Road To Happiness ✔

TWENTY-FIVE

"Tell me everything!" Renee exclaimed the second she sat down across from him in the library. It was the Monday after his date with Stefan and the first time he had heard from her.

"Hasn't he told you?" Hugo asked.

"He has, but I want to hear it from you," she replied. He shook his head at his strange friend but didn't see any point in denying her what she wanted. He told her everything since he arrived at Stefan's for dinner three days ago up until he left on Sunday morning. Renee squealed a little when he told her about kissing him, then stopped and stared at him. "Wait, you kissed him?"

Hugo frowned at her, his eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, what did Stefan tell you?"

"Just that you guys kissed, not that you kissed him," Renee replied, beaming at him. "That's such a big thing for you. I'm proud!" He supposed it was a big thing. It was something he'd never thought he'd be able to do. When he'd imagined kissing Stefan, it had always been the other man that had kissed him first.

He blushed. "It's not that big a deal," he replied.

"Bitch, what do you mean it's not that big a deal? Have you ever been in a relationship before?" Renee asked and Hugo's blushed only deepened. "Oh, you haven't. Well, do you see then? It is a big deal, this is a new thing for you and you were the one who took the first step. Mostly because Stefan is an idiot."

"I guess."

Rene whacked him lightly on the arm. "It's true! I'm happy for both of you. Stefan hasn't been with anyone in ages and his last boyfriend was a complete jerk. I know you'll be good for him," she said. "And he'll be good for you too."

"He already is," Hugo replied before he could stop himself. It was true but it didn't stop him from being completely embarrassed when Renee laughed at him. "You're going to be our little groupie from now on, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "Well, not really. I'm just going to be happy that my friends are happy," she told him. "This isn't what I expected to happen when I introduced you two. I just wanted you to have another friend, but instead, you got a boyfriend. You should thank me for introducing you."

Hugo huffed out a laugh. "Thank you."

His laptop beeped at him then, letting him know that someone had emailed him. It was Tomas, asking him how he was going with the book so far. Hugo left it for now, he'd reply to it later. He hadn't forgotten about Tomas's book, in fact, he was thoroughly enjoying it, it was just that he was spending time with Renee. Even if they were meant to be sharing notes.

"So, are you guys going on another date soon? Stefan wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him," Renee said, pulling him from his thoughts.

Hugo moved his hands up to speak but didn't know what to say. They hadn't spoken about it when he'd been there. They'd only watched one movie before they got too tired to keep their eyes open. And by the time he left in the morning, it hadn't been mentioned either. He liked to think that Stefan wanted to go on another date with him.

"I don't know," he finally replied. "We didn't really talk about it. I think so, but we don't have another one organised."

Renee sighed and ran a hand down her face. "Never mind, you're both dumb," she said, leaning back in her seat. "I love you, but you're both really dumb."

"That's rude." He smiled at her despite the words, trying to show her that he was joking.

"It's the truth."

He shrugged. "Probably." He had been the one to suggest going into a busy restaurant when he knew he wouldn't have been able to handle it. He was just grateful that Stefan was able to see through him. He didn't want to have a panic attack in the middle of a restaurant, especially on a date.