Maybe After Tomorrow (Hatchetfield)

Chapter 11

Ted woke up early again. Five minutes to seven. He really didn't know what had gotten into him since he had been living at Henry's. But he couldn't ever get back to sleep, so he just gave in and decided he would become a morning person.
To his surprise, Henry was already sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop and a cup of coffee.
"Hey, Henry," he said as he took a box of cereal from the cupboard, not awake enough to face Henry's criticism of his toast.
"You're up early."
"I could say the same."
"Wanted to get a head start on my work." He sipped the coffee.
"Why don't you take a day off?"
Henry nearly choked. "A day off? Ted, we are amidst one of the - fuck that - the most confusing phenomenon to scientists in our lifetime. Possibly ever. I can't just take a day off!"
"Why not? You don't want to get burnt out."
Henry stared at Ted, perplexed.
Ted sighed, "Fine. Just take a couple of hours off. Come watch a movie with me or something."
"What movie do you suggest?"
"I don't know, Rent, maybe?"
Henry's eyes lit up, "You had me at Rent."
"That is literally the second-last word I said."
Ignoring him, Henry saved his work, logged off of the laptop, put it away and followed Ted intro the living room.
Henry put the Rent DVD into the DVD player whilst Ted sat with his bowl of cereal.
"Just a warning," Henry said, "I may get emotional."
"If you didn't I'd be judging you."
"First place I ever really saw any LGBTQ+ rep. That and it's just a sad movie in general."
"Yeah, it's really sad."
"And seeing actual gay characters... Still gets me."
"How come?" Ted asked cautiously.
"I'm gay," Henry said simply. "I thought you all knew that."
Ted nearly choked on his cereal. He instantly put the bowl down on the table, terrified of spilling it on the couch.
"You- You are?" he asked, still coughing.
"Um- I- I shouldn't have said- Oh god-"
"No, no, no. I'm sorry. You just caught me off guard. I'm not really used to these things being talked out casually. And about the representation thing, I literally never saw any growing up. That's why it took so long for me to realise I was bi."
"Wow. Okay. You had me panicking for a second there."
They both laughed.
"Sorry. I was just a little shocked. Anyway, should we..." Ted gestured vaguely to the TV.
"Yes."

Ted subtly took a tissue from his pocket, wiping tears from his eyes. When he looked over, Henry was doing the same. He decided to stop attempting to hide the fact that he was crying and just let it out.
"Ted, are you crying?" Henry asked, sounding choked.
"As if you wouldn't be if you weren't making such an effort not to."
Henry laughed, but the laughs quickly descended into sobs. "I did tell you this movie gets me emotional."
"Yeah..."
Henry's face fell into his arm as he cried.
"Henry, are you all right?" Ted smiled.
He laughed through the tears, "I'll be fine in a minute." He looked up at Ted, the flow of tears coming to a halt when their eyes met.
Ted could feel his heart start to race.
Henry forgot how to breathe.
Ted's hands started to shake.
Then Henry's eyes flitted down to Ted's lips. He moved them away as soon as he realised, looking back to Ted's eyes, which were now filled with fear. The same fear that soon flooded his own.
Then, before Henry could do anything to stop him, Ted's legs were carrying him up the stairs. He leaned against the door of his room after closing it, breathing faster than he knew was possible.
Then he slid down the door. He didn't even realise he was crying until his hand touched his face and it was soaked by tears.

~

(A/N: Sorry this chapter's kinda rushed, I got really stuck in the middle of it and was kind of just desperate to finish it.)