep next to him, so he just happened to be on my mind. Did it make a difference that he was just as attractive as Leo? Maybe.

Without even replying, I did something that not even I was expecting to ever do. I closed the distance between us and cupped his face in my hands. I leaned over to him and kissed him straight on the lips.

It took a second for Kyle to register what I did. But he didn't push me away, instead, he kissed me back. He even wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

Nothing could have ruined this moment.

Except a major reality check.

"What the fuck?"

I jumped back from Kyle to see Leo and Josh standing in the doorway. They did not look very happy.