Bro Talk

What happens when two men sleep in one bed?

The space wasn't exactly designed to fit two people, so our bodies were cramped together to make it work. In this case, I was doing most of the adjusting, with Max taking up all the space while he was fast asleep.

"Come on, Max!" I pushed my body against him to keep myself from falling off the edge of the bed.

"Mmph….Kwan?" Max mumbled.

"Max?"

He suddenly rolled on his back and turned his face right towards my own. His unexpected movement made my cheeks instantly heat up, as our lips were only but an inch closer from contact.A second right after, and he opened up his amber tinted eyes. We exchanged looks in a peaceful moment of silence, feeling each other's breath. I don't know how my breath smelled, but his breath reeked of alcohol.

Wait a minute, why are we still in this position?

Max screamed and pushed me out of the bed. A thud sounded as I crashed onto the hardwood floor on my hip.

"Ouch!"

Max stood atop the bed and pointed at me.

"What the hell am I doing here?! What are we doing on the same bed?"

"Let me explain-"

"W-Wait a minute!” Max teeth chattered. “Did we…..actually do it?!”

I squinted my eyes towards him. “That’s not it, idiot.”

“This is a serious issue!” Max rubbed his buttocks. “I don’t mind people affiliated with the Rainbow Gang, but you cannot be doing that sort of thing to an innocent straight man!”

“Stop standing on my bed,” I glared at him.

“Y-Yes!”

Max jumped off my bed and stood stiffly in place. He closed his eyes shut right after and clenched his face.

“I’m not into guys, Kwan. Please don’t do this….”

I tightly grasped the top of his head and clawed my fingers through his hair.

“Knock it off or I’ll crush your skull.”

“Haha….” Max opened his eyes a little. “Of course you’re straight. As if the great Kwan Kalor, The Master Playboy, Destroyer of Panties, Lifter of Skirts, Lord of Holes and Conqueror of Chicks would ever turn on the male gender!”

“Please don’t say that in front of my face ever again,” I let go of his skull.

“Fine,” Max grumbled and started walking to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.” He moved his hand towards the door knob.

“You’re free to sleep over here for the night. Just like old times.”

Max froze on the spot.

“Just like old times….”

He turned to look at me, slowly turning around with a sullen expression on his face. His eyes grew dim in color, losing the usual vibrant hue he had whenever he opened his mouth.

“Now you’re deciding to reminisce on the old times, Kwan?” Max furrowed his eyebrows.

“I don’t see why not, Max,” I shifted backwards.

“I see.”

Max ran across the room and jumped on the bed.

“Yipee!”

“H-Hey, don’t bounce on the bed! What are you, 5?”

“Sleepover time!”

After everything settled down, we both laid on the bed once again, staring at the roof above us as we waited to fall asleep. Despite everything that’s happened between the two of us, there didn’t seem to be any significant changes in our relationship. We were still two bros, hanging out and chilling in the middle of the night. It was almost as if nothing happened. There was a bit of an awkward silence though, but it was cut off shortly when Max decided to open his mouth again.

“Thanks for helping me.”

I continued to look up on the ceiling as he spoke. “It’s nothing, man.”

“Seriously. Even after acting like such a douchebag towards you and your psycho girlfriend earlier, you still decided to save me from those gangsters and offer me a place to sleep. I really appreciate that.

“She’s not my girlfriend, nor is she a psycho.”

“She literally shocked me to death earlier!” Max shook on the bed.

“That was your fault for threatening her, idiot.”

He turned to look at me. “I wasn’t actually going to punch her, you know!”

“If you did, I would have killed you on the spot.” I turned away to avoid his vinegar-like breath.

“For you to say something like that, what is she to you then?” Max scratched his head. “She can’t just be a side chick.”

I thought about his question for a moment. What exactly was she to me now? And why do I still feel attached to her, even to this day? There was something about her that was different from all the other girls I got together with, but I wasn’t sure what.

I decided to state the facts straight up.

“She was my very first lover. Currently my best friend.”

“Pfft. Best friend? I thought we were supposed to be best friends.” I felt Max shift his body away.

“Are we not allowed to have more than one best friend?”

“A best friend refers to a friend who is the best among all the friends. Besides, I don’t think it’s possible for a former lover to become a best friend. That’s just awkward and depressing!”

I squirmed my lips. “I don’t care. If it works, it works.”

“By the way.” Max slowed down the conversation. “What's her name?”

“Annika. Annika Frio.”

“Is she single?”

“Don’t even think about it,” I hissed.

“I was kidding!”

“Uhuh.”

“Well, uh….” Max stammered. “But seriously? Why are you still hanging out with her? You two broke up with each other, doesn’t that mean something bad happened between your relationship? Who decided to end it?”

I hesitated for a moment. The words were just at the tip of my tongue.

“O-Our families.”

“Oh….that’s terrible. Why would they do that?”

“Let’s just say….they have a deep history with each other.”

“Oooh! So it’s kind of like Romeo and Juliet!”

“I guess.”

“No wonder you’re still so attached to her. She’s even as pretty as Suvi!”

I grimaced. That last sentence was like a blade sent straight through my gut. A spark of fire lit up deep inside my soul, but I managed to cool it down before it could start to spread.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

“I thought I told you not to mention that name.”

“R-Right…sorry.”

We proceeded to talk the whole night, talking about all sorts of topics, ranging from topics between different levels of mundane, interesting and bizarre. I would guess that a conversation between two guys on a late night is pretty boring in hindsight, but it’s something we bros love to engage in.

I wonder how our brotherhood is gonna turn out moving forward…..