Devil's Effect

Bed Confessions

The decision to go to Amir's instead of home had been sudden. It was an idea in the backseat of the Uber, that had turned into reality when Ryan sat forward and asked the driver to head the other way.

"Shouldn't we ask first?" Chester wondered out loud as he texted Mike to let him know he wouldn't be home. "I'm not always sure about Amir."

"Well I am," Ryan assured him, turning to look for Chester's dark eyes in the shadowed space of the SUV they were riding in. "He won't have a problem with us crashing at his place. You're right, we need a break, and it's either Amir's or go to a hotel and I know Mike would flip his shit at you if we did that." He reached over, cupping Chester's knee. "I don't want him to be mad at you because of me. Ever."

Chester nodded. "I know." He covered Ryan's hand with his own, wrapping his smaller fingers around it. "I texted him, letting him know we won't be home tonight. He hasn't answered," he added, his free hand picking up his phone. "He's probably still pissed, even if we aren't going to a hotel for the night. Even though that might be nicer."

"Nicer?"

Chester shrugged. "It's so crowded at home. It feels like I can't breathe there sometimes. And don't take that personally," he made sure to say, squeezing Ryan's hand. "I just mean physically, there's a lot of stuff in that space now, and it's, like, the total opposite spectrum to how it was before you guys. Before Mike moved in."

"Oh, I see," Ryan teased, "you miss being a single bachelor."

"Please," Chester scoffed lightly. "Far from it. But I do miss the organized space."

"Your minimalist lifestyle."

"Yeah. Exactly. Mike has so much stuff. Art stuff and music stuff. When we moved him in, it was painful. All the spray cans, and dirty looking paint brushes and cans and tubes and eh," Chester whined with a shiver. He loved his boyfriend's art, and he would never deny him the opportunity to work on it at home, but it was messy and space consuming, and he'd never hid how he felt about it. "And now there's the giant bed in the corner of the living room, and you can't even walk anywhere without bumping into something."

Ryan was laughing. He couldn't help it. He remembered clearly the day Chester had called him in a quiet panic over Mike's things suddenly consuming the downstairs, and now, of course, there was twice as much stuff than before. "Your high maintenance ass just needs to live alone."

Chester let go of Ryan's hand to twist in his seat, his face offended, even though Ryan couldn't see it in the dark. "I am not high maintenance. You take that back." He poked a finger to Ryan's chest. They really hadn't had much to drink. Two beers each, that had gone along with their dinner. They were less drunk, and more excited than anything to get a night away from the tight loft, a night away where they could have fun and be themselves. They would go to Amir's and chit-chat and gossip and then crash in Amir's guest room, a newly vacated space since the roommate had recently moved to New York.

"I'm not taking anything back, Chazzy," Ryan told him just as the Uber driver announced they were pulling up to the building. It was a quick exchange of thank yous as Ryan and Chester got out and headed inside Amir's apartment building.

Ryan led the way, their hands linked as they walked through the silent lobby to the elvetaror. Amir's building wasn't anything like the seaside loft. It was newer, with all the current trends on display. Windows wrapped around everywhere, and just walking down the hallway to get to Amir's door, you could feel the quality and care that had gone into the building itself and the furnishings that gave it a sense of high end character. Spiral lights, bamboo floors, and well-placed abstract art pieces brought everything together, and that was just in the common areas.