Oh My God, They Were Roommates

30 | Mr. Brightside

warning: Ray and Charlie talk about transphobia. If it's not your jam, I'll write a quick summary at the end of the chapter of what happened.

Two days went by before Sora realized that Ray was intentionally avoiding him. At first he assumed Ray was sleeping in—the guy did have a car, anyway, so he could afford to take his time without fear of missing his bus—but then he came home from his second shift at the Bandaids and caught the tail end of Ray escaping into his bedroom for the night.

Sora hesitated, half-inside the apartment, half-out. Clearly, Ray had heard his key turn and in the five seconds it took Sora to get inside, Ray had scooped up all of his class work into his arms and made a run for his bedroom.

It's fine, Sora told himself as he shut the door. In the end it was better that I got it off my chest—I just wish I would have let him know that I wasn't a creep. Not that... I should have to reiterate that...

He shook his head as he slipped off his shoes. He locked the door behind him and tossed his duffle near the laundry door. He felt greasy and crusty from work and shut himself up in the bathroom for a thorough fifteen minute shower. It was his usual timing, something that Ray knew all too well. It gave Ray approximately fifteen minutes to pack up the food he prepped that evening and stuff it into the refrigerator.

He wasn't fast enough.

Sora emerged from the bathroom before Ray could escape. Ray turned like a deer caught in headlights, but instead of headlights, he was caught in the angelic glow of Sora, freshly cleaned and sporting nothing but a black towel and his used clothes clutched to his stomach.

They both stared at one another until Sora did a habitual thing: He gestured to himself and said, "Like what ya see?" like he was in the locker room with Charlie.

Ray went bright red. Sora had never seen someone's skintone snap like that before.

Ray nearly dropped the container in his hands on his way to the fridge, holding it up as he said, "TH-THIS IS FOR YOU!" before shoving it onto Sora's shelf and making a break for his bedroom, eyes on the ground.

Ray gasped in relief as he slumped against his closed bedroom door. His heart was in rapid motion the past two days, and the momentum with which it took off Sunday night sent it blasting off into space. And if Ray knew anything about the laws of physics, it was that his heart would keep going, spiraling through space and time, until it was caught in the orbit of something far greater than itself.

Or until it smacked straight into an oncoming object. That too.

There was only one person he could talk to about this, so he made plans with them that very next day. There, amongst the chaos of tourists and carnival games, Ray confided in Charlie.

"I don't know how much longer I can survive this!" Ray whined, full of dread and sinking against the floorboards of Fisherman's Wharf. He had a funnelcake in hand and his fist raised to the clouds, crying, "Curse you, Aphrodite!"

"Yeah, fuck Aphrodite. Making two men fall in love with this bastard," Charlie said, putting a middle finger to the Bay. He drank from his reusable coke bottle that was now tinged with Malibu on a Tuesday evening. He propped a hand behind him, crossing his legs at the ankles as he studied Ray's profile. Ray pouted, scowling out at the sea lions. There weren't as many out and about that early in the season, but those that populated the docks were barking and sunning themselves in what minimal light broke through the clouds.

It smelled like salt, sewage, and cotton candy, but at least the funnelcakes were oh-so delicious and powdery in Ray's mouth. He popped a piece in his mouth and sighed. "He has to be kidding, right? I mean, we're roommates and I'm... me. I'm not—I'm not..."