Mistakes Made ✅

Chapter 16: Seeking Warmth

A/N
Y'all, I gotta say, your votes make me so-very-super-extremely-highkey-much happy :'D

More than one night had been spent where Errol and Jordie shared the same bed, and by then, any awkward tension simply dissipated into thin air, replaced with mild, carefree banters. Either that, or they simply tucked themselves in without as much as exchanging anything. It became a sort of their night routine that it got to the point where going in and out of Jordie's bedroom grew fairly customary. The two of them were practically roommates.

Of course, any sense of ease seemed to shift in the air that night when Errol and Jordie entered the apartment right after their little ice-skating activity. The whole ambience suddenly felt dense, casting the two boys into a sense of ambiguity as they stood at the threshold, almost as though they were trespassing on a foreign territory.

The entire drive from the frozen lake back to their living quarters had been relatively quiet, if not for Jordie constantly tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. On any other occasion, Errol wouldn't be bothered by it that much. He shouldn't be. But somehow, he was. And it had stirred a hassle in his brain.

What did it all mean? That was the question that kept repeating in his head, equivocal in its nature.

He spared Jordie a glance as the boy began to make his way inside, leaving Errol to stand by the door. There was this sudden inclination to yank Jordie by his sleeve and bombard him with questions, because – as far as Errol could tell, and he damned hoped that he wasn't correct – Jordie was acting as though nothing had happened at all. Worse yet, that none of it meant anything. To whom, exactly? he thought, downright narked with himself by now.

Errol didn't want to appear as though he was aching for something – for anything else to transpire. Perhaps it did seem like it at a swift perception. But it wasn't as if he was the one who initiated it. But again, that didn't mean he hadn't made a subtle gesture for something to follow suit; he had practically prompted Jordie to kiss him.

It was a few minutes later, when Errol had changed out of his jacket into a more comfortable sweater and drawstring pants, that the little incident was brought up.

He stood by the door that led to Jordie's room, watching the boy arrange some files on his study desk. Words seemed to have perished from Errol's head by then, as though the mere sight followed with the idea of putting the earlier event into a talk had effaced his ability to function, completely halting his physiology altogether. What was he going to do? What should he say?

Thankfully, it was Jordie who spoke of the situation, having turned around to see Errol standing rooted at the threshold. "You're not coming in then?" he asked.

So casual, Errol observed, finally feeling the exertion to step inside.

"You all right?" Jordie asked, gingerly moving towards Errol.

Errol almost snorted in response. He resolved to be upfront. "I don't know, Jordie. Something definitely happened, but I'm fine. You?"

Perhaps it was the way in which Errol addressed the whole affair. He swore he hadn't intended on coming off sounding somewhat plagued. "I thought ... you might need space," Jordie muttered, his eyes cast downwards as though he was abashed by just saying that.

At this, a frown could be felt decorating Errol's forehead. "Space?" he asked, aware that he sounded blunt.

"I – you—" Jordie spluttered. "We ... we kissed."

"And?" Errol said, crossing his arms across his chest, not knowing how else he should perceive the situation. If he were being frank, a part of him was amused.