Page 73 of Open Water

“He’s not going to do that. He’s just as stubborn as me. And anyway, if that happens, we will deal with it. You have your room, he has his. And I would kick both your arses.”

Yeah, there’s the sun. That smiling boy who lights up the room.

“So… I should go wake up my boyfriend then? Tell him we have a room to fix up?” It’s sweet the way his nerves show. That he can’t quite believe it.

“Yeah. Bring him coffee and tell him to get his arse out of bed.” Tom lights another cigarette. His fourth. Fuck. He needs to stop this shit. Nobody needs to smoke this much. He shouldn’t be smoking at all.

“I think Max is trying to give up smoking. He didn’t have a single cigarette yesterday, did you notice?” Matteo says, standing up glancing down at the lighter still in Tom’s hand.

“Really?” Tom is kind of shocked.

“Yeah. It’s brilliant if he can do it. It would be good for him. Not to smoke.”

“It would be fantastic.” He means that. “See? You are so good for him. Now, go get him up. I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee and put some porridge on the stove. That okay?”

He smiles. The kid smiles. It’s all Tom needs to see.

* * *

LUKAS: Morning Tom. Sorry I never texted you last night. I’m an idiot.

TOM: Morning.

LUKAS: I couldn’t sleep. Slept all day at your place and then ended up not getting any work done and then spent all night just tossing and turning, watching crap on Netflix.

TOM: You could have talked to me. I was awake too.

LUKAS: Didn’t want to disturb you.

TOM: You can disturb me anytime, you know that.

LUKAS: Yeah, I suppose.

TOM: I’m sorry if I was too much yesterday. I know we should take things slowly and I kind of roped you into some kind of full-on family meeting and probably made you feel really uncomfortable in front of the boys.

LUKAS: Nah, it was great. Love your boys.

TOM: Our boys.

TOM: Sorry. Shit. Doing it again. I’m just really into the idea. Sorry again. Slow and steady.

LUKAS: Slow and steady.

TOM: I’m clearing out the basement room for Matteo today, so he has somewhere for his stuff. I’m hoping he will live here full time from now on.

LUKAS: I have dealt with his social worker before, she’s a reasonable woman. If we need to deal with her, I’m happy to talk to her.

TOM: We. I like that we are a we.

LUKAS: Tom.

TOM: I’m hopeless. I just love this thing with you. I love the idea of us. I’ll calm down now. Sorry.

LUKAS: It’s OK. I like the idea of us too. Now go and clear that room for the kid and I will talk to you later. I’m going to bury myself in exam questions.

TOM: Have a good day. Love you.

LUKAS: Tom.

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