Disjointed Heart

Chapter Seven

Meanwhile, Mike was listening to everything, with his heart thudding harshly against his ribcage. He wanted nothing more than to just open that godamn door and rush to hug Chester. He was almost getting up when he heard Ryan.

“Ches… please don’t cry. Can… can I hug you? Please?” He said softly and Chester replied only with a quick nod, soon feeling warmth envelop him in the form of a tight hug. Ryan held him close, pulling his head to his chest.

The blonde man shivered as he felt Ryan against him, and one of his reflex was to push him away. But he soon understood that it was Ryan, and that he would never hurt him. He was, after all, the only one he could trust... he finally let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes and relaxed into the brunette's embrace while tears still ran down his cheek.

Mike bit his lower lip as he sat down properly in his chair. He was supposed to be happy that someone was taking care of Chester, but instead... he felt like he needed to be the one to hug Chester, to comfort him and tell him that he wasn't weak. He must have gone through a lot at the institution and....

Why couldn't he touch the young man and Ryan could?

Mike sighed and ran a hand on his face, as he finally understood that he was jealous.

"That's insane, I barely know him." he thought aloud.

It was true, he had just met Chester a few weeks ago and, they had hardly even spoke to each other. Ryan was a longtime friend and they seemed to have quite a story together. Mike was not in the place to feel jealous. Not at all. He had to just remember that someone was looking after Chester, even if it wasn’t him, it was somebody.

“You forgive me?” Chester asked hopefully, parting the hug.

“Of course, silly! I didn’t even resent that and I totally understand. Don’t worry. I just missed you a lot and wow… you look so different.” Ryan said not avoiding his gaze from Chester even once, examining him.

“I look terrible.” The blonde chuckled embarrassed.

“Terrible?! You look stunning, Chester! As ever! I love your hairstyle, you used to just brush it back or let it wild back then.” He fondly stated.

“That’s thanks to Mike. He was the one who fixed it in the elevator.” Chester blushed but nonetheless smiled at the compliment.

“Oh. Well, he did a great job.” Ryan felt a bitter taste in his mouth by hearing the deliverer’s name. He felt a tinge of jealousy. Maybe it wasn’t even necessary, he and Chester had been friends since the beginning and he just appeared now. Still, after such a long time being apart, things could have changed. Things have changed. Chester is different. They are different.

"So, is Mike a friend of yours?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Mike?" Chester said, pulling a bit back from his friend. "Well, he... he surely helps me a lot." The blonde man cocked his head to the side. He couldn't say that he was friends with Mike yet, since he had such a hard time getting close to anyone... but at the same time, the half Asian had helped him a lot ever since they had met. "I don't know if... friend is a good word, but... he's really nice to me."

That didn't appease Ryan at all as he felt like he realized that there was something going on between his friend and the delivery man, but he didn't know why. He couldn't straight up ask Chester either, since the other one looked even more confused by the question.

"Okay... so, anyway, enough about Mike." The brunette said, trying to keep his thoughts at bay. "What have you been doing these days?"

“I work with translations. Since I hate going out, I had to find a job that I could do from home.” Chester replied, more confident now that he knew his friends didn’t hate him for what he had done.