Interior Design

Chapter Four

You never realise what you've got until it's gone. That is the one thing Thomas was realising. He could imagine Pedro, locked in a metal cage with no human (or alien, for that matter) interaction. Pedro probably felt isolated, trapped or even in danger. Every so often Thomas made up excuses to make his choice seem even remotley acceptable, like, he could use his funny alien powers to zap him back, or he was getting on his nerves anyway so why not? However, there were a fair amount of bad reasons, too, to balance it out. His choice was sudden and he hadn't thought about anything beforehand. Like, afterwards, how was he to live with his guilt, and how was Pedro supposed to live full stop?

So he was very surprised when Pedro walked through the door as if nothing had happened.

"Hello, Thomas!" the alien said brightly, lying down on the sofa.

"What?!" Thomas said jumping in his seat.

"I said hello. You know...that greeting people tend to use when they enter a room?"

"I thought I got rid of you..."

Pedro jumped up with a grin and ran over to Thomas' seat. He hugged him enthusiastically. "Well, isn't this your lucky day!"

"Not really, besides, what are you down here on Earth for anyway?" Thomas asked.

"Dear, dear, Thomas. Are you sure you're ready for this conversation?"

"I'm as ready as you were for a relationship when we first met... does that qualify?" Thomas joked.

"Intergalactic mission. Is that enough for you, really?"

"Lol, whut?"

"Thomas!" Pedro said in agitation. "If you insist on being an idiot, you really mustn't use the phrase 'lol', and do pronounce 'what' correctly. I mean, you're the one that's a native here and you can't even speak properly. Gosh."

"LOL LOL LOL WHUT WHUT WHUT WHUTTTT LOOOL," Thomas teased.

"I am approximately three millimetres away from punching you in the face," Pedro said threateningly, completely misusing a phrase, but in his defence, he really wasn't from around there. And besides, it's the sentiment that counts.

"Just get on with it," Thomas moaned.

Pedro sighed and sat down on the floor, head in hands. "Stop talking. You're giving me a headache."

"Pedro, get on with it. I need to know. Because I just do," Thomas said rather desperatley as if he was just being nosy.

"I can't tell you yet. I can't trust the man who tried to get me put in prison."

Thomas came and sat next to Pedro then gently took hold of his hands. They were cold and somewhat heavier than ususual. Strange. "Ped, trust me on this, please. In every friendship you get one chance to say, believe me with this one. Okay?" 

Pedro glared at him. "No. I'm not telling you until you start being nicer to me." His face quickly brightened. "Anyway, what's for dinner?"

"Would this help?" Thomas said leaning over and hugging him tightly.

Pedro laughed. "God, you think I'm that easily won over?"

"FINE!"  Thomas said, kissing his cheek lightly then wiping his lips in disgust. "PLUUUR!" he muttered, clearing his throat.

Pedro blinked at him and started laughing hysterically. He laughed till he cried. After a minute, he wiped a tear from his eye. "And you say you don't want me."

Thomas was still trying to wipe his lips clean from the kiss, he didn't enjoy it at all. "Just tell me before I...PUKE!"

"I mean, come on. You had absolutely no reason to do that and you still kissed me," Pedro said, ignoring Thomas' pleas.