Jamie grumbled as he walked past Mason, flopping on his best friend's bed.
He heard Mason quietly shutting the door then felt a dip in the mattress near his hip.
"Hey, are you okay? Scratch that, you don't look okay. What's wrong?"
Rather than answering with words, Jamie whined into the blankets. When Mason put a warm comforting hand on his back, Jamie rolled onto his side, curling around boyfriend, arms around his waist clinging on tightly.
Wordlessly, Mason sat there for a few minutes, running a hand through Jamie's now messy hair.
"Are you wanting to cuddle?" Mason asked, and he nodded, face still pressed against Mason's tummy.
Jamie let himself be manhandled until they were under the covers and he was the little spoon, despite being the taller one.
After a few minutes, Jamie rolled over and buried his face into his boyfriend's chest.
Mason started running his fingers through his dirty blond hair again and Jamie felt the tenseness leave his body until he was putting in Mason's hands.
He felt relaxed physically, but his mind was still whirring.
Keeping his eyes shut, he broke the silence. "Bad day, is all."
Mason rubbed his other hand up and down Jamie's back, and suddenly the dam broke and Jamie started rambling.
"I was woken up by the fire alarm today and I didn't know what was happening and I was scared and I forgot my phone and keys, so I got kicked out of my room when it was shut off and I was only wearing shirts to bed so I was cold, freaked out and tired and it took a while for an RA to let me in, but by that point I missed my class cause we weren't allowed back in for an hour, and it took half an hour to get in my room, and it was a really important class, which was the worst because our essays were due today at the start of class and the prof doesn't accept late work, but I talked to her after the class, as soon as I could, and it took a while, but she finally accepted it, and then I had to rush to my next class to make it on time, but by then I was tired and miserable, so just being in class sucked, that's when I texted you, so I got a coffee with the last of my change and not even halfway to my place, someone ran into me, spilling it on me and I had to walk the rest of the way with hot coffee on my shirt and an empty cup, but I finally got changed and washed the shirt as best as I could in the sick so it wouldn't stain, but I'm like, you know, whatever, I'll be driving to Mason's soon, but when I got to my car, its snowed in, so I have to clear it out, and then there was an accident on the highway, so the traffic was slow, and now I'm just ugh!"
Jamie felt Mason's hands cupping his face, thumbs falling his cheekbones.
"Hey, it's okay. Jamie, you're safe here. I'm here. Please don't cry."
"What?" Jamie brought up a hand to touch his cheeks, pulling back to look at his wet fingers in surprise. And then the sudden need to cry hit him and he shoved his face in Mason's chest as the tears streamed down his face.
"It's okay, it's okay," Mason comforted as he rubbed his hand up and down Jamie's back.
He gasped, trying to hold back the tears, but that just made him shake harder.
"It's okay, just let it out. Cry it all out. It's okay to cry. I'm here. Take as long as you need."
So he let go. He cried and cried and could feel Mason's shirt get wet but couldn't bring himself to care.
Eventually, he pulled back with a sniff. "Sorry," he said as he wiped at his eyes.
"It's okay. It's okay," Mason comforted him as he passed him a box of tissues. "How are you doing? Feeling better?"
Jamie took a shaky breath as he assessed how he was feeling.
"Yeah, I guess. I'm tired and have a headache now, though."
"Are you wanting some Tylenol?"
"Please."
"Alright. I'll go get you some."
Mason kissed Jamie's forehead lightly before climbing over him to go to his bathroom. Jamie closed his eyes and breathed slowly and deeply a few times.
"Here." Mason's voice broke Jamie out of his 'meditation'. He looked up to see his best friend standing there with a Tylenol bottle, a glass of water and a face cloth in his hands.
Jamie sat up and graciously accepted the medicine, using the water to help swallow down the pill.
"I ran the cloth under cold water for thirty-ish seconds cause I don't have any ice packs here and thought it might help."
Jamie placed the damp fabric on his forehead and sighed and his eyes fluttered shut at the relief it brought.
"You," he said without looking at his boyfriend, "are a blessing to this planet."
He felt Mason sit next to him on the bed as he chuckled. "Nah, just you. I don't have time for anyone else."
Feeling better, Jamie felt that he was okay to tease his boyfriend. "Are you saying I'm taking up too much of your time?"
"What? No! I like being with you. I want to spend more time with you. I miss not going to school with you and seeing you every day."
Jamie couldn't stop the smile from spring across his face as his best friend assured him that he wasn't wasting his time.
"Mason. Babe. I love you and I know you're really smart, but sometimes you can be pretty dumb."
"Excuse me?"
"I was just teasing. Obviously, I don't think I'm taking up too much of your time. You're always calling me to tell me how much you miss me or to tell me about stupid or funny stuff that happens. You wouldn't do that otherwise. It's okay. I love and miss you too."
Mason just stared at him for a second before his cheeks coloured and he turned away in defiance. "Oh, fuck off."
Jamie couldn't help the loud laugh at Mason's response, but he quickly hissed and pressed his hand to his forehead as his headache flared.
"You okay?" Mason was back at his side in a second.
"Yeah, just it was too loud too quickly."
"You've been really stressed lately, so maybe taking a nap will help."
Jamie nodded, already laying back down onto Mason's bed. It was after he was in his boyfriend's arms once again that he let himself drift off.