Chapter Text
“So, I left,” Link says through a mouthful of his mother’s food, chunks spilling out his mouth. His mother sits in front of him at the kitchen table, eyeing the way he chews in disgust, but she quickly changes her expression when he looks up at her to speak. “I still think it was a stupid idea.”
“Staying with him was a stupid idea, yes,” Sue says, scooting her chair closer to the table, leaning in. “Dating him was a really stupid idea.”
Link looks at his mother unamused. “Not that part. I was talking about leaving.”
The woman grins. “Same thing. But, no, I don’t think it was a stupid idea to leave like that,” she claims, wiping her face with a napkin. “You set your priorities straight, you set boundaries, and you’re doing this for yourself, and I fully support you.”
The son giggles at how much he missed her strong southern accent giving him lectures and little talks. He hated those too when he was a teenager.
“I hope I really mean it this time,” Link frowns, “I mean, all those other times it was like cat and mouse: me chasing him all over.”
“Honey, but who was chasin’ you? Not him, not anybody, but you’re doing the right thing. I’m proud of you for that,” the woman coos, a comforting smile spreading across her face. She stands up from her seat and walks towards him, planting a kiss on his head. She sighs, picks up the plates, and tosses them in the sink. “You might want to clean your room a bit. It’s gotten a little dusty over time. The vacuum is in the living room if you need it.”
“Thank’s momma.”
•
“Link?” Rhett whispers to himself as Link’s car passes by. He thinks for a moment and struggles to hold all of the grocery bags at once. Carefully, he runs into the house and puts the bags down on the table and runs back outside until his father catches him off guard, bumping into him under the doorway. “Sorry-“
“Where are you goin’?” The older man asks, causing Rhett to pull back. “Your mother is about to make dinner right now. You can’t just leave.”
The bearded man bites down on his lip and sighs, walking back inside the house to find his mother behind the stove, lemonade glasses empty and in the sink. She looks over at Rhett. “Can you take the groceries out and put ‘em in the fridge for me, please?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He starts setting the food out on the table. He decides to have a little chat with his mother once more. “I saw Link pass by out front.”
“Ooh. That’s odd. He moved out a while ago, now he’s visiting rather often,” the woman says. “You know, we told him not to come by our house when you left. He hasn’t since, but he did visit the day you came back. He looked like a scared puppy when he showed up on my doorstep,” she cackles wildly.
Rhett chuckles and starts organizing the fridge. “Yeah. You still got it.”
“I still got it.” The food on the pan sizzles and hisses, and she continues. “That poor kid must’ve felt awful when you left. But, he went on to college and now he’s dating some blond boy. His mother talks to me about him on the phone and he’s no good news.”
“Tell me about it,” Rhett replies, “I saw him yesterday at breakfast. They got into a little argument and I doubt it cooled down.” The woman shrugs. “He was rude, and just mean to Link. It made me a little mad but also sympathetic towards Link. But that’s his problem to deal with.”
“You’re his friend, I hope you talked to him and tried to help him with it.”
“I mean, I talked to him about leaving, but it was casual. I don’t think he took the information in with that pee-brain of his.” His mother furrows her brow and glares at Rhett judgingly. “Sorry, that was mean. Well, anyway, I saw Link pass by, so I might stop by his place.”
She nods. “Food is almost ready. I’ll let you go after you eat.”
Rhett scoffs. “Let me go? I’m not a teenager anymore.” The woman holds up a wooden spoon, and the bearded man flinches. “Okay, okay! After I eat.”
•
The path to Link’s house is vaguely familiar, considering there are more buildings in areas where there were only fields of grass. A sense of nostalgia lingers in Rhett’s head, but only for a few moments. He doesn’t regret leaving this place, but he regrets leaving Link.
I’m such an asshole, Rhett thinks to himself. He arrives in front of Link’s house, but he waits in the car, contemplating if it’s a good idea to just show up without warning. What if he doesn’t want to see him now? What if he doesn’t want to see him ever and he was just being nice a day ago? What if-
“Hey, partner.”
Rhett gasps and looks over his shoulder to find Link looking up at him with a perky smile and soft eyes.
“Oh, hey,” Rhett stutters, “You scared the living shit outta me.”
“I can see that,” Link chuckles, “I’m sorry. Well, what happened?” The man in the driver’s seat looks at him, puzzled. “What are you doing in my driveway?”
Rhett collects his thoughts. “Right, I was just gonna stop by and hang out or whatever.” His smile fades. “Uh, but I understand if now is not a good time-“
“No, no, you’re good. Did you eat?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Hmph. Well, then, you can help me clean up.” Link turns around and starts walking back inside the house. “Hurry up!”
The curly haired man sighs and jumps out of his vehicle, following Link from behind, but before he could enter his home, Sue blocks Rhett’s way, startling him.
“Oh, lord-“
“Mom! He’s okay now!” Link shouts from the other room. “He’s here to help me clean, that’s all!”
“Hey, Sue,” Rhett mumbles, putting his hand up and forcing a smile. “‘Scuse me.” The tall man squeezes past the woman and heads into Link’s room. Rhett finds cardboard boxes stacked on each other, some open and some with the flaps taped down. Rhett whistles. “What’s all this?”
“This is all my things.” Link hesitates. “I listened to what you said. I broke up with Evan and I moved out. I still think it’s a crazy idea-“
“No, no, it’s not,” Rhett blurts, “you did good, Link.” The dark haired man flashes Rhett a smile. “Anywho, what do you need help with?”
“Those boxes over there. Just unpack everything and set them down on the carpet. I’ll go through it soon.”
Rhett nods and crouches down on the ground beside Link, opening up the box and taking each item out carefully. He looks over to see Link sorting through boxes on a shelf in his closet. He’s wearing a muscle shirt, accentuating his lean figure and toned arms, and Rhett couldn’t help but stare. Rhett wasn’t in shape, he’s got somewhat of a dad bod, so perhaps it was jealousy that caused his eyes to trace the curves of Link’s biceps.
“Rhett, can you toss me that shirt behind you?” He breaks out of his thoughts and scrambles to find the shirt Link was speaking of. He can’t find it. “Nevermind, I’ll get it.”
“Sorry, I-“
Link crouches down and reaches for something behind Rhett’s shoulder, and their bodies couldn't be any closer. There was sweat running down Link’s neck and back, and it was barely visible from afar, but now it was close enough to see for Rhett. The taller man gulps nervously as Link stands back up and walks back to the closet with a shirt in hand.
“Thank you,” he says out loud and hangs up his shirt. If he had eyes on the back of his head, he’d find Rhett’s cheeks flushed red and an embarrassed expression on his face. “I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other now, huh?”
“Uh, yeah,” Rhett stutters and clears his throat. “But, just say the word and you won’t have to see me ever again-“
“Rhett,” Link interrupts, raising his voice. “I already told you, I forgive you. You don’t need to say all these extra things-“
“I know but…I just don’t want to ruin your life anymore than I already did back then.” The room goes quiet after Rhett’s reply, leaving only the sounds of nature seeping in through the window; birds chirping and the leaves on tree branches clashing against each other in the breeze. “I wanna make things better.” Rhett walks over to Link’s bed and sits down, then he looks over and grabs a framed photo of the two that stood on the bedside table. It’s a picture of their younger selves, happy and youthful, and in contrast, Rhett’s cold reflection in the glass, wrinkles tracing his face witha saddened expression. “That’s all I want.”
Link picks at his fingernails nervously before making his way beside Rhett on the bed. He glances at the photo and smiles. “That haircut did not suit you.” The man beside him lets out a small chuckle, and Link does as well. “Rhett?” Rhett looks over his shoulder at Link. “I want to fix things, too, but you have to come to terms with everything, like I did all those years ago. You need to realize that you did what you did, and nothing is going to change that. What you can do is try to mend things, patch things up, but you keep suggesting-assuming rather-that I want nothing to do with you. Why?”
He waits for an answer, and Rhett struggles to muster up some words, his green eyes glued to the floor. He stammers, “Because I don’t think I deserve it. I don’t deserve your kindness after what I’ve done. I don’t deserve to be forgiven.”
Rhett raises his head and looks into Link’s eyes, feeling his insides twisting, the same churning sensation he felt when he left Link.
“I’ve already done my job.” Rhett looks at Link confused. ”What I mean is, I already forgave you, and I forgave myself for blaming myself for what you did. Now it’s your job to forgive yourself. You deserve to move on, you deserve forgiveness, Rhett.”
It’s quiet again, until Link slaps his hands against his lap and stands up. “Welp! We should probably get back to cleaning!” He exclaims as he rubs his hands together. “I’m gonna sleep here tonight and I don’t want any spiders crawling up my legs. Where did I put my duster? Mom!”
With that, Link walks out of the room, his voice loud enough for Rhett to hear him ask his mother if he’s seen the duster. He shakes his head and looks back down at the photo, this time with a smile on his face, Link’s words echoing in his head.
Forgive myself. I deserve to move on.