The old car sputtered to a stop in front of a small, run-down apartment building in a shabby part of the city. It was a three-floor place, with rooms practically on top of each other. The paint on its facade was peeling, and some of the windows were cracked, staring out like vacant eyes. It looked like a building that had seen better days, a long time ago.
"This way." Adrian said, his voice flat, as he pointed Gabrielle toward their apartment door.
Gabrielle looked up at the flickering lights above them. "You sure this isn't some horror house?" she asked, gesturing at the dusty walls covered in old, ugly writing. Even though she'd clearly had a lot to drink, her steps were surprisingly steady.
Adrian rolled his eyes and stopped at their door. "If you're just going to complain, then just go home." he said, twisting the key and turning the doorknob.
"Pfftt. Why are you so hot-headed?" Gabrielle teased, a playful smirk on her face as she followed him inside.
Adrian didn't answer and just brought a finger to his lips, a clear "shush."
"What?" Gabrielle whispered, her playful mood gone.
Adrian shook his head and slowly moved further into the apartment, intentionally keeping the lights off. Gabrielle, now crouching, mimicked his caution and crept behind him.
A low groan rippled from the living room, pulling Adrian and Gabrielle from their quiet. Adrian's eyes, narrowed against the dimness, darted around for anything to defend themselves with. His hand instinctively went to the backpack slung over his shoulder, heavy with textbooks. He glanced at Gabrielle, patting her arm—a silent signal to stay still and quiet.
Creeping cautiously toward the living room, Adrian strained to see. A sliver of moonlight from the window barely illuminated two figures on the sofa. One was sprawled atop the other, hands clamped around their throat! The man on the bottom, unmistakably his uncle, struggled beneath the masked assailant. It looked like he was being choked!
A jolt of alarm shot through Adrian. He lunged forward, swinging his backpack like crazy. "Get of him! Get off him!"
The satisfying thud of books connecting with bone echoed as he repeatedly slammed the bag into the attacker's head.
"Ouch! What the—"
Before the masked figure could utter another word, the overhead light flickered on, flooding the room.
"!!!"
Adrian's face cycled through shock, confusion, and a dawning bewilderment. Shoot. What am I doing here?
Gabrielle, quickly grasping the mortifying situation, mirrored his flustered expression. She let out a small cough, a flush creeping up her neck as she quickly looked away.
"What the heck, Adrian!" his uncle, Gregory, roared, his face a vivid mix of anger and acute embarrassment.
Adrian awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, his gaze fixed determinedly on anything but his uncles. "Sorry, I thought there was a trespasser, and..."
"Trespasser? We're clearly having sex here!"
His other uncle, Matteo, chuckled, pulling off his mask and hastily tossing a blanket over Gregory.
"Wha... W-well, what's with the mask and the bondage, though? I saw you choking him!" Adrian asked stuttering, his voice genuinely innocent, a stark contrast to the scene he'd just interrupted.
"Shut up! Get to your room! You just ruined our mood!" Gregory fumed, his face a vibrant scarlet. He lightly punched Matteo's shoulder. "I told you to just do it in the room! Look what happened! The kids just saw us doing the deed!"
"Hahahaha It's not my fault," Matteo protested playfully. "Adrian said he were going out for a drink with his friends, so I thought..."
"Uhm, Uncle, dad, I'll go ahead now. Let's go, Gabe," Adrian mumbled, already pulling Gabrielle towards his room, his mortification palpable.
"Oh, good evening, Mr. and Mr. Hamilton," Gabrielle managed, bowing politely just before Adrian dragged her through the doorway.
"Who said you could bring a woman into your room!" Uncle Gregory's yell followed them as Adrian swiftly shut his bedroom door.
He sighed, slapping his forehead. "I'm sorry, they're usually not this wild... I don't know what's happening but..."
Gabrielle let out a soft snicker. "Pfft, relax. It's fine."
Gabrielle's eyes slowly swept across Adrian's room, taking in its surprising orderliness. The space felt calm, almost aesthetically curated, a stark contrast to the chaos they'd just escaped. The last vestiges of twilight, softened by the window, painted serene streaks across the polished wooden floor.
Her gaze finally settled on the neatly made bed, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Is this the bed I'm going to sleep in?" she asked, a hint of curiosity and relief in her voice.
"Huh? Why bother? Your bed isn't huge, but I think we can squish here," Gabrielle suggested, a playful glint in her eyes as she surveyed the mattress.
Adrian glanced at her, a pillow clutched in his hand. "Gabe, a man and a woman can't exactly share a bed, you know."
Gabrielle burst into laughter, a bright sound in the dim room. "You said you're gay! What? You're afraid you'll get hard when you're close to me? Like this?!"
With a sudden, mischievous leap, she launched herself at Adrian, her arms wrapping around him, sending them both tumbling onto the bed with a soft thump.
"Oh, shit! Gabrielle, get off!" Adrian yelped, a mix of surprise and genuine alarm in his voice as he tried to untangle himself.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gabrielle's uninhibited laughter filled the room.
Suddenly, a voice boomed from just outside the door. "You kids sleep now! You'll be late for tomorrow's class!" It was Uncle Gregory.
"Yes, Uncle!" Adrian quickly called back, his voice strained and muffled by Gabrielle still clinging to him.
"What are you afraid of?" Gabrielle whispered, her face inches from his, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "We're both 'women,' aren't we?"
Adrian stared at Gabrielle's close, beautiful face for a moment, his gaze flicking down to her neck, a brief, involuntary moment of awareness, before snapping back to meet her eyes.
"Fine, just don't move around!" he warned, gently but firmly removing her hands from his body. "Go to sleep, it's late now. We'll be late for class tomorrow."
He turned onto his back, facing the ceiling, and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that Gabrielle had not only taken his pillow but also audaciously claimed his spare. He was left with nothing to rest his head on.
Gabrielle didn't respond immediately, and a heavy silence settled in the room, broken only by the distant sounds of the city night. Adrian's mind, no longer distracted by Gabrielle's antics, drifted back to the chaotic scene in the living room, and then, inevitably, to Caleb.
A familiar ache tightened in his chest, a deep, persistent throb. Even though he knew from the start that a future with Caleb was impossible, the pain was still sharp, raw. Just imagining Caleb marrying a woman someday, building a life with someone else, made it impossible for him to even fake a smile.
Does loving someone who doesn't love you back hurt this much? he wondered, the thought a heavy, crushing burden in the quiet darkness.
Just as he thought Gabrielle had finally fallen asleep, the bed creaked softly, and then her voice, a quiet whisper in the dark, broke the silence once more.
"Adrian... are you asleep already?" Gabrielle's whisper cut through the quiet of the room, a soft ripple in the humid night air.
"What?" Adrian mumbled, his eyes still stubbornly closed. He shifted, trying in vain to find a comfortable spot for his head on the mattress, a fruitless endeavor without a pillow.
Gabrielle's voice came again, softer this time, closer. "Have you ever thought that maybe you're not really gay? That you only think of yourself that way because you were raised by gay fathers, and people just... assume you're also gay because of that?"
At her question, so unexpected in the quiet of the night, Adrian's eyes snapped open in the darkness. He waited, the silence in the room stretching, filled only by the distant sounds of the city, before he finally answered. "I don't know. Haven't thought about it yet."
"What if that's the case?" Gabrielle pressed gently, her voice barely a breath.
Adrian sighed, a long, weary sound that echoed faintly in the still air. "If that's the case, then it doesn't change anything now. Whether I'm gay or straight, I already like someone, and that's Senior Caleb."
Gabrielle paused, the only sound the subtle night hum outside the window. Adrian turned to face her in the gloom, flicking her forehead gently. "Why are you so weird today?" He sighed again, the weight of the day settling on him. "Stop asking nonsense questions and go to sleep."
Gabrielle glared at him, rubbing her forehead with a pout. "I'm just curious, you know. Hmph! Whatever, I don't care. He doesn't like you anyway!"
"You!" Adrian started, an exasperated retort forming on his lips, but Gabrielle was quicker.
"Aiisshh! Just sleep already, stop talking!" Gabrielle said, then, without warning, she scooted even closer, pressing against his side, hugging his arm and burying her face into his shoulder.
Who's the one talking between us, though? Adrian thought wryly, a faint exasperation mixing with a strange warmth.
He sighed again, looking down at Gabrielle, who was now practically glued to him. The bed was already small, and now someone else, a human-shaped furnace in the humid evening, was taking up even more space.
Despite the warm night and the lack of an air conditioner, Gabrielle didn't complain, even hugging him tighter. She'd even audaciously claimed both of his pillows—this woman truly was shameless.
He felt like he was going to age ten years whenever he was with her. That was Adrian's last thought before he closed his eyes and finally drifted to sleep, the soft weight of Gabrielle beside him.