WIPpet Wednesday: Closer than Brothers

Sorry I was AWOL last week. We were on vacation, and we were in Boston. It’s one of my favorite cities, which is why I chose it as the setting for Anthem. While we were there, we took in the science museum, swam in a public pool, and watched a laser show and attended a carnival on the town common where my in-laws live. A good time was had by all.

I’m finishing up a couple of projects I started and need to wrap up, and then I’m going to spend some time writing on a new top-secret project. After that, I signed up for a flash fiction challenge, so I’ll be doing that before I start edits on two novels. Whew! I’m going to have a busy summer.

Today’s WIPpet comes after Trevor and Andre’s…interaction. Andre has just moved into his new rental property, and he’s having a moment with Julian. Something happened to prompt Andre’s move, and he’s still dealing with some things.

WIPmath: 7 + 8 = 15 + 2 bonus because it’s been 2 weeks since my last post = 17 paragraphs of mostly dialog.

Julian hovered in the entryway of Andre’s new townhouse on Summer Street. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll probably just turn in early and clean up tomorrow.” Andre ran a tired hand over his face, pulling on his chin a little.

“You know you can call me, right?” Julian’s voice was low and a little hesitant.

“I know.”

There didn’t seem to be anything else to say. They hadn’t talked again about New Year’s; Julian knew better than to pry, even if it was obvious he wanted to. Andre hadn’t even gotten a phone number from “Trey,” so it wasn’t as though Julian could make assumptions about how ready Andre was to move on. On nights like this one, he wasn’t ready at all, the loneliness setting in even before he was by himself. All Andre could do was hope this new chapter in his life would mean a chance to begin again away from the place where he’d built so many memories with Dahlia.

“You want me to check in tomorrow, maybe help you get this stuff sorted out?” Julian asked.

“Nah.” Andre waved him off. “’S cool. You and Elisa need time to do some stuff yourselves.” He swallowed heavily. “That baby’s gonna be here before you know it.”

The pause was uncomfortable. Elisa was now past where Dahlia had been, mere weeks away from her due date. Julian constantly teetered on the edge between clearly wanting to share his impending joy and not wanting to damage the thin link between Andre and the rest of the world. Andre knew it was why he hadn’t spoken much about it until the job was final and Andre had already secured a place to live. Julian had been afraid too much gushing would be enough to make Andre back out of their agreement, and if Andre were honest, Julian wasn’t entirely wrong.

Eventually, Julian cleared his throat. “I’ll see you at the office, then. We have several jobs in the queue, and we’ll need an early start.”

Snapping out of his haze, Andre replied, “Yeah, you’re right. Guess we’ll sort out which projects you want me working on when I get there.”

Julian stepped back in far enough to clap Andre on the shoulder. “Night,” he said.

Just as he was about to turn around, he changed his mind and folded Andre into his arms. He lifted a hand and rested it on the back of Andre’s head, drawing it down so his cheek was against Julian’s shoulder. For a long time, they stood there, Julian rocking a little and neither of them hiding their raw pain. Eventually he let go and used his thumb to swipe away his tears.

“Hey,” he said. “I love you, man. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

“I know.” Andre drew his wrist across his eyes.

“Sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“Yeah.”

Julian nodded to Andre before he walked out of the house, the door clicking softly behind him.

If you enjoyed this, you’ll love the other entries; go here to read them. You can add your own by posting a bit of your work-in-progress, connecting it to the date, and linking up with us. Many thanks to K.L. Schwengel for setting us up. Happy reading and writing!