After leaving Carter’s apartment, the rest of John’s day was normal. Though riding his bike while he was at work aggravated how sore his ass felt, making him wince with every bump and vibration, it was a good kind of pain and John relished it.
The only downside was that Mike had seen him limping in the locker room. At first his friend had looked confused, but then he’d grinned and given John an enthusiastic thumbs up. John had blushed so hard he felt like his head was going to burst.
He’d hightailed it out of there before Mike could make his way over and comment.
When he came home he made himself a microwaved chicken dinner for one, eating in front of the TV while debating with himself whether or not he should send Carter a text. The last time he had initiated contact after a night with the werewolf he’d been thoroughly ghosted, and the experience had made him wary.
This time Carter could be the one to initiate.
John had finished up his food and popped open a beer when there was a knock on his door. He groaned. That was probably Mike. His friend would want to know all about where John had spent the night, and he wasn’t going to be happy with the answer.
Getting off the couch, John carried his beer with him to the front door. To his surprise, the man standing on the other side wasn’t Mike. It was Luke.
“Hi,” John said, surprised. He and Luke had left things on a very sour note, and he was surprised to see the werewolf standing there.
“Can I come in?” Luke asked. There was a strange look on his face that John didn’t know what to make of.
“Sure,” he said, stepping away.
They walked into the living room, Luke sitting down on the couch while John hovered uncertainly.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” John asked.
“No thanks. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Okay?” John sat down.
“Actually, I wanted to apologize,” Luke said, wincing. He wrung his hands together. “I’ve been thinking about our argument a lot, and I think you’re right. There’s no logical reason for me to be so disgusted by human lovers. It’s not like they’re hurting anyone. It’s an unfair opinion and you weren’t wrong to call me a bigot.”
“Oh…” John didn’t know what to say. In his experience people didn’t change their opinions like this. It was nice. “I’m glad.”
Luke still looked uncomfortable.
“I know that you’ve had to deal with your share of bigots, because of being gay, and hearing me talking like one must have been upsetting. I’m really sorry about that.”
“That means a lot to me,” John said.
“Well, that’s what I wanted to say. I figured I should do it in person.” Luke rose, looking awkward. “I’ll get out of your hair.”
“You don’t have to leave,” John said, standing up too. “I mean… unless you have to?”
Luke shook his head. “No, I just… didn’t want to overstay my welcome.”
“You’re not.”
“No?” Luke looked happy, if still slightly awkward. John shook his head.
“I’d like it if you stayed for a bit. I’ve missed hanging out with you.”
“Me too.”
They sat back down, and though things were awkward and tentative at first, soon their conversation was back to its old rhythm.
It was nice.
“Owen was super mad at me when I told him about our argument,” Luke said, a few hours into hanging out. They were watching a college basketball game on TV, neither one of them really paying attention.
“Did he talk some sense into you?” John asked. If anyone had the power to change Luke’s mind on anything, it was Owen.
