Page 97 of Act Like You Don't Care
He was halfway out of the room when I finally managed to string the words I wanted together. “Thanks, Miles. You’re the best friend I ever had. ‘Cept for Nick. Nick was pretty awesome, even if he is an idiot sometimes.” Then I was out like a light.
Miles
Ishook my head and frowned as Tam let out a small snore. Badness slinked into the room and jumped up onto the bed, pausing to sniff Tam’s face and one hand before crossing to the side of the bed to butt her head up against my leg. Recognizing the gesture as the compliment it was, I obediently scratched around behind her ears. “You staying here with him or you coming to hang out with me?” I whispered. I hadn’t planned it and hadn’t discussed it with Tam, but given the actor’s current state, I was going to spend the night in the guest room. Partly to make sure that Tam was all right through the night, but also to make sure this wasn’t more than early pregnancy fatigue and a heavy work schedule. Admittedly, our acquaintance wasn’t that long, but this exhaustion seemed out of character for him.
If he was still like this in the morning, we were going to the hospital and he could kick and curse at me all the way there.
Badness purred and rubbed her cheek over my hand again, then turned and crawled back up the bed to curl up on the second pillow and stare at Tam.
“Yeah, I’m worried about him too.” I crept out of the bedroom and closed the door over, leaving just enough space for Badness in case she decided she wanted out.
I made the circuit of the condo, turning off lights, making sure everything was locked and the alarm set. Like old times. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to move out. For a moment, I paused at the huge glass door in the living room to look out over the city lights. It was a shame to lose this view, but if we shopped carefully, we could maybe find him something that looked out over a stretch of land that was equally beautiful.
The cat was waiting for me in the hallway outside Tam’s room when I finished my rounds and made my way to the guest room. “What?” I asked her. She blinked at me solemnly, then rubbed against my leg and strolled off in the direction of the kitchen.
Cats.
I made sure to set my alarm to wake up and check on him, then stripped down to my underwear and climbed under the covers. I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.
Twice during the night, I got up and slipped into Tam’s room, shaking him awake to make sure that the tiredness on the way home was just that and not signs of a slow-growing issue in his brain.
The first time, he just mumbled, opened his eyes, and told me to let him fucking sleep. The second time, he swung for me and told me to either go to bed or go home. I chuckled all the way back to the guest room and turned off my alarm. We could both sleep in tomorrow.
When I got up, the sun was streaming in across my bed. I pulled on my jeans and snuck out into the hallway to check on Tam.
His bed was empty. I went back to the guest room and pulled on my shirt, buttoning it as I walked along the hallway.
I found him in a chair on the balcony outside the living room, long legs stretched out in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hand as he gazed out over the trees and building. He was barefoot, wearing a thin tank top and jeans that were more hole almost than cloth. Despite being almost four months along, the baby was still only evident now when you were looking for it, and I was trying to avoid doing that. So far I’d been doing pretty good keeping it to friendship and, while he’d started to relax around me, I hadn’t seen anything that I could use to chip away at the ever-present worry that he’d only slept with me because of the stress. “Good morning,” I said.
He looked up and smiled. “Morning. Idiot.”
I laughed and pulled out the other chair to sit with him. “You weren’t yourself. Sometimes these things come on a day or two later. Slow bleed, bruising.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know.” I rubbed the cheekbone that had caught that glancing blow.
“Did I hit you that hard?” He sat up, a look of concern on his face.
“No. I’m fine too,” I mocked him gently and he grinned and raised his middle finger in my direction. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. Do you want breakfast?”
“I could eat my chair I’m so hungry.”
“Here, or someplace else?”
“I don’t know.” He frowned and went back to his phone. “Maybe out. I’m pretty sure the fridge is near empty. Anything you want in particular?”
“Nothing I can think of. Food.” I stood up. “You see what tempts you while I get coffee.”
He lifted his mug in salute, eyes still glued to his phone.
When I came back with my coffee, a small furrow had developed between his eyebrows. Not quite a frown, but definitely not happy Tam. “What is it?” I asked, taking my chair again.
He turned the phone toward me. It showed an unflattering picture of Tam beside the headline ‘Star to Lose Baby Over Film Accident’ with the subtitle ‘Was it deliberate?’.
I looked over the webpage, muttered, “Fuckers,” and handed his phone back to him.
“Miles?”
