Dramatic Exit
A cool draft exhales on Noh’s leg when Tommy kicks off the covers. “You don’t have to leave every night, you know,” Noh says drowsily. Tommy had fallen asleep as they talked for hours. Noh had actually thought this would be the time he stayed.
Noh hears Tommy swing his legs onto the floor. “Not big on sleepovers,” he responds.
That hits a nerve, the flippancy. Noh rolls over. He’s met with Tommy’s bare back, pale with soft muscle definition beneath the skin. Noh thinks briefly of tracing the knots of Tommy’s spine with his finger. Instead he makes a last-ditch effort to rile him up. Maybe make him care more. “Is this your abandonment issues coming through? Is that what this is, some childhood fear of never being loved? Because I can assure you - ”
Tommy turns his head toward him and sneers. “Oh, go suck a dick, you ass.” With blurring speed, he grabs his shirt from the end of the bed and zips out the door. Noh props himself on his elbows, staring blankly after.
Before Noh can process anything, though, Tommy is back in the room, searching under the bed. He retrieves a pair of jeans and stands up. As he finishes dressing, his eyes flicker to Noh. “I forgot my pants,” he says in explanation. It’s awkward and Tommy has this defiant tilt to his chin, daring him to acknowledge it’s awkward.
Noh accepts the challenge. “Bummer. Your dramatic exit is ruined now.”
Tommy scoffs. “I don’t need a dramatic exit to leave you,” he jabs. Then he proves how he right he is.
Sleep doesn’t come as easily to Noh after that. He hopes, beneath that airy bravado, Tommy is finding it tough too.