The Struggles Of Waiting ✔

TEN

2074

Alexander sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. The morning light streamed in through the thin curtains and right into his eyes. He groaned and turned away from it. He wanted to go back to sleep but he knew he needed to get up.

He'd stayed the night at Jaden's house, on the spare bed in the guest room. They'd had a movie marathon the night before and Jaden had offered for him to stay the night when it reached eleven o'clock at night. There was no way Isaac would have been willing to pick him up at that time of night.

Alex climbed out of the uncomfortable bed, shuffling along the cold wood floors until he made it to Jaden's tiny kitchen. A mug of coffee was already sitting on the bench with a note that said it was for him. He'd stayed at Jaden's a couple of times and every single time there was a hot cup of coffee waiting for him when he woke up.

"You always look so confused when you see that," Jaden's voice said. Alex looked over to find him sitting on his blue couch, a cup of coffee in his hands and an amused smile on his face.

"It's always hot," Alex grumbled.

"You make a lot of noise when you wake up, you know," Jaden laughed. "A lot of groans and stuff. Doesn't help that the bed squeaks like crazy too. You're a loud bastard in the morning, you know."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he replied, letting out a huff of laughter and grabbing his coffee. He sat down on the couch next to Jaden with a grunt. The holographic television was on, blaring out news about a tsunami in Japan. Alexander didn't pay much attention to it, he'd heard all there was to say about it days ago.

"How'd you sleep?" Jaden asked him.

Alex grunted. "I hate your spare bed," he replied. Jaden laughed, loud and excited. Even the smallest of things could make the younger man laugh like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. It was oddly refreshing to see someone so happy. He himself had been so depressed and surrounded with the old and dying had only made it worse.

"Sorry, it's all I can afford," Jaden said. "I'd let you sleep on the couch but it's way worse."

"I know. I've slept on it before." Just the memory of it made his back ache.

Alexander leaned back against the couch, sipping slowly at his coffee. He could feel Jaden's eyes on him but chose to ignore it. It happened a lot, Jaden watching him. When he'd asked, the other man had just said he was trying to figure out where he'd seen him before. He was convinced he knew Alex from somewhere. He was waiting for the day where Jaden would figure it out. It would be an awkward conversation that Alexander wasn't ready for. He didn't want someone he enjoyed spending time with pitying him like everyone else.

"We should do something today," Jaden proposed out of the blue.

"Like what?" Alex asked, "I have to go to the farm this afternoon, so nothing too big."

"Why not lunch then?" the younger man suggested.

"Yeah, that would be good," he said with a smile.

The pair lounged around at Jaden's house for another few hours, joking around and watching the television. He had found that he got along with Jaden better than anyone else he had met during his time on the farm. They had become friends extremely fast.

Ever since the movie marathons at Isaac's house, he'd spent a lot of time with Jaden and the others. He went to lunches and dinners with them every week and spent more time with Jaden than he cared to admit. For some reason, the other man wanted to spent time with him.

They got along like a house on fire, better than Alexander had ever expected. Their tales of travelling started the long conversations but eventually, they drifted to whatever caught their fancy. He'd had a lengthy debate around the conspiracy theories in their government and a bitch fest about one of the other farm hands that had left the week before. They could talk about anything and never grow bored. It was something Alex had missed dearly since his friends had died.