Troubles

“Morning, Frank,” Brian says. I open my eyes and look around, getting used to the fact that the world is awake and real.

The night before suddenly comes rushing back and I subconsciously cover my throat with a hand.
There's nothing there.

I sit up on the couch and let the duvet drop into my lap. I rub one eye while I see Brian walk around the living room.

“There's breakfast in the kitchen,” he says, turns and disappears into his bedroom. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, both to wake up and to clear my mind of the memories of last night.
I'm safe now. I'm alive. I'm...somewhat okay.

I walk into the kitchen, pulling up the pajamas pants Brian let me borrow to sleep in. I don't own a pajamas anymore. I gave them to a... another homeless guy about 2 months ago. I needed room for the winter jacket I had gotten at the give-away near the town hall. It was embarrassing to be there.

“You might wanna hurry. You have to go to school today. I'm going to New York to pick up a few things for the shop that the suppliers don't deliver because it's too fragile. Fuck this shit,” Brian rambles, then throws the papers in his hands on the kitchen counter, grabs a bowl and a spoon from the dishwasher and sits down across from me. He smiles at me briefly, before he pours cereal and milk in the bowl.

We sit quietly and eat. I eat quickly, which isn't a problem; I'm used to it.

“So, how's school?” Brian asks. He's trying to make small talk, but school isn't that small a talk. It's a long talk.
I just shrug. I don't really feel like talking about it, mainly because I don't wanna complain about it all to Brian. And also, I don't know if he's okay with homosexuality. He seems very open-minded, but that doesn't mean he accepts everything.

I take the last spoonful of cereal and bring the bowl over to the sink. I turn on the water.

“I can do that. Just go get dressed,” Brian says quickly without even looking at me. I look down at the dirty bowl and consider it for a second. I don't wanna be a bother. Leaving my dirty dishes would be a bother, but making him late because he has to wait for me to get ready is even more of a bother.

I turn off the water and go to the bathroom.