Riley sat with Josh as he carefully opened the envelope from hisMamaand broke down when he saw Chinesehanzi. He couldn’t read a word of it.
The only thing Josh wanted to do after that was forget about it for the night, swearing to take it to Auntie Chen at the grocery store the next day so she could help him read it.
Since he couldn’t read the letter, Josh wanted to have a drink, which turned into four, until Riley had to pour him into bed.
Overall, it wasn’t at all how Riley expected the day to unfold after he and Josh saidI love youfor the first time ever.
The next morning, Josh didn’t have the energy to joinRiley at the gym, instead wanting to head to the grocery store so he could get help with the letter as soon as possible.
It was weird being at the gym without Josh. Everyone else was equally as confused.
“I don’t get it,” Cole said as they all cleaned up after their workout. “You’re here, but Josh isn’t. I didn’t think you two were capable of being apart this long. Has the withdrawal hit you yet?
Riley shoved him playfully. “He’s fine. He had to take care of something else this morning. No big deal.”
“Hmm, if you say so,” Cole said as he edged closer, speaking quietly so no one else could hear. “He’s really okay? Is everything going okay with you two?”
Riley couldn’t help but smile at Cole’s jump from joking to serious. Sure, he could be a pain in the ass, but he was still a caring friend.
“He really is okay, and we’re… we’re doing great actually,” Riley said with a big smile.
“Yeah?” Cole said, matching Riley's expression with a big grin of his own, and Riley nodded. “That’s awesome. You guys deserve to be happy together. I gotta get going so I can get to school on time. Tell him I said ‘hey,’ okay?”
“Will do,” Riley said as Cole rushed out. Riley realized he was the last one in the gym. Chase had the day off so Tobias alone had led their class. Riley walkedover to his office to say bye, but saw Tobias hunched over at his desk, his head cradled in his hands.
“Hey, Tobias,” Riley said, causing Tobias to jolt in his seat. “You okay, man?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course. Sorry, I didn’t think anyone was still here.”
Riley looked closer at Tobias and noticed how bloodshot his eyes were, with bags underneath. He looked exhausted.
Instead of making an exit, Riley took advantage of the quiet and sat in the empty chair across from him.
“Seriously, what’s going on? You look wrecked.”
Tobias scoffed, his gaze bouncing around his office until it finally settled on Riley.
“Urrgh, fine. Can you keep a secret? Even from Josh, for now?”
For a moment, Riley wondered why Tobias hadn’t confided in Chase, since they’d been getting rather friendly with each other. The panicked look on his face had Riley straightening in his seat.
“Your secret is safe with me. I swear, I won’t even tell Josh.”
He didn’t particularly like keeping secrets from Josh, but as Tobias filled him in on his stresses, he realized this secret was too big to mess with. He’d stay silent about it while Tobias needed his support. Until then, he’d be there for him.
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Once Riley was finally home, he showered and tried to make the house cozy for Josh’s return.
First, he threw a few blankets in the dryer so they’d be extra warm. While that ran, he cleaned the kitchen and tidied the rest of the place so Josh wouldn’t be distracted by anything. He also put on his softest hoodie and pants so snuggling would be extra comfy for the two of them. Riley hadn’t seen Josh when he left this morning, since he’d had to leave for the gym beforehand, so he brought a change of clothes for Josh to the couch in case he wanted to be more comfortable once he got home.
Riley had a feeling no matter what happened with Auntie Chen, Josh's emotions would take a bit of a beating and he wanted to make sure he was there for Josh and whatever he needed.
At this point, he just hoped she could at least read the letter. He wasn’t super familiar with the Chinese language, but he knew there was more than one dialect and they were vastly different. Well, to a native English speaker anyway. Looking back, he wished he’d worked on that with Josh all these years. It was too hard for Uncle Eddie and Aunt Leigh Anne to figure out how to teach Josh while they were busy focusing on suddenly having a five-year-old son and grieving their best friends, but what stoppedhimfrom trying to help Josh?
He hopped on his laptop and started doing some research. When he typed in “best way to learn Cantonese,” he was attacked with sponsored results and had to sift through the ads to find the answer.
It turned out, like with any other language, immersion was the best way to learn. Learning apps, speaking with natives, listening to podcasts and TV shows, completing workbooks—it was all the same for any language you wanted to learn. The most important thing would be practice and repetition, but he could try for Josh. He started daydreaming about what it would be like to travel to Hong Kong with Josh one day, walking in and out of stores and conversing with shopkeepers, maybe even visiting any family he still had. Part of him was scared to get Josh’s DNA results.
