JossBas: Is It Really Meant to Be?

Chapter 12

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

The presence of Frank in his condo unit somehow helped Joss to keep his mind off his heartache.

Frank and Joss spent the day playing video games and watching home movies. Joss avoided watching TV shows just in case the news came on to show a re-run of the footage of Gxxod being rushed to the ER in a stretcher, followed by the interview of a tearful Bas.  Joss just did not want to re-live his heartache all over again.

Frank also helped Joss in preparing the ingredients for their breakfast and lunch.

By evening, after they finished to eat the shrimp chop suey that they had cooked together, Joss turned to Frank, "Okay, you owe it to me to tell your story about why you got kicked out of your house."

"How about I wash the dishes first," Frank countered.

Joss started to wonder why Frank didn't seem willing to tell his story.

"Very well," said Joss, "let's wash the dishes together. You soap, I rinse and dry."

"Good plan," Frank said eagerly.

They proceeded to wash the dishes together and when Joss happened to place his hand on top of Frank's hand as Frank was handing him a soapy plate, Frank quickly withdrew his hand making Joss drop the plate onto the kitchen floor, breaking the plate into several pieces.

"What's your problem, Frank??" Joss asked angrily, "I don't have any contagious diseases! Do you find my touch repulsive? Are you homophobic???"

Frank stared at Joss, all wide-eyed, his face as red as a cooked lobster.

"I'm so sorry, P'Joss," Frank's voice was almost a whisper, "I'm not a homophobe. I was just taken by surprise."

At this point, Frank's voice cracked. He quickly rinsed his soapy hands and ran towards the living area.

He threw himself face down on the couch, planting his face on his arms, sobbing quietly.

Joss quickly finished picking up the broken pieces of the plate and disposed them into the kitchen trash bin. He then slowly walked over to Frank.

He sat on the couch beside Frank, and gently tapped on his back.

"I'm sorry, Frank," said Joss, "I didn't mean to yell at you."

Suddenly Frank sat up and faced Joss.

"Do you really want to know why I got kicked out of my house, huh? Huh???"

Joss kept quiet, waiting for Frank to continue.

"It's because ... it's because..." Frank was starting to hesitate now, his face showing indecision for a brief moment, and then he drew a deep breath and put on a face full of determination to continue, "It's because I confessed to my parents that I'm in love with a man...... and ... and ... and... that man is YOU!!!"

Once again Frank burst into tears.

Joss quickly stood up from the couch, backing away slowly from Frank.

"Oh, so who's the homophobe now???" Frank accused Joss angrily, "should I pack my stuff and leave your condo unit right now?"

Joss was rendered speechless and was just staring at Frank with a shocked expression on his face, trying to wrap his mind around what Frank had just revealed to him.

He shook his head once, twice, thrice, trying to dispel from his mind what he had just heard.

He watched as Frank stood up from the couch and started to gather his stuff together into his backpack.

As Frank started walking towards the door, Joss seemed to have suddenly been able to gather his wits around him. He rushed towards Frank, grabbing him by the wrist.

"No, no, no, you're wrong, I'm not a homophobe.  I didn't tell you to leave. You can still stay at my unit until you're able to find a place of your own."

Frank hung his head, not looking at Joss, his face still towards the door.