James leaves on a Sunday, a terrible, dreary Sunday, too early for Alex to have any sort of coherent thought.
"It's just for a week," James murmurs as Alex clings to him, something he probably wouldn't do if he wasn't half asleep. "It'll be okay." He rubs Alex's back gently. "I've really got to go now or I'll miss my flight."
"Fine," Alex says, pulling James down and kissing him. They break apart and Alex reluctantly lets go of James. He sighs and kisses Alex on the forehead before grabbing his suitcase and stepping out the door. It hits Alex that they haven't been apart for more than an hour at a time since they moved in together, and that was months ago.
When James and Alex decided to move in together it wasn't like a big relationship decision or anything. At that point they'd been in some strange twilight zone, more than friends with benefits but not quite boyfriends.
"I mean the way I see it," Alex had began "we like each other, we like having sex with each other. Why wouldn't we move in together?" So it had all sounded very casual, but the thing about it was that no matter how you spun it living with someone you liked and also had sex with looked an awful lot like being in a serious, committed relationship.
Alex doesn't know what to do with himself, he crawls back into bed, which feels conspicuously large without James and sleeps until noon. When Alex wakes up he stumbles into the kitchen and forages through the refrigerator, he finds a half eaten burrito, microwaves it and eats it over the sink like some kind of animal.
After that he curls up on the couch and checks his phone for texts from James. There are few complaining about flying, Alex smiles and sends 'poor you' in response. He watches bad television and jerks off thinking of James.
He falls asleep on the couch with the tv playing quietly in the background.
...
The next morning Alex wakes up and checks his phone first thing, there's one from the previous evening that Alex missed,
hey al, just wanted to let u know i landed safely. xxx.
Something about it makes Alex feel soft. His phone chimes a moment later.
fuck, my mum keeps asking me if i've got a girlfriend. what should i say?
Alex stares at the text a minute, he knows James' family don't even know he likes men, so he shouldn't be offended that James is on the fence about telling them about him, but something about it still stings. Alex types out a snarky response.
probably no. i mean, unless you've got a side chick i don't know about?
fuck off, al. you know what I mean. should i tell her about you?
if you want
i do. but it's kind of terrifying. what if they react badly? that'll really make whole week uncomfortable, and it's my cousin's wedding. I don't want to make it about me.
you'd just be answering your mom's question, if your family wants to make a big deal about it then that's not your fault.
you're right. thanks al... i guess i've got to do it sooner or later.
let me know how it goes?
of course xx
also just because i'm not there doesn't mean you can be gross ok? you'd better shower and take care of yourself
Alex grins down at the phone. He does what James says and takes a long, hot shower. He makes himself breakfast and films a video afterward, but the whole time he's waiting for a text or a call from James. It finally comes late that evening.
