In Another Universe

Thursday 9:28 Say Something

Sitting in a corner of the library, between two selves of books on science, Charlie was working on his physics homework, ABBA playing in his ears. Eyebrows frowned, he gently slapped his cheeks to try to concentrate and give himself the courage to continue.

Out of the blue, hands appeared in front of his eyes and he couldn't see anything anymore, which prompted him to drop his pen. Before the person behind him could say anything about their identity, the scent of lemongrass was proof enough.

"Guess who I am," the person said, laughing.

"I know it's you, Isaac," Charlie answered, shaking his head in amusement.

Isaac laughed before putting a kiss on Charlie's lips. Looking at him sit down next to him, Charlie tried not to look too startled. But having said that, he couldn't help but look around after Isaac kissed him. In public, like that, in a somewhat open space. He appreciated the kiss, don't get me wrong, but his mind immediately asked whether anyone had seen that. He couldn't risk people thinking he was gay. He felt his heart beating in his chest and sadly, he knew it wasn't because of Isaac's kiss. Not only at least.

"What's up in..." Isaac titled his head to read Charlie's paper. "Physics?"

"Nothing new for the world of physics, but a lot of interesting things for me."

Isaac nodded with a soft smile, but Charlie noticed the lifted corner of his mouth. Clearly, Isaac was withholding information and he was happy about whatever that was.

"What?" Charlie ended up asking, watching out for a reaction.

"I told Emily about us."

That was definitely not something Charlie was expecting. Not now at least. He knew that, at some point, he would have asked Isaac to do so but they still hadn't really talked about it. What did he say? Did he tell her that they kissed? Or did he go further in his explanation? What did she say? He wasn't even that bothered that someone knew about them, about what happened the weekend before. But then... he didn't really understand Isaac's radio silence in the last few days.

"Aren't you happy?" Isaac asked him, worried about his lack of answer.

"Yeah... Yeah I am."

And he was. This was a big thing in the end. Even if they didn't really put a name on it, whatever that was, Isaac chose that over his long term relationship. It wasn't nothing, on the contrary.

"I'm just surprised."

"A good surprise?" Isaac asked, frowning.

"Yes... I think so."

Isaac smiled before taking Charlie's pen to correct a spelling error on his exercise. He stayed silent an instant before looking back at him, apparently deep in thoughts.

"What do you think your parents would say?" Charlie interrupted his train of thoughts. He guessed, maybe wrongly that since he told his girlfriend, he would probably tell his parents at some point. Because on his side, Charlie didn't say anything to Lea. On the contrary, he ignored her most recent messages, angry ones about how they bailed. So telling his parents was not really on the immediate to-do list.

"I don't know... I don't think they'd really care that much to be honest. They kind of live in their own worlds. My dad's a surgeon and my mum is a lawyer, they have their own stuff and don't care what us kids are on about. But I guess they'd say they're happy for me. What about yours?"

"I haven't thought about it. My dad feels guilty for making us move across the world and leaving my mum so... I think he would try to be supportive of that at least. My mum... that's another thing..." He shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because she's crazy religious and we never really talked about... you know. And she's also just plain crazy so that doesn't help."

"Crazy? What do you mean?"

"Well she' always been a bit paranoid and all but with the move and my dad leaving, she's been just kind of absent and anxious all the time... I just try to avoid her when she's like that. I can't handle it. It's just exhausting. You know what I mean? I know it's not the best thing but I can't see her like this or be around her." He shook his head. "I love her but... I just can't."

Charlie was in his thoughts, thinking about how many messages he let on read and how many time he avoided her. When he finally looked up to Isaac, he wasn't looking back. He passed a hand through his hair and stood up. Charlie watched him, frowning. Why was he leaving?

"I have to go," he just declared without any other explanation.

He bent down towards Charlie and placed a kiss on his forehead before putting his hand on his shoulder like he didn't really want to leave. Charlie couldn't read his expression but he knew something was wrong. But as so often with Isaac, there was no explanation to be given. He just watched him leave, a slight pout on his mouth, sad that he didn't get to have at least a kiss goodbye.