Road To Happiness ✔

SEVEN

He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. He sat in the car with Renee, staring at the busy restaurant in front of them nervously. Renee tapped away on her phone, seeming not to notice the state Hugo was in. But he wasn't going to leave, he'd already promised Renee that he would go with her.

"Some aren't here yet, but we can wait for them inside," she said and put her phone in her handbag. "Stefan and a couple of his friends are already here."

She hopped out of the car and gestured for him to follow. He had no idea where they were, some town he'd never been to on the outskirts of the city. If he wanted to leave, he'd have to get Renee to take him home and he didn't want to do that. Renee was there to have a good time, he wasn't going to ruin that for her.

Stefan waved them over to his table at the back when he saw them. Hugo didn't wave back but smiled at him as he sat. The table was huge. Had Renee lied to him when she'd said there would only be a few other people? It looked ready for about ten more. He wasn't sure if he could handle that many at once.

He looked to Renee nervously, but she didn't see him. She was too busy talking to the other two people at the table, her usual grin on her face. Trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach, Hugo sat down across from Stefan, eyes fixed on the polished wood of the table.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked. Hugo looked up to see Stefan watching him warily. "You look like you're going to vomit."

Hugo shook his head. "I'm alright, it's just been a long day," he signed. "I'm tired." Stefan didn't look like he believed him, but he didn't say anything more, something Hugo was grateful for. He hadn't explained himself to Renee, he certainly wasn't going to explain himself to Stefan, who probably didn't even like him.

It sucked, from what Renee had told him, Stefan was a good and friendly person. He was attractive too, which didn't help Hugo's nervousness. But he couldn't help but feel that the man didn't like him that much. He had shown up at their apartment without a word after all. Although, that was more Renee's fault than his. And while the movie night had been nice, it had still been awkward. Stefan hadn't spoken much to him.

"Oh, guys, this is Hugo, he's a friend of mine from uni," Renee said, her voice pulling him from his thoughts. Hugo waved to the man and the woman staring back at him. He forgot their names almost as soon as Renee introduced them and cursed himself for being terrible with them.

Throughout the next half an hour, more and more people came to their table. Renee introduced him to all of them, but he never remembered their names and they never said anything more than 'nice to meet you.' It didn't matter much to him. It meant he never had to explain that he was mute. The only real issue was that the table had filled to the point where he didn't know how to handle it.

He got Renee to order for him, a burger and a tall glass of wine. He'd need a drink if he was going to sit for a couple of hours with new people. It wasn't the best coping mechanism, but who would judge him. None of them knew him except Renee and it wasn't like she would notice anyway. She was too busy talking to everyone else.

The food came quicker than Hugo expected, but that didn't stop the talking. If anything, it made it worse. The table was full and voices came from every mouth around him. They never stopped, no matter how much Hugo wished they would. The noise was too much for him. All he could do was concentrate on his breathing and his meal.

The voices only grew louder, closer. There were people all around him, nudging him as they ate, moved, spoke. He itched to push them away but didn't in fear that they would only move closer. It felt as though they stuck to him like glue and he couldn't shake them off no matter how hard he tried.