Street Smarts & Stolen Hearts

by Rob Hunter

  Ellis was perhaps the most surprising. He’d never really considered the other man humorous before, but God, the comments he made, a perfect mix of snarky and hilarious, which would have them all wheezing. And he found that Ellis was actually pretty good at video games and fun to play with through the sheer destruction he caused, and it was refreshing to have someone else to rage with. And gradually, he became more and more fond of the other man until he realized he loved him just as much as the others. And Ellis had noticed. His eyes had started to shine brighter and he would take every chance to just touch him, and would murmur encouragements to him that would have sounded ridiculous coming from anyone else. And it was Ellis who convinced him he was smart enough to try to get an electrician apprenticeship, despite his limited education. And for once in his life, he’d actually believed he had the ability. And he’d been proven right.

  “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But you won’t lose us as friends,” Roy had whispered as they had sat huddled in the small spare room, his own thoughts whirling as he wrestled with an impossible decision.

  And it was weird. Because it was like puzzle pieces coming together; the parts were all there, but you couldn’t quite believe it. It was like destiny, except he didn’t believe in that crap. He had the nagging fear in the back of his head that things couldn’t be so perfect, and he supposed that was true. After a while, real life had slammed back into them like a brick, and Edwin and Solomon had been made redundant after the shelter finally closed. But they managed to get by. Roy got a job. Daveth had money coming in. Ellis started to help pay the pills. And they got through it.

  “I was scared when Daveth was hurt. I was furious when you were threatened. I hated myself when I hurt Ellis. I sought Edwin out all the time. I relied on Solomon when shit was going down. And I missed you all,” Adam had mused, mostly to himself than Roy, who had watched him whilst his face had been marred with concentration.

  He’d barely realized how much time had passed, how long their relationship had been going on for, until Daveth had been fully recovered. And that brought a whole new element, because Daveth, without a crutch, without a broken ankle, bruised ribs and injured shoulder, was equivalent to a hyper-active five-year-old, especially after all the bedrest he’d been forced to bear. But it was somehow more exciting, not irritating, despite having a lanky British man swinging in his lap, to have Daveth so excitable, so eager to make up for all the times he hadn’t been able to just plonk himself on top of them when he was feeling tactile. And it was amazing, to feel so loved and so thankful that this stupid idiot had recovered without permanent injury. Because Daveth deserved to be happy and Adam wanted him to be. Adam yearned for all of them to be happy with an intensity that both shocked and invigorated him.

  He’d crept down the stairs that day with Roy by his side. He hadn’t been at all surprised to find the others still in the living room. They probably would have waited there all night for him to make his decision. And he’d appreciated it, when they all had carefully controlled themselves, when they looked up at him with nothing expectant in their face, as if it had just been a normal night.

  And then he had said probably the only words in his life that he had not regretted one bit since:

  “I want to do this. I want to be with you guys.”