A Wall Between

Chapter 28

"You've had a hard day. I didn't want to make it harder."

"It would've been harder if it wasn't for you. I don't know if I would have gone to the doctor at all on my own."

"That's a scary thought."

"I know."

"It's good to know things about yourself, though. Good to be honest about them. Just saying that's bad, don't be like that doesn't help. Now you know and I know that if you need help with something like that, you can call me. But maybe we also know that if I have to go and stay with Mason for a bit while we sort out living arrangement shit, you might need a different emergency plan."

"You're leaving?"

"I don't know. I haven't really figured anything out yet. I was just thinking that, well, I don't have to worry about being homeless because I can always go there."

Sasha's hands squeezed down on his shoulders. "But he lives really far away, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does. It wouldn't be forever, though."

"But you don't know how long it would be for. Just... until things get figured out. It could be a long time."

"We could still text."

Sasha shifted his weight from foot to foot, then shot an annoyed glance down at his sore leg. "I like listening to you talk and not having to say anything, but you can't do that through text. That's just the same as someone texting you and you ignoring them."

"I know, but hey, I was kind of worried you'd stop caring about being my friend at all if we weren't neighbours anymore, so it's good to hear that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Why would you think that?"

Cooper found himself smiling. "Because I'm secretly really insecure."

Sasha scoffed quietly. "It's not that much of a secret."

Cooper's smile broadened. "You've got me there. Listen... things will be okay. Maybe not right away, but they'll get there. For both of us."

"Maybe."

"I'll make sure they are. I'm a very determined person."

"Hm." The slightest smile made it onto Sasha's face. "Okay."

"Do you want a hug, or would you rather hug yourself?"

Sasha dropped his hands from his shoulders and held them out, accepting Cooper's embrace. "You feel nice."

Cooper let out a breath of laughter. "Yeah?"

"Mm. You have a nice chest."

As they pulled apart, Cooper turned and pressed a quick kiss against the side of Sasha's face. He immediately regretted it. They really hadn't established what was and wasn't okay yet. "Sorry."

Sasha frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know. I have bad impulse control sometimes, which isn't an excuse, but... yeah. I should have asked first."

"No, I mean, why are you sorry?"

"Well... I guess if you don't mind, I don't need to be."

"It was nice."

Cooper smiled. "Okay. Oh, uh, I should probably ask. Do your parents know you're gay?"

"Hm." Sasha tilted his head to the side. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I never told them, but I had a lot of posters on my walls of male celebrities when I was younger."