Blush.

When I got home Quinn was still sitting at the table in the kitchen in silence.

“Hey,” I said, unsure of what to say. Was he still upset?

Quinn looked up at the sound of my voice and his expression was unreadable. He didn’t say anything but just gestured to the seat across from him. I sat down, watching him carefully.

“Yes?” He didn’t even look at me.

“You walked in on Frank?” he asked, his voice low. I nodded, looking down. What brought this on? When I looked up, Quinn was shaking his head. My eyes shifted from side to side nervously. What the fuck was going on?

“What about it…?” I asked hesitantly, not sure if I wanted him to answer me.

“How did you feel about seeing that?” Quinn asked his face grave.

Hesitantly, I answered, “I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t exact want to see it, but it’s normal. We’re all guys, right?”

“Yeah. Guess we are.”

“What’s this all about?” I asked, still very much confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Quinn replied dully, but then with a smile he continued, “So what did you bring home for dinner?” Quinn motioned towards the plastic bag I had placed on the table before I had sat down.

I still wanted to know the reason behind his questioning, but I let it go for the time being because I knew you would never get anything out of Quinn unless he was ready to tell you. In a way, he was a little like me, I guess.

“Uh, I got pad thai? I don’t know. It was just some random shit from a shop I came across on my way home,” I replied.

“Pad thai? Sounds…interesting.” Quinn smiled uncertainly.

“Well, try it. I ain’t gonna eat it. Tell me if it’s any good,” I stood up, “I’m going to go and paint. I promised James to show him all my art.”

“I reckon he’ll like it.” Quinn smiled up at me warmly all traces of graveness gone.

“Thanks, Quinn,” I answered, smiling back.

I walked out of the kitchen where Quinn had already started poking around in the bag of pad thai and I made my way down to my room. When I passed the bathroom I remembered I hadn’t had the chance to clean it yet. I opened the door a little and was shocked to see that it was sparkling clean.

I stood at the doorway and scrutinized the scene before me with confusion. I was broken from my thoughts by a shuffling of feet behind me. I turned to see Frank.

“Hey, Gerard.” When he spoke I blushed profusely and he did too, in turn. “Look, about before…you weren’t meant to see that,” he finished.

I nodded carefully, “I know…What happened to the bathroom?”

His cheeks reddened even more. “I cleaned it.”

“Thanks. There’s pad thai in the kitchen. I’m going to go and paint,” I said awkwardly, trying to get away from him.

“Yeah, Okay,” he mumbled before loping off down the hall.

I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding and continued down to my room. My room was dark and smelled somewhat musky, as if no one had been in there for a couple of centuries. I wrinkled my nose and walked to my window to open it, letting in the cold night air.

Taking a deep breath of the air, I set up my paints and canvas, setting to work with only the moonlight to guide my hand. Strokes here, and there.

I let all my emotion come out of me and transfer onto the canvas before me in a torrent of attitude. Different strokes symbolized different happenings throughout the day. Without even thinking about it, I picked up the green paint and started painting a pair of eyes over my many stokes. Then came the gold, creating flecks amongst the green.

I paused suddenly to step back out of my trance and looked at what I had painted. What I saw was surprising. The eyes I had painted stood out prominently and I couldn’t think of what or who they reminded me of.

But the paint-filled canvas before me was captivating and had a certain familiarity to it. I stared at the canvas for quite some time before I shook my head at my own foolishness and blushed into the empty room.

Frowning, I left my room and walked down the hall to the bathroom to shower. When I got there, I could already hear the shower running so I knocked on the door.

“Who’s in the shower?” I yelled through the door.

“Me.”

“And ‘me’ is?” I asked. Whoever the hell is in there is a downright moron.

“Frank.” As soon as he said that, I froze.

“Alright. I’ll come back later then.”

“No,” he reassured me, “Don’t. I’m almost finished anyway.” I heard the water shut off as he said this and the sound of a towel being taken off of our creaky rail.

“Come in,” Frank shouted through the door.

Hesitantly I opened the door and walked into the room, which was occupied with more steam that a sauna. But the steam didn’t bother me at all; it was the half-naked person standing amongst the steam that bothered me.

“Almost finished?” I asked through gritted teeth, averting my eyes from Frank’s torso.

“Almost, I just have to dry my hair,” he closed the door to the bathroom, “And then I’ll be out of your way. Don’t mind me, you go ahead and take your shower,” he said with a sly smile.

“I think I’ll wait,” I mumbled in reply, finding the tiles at the bottom of the shower fascinating. How did Frank get them so clean?

“Suit yourself,” he grumbled.

I took a seat on the edge of the toilet, waiting for Frank to start drying his hair. I looked around the bathroom searching for another towel that Frank was going to use to dry his hair but there was none.

I glanced up at him confused. “You only have one –”

I was cut short by Frank whipping off his towel – revealing his manly parts – and bringing it up to dry his hair. He was watching me closely, waiting for my reaction. I flushed red and looked away from his crotch, and desperately focused on his face.

“Well,” I started awkwardly, “Thanks for the fucking warning.”

Frank frowned down at me. “But, its normal. We’re all guys, right?” he said. A low tone of sarcasm was evident in his voice. Confusion was probably written all over my face because Frank had looked at me meaningfully. Then it clicked.

“I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t exact want to see it, but it’s normal. We’re all guys, right?”

He was using the words, I had used earlier when I was talking to Quinn. But, why?

“Yeah, it’s normal. But that was kinda uncalled for. Were you listening earlier? To me and Quinn?”

“Yeah, I heard what you guys were talking about.” His voice was muffled from underneath the towel on his head. “And it doesn’t matter though. Uncalled for or not, ‘We’re all guys, right?’” he finished with a cold smirk.

“What the fuck is your problem? Look, I’m sorting through enough shit at the moment without all your trippy-shit mind games!” I yelled, glaring at him now that he had removed the towel form his head.

Frank smiled at me and put the towel around his waist carefully and sauntered out of the bathroom leaving me alone in the steam. I stared after him incredulous at his actions, I knew he could be utterly absurd and quite strange at times but this had to be the weirdest yet.
Even when I first met him he wasn’t this strange.

“Hey, it’s you again!” I exclaimed with a smile when the boy from the other day came into view. But instead of it being a rainy day, it was sunny. Perfect day for training.

The boy looked at me warily. “Yes…” he replied, hesitant in his answer.

“So, how have you been? Or am I still a stranger?” I asked, unsure of what I was.

“You are still a stranger, but I will answer you. I haven’t been too good; no one will talk to me and I don’t know why. You’re the first in a long time,” he replied, looking at the ground.

I was sceptical. “What about your parents?”

“They talk to me. But no one else will,” he grumbled.

“Aw, I’m sure that your friends’ll come around. They’ll talk to you soon. Did you do anything to them?” I asked, trying to be cheerful although I was exhausted from training.

“They’re not my friends,” he mumbled. “And, no, I didn’t do anything.”

“Boy!” I turned to see a woman in a pink dressing gown and slippers. “Get back here!”

I turned to look at the boy in front of me who was staring past me at the woman. After a moment he glanced up at me and then walked past me without even murmuring a goodbye.

I watched him walk after the woman in pink until he turned the corner and was out of sight.

Still sitting on the edge of the toilet, I came out of the memory. Shaking my head at the absurdity of the memory, I stripped and turned the shower on, letting the warm water engulf my body and flush all the negative things off of me and down the drain.

I’ve always liked showers; they were soothing somehow.

But they also reminded me ofhome where I used to live. With Mikey…whose birthday is in a few days.

What was I to get him?
I remembered he liked comics like I do and that he was always the smart-ass. I decided to get him a few comics from the store and some of his favourite chocolates. Or at least, I think they were still his favourite.

But either way, I was proud of myself. It may have been fourteen months but I had finally made a decision to get in contact with Mikey. More to the point, I had finally made a decision.

It was overwhelming at first, but I soon warmed to the idea. It may have just been the water massaging my back from the shower head, but I was calm.

After I had dressed I made my way out to the kitchen where I had last seen Quinn. He was in there. But Frank was too. I tried to ignore Frank completely but was unsuccessful when he addressed me specifically.

“Did you have enough hot water?” he asked with a smug smirk.

“Yes, thank you,” I replied curtly, frowning at the look he was giving me. Quinn’s eyes shifted between us and I knew he knew something was up. He’d more than likely ask me about it later.

“Uh, Quinn? I’m gonna get in touch with Mikey.” I blushed, looking down at my feet when Quinn’s face lit up spectacularly. I knew he was going to be happy about this. He’d been bothering me about it for ages. “It’s his birthday soon, so that’s what sorta invoked the decision. Would you help me find him a present?”

“Of course I would! But I reckon we should talk about in the morning.” I looked up sharply at his remark, because I originally thought he wouldn’t shut up about it for hours, but here he was brushing it off until tomorrow.

Quinn smiled up at me warmly, “You look buggered and knowing you, you probably wouldn’t be able to handle me talking about it for ages right now. So, I’ll save it all up for tomorrow and you can get some rest to prepare yourself.” He winked.

“I’m fin–” I started to protest but I was cut off by Quinn.

“Go,” he said sternly.

I raised an eyebrow at him but I obeyed. I knew we’d argue about it and he would eventually win no matter what the fuck I said.

I stalked from the room, aware of Frank’s amused gaze on me, and went to my room to get ready to sleep. Once ready, I slipped under the covers trying to shield myself from the cold air that had seeped in through my previously opened window.

And I drifted off to sleep with millions of different thoughts and people swirling through my head. Mikey…present…Frank…strange…Quinn…James…paintings…

All these things submitted me into a restless slumber.