It was past midnight when Evan arrived at their oceanfront estate in North Palm Beach. He had braved an 18 hour flight just for a oneweek getaway. His phone was still going off nonstop with work stuff, even though he thought he would have time to breathe for a week. So, he decided to disconnect completely by turning it off without thinking much of it.
Evan walked straight to his room, not checking if Nate was there too as planned. Nate had taken an earlier flight and took the chance to look around before settling in. He was lucky.
As Evan lay in the bed, some creak of footsteps were heard. He didn't even bother opening his eyes. Classic Nate, he thought. As restless as he is. Unable to sleep until he checks every corner of the place. Somehow a familiar comfort washed over him.
His mind drifted back to how they had ended up here. Nate had finally realized that Evan had an estate, booked the flights, and practically forced Evan to pack his bags since he was always talking about how exhausting it is to manage the company entirely on his own.
Nate was the only one who truly understood how much he deserved a break.
Evan felt a sudden warmth thinking about how glad he was that Nate was here. He couldn't remember the last time they had just hung out without a schedule. He listened to another sound coming from hallway. Imagining Nate heading to gym this late. It felt safe knowing his closest friend was a few rooms away. He finally let himself drift into sleep.
Evan woke up feeling better than he had in months. Stretched, made his way to the kitchen downstairs. The house was unexpectedly quiet. He never truly remembered Nate being that quiet at this hour. He walked down the staircase into the sunlit kitchen to find Nate and get some of his favourite tea.
The kitchen was empty except one thing,
a polaroid of Nate and Evan together.
Evan walked over, flipped it over.
Reason 1:
You never checked if he actually made it here.
Was written.