Chapter 7 Justin watched Lance practically run down the hall and around the corner to the stairs. Turning towards Josh, he looked confused for a second. Walking over to the desk he put down the sodas, he was carrying. "Well that explains a lot I guess." "What do you mean, J?" Justin just shrugged his shoulders. "He never would talk about girls with Joey and I. And whenever I mentioned setting up with someone, he would change the subject." "Does it bother you that he is gay, J?" Josh asked reaching over for one of the sodas. Justin grabbed the other soda and sat down on his bed with his legs under him. "No, you know that doesn't bother me, Josh. The thing that bothers me is he didn't tell me sooner. I wouldn't have cared. He is my best friend here. We're roommates. He should have told me." Josh sighed. "But he didn't, Justin. Maybe he had a good reason for not telling you right away." Justin leaned against the wall lowering his head. "Maybe. Josh, can you give me like ten minutes to myself. I know you just got here, but I need a few minutes to think." Josh stood up. "Sure, J. It's not a problem. I'll just go down to the lounge or something and be back in a little bit." Josh left the room after stopping to ruffle Justin's curls. He could hear Justin mumbling about his hair as he closed the door behind him. Josh walked down the hall and down the stairs to the first floor. He knew their was a lounge and game room here because Justin had told him about it. He found the room easily and walked over to the video games he found in the corner. Reaching down into his pocket, he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Turning around, he recognized Lance sitting on the couch with his head on his knees. "Lance? You okay?" Josh walked over and put a hand on his back. Lance looked up with the remnants of tears in his eyes.  Wiping his cheeks, he sniffled. "Yeah, I'm fine." Josh sighed as he sat down. "No, you're not. Want to talk about it?" Lance began to shake his head, but changed his mind. "I just didn't want him to find out about me. And if he did, I didn't want it to happen the way it did. I wanted to tell him." Josh looked down at the young man next him when a sudden realization came to him. "Oh my god. I figured it out." Lance looked up at Josh confused at what he meant. "Figured out what?" Josh stood up and walked over to the window before turning back towards Lance. "The reason why you hadn't told Justin you were gay." Lance stood up and walked over to Josh. He hoped the knowing look in the other man's eyes didn't mean he knew that Lance loved Justin. If that is what he had figured, this was bad. Very bad. Josh would want to go tell Justin that the person he lived with had the hots for him and if Justin was okay with him being gay then that would change once he learned how Lance really felt about him. Lance nervously picked at the hem of his shirt trying to avoid the other man's eyes. Josh watched him quietly for a few moments before finally speaking. "You're in love him aren't you?" Lance's head shot up at the quiet question. Before he could respond, josh waved him off. "That just told me your answer. That explains it then." "Yeah," Lance said before looking down once again. "So are you going to tell him?" "No," Josh said. "You should be the one to tell him that." "He is going to hate me, Josh," Lance said sighing. Josh laughed. "No, he won't, Lance. It might throw him for a little bit, but he will think about it and once he does he will be fine." "No, he won't. His roommate is gay and has the hots for him. That is going to bother him. Hell it would bother me if I was straight." Josh began to open his mouth to say something but stopped himself. Instead, he walked back over to the video game and put in a quarter. "Just talk to him, man. I am telling you he will be fine with it. I have known him for a long time now, and this will not be a problem." Lance walked over and leaned against the side of the machine. "This sucks. I love having him as friend and I am afraid to lose that too. No matter what I want him as a friend." "Well, tell him that too. You're worrying too much, man. Things will be fine. Josh cursed as he died on the game screen. "I'm going back to the room. Justin should be done thinking now." Lance reached over and gave josh a brief hug. thanks for talking to me, josh." "Anytime, Lance." BACK MENU NEXT