A Rose by Any Other Name

Chapter 19

Writer's Note - As of November 23rd we reached 3280+ reads. I'm stunned. Yesterday, on the 22nd I got an influx of new readers since the Reddit story got shared again, and over the past 24 hours I received over 500 new reads. This is a lot!

The new readers are probably not on chapter 19 yet but thank you all for reading this far!

Like last time (Chapter 14) here's an update on demographics and readership since we're past 3k reads.

Age:
13-18 (28%)
18-25 (33%)
25-35 (5%)
Over 45 (3%)
Private (31%)

Gender:
Female (41%)
Male (23%)
Private (36%)

Readers and Country:
Vietnam: 43.59%
United States: 23.077%
Canada: 7.692%
Korea: 5.128%
Australia, Austria, Chile, New Zealand, Sweden, The Philippines each have 2.564%

We no longer hit every continent (African readers come back) and we lost a few countries but it be like that sometimes I guess :(

Please remember to vote!

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Roe was dangling her legs on her seat, munching her carrot muffin while watching a spongebob episode. She was the picture of happiness.

Darren looked withdrawn and tired, on his second black coffee, staring far ahead into the distance.

I was watching him, wondering when Mike would get here unsure if I should say anything.

"Hey-"

"Well" we both said at the same time and he gave an embarrassed smile urging me to say something.

"No, you go ahead." I encouraged.

He sighed, "I miss Tommy. Roe misses Tommy." he sighed again. For a dangerous moment I thought he was going to cry and I wasn't at all sure how to comfort him.

"What happened?" I asked, hands twisted together against my thighs.

"Me." he said sadly, "It's always me. I tried to suggest this stupid open relationship thing." he started shaking his head, "Well, Tommy didn't want to but eventually he said yes. Of course Tommy gets all these hot guys and I just get a couple of twinks." Darren took a deep draught of his coffee. "And it's stupid. So stupid. But I got jealous. I thought it would be fun and exciting but it wasn't. I didn't like- I don't like the idea of Tommy with anyone and I don't care about anyone else or getting laid or any of that. I just want him to come back."

"Why did he leave?"

"I said something I shouldn't have, implied he was easy-"

The Tommy I'd met seemed pretty level headed. "Was that really it?"

Darren looked away, eyes softening on Roe. "I just regret it now. And he left so fast. Said he needed some time to think about things."

"I'm sorry." I said, wishing Mike was there. I decided to be honest, "I think you should reevaluate your relationship. Clearly, there are some problems. If Tommy decides to come back I think maybe monogamy is best for the both of you. I'll just say it..." I hesitated, "I don't think you can handle an open relationship."

Darren was looking at me like he was actually absorbing everything I was saying. "I think you're right. I just want things to go back to how they were before."

The coffee shop door opened with the ring of a bell. I turned to see Mike walking in, briefcase in hand wearing a navy blue suit. His jaw was tight with some poorly restrained emotion but he still looked breathtaking. His eyes hesitated on me for a moment, the tightness seeping out of his shoulders.