Page 73 of For All It's Worth
Chapter Twenty Nine
Max
ThelastthingIwanted to be doing post birthday party was dealing with friend drama, but Henry was hurting and Charlie had been asked to look after him.
We returned to their shared apartment less than an hour after Henry had left the party and found him sitting on the sectional with a beer in hand. He must have visited a liquor store after leaving the bar since I knew the apartment was dry.
He’d changed into sweats and looked like he’d showered off the bar smells, but the air hung heavy around him. His emotions had turned the atmosphere brittle.
I attempted to make myself comfortable not too far away from him and Charlie grabbed us sodas.
“Want to talk about it or put a movie on and pretend tonight didn’t happen?” Charlie inquired.
“Movie.” Henry all but grunted out.
I figured we’d start the movie and he’d get halfway before telling us what was going on in his mind. Most people just needed a few moments to figure things out before they spilled the beans.
Charlie picked up the remote and flicked through the offerings before selecting a dumb action film that wouldn't require a brain to follow along.
Sure enough, Henry caved quickly and we tuned out the action bursting from the screen to listen to him properly.
“Okay, so it’s complicated…” He ran a hand over his face. “Just after I broke up with my last girlfriend, Gemma, something happened.”
“Is that the girl that you went to our cabin with?” Charlie cut in and I gave him a look. It was Henry’s turn to open up.
“That’s her. She accused me of having feelings for Pete and said that Pete was in love with me. It was crazy weird between me and Pete for a few weeks after and then around Thanksgiving he came to my parent’s house with me. It was the first time we’d been around each other alone in a while. So, we had a few beers and shot the shit.” Henry trailed off and was quiet for a bit. “I don’t know what happened. I guess, I just felt this draw to him. I’d been missing him hanging around and he was finally there.
“Then I leaned in and kissed him.”
I don’t know which one of us gasped, but Henry flushed. “He pushed me away and started going crazy. Saying I couldn’t play with him like that. A whole bunch of stuff.” Henry gave us an imitation of a casual shrug but it was plain to see the hurt was still there.
“Pete left and we didn’t speak for a week. He sent a text asking for some space and I let him be. Then after a bit, he wanted to meet up. Look, long story short was he said he didn’t want to be an experiment and needed me to figure out if I liked guys. I married pretty young, so Pete said I didn’t get to explore my sexuality the same way he did. So he said to explore and figure it out and then come back to him.”
Henry stopped for another drink of his soda. I’d switched out the beer once he’d finished the first bottle, figuring we didn’t need a drunk and morose Henry on our hands.
“I tried to figure out dating. I checked out guys in the gym and the bar. But it’s a lot. Then at Andy and Will’s engagement party, I got a little drunk and kissed Pete again. He was furious and hurt and I felt like shit. After we argued, he left the party and made plans to travel. Just picked up and left. He left me a message saying we needed space and we’d talk when he got back, but I needed to figure myself out and he wasn’t going to do that for me.”
Henry hung his head, but we both still heard him mutter, “Then he turned up with that guy and didn’t say a word to me.”
My heart hurt for Henry. He’d been left to question his sexuality for months completely alone, with the others of the group pulling away from him after Pete had left so suddenly.
I got that the others blamed Henry, and they were right, it was technically his fault that Pete left. But none of them had thought to wonder what had happened that two friends were suddenly unable to be in the same room together?
Henry admitted that he was only part of the group because they met in his gym and Pete was close to Andy. He felt like he was their friend by default and that had only gotten worse when Pete had left suddenly to go traveling.
There was no one that could understand what he was going through for him to turn to, which is why his friendship with Charlie was so important to him. He’d finally had someone who wasn’t a part of all the drama and bullshit that had surrounded him and Pete.
It was then that I felt a burst of anger towards Pete. As a bisexual guy, he knew that sexuality was a spectrum, and though there were labels, not all fit right for everyone.
Maybe Henry had developed sexual feelings towards Pete but having him “test” his attraction to guys on other people was so ridiculous, not to mention dangerous.
In my fury, the words burst out of me. “I’m so mad that I can’t think just now! Let me get this straight, PETE wanted YOU to test out if you’re attracted to him or just guys in general, by having you go out and try and pick up a man? Is that right?”
Henry looked worried and taken aback by my anger.
“And what would happen if someone started something with you and didn’t stop when you wanted them to? It isn’t safe to be so new to this and go out looking for a hookup! Guys would eat someone like you for breakfast. Like, there are guys that hunt for gay virgins!” I ran my hand over my face, worry for Henry and irritation at Pete at war in my head. “At least tell me you haven’t signed up for an app?”
Henry visibly flinched and Charlie groaned. I let out a sigh.
