Roger was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea that had gone cold long ago. He heard the front door open and looked up to see John standing in the doorway. An odd mix of relief and disappointment filled Roger's stomach; a part of him had been hoping it'd be Brian.
To Roger's annoyance, Brian had avoided him for days. Roger was still angry with him for refusing to listen to him when he tried to tell him the truth about what had happened with Catherine. But despite that, he missed Brian and wanted his friend back.
"Hi," John said, sitting down next to Roger.
"Hello," he replied in a quiet voice.
John's eyes showed concern when he looked at Roger. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Not really," Roger said, sighing.
"What happened?"
"Catherine kissed me," Roger said.
John raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Catherine? As in Brian's girlfriend Catherine?"
Roger nodded. "And then she said something about me wanting it too, which is completely crazy! I don't like her in that way – I don't like her in any way. In fact, I can't think of anyone I like less than her! She said she'd tell Brian that I kissed her. And that's exactly what she did."
"But Brian didn't believe her, right?" John asked.
Roger bit his lip. He felt exhausted. "He did," Roger said, blinking back tears. "He believed her. He came to my room and asked me why I'd done it and when I told him Catherine had kissed me, he yelled at me for never taking responsibility for my actions. And then he told me to tell him when I've decided to apologize and stormed out of my room. He's been avoiding me ever since." Roger took a shaky breath. Glancing at John, he whispered: "I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose him."
John put his hand on Roger's shoulder and said: "You're not going to lose him."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. He hates me."
