The first thing I did when I got to the hotel room was throw up. There wasn't much to puke up, I hadn't eaten much. It still stung my throat and coated my tongue with the disgusting taste of stomach acid. The second thing I did was brush my teeth.
The last time someone had caught Jesse and me we were torn apart for two years. I couldn't take that again, especially with so many unanswered questions, and so much confusion.
I paced across the hotel floor, my stomach still twisting and flipping uneasily. I felt like I needed to vomit again but there was nothing left in my stomach. What did Jason want to say? What could he possibly say? Would he tell my mother? Would my father find out that Jesse and I were... fucking again?
My phone buzzed and I couldn't make myself look at it. I kept it my pocket while I paced.
Should I tell Jesse? What if he left without a trace again? What if he blamed it on me? Was it my fault that we were caught?
My phone buzzed again.
I groaned and pulled it out of my pocket, but instead of looking at it I threw it into the drawer of the bedside table.
Maybe I should just leave. Maybe that is what would be best. I want to be with Jesse, more than anything. But I can't just be around for him whenever he wants a casual fuck. I'm just not cut out for that. Maybe I can't be the brother that he needs anymore.
The thought made my heart ache painfully in my chest. This relationship has destroyed me. I don't even know who I am anymore, and I certainly don't know who Jesse is. And yet, in spite of all the pain, I just can't stay away. Thinking about leaving and ending this, never seeing him again, never kissing him again... I don't know how to do that.
So much of our lives Jesse and I have been apart and it's always so painful. It wasn't easy being apart when we were teenagers and it was Hell being apart after we became lovers. I don't know how to survive it again; I don't know how to resist him.
There was a sharp knock at the door, and it knocked me out of my reverie. Maybe there were worse things than just not seeing Jesse again...
My hand was shaking as I opened the door to my hotel room, and I was both relieved and terrified to see Jason standing there by himself. He must've not told my mother.
"Hey Mikey, can I come in?" His tone was... not what I was expecting. I was expecting something harsh, or snide perhaps. But the expression on his face and the tone of his voice reminded me more of a sympathetic high school counsellor.
I stared at him, perplexed, and then finally nodded. I stood aside to let him in and shut the door behind him as he sat at the little breakfast table.
"Take a seat, kiddo." He said, with a small frown on his face. He looked like a dad who was about to have "the talk" with his son.
"Uh, okay." I mumbled, sitting down. Normally I would've taken offense to both the nickname, and the slightly (albeit unintentionally) patronizing tone of his voice. I was too nervous to take offense and too confused about the situation to address him or begin the conversation.
We sat awkwardly in silence for a few minutes.
"So...what do you want to talk about?" I asked finally.
"I saw you and Jesse kissing." He blurted out. My cheeks flushed, my guess was that he saw other things as well.
"Ok. What do you want to do with that information?" I continued. It seemed like this guy had no game plan, I was confused as to why he wanted to talk to me about it when it seemed like he didn't really have any desire to destroy me over it.
"I think it's very inappropriate. Jesse's engaged and Claire seems like a very nice young woman." Jason finally continued. I sighed deeply. Here we go.
"I mean, if you two are going to do that then Jesse should call off the wedding. It isn't fair to Claire, or her family." Jason rubbed his face. He seemed actually more uncomfortable than I was. I stared at him in disbelief and amazement.
Am I in the fucking twilight zone?
"I mean, it's one thing if you're in a, you know, in a, like, open relationship or whatever young people do, but, but, he's going to be married. It's just, it's not, you know, it's not fair. You know what I mean?"
I was baffled.
"I mean, I know that you guys maybe shouldn't be doing what you're doing, but you're adults and it's not my place, so I can't, you know, I can't speak to that. And it's not as if you two can have, you know, kids or anything so, but really, it's not right to, to, well, you know. And I think about how I felt when my first wife cheated on me, and I know that it hurt your mom a lot when your dad cheated on her, so, so, you know, you're an adult and you have to be responsible."
"I mean, it's not as if... you didn't... I mean, you both were... adults, right, kiddo?" Jason asked, this new thought suddenly coming into his head. It was as if I could almost see some invisible entity shoving it's cock through his ear and fucking his mind.
"No, no. It was never like that." I said quickly. Jason's breathed a sigh of relief.
"We... it started two years ago, when he began attending school with me," I explained, trying to leave out as many details as possible, without being so vague that he might think something sinister about my sexual relationship with Jess. "We were both adults."
Jason rubbed his forehead and looked contemplatively at the table.
"If you've been doing this for two years than why is he engaged to someone else?"
I felt like Jason's questions were too personal and too irrelevant. But I knew that I had to be cautious and somewhat open with him, so he could calm down enough and hopefully keep what he saw to himself.
"Well, Jesse and I... I guess we didn't work out like how I thought we would. It was going really well, and I thought we were both happy but then we just... separated." I didn't want to talk about this, especially not with some random asshole that was screwing my mom and had no real investment in Jesse or myself.
"Why?"
"Well, my dad caught us and that was the end of it, I guess." I said curtly.
"Oh." The pieces seemed to click in Jason's head because he didn't ask more questions.
"It doesn't matter. What happened today, well, that was the last time, ok? Jesse and I aren't going to do anything like that again. It's over now." I said. I was trying to sound detached but I don't think it worked. There was pain in my voice, and even if counsellor Jason was totally clueless, I knew he would pick up on it.
"You didn't react how I thought you would." I mumbled, trying to steer the conversation away.
"Well," Jason took a deep breath, "you're an adult and so is Jesse. I just don't want anyone to get hurt. That includes you, too. And you know, everyone has different customs and taboos, you know. In half the world it isn't even illegal. I think it's odd and I wouldn't do it, but, you know, I also think popcorn is too salty, so what do I know?" Jason shrugged.
In half the world it's not illegal...
"Look, I should get going. I... I won't tell anyone. And I hope, whatever happens, you can find a way to navigate things ok. Just, keep in mind what I said, alright?"
"Alright." I said. I walked him to the door.
"Oh, and Mike, something else to keep in mind," Jason looked at me and his face turned very serious and steely, "I really hate your father." He winked, and then left.
I stood frozen by the door, listening to his retreating footsteps.
What the fuck just happened?
My phone buzzed from inside the drawer so I was forced to get over the incredibly strange interaction I'd just had with Jason.
I was a bit worried I would open my phone to a bunch of strange messages from Jason, he seemed the type who would do something like that. He seemed to have some kind of Jekyll and Hyde thing going on. Every interaction I've had with him he's come across as a bit inept and try-hard. But that look he gave me right at the end of the conversation... what a creep.
Thankfully, they weren't from Jason, they were from Jesse.
Hey, can I come over earlier? Claire's going out with her girlfriends tonight, so I'll be free after dinner.
Mike, you there?
Hello?
Why won't you answer me? Are you ok?
I'm coming to the hotel. Please text me back. I'm worried about you.
He had sent the first text over an hour ago. I should've checked my phone earlier. I felt bad for making him worry about me like that.
Sorry, I'm fine, I'm waiting for you.
I sighed and set my phone down on the table. I felt uneasy, I knew I needed to talk to him about what happened with Jason, but I really didn't want to. I tidied up the hotel room to try to occupy myself while I waited for him.
I don't know what I want and I don't know what I should do. Well, I do know what I want, I just don't know how to get it. Between the options that I have, staying out here and seeing Jesse on the side, or going back home and not having any real relationship with him... they were both just too hard. The two years that I'd been without him felt so empty. I felt like I was just a shell of myself, like I was some kind of weird zombie. I didn't want to go back to that.
Maybe it would be different this time, maybe knowing how he feels, knowing where he is and what he's doing, maybe that could offer me some sort of bitter closure to this whole mess. Could that really be enough?
Could I live five hours away from him, knowing that he wants to be with me? Would I be able to stay away? Right now, it feels impossible.
There was a gentle knock at the door, and in a combination of reluctance and excitement I let Jesse in.