Chapter Two
Julian’s phone clattered to the floor as he scrolled through his Twitter feed over breakfast. Shock had made him lose his grip on it, his heart pounding at what he’d just read and seen.
He got down on his hands and knees to retrieve it from right under the middle of the table, rubbing the dust off on his sweatpants as he heaved himself up to sit back down.
Cautiously, he unlocked the phone again, prepared this time for what he was about to see.
That was… definitely Isaac.
Definitely kissing a man.
Which wasdefinitelynew.
At least, it was new to Julian and the rest of the world. The rest of the world was fine, but Isaac… Isaac was his best friend.
Sure, they’d lost touch now that Isaac was busy with his career and Julian was comfortable in his unimportant office job that paid the bills and didn’t eat into his life too much, but…
Well, maybe it was stupid to expect Isaac to know he could have come to him. The fact that he was gay didn’t necessarily make him an authority on all things not straight.
It was just that he remembered Isaac being there for him when he’d been planning on coming out, agonizing over it, and he would have liked to return the favor.
He couldn’t have gotten to where he was today, free of his asshole parents and living a happy, normal life if he hadn’t had Isaac to lean on.
So it was kind of a shock that this was the first time he was hearing that Isaac was anything other than perfectly straight.
And on third look, there was no question that the photo was of Isaac. The quality was awful because it had obviously been shot in low light, but Julian didn’t need to wonder if it was him or a lookalike. He knew.
His heart wouldn’t have been trying to escape his chest if it wasn’t.
Julian tore his eyes away from the photo long enough to open up his text messages. Should he contact Isaac?
It’d been a while since they talked, so maybe that meant Isaac didn’t really want to hear from him. And since he’d just been outed to the entire world, he was probably really busy today.
On the other hand, Julian would have wanted to hear from Isaac if the reverse had happened. He didn’t have to fear being out anymore, but he remembered how scary it was the first time.
Decision made, Julian opened a new message.
Hey, he started, and then deleted it. They were closer than that, or had been once.
I’m so proud of you, he tried instead, happier with that beginning. Straight to the point, so Isaac wouldn’t have to wonder whether this was a message of support or… otherwise.
I just want you to know that if you need to talk about any of this, I’ll always be here for you,he added.
His thumb hovered over the send button, his certainty that this was a good idea waning.
The boy he’d had a crush on since middle school had just been outed to the world, involuntarily. What if he thought Julian was just trying to get into his pants?
Julian took a deep breath, and then hit send before he could change his mind.
Isaac didn’tknowJulian had a vintage crush on him. He deserved Julian’s support. That was what best friends did.
Maybe this would be a chance for them to reconnect. If nothing else, Julian missed being Isaac’s friend. He missed seeing him. It would have been nice to see him again, whatever the reason.
Julian tucked his phone in his pocket, deciding he’d done more than enough catching up with the world for the moment. If there was any more important news, he’d hear about it as soon as he got into his office.
They’d be doing end-of-month finances today, which always meant plenty of time to chat and avoid actual work.
On second thought, he took his phone back out of his pocket and made sure it was set to vibrate. If Isaacdidcontact him, Julian didn’t want to miss it.
He tamped down on the jealousy rising in his chest that Isaac had found a man who wasn’t him, and got to work finishing his morning coffee. All that mattered was that Isaac was happy.
It was just a shame he couldn’t have been happy with Julian.
