Lunch break is over, ttyl
okay <3
Reno clicked his phone off and watched as bags circled on the carousel, waiting for his to come out. They finally slid onto the conveyor belt and Reno rushed to grab them, checking the tags to make sure they were actually his. He said a short goodbye to everyone else and once he was outside, he found Sage’s blue car.She got out to help him put the bags in, then gave him a long hug.
“You’ve lost weight,” she said as a way of greeting.
“You didn’t.” He squeezed her tighter, hoping she never did. She was so soft, welcoming. She was like home, too.
“Release me, demon.” She peeled Reno away from her. “Get in, let’s get you some fast food and tuck you into bed.”
“You are an angel.” Reno wanted to hug her again but resisted, getting into the passenger seat instead. “I want a milkshake.”
“Whatever you want,” Sage said, pulling away from the airport. She took him to get food, and didn’t comment when Reno ate his weight in burgers and chips, with a large chocolate milkshake to top it off. He was dozing off by the time they pulled up to his place and Sage had to nudge him.
Reno gathered his trash, his bags, and everything else, and took his house key from Sage. She helped him bring things up before hugging him goodbye, promising to come over in the morning before work. Reno thanked her several times, closed the door after her and immediately pulled off all of his clothes, dumping them into the basket in the bathroom. He took the world’s longest shower, curled up in bed, set his alarm for four am, then fell asleep faster than he thought possible.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank fuck.” Reno sighed into the phone, his voice hoarse from sleep. “I’m glad I caught you.”
“You did say you’d call,” Luka huffed over the line. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Reno pushed himself up to sit, scrubbing his face with his hand to try to wake up the rest of the way.
Luka was silent for a moment so Reno got out of bed in search of water. He was filling his glass from the purifier pitcher when Luka said, “I’ve been distant.”
“That’s true,” Reno agreed, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Wanna tell me why?”
“If you don’t mind jumping right into this crap. I didn’t even ask how it feels to be home, or how tour was, or if you’re healthy.”
“We can do that later.” Reno slowly spun the cup on the counter, watching the condensation pool at its base. The humidity promised rain and he wondered what the weather was like where Luka was. “My life is good. Home is good. I’d rather know what’s bothering you.”
He heard blankets rustle over the line and imagined Luka turning in bed. He wished he knew what Luka’s room looked like, what color his sheets were. Luka took his time answering, and the wait made Reno’s heart creep into his throat.
Luka sighed, barely audible over the phone, then said, “I miss you a shocking amount.”
“And I, you.” The admission was simple for him.
“You…" Luka paused for a moment. “Don’t know what you did to me, do you?”
Reno’s heart plummeted. “If I hurt you in any way, I promise it wasn’t intentional.”
“I don’t think that it was,” Luka said before Reno could apologize properly. “It’s more so, how do I say it?” Luka cleared his throat and Reno could imagine the face he was making. His eyes downcast, his brows furrowed. “Giving me what you did then immediately leaving after kind of fucked me up.”
“Oh.” Reno tapped a fingernail against his glass, feeling off-kilter. “I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”
“I know,” Luka interrupted. “I know you didn’t mean for it to like, negatively affect me. You’ve made it very clear to me that you don’t have bad intentions. I’d like to think I’m decently good at judging people, but I’ve been wrong so many times… so I get in my head about things.”
Reno felt himself nod then remembered to speak out loud. “I see. What could I do differently?”
Luka took his time thinking and Reno started to hate the phone, the distance, the fact that he couldn’t reach out to Luka to comfort him.
“I don’t think you can,” Luka replied. “You’re not actually doing anything wrong. It’s just how things are. I don’t know if I can survive this if I can only see you for a single day here and there then lose you again for weeks at a time. I’m not someone built for long distance.”
Reno chewed his lower lip, thinking hard about his next words. “Hypothetically speaking, what if we were around each other more?”
Luka scoffed. “That’s not reality.”
