Road To Happiness ✔

TWENTY-EIGHT

Stefan was in the kitchen when they arrived at the apartment. Hugo had asked Renee to take him home but halfway there he realised he didn't want to be alone. So instead, he asked Renee if he could go back to her place. She had to go out later that night to have dinner with her parents, but it didn't matter. Stefan would be there to keep him company.

Except the instant he walked through the door, he knew that wouldn't be the case. Stefan didn't look at either of them when they came in, instead slamming a pot down on the bench with a groan.

"Are you alright?" Renee asked, frowning at him.

Stefan grumbled something Hugo couldn't quite hear. "I'm fine," he said loudly. He wasn't, that much was obvious. "You two are back early."

It was almost time for dinner, but it was far earlier than they'd expected. The drive back had taken a while because they'd gotten stuck in city traffic. "Yeah, it wasn't that good," Renee replied. "I'm not going to be here for long, my parents wanted to have dinner tonight, remember?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning," Stefan replied angrily, grabbing the dish soap from the cupboard under the sink. "I didn't know Hugo was going to be here. And he likes it clean, so I'm bloody cleaning." The words were angrier than Hugo had ever heard. It reminded him of the first time they'd met, except much, much worse.

"What did I do?" he asked Renee when Stefan's back was turned, but the woman just shrugged in confusion. This was not what he wanted to come back to. He wanted to sit on the couch with his boyfriend and friend until he forgot about the events of the day. But it seemed he was not going to be that lucky.

Stefan slammed a pot into the sink and Hugo jumped at the noise. "We don't even have enough food to feed him tonight!" he exclaimed. Hugo tried to ignore the guilt that rose within him. He should have just gone home. "Or enough money to buy dinner!"

Renee looked between with her mouth what open, before she stormed into the kitchen and swatted Stefan upside the head. "What the hell is your problem?" she asked when he whirled around to look at her.

Hugo looked down at the floor and wrung his hands together. He didn't want to look at either of them. He just wanted to sleep and forget about the day. "I've had a busy day! Hell, a busy week. School is stressing me out and my boss is an arsehole. He treats everyone like shit and I'm sick of it! I'm just in a bad mood, okay?"

"We've had a bad day too! Don't take it out on us!"

Stefan took a step back then as Hugo looked up and met his eye. Water dripped from his hands and onto the tiles. Hugo couldn't take his eyes off it. "Whatever. I have a bunch of crap I need to finish for class," Stefan snapped, pushing past Renee and stalking towards his room. "You guys sort something out for dinner." His bedroom door closed with a bang, leaving the rest of the apartment in suffocating silence.

Barely a second passed before Renee was rushing to Hugo's side, hands on his shoulders. "Are you alright?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm fine, just tired and hungry." He was completely drained. He couldn't even feel upset anymore.

"You could come with me to my parents' place and have dinner there," Renee suggested. "He gets like this sometimes. I hate it. He's always had a bit of a temper. I should have told you, I'm sorry."

Hugo shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows at her. "It's not your fault, he should have told me, not you," he replied and sighed. "You go to your parents. I don't want to interrupt."

"No, no, it'll be fine, I promise they won't mind."

"I'll stay here and order a pizza or something. I want to make sure he's alright," he told her. He hadn't wanted to be alone, but now he was going to be until Stefan calmed down. If he calmed down.