Blackout. [COMPLETED]

Summer.

I didn't see David for a while. He called Austin and asked to speak, and we agreed it was best that we just had a break from eachother, but I could tell how much he was hurting when he forgot to hang up and started crying. 

Summer was empty and uncomfortably hot. It's an opporunity for people to wear unusually revealing clothes to flaunt the bodies they've worked for, or not, and end up with sweaty cloth clinging to their dewy, sunburnt bodies. I decided to stay inside and turned down ice cream when it was offered. 

"Honey, I'm home!" Austin sang, opening the door and waddling inside, his arms hung with bags. He plonked them on the table and walked back to close the door. I was sitting on his windowsill, my feet resting on the roof that sloped directly from the window. I leaned backwards and looked at him, giving him a nod of recognition, and then looked outside again. Although I was still considerably underweight, my scrawny legs were beginning to get a tan which hid most of the permanent bruises.

"You gonna cheer up any time soon?" Austin said, chucking me a can of cream soda. I flicked open the lid and gulped the syrupy drink before wiping my lips with the back of my hand and passing it back to him; he took an eager swig. 

"I'm fine, Austin," I said as he drank. "I'm enjoying the weather."

"You spent half of today asleep, so make the most of it. Autumn's coming," he began. "Oh yeah, my friend's coming round later. He's called Robin. I won't introduce you if you don't want to be introduced, and stuff, but you'd love him. He's great." Austin finished the drink and chucked it into the bin opposite us, but it hit the rim and curveballed away. He grunted and went over to pick it up, and slowly lowered it into the bin.

"Yeah, would be nice to meet someone new," I said, hugging my knees. Austin put his hands on his hips.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked as a breeze curled through the window, wrapping long strands of hair over and around my shoulders. I smiled and shrugged. 

"Nothing, and I really appreciate you letting me stay here. Your house is beautiful." And it was. It was high ceilinged and wide, unlike Davids, but similarly to his it was decorated beautifully. Apparently, they were both fans of librarys, kilim rugs and plush sofas. However Austin's was spread out and messier, I guess. He had huge artist portraits hanging loosely from the walls and there was lace over his armchairs, but there were clothes on every surface and it smelt significantly male here. He didn't believe in air freshner. "What's the point? My air is fresh enough as it is. Surely perfume makes it less fresh, anyway," he'd always say.

The setting sun illuminated a pink hue in the room and made long shadows across the floor. Robin was due to arrive in the evening, which was steadily approaching. I decided to change into something more acceptable than a pair of short shorts and a vest, so I went into Austins bedroom and put on the (unfortunately, still quite short) Victorian dress I'd worn to Hellingly. The third time I was there.

"Hey man," Austin said as Robin walked in. They greeted eachother with a friendly hug, that lasted a little too long - long enough to start becoming uncomfortable - and then parted. Robin held him by the shoulders at arms length and grinned.

"You look great," Robin said, his voice warm and smooth. "Who's your friend here?" he asked, without even looking up at me. I was beginning to ponder Austin's sexuality.

"She's my best mate in the world," Austin said, pulling me towards him by my wrist and holding my hand out. My arm was limp as Robin shook my hand that Austin had raised, and he smiled down at me. He was significally taller than Austin. 

"You look like my girlfriend," he cooed, releasing my hand. I guess Austin was still straight, then.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked. He laughed and nodded.