A loud banging woke Lu from his slumber and for a moment he forgot where he was and called out "Just a minute."
It only took for him to open his eyes to realise that he was not in his own house, which brought back memories of last night, and that made him smile, and remember why he wasn't wearing underwear with his jeans.
He cursed himself for yelling out because now he felt obliged to answer the door. Getting up from the couch, Lu stretched and yawned before going to the front door and pulling it open. There in the bright morning sunshine stood a lean, well-dressed man, at first Lu thought he might be selling something, but what he said made him think otherwise.
"Who are you?" The stranger asked.
"I'm Lu, a friend of Balthazar's, who are you?" Lu felt pretty insignificant compared to this guy, there he was in last night's clothes, bed head and morning breath, while this guy looked like his entire person had been neatly ironed and folded.
"I am Raphael, I would like to see Balthazar please." The man introduced himself.
"I'm pretty sure he is still asleep. Why don't you come back later when he is awake, or I can give him a message for you." Lu offered, he was pretty sure that one of Balthazar's exes was named Raphael.
Raphael did not look impressed "Just let him know that I called in and I would like to talk to him. Thank you. Oh, and your fly is open." Raphael walked away leaving Lu feeling embarrassed and confused.
After zipping up his fly, Lu went back to the couch and then realised he needed the toilet. After urinating and rinsing his mouth out, Lu went back out to the couch, at the same time Balthazar was coming down the stairs.
"Did I hear someone at the door?" He asked rubbing his eyes.
"I just met Raphael."
Balthazar's eyes bugged "What? Raphael was here?" He didn't know how to feel about this, Raphael had been his serious boyfriend for more than five years, then he declared that he no longer wanted to be with a man and left Balthazar for a woman a few towns over. Balthazar had been distraught and swore off relationships until Lu came along.
"Yeah, he said he wants to talk to you." Lu told him.
"How did he look?"
"Well, if you dated him, you are way too good for me."
"Don't say that Lu, I can see this has upset you, and I'm sorry you had to meet him like that, or at all really. If he wants to talk he'll come back, I'm not chasing after him." Balthazar stepped forward to encircle Lu in his arms for a moment.
"I think it's best if I go." Lu announced trying to not melt in Balthazar's arms.
Balthazar frowned "I don't want you too, but I should probably talk to him alone." He admitted.
Lu got his things together and headed for the front door, as he opened it Balthazar spoke "Lu! I mean every word I said last night, I swear, nothing has changed." He rushed forward and kissed Lu on the threshold.
"I believe you, this morning has just put me out of whack, I'm gonna have a shower and go back to sleep. Good luck Balthazar, call me when you're ready to." Lu smiled but his heart wasn't in it.
XXX
Something was making noise. Buzzing. It seemed to be coming from next to him, Lu grabbed for the noise and gripped his phone without opening his eyes. Without looking at the caller ID he answered and grumbled a sleepy "Hello."
Lu had gone home and had a shower, he tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. He'd spent most of the day texting Mikey and playing video games. Slowly alcohol flooded his system and he felt like shit so just after two in the morning he went to bed, falling into a restless sleep.
"Hi, love, sorry did I wake you?"
It was Balthazar. "No, well I mean yes, but it's okay, I hoped you would call." Lu was suddenly very awake and a knot had formed in his stomach.
"Sorry it took so long, can you come over today? I'll make brunch..." Balthazar offered.
Lu wasn't sure whether it was a good idea, but he wanted to see the French teacher and maybe sort out what was going on. "Uh, yeh when?"
"Whenever you want."
"Give me about forty five minutes and I'll be there." He needed a shower first and some aspirin for his head.
"Thank you, Lu, can't wait to see you." They both hung up after saying goodbye and Lu got out of bed, trudging to the bathroom for a shower and to brush his teeth.
As he said, Lu got there in about forty five minutes, he tried to figure out what to say in different scenarios but in the end he just knocked on the door and couldn't help but smile when he saw Balthazar in his familiar v-neck and skinny jeans.
"Hello love, thanks for coming over." Balthazar greeted him and kissed his cheek.
"Of course..." Lu stepped over the threshold and stood in the living room awkwardly while Balthazar shut the door and followed him.
"I made pancakes." The French teacher stated and raced off to get them.
The tension was thick and Lu just wanted this to be out of the way, so they could either get on with their lives together or Lu could consider moving again, depending the outcome of this conversation.
Soon, Balthazar returned with a plate of pancakes, two empty plates, cutlery and maple syrup. He sat everything on the coffee table and they sat down on the couch next to each other.
Lu took a deep breath, "Balthazar, please just tell me whats going on."
Balthazar stopped reaching for a plate and put his hand in his lap, staring at the pancakes for a moment before glancing at Lu then averting his eyes to where he began plucking a thread from the couch. "Okay, well, as you know, Raphael left me for a woman insisting that he no longer wanted a man. It has taken me a long time to move on and get over him and the things he said. Finally, I was moving on with you."
He paused, and peeked at Lu's face, scooting a little closer "Trust Raphael to show up just when things are falling into place. He was rather disgruntled by your presence and even more so when he saw me kiss you at the door. He demanded to know who you were and what you were to me, I told him that it was none of his business, and also that we were dating. That's when he got into why he was here. It seemed he and the woman he left me for didn't work out and now he wants to give 'us' another go."
Lu didn't move, he didn't even breathe as he waited for Balthazar to give him the verdict. He didn't think he had a chance over all the history those two had together, and he was waiting to be told so.
"He tried to tell me how he had made a huge mistake with her, and how he took me for granted and how much he regretted leaving what we had and how sorry he was, he even got down on his knees."
Lu was sure they were over before they had even had a chance to begin.
In his thick British accent, Balthazar announced "I told him to get up off my floor and fuck off."
Lu's eyes widened in surprise as he whipped his head up to see the truth and a slight smirk on Balthy's face.
"I told him, that I had moved on and I wanted him to leave and not contact me again. He used to be so calm, but he was quite the opposite as he stormed out of the door telling me that he 'knew' I would come grovelling back to him eventually. Pffffttt." Balthazar reached out and took Lu's hand in his "I have you, what would I possibly want him for. Even if I didn't have you, Lu, I still don't think I would go back to him, he's not the person I knew. I just wanted to tell you all of this in person, and apologise for yesterday morning, that was not what I had in mind for yesterday at all."
"Well, things are never going to be boring, but who wants mundane anyway." Lu smiled and it reached his eyes, and Balthazar's lips as Lu kissed him. A hand slid into Balthy's hair as the kiss deepened, they only pulled away for air, and then Lu's stomach grumbled, he smiled sheepishly and looked at the pancakes "I think I'm ready to eat now."