More than Best Friends?

Chapter 5 - Confusion

It had been a few days since Yuki started staying at Pe's house.  He thought it was nice of her to let him stay, but he needed a shower.  And feeling sick, it was hard for him to try and do it himself.  He thought about asking her for help, but then she would find out his secret.  Then he thought about asking one of her brothers, but that would probably make things even worse.

Pe was making Yuki some soup.  He admired that she was a good cook, but she wasn't the one for him; she already had a boyfriend, Henry.  After a few minutes, the soup was set in front of him with a small slice of bread.

"If you need help with eating, or anything else, just let me know!" Pe said, and then went upstairs to her room, probably to talk on the phone with Henry.  Yuki picked up the spoon slowly, blowing on the hot liquid.  He brought the spoon to his mouth and swallowed the spoonful of soup.  It was plain, but he could taste some salt and essence of chicken in the broth.  After eating, he started to feel drowsy and went to talk to Pe.  He tapped a knuckle on her door three times, and she opened it a moment after.

"Oh, finished eating already?" Pe asked, and Yuki silently nodded as a reply.  He suddenly thought about taking a shower again.

"Did you want to sit in here?" she asked.  Yuki paused for a bit before nodding again.  Pe went to sit on the bed and Yuki sat next to her.

"You look tired..." she said, gently sweeping the dark bangs out of his face.   He closed his eyes at the contact.  Her slender fingers graced his pale skin, and the tips of her nails were smooth, as nothing sharp touched him.  She must have gotten them manicured recently, he thought, but then felt weird for thinking about something like that. 

"Do you want to take a bath?  That always makes me feel better when I'm stressed."  Yuki thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded.

"I'll help you, then."  Pe got up and went to the bathroom to draw Yuki a bath.  Yuki was a bit scared in case Pe saw something unexpected, but then he realized that he also might need help taking off his binder.  He had been feeling a little weaker because he hadn't eaten all that much lately.  The thought of someone else finding out his secret just made him even more scared, but as per usual, he kept a straight face, even if his thoughts were spiraling.

"It's ready!" Pe called to him.  Yuki sat up slowly and shuffled to the doorway.  He followed her voice to the bathroom, where she patiently sat on a stool.

"I'll help you if you need me to, okay?" she reassured him, and he nodded as a reply.  She turned around so that her back faced him, which confused him a little.

"Don't worry, I won't look," she said to him.  This assuaged Yuki's fears, quite a lot.  He slowly took off his clothes and binder, then sat in the water.  At least the water blurred the view of whatever...parts...he had.  He slowly sank deeper into the water.

"Do you need help? I'll stay here just in case." Pe asked him.  Yuki shook his head, so Pe went to get him some clean clothes.  She picked up his worn clothes and went to find his spares.  Luckily, he tucked the binder into his shirt so that she wouldn't find it.  Yuki was always neat about his clothes anyway.

After washing himself up, Yuki changed into the comfortable clothes that Pe found for him.  It was nighttime and he was going to sleep soon, so he didn't worry about putting his binder on.  It was nice to have his chest free of the restriction.  He was tired, in general, and from not eating as much as he should.  He lay awake on one side of the bed while Pe slept soundly on the other side.  Yuki sighed deeply.  The next day there was school, and since he felt so sick, it wasn't very likely that he'd attend.  At least he had a friend like Pe, who was willing to take him in and care for him, to pick up his work from school.  

He looked at her sleeping face; she looked so calm and at ease.  It made him content that she had some time to rest, for he knew that she was a busy person at and outside of school.  He shifted closer and ruffled her hair a bit, and her smile grew slightly at the affection.  They had been close ever since they were small, so him sleeping over wasn't too out of the ordinary.  But, he admitted to himself that it felt almost foreign to lay in the same bed as her when Kyle was the one on his mind.

(835 words, 29 October 2019)

(834 words, edited 31 May 2020)