Mello:
What do you say in that kind of situation? Sorry? You'll find something else? Things will get better?
"That sucks..." was all I could say.
"Yeah..." he replied, sighing.

He stayed sat at his desk, smoking a cigarette, while I was standing behind him, helpless.
"What are you going to do?" I asked him.
"Search for a job, there's nothing else I can do... although I don't know who will hire someone like me who doesn't have any skills outside of gaming and computing areas. And if they ask for references, I don't think mines are welcome."
"I see..." What could I tell him? "Can I do something?" That wouldn't hurt to ask, even if there was probably nothing I could do for him.

He turned on his chair to face me and stood up.
"You will probably refuse but... can you just hug me?" he gazed at me but averted his eyes shyly.
Hug him? How was it supposed to help the situation?
I faced him, quite uneasy (yeah, on top of it all, I had lost my self confidence, great...). Seeing I didn't react, he began to walk painfully to the couch.

As he walked past me, I couldn't help but snake my arms around his shoulders and drag him into my arms. I held him, tight. I felt his arms encircle my waist, and his forehead leant on my shoulder. Just like when I kissed him, a little earlier, I couldn't let go. I think I liked him too. Fuck.
My hand slid in his hair on its own accord, stroking the copper locks softly. He snuggled against me. Truth is, I didn't mind.

What was I doing?! I suddenly released him.
"Gotta go." and I left.

I came back to my apartment. I don't know how long I stayed with my back against the closed door once I was inside, but it was pitch dark when I moved. I didn't know what I was doing, what I was feeling, what I wanted. Except that all this was wrong and that I shouldn't be wasting my time like I was. There would be nothing good coming out of this, why should I care? It's not like things could be normal and easy. I was who I was, and I shouldn't expect anything from life since I already had everything: power, money, respect. But he said I was... no, I shouldn't think about what he said. Who is he anyway, to know who I am or not? I was only fooling myself, I was lonely and it probably was my mind's will to ease the loneliness, it would be over soon. A little weakness I would get rid of soon. Nothing more.

I crossed my apartment, grabbed a bag, shoved a few clothes and chocolate in, and left for my headquarters. I would stay there a few days, it would be easier since I wouldn't have my neighbour under my nose constantly.

I worked my ass off during 48 hours non stop, not letting time to my brain to think or wander. But sleep finally took me over, and I dozed off during a few hours. When I woke up, it was the evening of my third day at the HQ. I rummaged through my bag, but I had eaten all my stash of chocolate. Shit. I took a quick shower to relieve the ache of my muscles, I've stayed hunched over a laptop way too long, trying to sort various files out.

I finally decided to go back home, I just used my last change of clothes, and I would stop at the little store near my block for some chocolate.

Just as I slowed down in front of the store, I realised it was closed. I didn't realise it was that late. Fuck, I needed chocolate and I wasn't sure I had some left in my apartment. I wandered a bit around the block and finally found a MacDonalds open. They should have chocolate items, right? Thanks to whoever thought someone would want to eat a fucking burger at ten for midnight, I would have something chocolaty to be able to wait until tomorrow morning.

I approached the cashier to order anything with chocolate, and as I was eyeing the muffins, the employee greeted me.
"Hey!"
Is that how they treat customers?, I asked myself before lifting my gaze and facing a certain redhead.
"Oh... so you found a job." I stated the obvious.
"Well yeah, didn't have much choice..." he replied.
"Doesn't seem really entertaining, right?" I was sad for him, working here wasn't exactly fun.
"At least that pays the bills." he tried to smile, "I didn't see you for days, I thought that you... I..."
"Much work." I was avoiding him, yeah, but suddenly, I didn't want it to look like this. "Isn't it too hard to stand with your injured leg?"
"No, it's ok." he lied. I could easily see that he couldn't walk properly as he was serving me.
I paid for my muffins. "What's your shift?" I asked.
"4pm-1am." he informed me.
"Good luck." I replied genuinely, smiling, before I left.

That's only when I was telling myself, as I was eating my muffins, sat on my couch, that it was a pain in the ass to watch my various markets' fluctuations constantly that it hit me. I had a hand on many companies, commercial complexes and buildings, and it wouldn't take me much contacts to... yeah, I would do that.
I made several calls, and went to bed.

The next day, I knew I probably would wake up my neighbour by showing up at his door so early considering his shift ended at 1am but I needed him at 10am and it was already 9:30.

Matt:
"That sucks..." he said weakly.

"Yeah." I sighed again, rubbing my eyes. This was so bad. So bad.

I would probably have to stop smoking unless I wanted to get cigarettes illegally. That was gonna be Hell.

"What are you going to do?"

"Search for a job, there's nothing else I can do... although I don't know who will hire someone like me who doesn't have any skills outside of gaming and computing areas. And if they ask for references, I don't think mines are welcome."

"I see..."

When he asked me what he could do, only one thing popped into my mind.

"You will probably refuse but... can you just hug me?"

Stupid. Asking a mob boss for a hug. It wasn't going to happen, and even if it did it wouldn't be a good hug, probably. He'd probably squeeze my guts out or do the awkward manly back-pound thing.

Just as I thought. Well, it was probably better that he didn't. Didn't need to rip my stitches.

I started to limp over to my couch, longing for its wonderful threadbare relative softness, when I felt myself snatched up and pulled into him. It hurt to be yanked around on my leg but I didn't complain, because he was holding me and that was what I had wanted, after all.

I reached around his waist and held him, too, and he squeezed me a little closer. I had been wrong: he gave the most incredible hugs I'd ever seen. I could feel his energy and strength flowing into me, erasing the ache in my leg more effectively than even the blowjob had. My earlobe was folded against him so I readjusted my head, taking the opportunity to nuzzle in closer.

I felt his fingers slip into my hair and stroke me.

I was just about to sigh in content when he practically pushed me off of him, shouting, "Gotta go!" and ran out my door.

What the fuck? What the hell had just happened? Who walks out in the middle of a hug? We'd already slept together- twice! And that's not counting the blowjob! What was so awkward about a hug that he had to abandon ship, when anal sex was a-okay?! And why was my first existing crush such a jerk?

I hobbled to the window just in time to see him leaving his apartment building with only a little bag, hop on his motorbike, and drive away.

Why did I get the feeling that he was never coming back?

I watched for a long time, but he never returned.

The next morning, I drove around, applying at any place I could. I was surprised when I got a job on the first day of searching. In this economy?

Okay, so it was McDonalds and it was minimum wage. But still. I would get to eat tonight, and that was a good thing. When they heard I had skills with technology, they put me on the cash register. I'm... not entirely sure what that has to do with technology skills... but that's okay. Apparently no one else there could figure it out.

So I decided to be positive. I smiled at customers and did what my boss told me to do. I took the night shift that no one else wanted and, might I say, I rocked that place. People left smiling. Especially girls. Too bad I'm a flaming homosexual because seriously like four girls asked me out by my second day there.

I could only stare as Ten walked right in the door. Ten ate at McDonalds? I honestly wouldn't have imagined that.

"Hey!" I said, a little too enthusiastically.

He looked up at me like I was a crazy person, and then he recognized me. "Oh... so you found a job."

That's what I get? Not a 'hello,' not a, 'Hey, yeah I kind of ran out on you there, it was because -insert valid reason here-?'

"Well yeah, didn't have much choice." Fuckwad.

"Doesn't seem really entertaining, right?"

I'll have you know I'm quite enjoying it! I shouted at him in my head. Dickhead, I mentally added for good measure. But what I said aloud was, "At least that pays the bills. I didn't see you for days, I thought that you... I...."

"Much work."

Sure. Right. Whatever.

"Isn't it too hard to stand with your injured leg?"

Well, I didn't want to starve to death. That would hurt a lot more than my leg. "No, it's ok," I told him as I retrieved the muffins I saw him eying, assuming that it's what he wanted.

Besides, I had done it for a good reason. Even if he's the kind of guy that disappears without a trace, even if I'm hurt and pissed off, even if he's pretending that he didn't do anything wrong, and even if I never saw him again after this burger-related run-in, I didn't regret it.

He needs to exist. With me or without me.

"What's your shift?" he asked, handing me money as I handed him a bag of muffins.

I didn't want to answer, but my mouth moved before I could stop it. "4pm-1am."

"Good luck." He smiled at me, and I remembered why I wasn't nearly as mad at him as I should have been. Don't get me wrong. I was ticked off. But... he's Ten.

That's just the way it is.

He left and the rest of my normally quite interesting shift (strange people come in late at night. Example: Mafia boss known only as Ten) crawled by like my old English classes growing up. I left the moment I was allowed to, and fell asleep the moment my face met my pillow.

What felt like maybe six seconds later, I woke up to someone kissing me. What the Hell? Had one of the McDonalds girls followed me home?!

But no. It tasted like Ten.

I didn't open my eyes because I knew it wasn't him and I wanted to prolong the illusion. I'd be disgusted enough when I woke up for real- I wanted to delay it as long as possible.

The unidentified Ten-like person stopped kissing me and nudged me.

I didn't respond.

"Get the fuck out of bed!"

It was Ten.

I opened my eyes warily and looked at him, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "That was a nice way to wake up," I murmured.

He didn't say anything about that. Instead, he tossed clothes at me. "Get dressed."

Apparently I had a line inside me that could be crossed. I didn't know that before I met Ten. As was also now becoming apparent, I was nowhere near complete without him, and he got to me like no one else.

In short, I exploded at him.

"You know what?! No!" I shouted.

He looked completely taken aback.

"I've had it! I can't just come at your beck and call! You leave me out of nowhere, and fine. Yeah. That happens, and it's not like we're together so I dealt with it. And during those days, you know what I thought? I thought you were dead or you really were a prostitute and had taken off because I didn't have any more money or you'd moved or had just randomly decided you hated me for no apparent reason! These are the things I spent however many days that was thinking about! Do you have any idea how annoying that was!? And then I see you again, any my heart races, and you don't even say hello you just point out the obvious for a while and then leave again without explaining anything!"

I glared at him, trying to look even angrier than I felt, trying to imitate the anger I saw in his eyes when he shot the men in his house that day.

My anger was looked like a leaf in a forest compared to the anger I saw in his eyes, now.

"Get up," he said, deadly calm. He enunciated every word, speaking at half speed. I saw that his hands were fists at his sides. "Put clothes on. Follow me to my motorbike. Do it now, in that order, silently, and don't touch me, or I will lose it and I will shoot you where you stand."

I got up, I put clothes on, and I followed him to his motorbike. I was silent, and I made sure not to touch him.