911 - Ficlet
"You know what I'm really tired of," he says when Tommy answers the door, pushing past him into the house he's only ever been to a handful of times, but whose address he still has saved in his GPS as Tommy (home).
"Please, come in. Make yourself at home," Tommy says sourly. "Evan, what are you doing here?"
He makes a beeline for Tommy's fridge, and god he always has such pretentious fucking taste in beer. Good, but pretentious. And he's such a prissy bitch when you call him out on it. He'd loved that about him. Loves that.
He grabs one at random, hunting for the bottle opener in the drawer next to the sink. "Maddie thinks I need to learn how to be alone again." Takes a swallow. Tommy just stands there in the doorway, staring at him, not moving. "She's wrong. Couldn't manage to graduate from college, but I've got a fucking PhD in how to be alone." Takes another swig, and then pauses to look at the label, but this is actually really good. "What I need to learn is how to get someone to want to stay.
He looks at Tommy, who's still frozen in the doorway.
"She agrees with you, by the way. Also thinks I'm in love with Eddie." Takes another drink and then goes to root through Tommy's pantry for the doritos he knows are there somewhere, because Tommy won't admit it, but he loves them.
Makes a low triumphant noise when he finds them. Takes a handful and holds the bag out ot Tommy, "You want some?" Tommy shakes his head mutely.
He shrugs, "Your loss." Crunches his way though a few. "You're both wrong, you know. Even if it would be really fucking convenient for the narrative." Tommy starts to say something, and he cuts him off. "Am I sad that my best friend is gone? Yes. Am I not dealing well living in his house? Also yes. Fucking sue me." Crunches a few more chips and chases it with a swallow of beer. "Eddie's house was one of the first places I found where I was always welcome. He trusted me to take care of the most important thing in the world to him. I think I get to be upset that he moved back to Texas. I get why he went. I don't even disagree with it. I wish my parents had loved me half that much. I still get to be upset about it." Points the beer bottle at Tommy. "Okay?"
Tommy holds up his hands. "Okay."
He nods. Takes the last swallow of beer in the bottle. "What was I saying?"
Tommy shakes his head. "I have no idea. Evan, why are you here?"
He frowns. "Oh, I came to apologize."
Tommy's eyebrows go up. "This was an apology?"
He waves a hand. Contemplates whether he wants another beer. "No. I wanted to apologize for what I said, about not having feelings for everyone I slept with. That wasn't about you, but I realized that probably wasn't obvious."
"No," Tommy says, and finally crosses the kitchen to get a beer of his own. "It wasn't."
He takes the second beer when Tommy holds it out to him. He can uber home if he has to. "I was mad," he offers.
He snorts without really meaning too. "I missed this." Tommy's eyebrows go up. "The way you're bitchy and mean." Sits down at the table opposite Tommy. "I missed you. I don't know if I'm still in love with you, but I know I'm not over you, no matter how many things I bake."
"I baked every time I wanted to call you, or thought about you. I could have opened a bakery with what I made." Rubs his hand down his jeans. "With what I'm still making." Risks a look at Tommy from under his lashes.
"Okay," Tommy says slowly. "So, if the comment about not having feelings for everyone you sleep with wasn't aimed at me, who was it aimed at?"
He grimaces. "Everyone? No, really. Everyone keeps telling me to get back on the horse, or there are other fish in the sea - and seriously, what's with all the animal metaphors. It's creepy." Takes a breath. "So I did. I tried that. Downloaded grindr and hinge, went to a bar. Hooked up with a girl. Hooked up with a guy. Didn't like it." Rubs his hand on his pants again. Takes a nervous swallow of beer. "The thing is, I want it to be true. I want to have feelings for the people - person - I'm sleeping with. But the only person I want that with is you. And you keep leaving."
He closes his eyes at the sound of Tommy saying his name. "That's not fair?"
"No," Tommy admits. "It's fair. I run before I can get my heart broken. That's my MO. Doesn't," he lets out a shaky laugh. "Doesn't seem to be working well when it comes to you."
He puts his hand on the table, palm up. "Were you serious about Saturday?"
Tommy stares at his hand. "Yes?"
"Pick me up at 7? Not," he adds hastily, "Micelli's. That place has bad karma."
Tommy lets out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. He can relate. "Not Micelli's," he promises. Then, "I'm not over you either."
He nods. "Good. Maybe we can both learn how to not be alone."
"I was always good at math," Tommy says, and finally finally takes his hand.