Marlon gripped the door handle, considered calling Vahin back, then shrugged and walked into the building. He made it up the two flights of stairs and had barely knocked when the door flew open.
“I swear you’d forget your….” Vahin’s words trailed off as he saw Marlon. “Oh.”
“Hey.” Marlon gave a little wave, then let his hand fall down to his side, feeling stupid. “I, uh, tried to answer you down there, but you were already gone.”
A mix of emotions played across Vahin’s face, and Marlon couldn’t tell if he was glad to see him or not. After a few seconds, Vahin stepped backward and opened the door wider. “Wanna come in?”
Without answering, Marlon entered the apartment far enough that Vahin could shut the door before turning to him. He looked across the room through the large, arched window, framing the moonlight falling over the lawns of Cheesman Park. So much beauty in the world, and so much fucking stress. Marlon turned back to Vahin. “Are you okay? Pat made it sound like something had happened.”
His brows knitted. “Pat called you?”
“No. I ran into her outside. She was leaving as I was coming in.”
Vahin seemed to consider his words, like they’d been a riddle. “So you were already coming here to see me?”
“Yeah. I was hoping to talk to you. Face-to-face. I didn’t want to text. I hope that’s okay.”
Still his brows were furrowed, and he looked as if he expected Marlon to make some dreaded announcement or something. “I take it your partner gave you a call, huh?”
Marlon balked. “Andrew? No. Haven’t talked to him since yesterday. That’s part of why I came here. To tell you why I disappeared yesterday.”
“You were sick.” Vahin crossed his arms, then unfolded them and moved toward his sofa and took a seat on the farthest end.
“No. I wasn’t. I—” Marlon stopped himself. “Wait. Are you okay? It seemed like something was wrong?”
“You really don’t know?” Vahin’s expression began to soften.
“Know what?” Marlon searched for what to say. “Vahin, I have no idea what’s going on here. I just came to talk to you.”
Vahin thought for a moment, shifted in his seat, then folded his hands together in his lap. “Then talk to me.”
“Are you okay?”
He waved Marlon off. “Yeah, I’m fine. Talk to me. You came here for a reason, why?”
Marlon tried to figure out if Vahin sounded angry or what he was feeling, but his handsome features were unreadable. Though the redness and puffiness around his eyes made it seem like he’d been crying. Marlon pointed to the free side of the sofa. “May I sit?”
“Of course.”
Marlon sat and felt crazy that he’d come over like he had. He’d done more talking in the past few hours with his parents than he’d done in years. He wasn’t sure he could do much more. He hesitated, glanced at Vahin, then away. Fuck, he was being ridiculous.Spit it out already.
He looked back into Vahin’s brown eyes and refused to allow himself to turn away. “I went to work yesterday and found out that my asshole of a partner announced to the world that I was gay. I called in today because I wasn’t sure how to handle it, and I didn’t come over to see you last night for the same reason.”
Vahin unclenched his fingers, and he leaned forward, his eyes widening. “Your partner told everyone?”
At Vahin’s change of expression, Marlon felt a little relief. “Pretty much. I’m sorry I did a disappearing act. I needed some time. But I could’ve given you some explanation.”
The relief on Vahin’s face was obvious. “It’s okay. It’s not like we’re dating or that you owed me anything. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Something about Vahin’s words didn’t ring true with his expression, and they didn’t help Marlon determine if he’d already messed things up before they really got started. “Nah. I should’ve said… something more than I did.”
The room fell silent, and Marlon couldn’t meet Vahin’s gaze any longer.
After several more awkward moments, Vahin spoke again. “So you came here tonight to tell me that’s why you went radio silent?”
Marlon nodded, then quickly glanced back at Vahin. “No. Well, not only that. I’d like to see where we could go. You and me. Go on some real dates, or something. Maybe….”
Vahin laughed. “You look like these words are killing you.”
