*
“That was more fun than I expected,” Lance said as Josh unlocked the front door to their house.
“Yeah, you and Danny seemed to hit it off great,” Josh muttered, opening the door and stepping inside.
Lance looked at Josh incredulously before letting out a little snort. “Ha! Now who’s jealous?”
Josh turned around to face Lance. “You know what? You’re right. All night all I could think about was the fact that Danny was flirting with you so blatantly. Did you even -know- he was flirting with you?”
“I didn’t grow up in a box, Josh, I knew he was flirting with me. Did you see me -once- flirting back with him?”
“No,” Josh muttered.
“The other night you were asking me if I trusted you. Well, do you trust me?”
“Yes, of course I trust you. You’ve never given me a reason not to.”
“So we’re not jealous anymore?” Lance asked with a smile.
“Oh no, he stares at your ass one more time and I’ll kill him.”
*
The sound of the doorbell rang throughout the house, and Josh hurried to the front door.
He opened it and saw Dan standing there. “Hey,” Dan said softly.
“Hi.”
They were silent for a moment before Dan asked, “I came to get my box of things.”
Josh opened the door and let Dan enter the house. “Lance here?” he asked, and Josh’s face hardened. “No, he’s working.”
Dan nodded and Josh said, “I’ll be right back,” before heading to the stairs.
A moment later, Josh returned with a box in his hands. “Here you go,” he said, unceremoniously handing Dan the box.
“Thanks,” Dan said, and Josh nodded.
“You know, I regret leaving you. It was the worst thing I’ve ever done,” Dan said slowly, setting the box down.
“I’m not,” Josh replied. “Yeah, it hurt, but if you hadn’t left me, I wouldn’t be with Lance now.”
“Is he really all that great?” Dan asked.
“He’s better than you’ll ever be.”
Dan was silent for a moment. “Ouch,” he whispered softly.
“If you came here to try and make amends with me, you’re wasting your time, because I stopped loving you a long time ago.”
“Chris dumped me. He said that he knew I would never stay faithful to him, and that he didn‘t want to tie me down from what I really want.” Dan said.
“So that’s it? He dumped you and so you think I’ll take you back? I say good for him for seeing through you before I could.”
“You don’t hold anything back, do you?”
“I tell it like it is.”
“You really think you and Lance are going to stay together? Jace, you can do so much better than him.”
Josh looked at Dan sharply and said, “There’s nothing better than Lance.”
“I didn’t deserve you Josh. You’re the one that’s better.”
“I think it’s time for you to leave now,” Josh told him.
“So this is how we’re going to leave things between us? I’m pouring my heart out to you, JC, and you’re trampling on it. Please, all I want is one more chance.”
Josh stared at Dan for a long moment, and Dan was trying to read the emotions in his eyes, but he couldn’t.
“Well,” Josh said finally, “I guess now you know how it feels.”
Dan looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Josh and nodding slowly, biting his lower lip. He picked up his box and went to the front door.
“I’m sorry Jace,” he said softly. “For everything.”
He turned and left, shutting the door softly behind him.
“Yeah,” Josh said to himself. “Me too.”
*
