Pas Mal

Regan

"Are we even supposed to be here?" Dan asked quietly.

I turned and grinned at him. "I always go to Stu's for breakfast on Thursdays. We have a few lessons together in the morning." I slipped the key into the lock. We'd broken up ages ago, but we were still friends. It was like being friendzoned, which obviously hurt, but I was still living in the dream we could be friends with benefits.

"Doesn't he mind?" Dan asked as we entered the ground floor flat.

These set of flats were the same as all the others, only slightly smaller. They still had the light, airy feel about them. I walked towards one of the large windows, my heels clicking on the wooden floor. "See over there?" I pointed towards the set opposite us. Dan came and stood by my side. "That's Gus and Ben's flat. Below them is Debbie and Gavin. Then above them is where we are." I explained. "Josh and Mallory live in the other building that you can't really see, because we're perpendicular to it. And then Freak and Gerard live on the back of the estate."

Dan nodded slowly. "I get it. So it's like a five minute walk into town?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, pretty much." I replied, looking around. "Who's Stuart with?"

"Mike, the really sweet looking one." He answered after a pause. "Kinda small, pudgy, light hair."

I nodded, and went to the door of Stuart's room. "It's strange he's not up yet, he knows I'm coming."

I opened the door slowly, praying it didn't creek too loudly. I slipped inside the dark room and looked around. The single bed on the far wall was empty, with perfectly made up sheets. Stu's bed was occupied by not one, but two sleeping bodies. They lay together, legs intertwined and arms around each other. I watched them wriggle in their light sleep, a little confused. Stuart was as straight as a pole, and he'd never had an attraction to boys.

I step out, and grab Dan's attention. I step back to let him see into the room. He grinned.

"They got pissed." He chuckled. He shut the door and sat back down on the couch.

"Just out of interest, you're not gay as well, are you?" I asked. He blushed stupidly and shook his head.

"What about you?" He asked.

"I don't believe it's possible to be gay, as in only attracted to one gender. I think everyone is pansexual, or maybe bisexual. Sex is a wonderful thing and it's so reserved these days, because we're so narrow minded in our genders. We don't think outside the box, and we limit ourselves to one gender. That's boring. I don't like that." I explained.

I slipped my jacket from my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. I tied my long blonde hair in a high ponytail with a band on my wrist.

"Hey, what's that tattoo on your shoulder?" Dan asked. I looked over my shoulder and placed a finger on the black calligraphy.

"This? It's Shakespeare." I pulled my sleeve down to show him. "The Wïerd sisters, hand in hand, posters of the sea and land, this do go, about, about, thrice to thine and thrice to mine, and thrice again to make up nine, peace, the charm's wound up."

He thought for a minute. "Why?" He asked. I laughed. "It's Macbeth, isn't it?"

I sat down next to him. "I like Shakespeare. I enjoy being able to interpret things my way, because his wording his so magical and beautifully described. People overlook him for that reason. They say he's too complicated and boring. I find magic in his works. So I got this tattoo, a quote from the witches in Macbeth. Witches were believed to be sexually liberal, very free in their bodies, as am I." I smiled at his confused little face.

The door to Stuart's bedroom opened, and Stuart stepped out. Bleary eyed and pale faced, he yawned and stretched. He was a magnificent human being. I could spend hours, just admiring everything about him. I was grateful that I was honoured a chance to be his. We had different ideas for the perfect relationship, such so the commitment came to a head. I wasn't proud of the arguments that killed our little thing. I just lost it, and turned into a total bitch.

He smiled at us. "Morning," He chuckled, and went to make himself a drink. "Coffee?" He offered. I smiled and nodded, watching Dan shake his had.

"You had fun last night!" I teased with a grin. He blushed.

"I don't even remember. We were just out on the lawn drinking and then we were in bed. I'm so tired though, and my head really hurts." He sighed. "I'm not gay, we all know that. whatever happened last night happened because I'd been drinking and I don't have any other feelings for Mike."

I rolled my eyes. "You probably do like him. You just can't accept it because you've never felt that way about another man before." I commented.

He made our coffees and bought them over. He sat in the armchair opposite us. The confusion and inner conflict was etched into his face, like a carving in ice. He crossed his legs and took a sip of his coffee. Stuart had always been a person that I could read like a book. When he was happy, his entire face came to live with pure ecstasy. When he's sad or feeling low, his eyes seem to frown and the blue rocks like an unsettled ocean. Now, I couldn't tell what was going through his head. His eyes were full of alarm and his whole body seemed tense.

"If I do have feelings for Mike, and I mean a massive if, what do I do?" He asked after a while. "Cause he's obviously straight and he wouldn't be into me anyway." There was a hint of dismay in his eyes and in his voice.

"You go after him. You go after whatever you want. There's no point sitting back and letting this just roll over you. You don't deserve that, you know you don't!" I insisted.

Stuart only rolled his eyes and sighed. ""He's straight. If I hit on him I'd lose a friend and I don't want that." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed again.

"So? Live and let die! Who cares?" I was getting more frustrated by the minute.

"Cares about what?" A sleepy voice yawned.

Mike was, as Dan had described, the sweet looking one. He had a rather pudgy face, a little pout in his lips. He rubbed the sleep from his dark eyes and smiled a little.

I watched Stuart smile, his eyes coming to life at the sight of the half dressed man. I had never seen him so happy in my life. His pale face was tickled pink and everything about his face was ecstatic. I smiled at his pure happiness. I wanted to get them together. I had never seen Stu so happy, and if Mike made his already beautiful face shine like the brightest star then that's what I wanted for them.