lukewarm (krii7y)

fate

"I'm in this situation, I'ma hit that boy with the spaces

And I don't feel no wrong with you, dependent on your playlist"

Don Toliver - Situation

published 20:25pm bst 10th june

— —

A confused John wondered why Jaren hadn't had any contact with him in over a week, not even a single text or phone call. He furrowed his brows, wrecking his brain with overthinking. John was worried he may have said or done something wrong, but Jaren seemed fine with dinner. If he hadn't been fine that night, then he was a great actor. Eric had gone out after dinner, but John still didn't know where.

"Your friend that died, what was his name?" John asked him, he hoped he wasn't intruding on the sensitive subject.

A distracted Eric didn't realise he was being spoken to for a few seconds. He blinked, then turned to face the young man.

"Raheem," the older man answered softly, there was something different about his tone.

Really, it was harder and harder to picture his face. John understood that feeling completely, and what he was going through. John just wished there was more he could have done to save Tessa.

"Life's funny. He wanted to be a doctor, but nobody helped him. Dead at the scene."

"I'm sorry."

An emotional Eric sniffed and nodded before getting up and going upstairs as he needed some time alone. The conversation had taken more out of him than he thought it would, and he needed to put his thoughts to rest.

-- --

Not long after his conversation with Eric, his phone started vibrating. His eyes lit up when he saw it was Jaren.

smii7y: you know how you dragged me halfway across the world to eat crumpets?

kryoz: it was more for the aesthetic, but yeah

smii7y: would you go somewhere, just me and you?

kryoz: jaren you're sounding really creepy but ok

smii7y: meet me at mine, and bring some clothes. don't tell anyone where you're going

kryoz: jaren??

smii7y: its for the thrill. see you in 30

John stared at his phone in disbelief. Still, he needed some excitement after being anxious about the recent protest in the town. He went upstairs and quickly packed some clothes before getting an Uber to Jaren's house.

A confused John got into Jaren's car, ready to question him heavily why he had been ghosting him the last couple of days, but his anger melted away when Jaren kissed him passionately. John responded accordingly, kissing him softly. The fact that he'd missed him a lot was an understatement.

"We can take this to the backseat," Jaren suggested.

Although that was tempting, John wanted some answers. If Jaren was just going to ghost him then pick him up whenever he felt like it, that was not the kind of relationship he wanted. He wanted to feel loved.

"Is there someone else?" John asked him, feeling nervous.

Immediately, Jaren shook his head. He couldn't tell the truth, but he didn't want to hurt him either. Jaren desperately wanted to keep their relationship, somehow.

"No...just a friend of mine, he's in the hospital. He's unresponsive to treatment," Jaren told some truth.

"You should have told me. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," John apologised, quickly trying to recover.