The Rent Boys

Chapter Twenty-Three: Love-

A/N: gif of Mitch on the side jfc he's so dorky and cute.

    I couldn't keep doing this to myself. I had a chance with someone that I had feelings for, yet all I could think about was the what ifs of Tyler Errand and his incessant inability to tell me the honest truth about his feelings.

    Finn was waiting for me. He was waiting for me and all I had to do was walk into his arms and maybe, just maybe, I could be happy. But could a rent boy really be happy in a relationship? Hell, was Ash even happy when he was with his boyfriend?

    It's great to feel loved, sure, but Ash was left a mess and he's still picking up the pieces. Maybe having a boyfriend wasn't all that fantastic. Maybe I just wanted to feel loved by someone, if only to soothe the heartbreak that Tyler caused me.

    Could I really lead Finn on like that?

    Those were the thoughts that were going through my mind during my slow walk back to the flat, straight after Finn had left for school. I didn't really want to go back but it was freezing outside and I had no other money for another hotel room.

    I contemplated Donna's café, but remembered the whole not-having-any-money situation. The flat was my only option if I wanted to get out of the morning chill that snook in through every opening in my clothes. My whole body was shivering, it was that cold.

    When I arrived, there was a sleek, black car parked up on the road just before the alley entrance that lead down to the apartment building. I'd never seen it around here before, it was far too expensive to belong on this side of town.

    I realised who owned it as soon as I was inside the front door of the building. Ash's friend––what was it? Nate, I think––was sitting on the first step to the upper floors, hands clasped together and a worried look on his face.

     He glanced up at me nervously, barely recognising who I was. “Hey, you alright?” I greeted in my most friendly voice. “Is Ash upstairs?”

    Nate nodded, lips pressed tightly together. After staring at me for quite a while, his brows finally furrowed as he registered my face. He smiled, “You're...Mitch,” he said, clicking his fingers. “So, you live here?”

    It was my turn to nod, now. “Yeah, I live here. How come you're hanging about?”

    “Ash didn't want me coming up but I didn't fancy just sitting in my car. We compromised. Ash got the flat and I got the step.”

    “Guess we know who wears the pants in your relationship,” I muttered. I wanted to get past him so that I could head upstairs, but I felt a bit awkward moving anywhere near him. So I grit my teeth and leaned back against the wall opposite the stairs, crossing my arms.

    I tried to be as patient as possible. I wasn't sure why I couldn't just quickly slip past him. Maybe I just didn't feel right leaving him on his own. Especially in a place that didn't really welcome the rich and powerful. He would have been fine if he hadn't brought his fancy car and his fancy suit.

    “If Ash hears you calling me and him a couple, he'll go up the walls,” Nate said, matching my voice just as quietly.

    “What are you two, then?”

    Nate shrugged. He looked like a scolded puppy with the pout on his lips and the droopy eyes to accompany it. “I don't know what we are. Sometimes I think we're something. Most of the time I think we're nothing.”

    “You don't really love him, do you?” I asked. The question seemed to come out of nowhere, spoken with the hint of a snarl on my lips, as if I was disgusted at the idea of being in love. I felt a bit like a ten year old again, while watching your parents kissing in the kitchen.