Denny
Something was wrong. He had a headache he knew that would go away with some Tylenol, hydration, and food, but something had changed overnight.
He remembered calling for Josiah who had come and slept with him in the too-small bed. When he’d woken, he’d been alone and something was… wrong.
Josiah held himself differently, even though he seemed otherwise normal. He moved around the cabin in a careful way as they made breakfast and packed, and it confused the fuck out of Denny. It took him until they had packed up the car, locked the cabin, and were taking one last glance around for anything that needed to go into the storage that it hit him; Josiah was avoiding being too close to him.
The difference was drastic, now that he knew what to look for. It confused him enough that he didn’t know how to ask about it until they were almost at the Hare.
“Uh… is something wrong?” he managed to ask eloquently.
“No, nothing’s wrong.” Josiah gave him a tight smile that was so unlike him that Denny felt stunned.
He thought for a while as he drove through the city streets. As he rounded the block to get to the loading dock in the back of the bar, something horrible occurred to him.
“I didn’t… I mean, I didn’t like, grope you in my sleep or anything?” He looked at Josiah who seemed startled, then flushed a little before shaking his head.
“Of course not, don’t be silly. I don’t think you stop being straight even when drunk.” Josiah was obviously going for a playful, teasing tone, but it didn’t match what Denny was used to.
“Oh… okay. I guess you’re right. You would know, right?” Denny chuckled awkwardly, scratching at his neck.
“Hah! Yeah, I suppose!” Josiah gathered his stuff and got out of the car. Then he grabbed his backpack from the back and peered in through the half-open window. “I’ve everything.”
“Right, well, thanks for being there for me again. This weekend would’ve been horrible without you.” As he spoke the words, Denny knew they were the absolute truth. “I love you, Jo. Thank you.”
The tight smile was back when Josiah nodded to him. “Yeah, I’m glad I could help. Love you.”
“I’ll see you on Wednesday,” Denny promised, because he’d missed the open mic nights lately.
“Sure, see you there,” Josiah replied, but he was already pulling away from the car window and stepping towards the back door.
Something was horribly, horribly off, and Denny didn’t know how to fix it.
When he made it home to Chicago, the house he stepped into was completely silent. He dropped his pack by the front door and kicked his shoes off. Then he walked into the living room, sat on the couch, and listened.
It felt as if all life had been pulled out of his home, and when he saw the empty spaces in the bookshelf and where Kristin’s knitting basket had been, he felt a weird sort of hopelessness wash over him. He wanted to call Josiah, but he couldn’t. Not with whatever was going on with his best friend.
So he got up, went into his little office in the back, and poured himself two fingers of whiskey. He just needed to get through tonight without breaking apart completely. He’d come this far, right? He could make it until work tomorrow.
On Monday morning, Melody took one look at him, and soon after a mug of coffee materialized on his desk. She didn’t say anything, but the gesture was worth more than any words.
He had a couple of video call meetings, then went to work out in his tiny gym next to his office. By the time he’d done his normal workout, he felt the hangover from two days of drinking like he hadn’t before. It was a miracle that he’d made it through those meetings, because he suddenly felt like death warmed over.
He went and showered quickly to get the exercise sweat and the alcohol sweat off. He swore he could smell the whiskey on his skin and scrubbed himself vigorously.
The whole day, whenever he wasn’t in a meeting, he thought of Josiah. He couldn’t understand what had happened. He’d felt so damn close to Josiah for years, and the weekend had emphasized that right until the end. Now, he felt confused and in some weird way, betrayed. As though Josiah had lied to him, but Denny didn’t know what about.
He asked an intern to get him lunch, and sent a message to Sammie.
His phone rang within a minute.
“’SOS?’ What’s going on? I have an interview in twenty, but if you need me, I’ll cancel it.”
“Don’t—” He stopped. “Give me ten?”
He could hear her move to somewhere quieter. “Okay, talk. What’s up?”
“Something’s wrong with Jo,” he blurted out the most pressing issue.
