"What is love in this temporal life, if not just a distraction from the pain that doesn't seem to end."
After losing his best friend to an unexplained suicide, Mateu finds himself left to pick up the pieces with his best friend's younger brother, Fe...
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Momo left early that evening. I wouldn't blame him.
The situation had been quite tense the moment Hasan said what he did. In fact, not even five minutes after he left, I decided it was time for me to go too. Amélie walked me to the door.
"I'm really sorry about that," she said in a hushed tone.
She really didn't need to – it was Hasan's turn to be on the balcony and I doubt he could hear us.
"Well, glad to know your boyfriend's a homophobe," I replied, shrugging.
"I promise I'll talk to him afterwards," she said. "What he said wasn't right."
"Yeah," I answered. "You should. Because you wouldn't know who he might hurt if he says these kinds of things again. You wouldn't know who's listening."
Amélie gave a slight nod.
"Thanks for coming, either way."
"Thanks for having me."
I left the apartment and started walking home. The last reddish glows of the evening sun had all but disappeared, shrouding the entire city in darkness. It was unpleasant, that exchange earlier, and I just tried to shrug it off. As I approached a bus stop, I noticed a familiar figure, shifting its weight from one leg to the other.
It was Momo.
"How are you getting home?" I asked as I approached.
He looked up from his phone and looked at me, his lips curled into a tired smile.
"Well, my luck today seems to be running out I guess," he chirped back. "I left my keycard in my dorm room, and the office is closed for the day. I'd have to go wake the warden up and let's just say this isn't the first time I've had to do that."
"Don't you have a roommate to let you in or something?"
"Well he's not on campus today and will only be back tomorrow morning," he replied. "What a shitty day, huh?"
I could only nod empathically.
"Good luck then," I said, patting his shoulder as I began to walk past him. "You certainly need it."
I didn't know what made me do it. Maybe I felt bad for him. Maybe I just felt like doing something kind. I was only a stone's throw away from him when I stopped and turned around.
"Do you want to come crash at my place instead?" I offered. "It's not too far from here."
"Oh no, please don't trouble yourself," he replied, somewhat bashfully.
"It's no problem at all," I assured him. "We could hang out or something, and to be honest I really like spending time with you."
"Fine," Momo said. "If you insist. Just don't murder me or anything."
