Lost in London [Completed]

Cinq

Kay had spent a week sleeping on London's couch, making himself as useful as possible around the house while London was in class. No matter how much London told him to rest, Kay couldn't just sit around all day. Patches of memory were starting to come back and Kay wanted nothing to do with them. He knew his nightmares weren't a secret, but London had been courteous enough not to bring them up. Really, that was as much as Kay could ask for.

"Hey," London greeted Kay as he came into the living room and dumped his university rucksack by the coffee table. "How are you doing?"

"Uh – fine, yeah, I'm doing good. My wrist hurts less," Kay shrugged, getting up from the couch and stretching; he'd spent almost all day wading through a low-level French textbook, though he was still none the wiser.

"Don't bother lying, I know it doesn't," London responded, pulling his laptop out from his bag and putting it on the coffee table. "How are you getting on with the textbook? I can find something more basic if you're struggling."

From someone else, it might have sounded patronising, but London seemed to genuinely want to help. That was what made it okay.

"I'm getting there, I think. I don't know," he shook his head, "How did you get anywhere with it? There's vowels and accents everywhere!" Kay threw his arms up in mock frustration and shook his head, again.

"Take a break, then. I need to call my boyfriend, but I'll help you afterwards. Deal? The hardest part is pronunciation, so don't worry if you screw it up," he added, already opening the laptop and navigating to the video chat.

Kay always kept out of the way when London called his boyfriend, and today was no different. They'd gotten into some kind of routine. On the days London called, he would get home from university and Kay would disappear upstairs for a shower. It just wasn't his business what London and his boyfriend talked about.

Just as he heard the voice from the other end pick up, Kay was behind the couch, ready to head up the stairs and be out of the way. Obviously, he hadn't moved fast enough.

"Hey London –" his boyfriend started, "Who's that with you?"

Kay pretended he hadn't heard and left the room. He didn't feel up to trying to justify himself living with London, especially considering he had a long-distance boyfriend. Kay decided that London would just deal with it. If his boyfriend didn't trust him, they wouldn't be together.

"He's called Kay," London responded. "He's been sleeping on my couch for a few days," he offered up. I'm going to be honest, he's not in the most stable situation. I don't think he'd be staying here if he had a choice."

"So you're not... together? I'm not going to be upset if you are, you know that we've already talked about this."

"No, no we're not. He's engaged, actually, to some guy back in The States."

"And he's staying on... your couch...?" The question was slow.

"Yeah, it's a long story. He's only here until he decides what he's doing, promise," London smiled, sitting back onto the couch and crossing his legs. "Tell me about your day yesterday. How's work going?"

"London, I stack shelves. The same as always," his boyfriend responded. "Your parents have asked me why you're not answering their emails, though. I assume that this guy sleeping on your couch is the reason for that?"

"Yeah, I've just been busy," London said, "But seriously, enough about me. It's Friday, and I know you have an afternoon shift later, so what are your plans? Tell me everything," he put his elbows on his knees and hands on his chin. "Even if you don't think it's interesting, I do."