Page 41 of Love Limits

Another text came in just as Zhong was reading the first three.

Ash: omg. i told landon i had a crush on him. eep!

They added an upside-down smiling emoji.

Ash had a crush on Landon? That was… surprising? Zhong hadn’t quite realized it could work that way, since they were both submissive.

Maybe it was the poly thing. Yeah, that made a bit of sense. Though probably a lot more confusing for Landon right now.

It was a bit too much for Zhong to consider at the moment, too. This was definitely something to mull over at the back of his brain before he came back to it.

Ash kept texting.

Ash: not that i was expecting anything to happen.

That one was followed up by a shrugging emoticon, so apparently they weren’t too upset about it. Was Zhong supposed to reply to it?

Ash: at least he didn’t get mad at me.

Ash: he’s committed to dustin, just confused abt himself.

Ash: landon’s gonna talk 2 him tonight i think and try 2 fix it.

Phew. That was the important part. Zhong hadn’t realized how much tension he’d been holding in about Dustin’s relationship. Whether Landon was in the picture or not, he really wanted Dustin to be happy, so today had been pretty stressful for him, too.

Zhong: Thanks for the update. How are you holding up?

Ash: long day, but i’m at a science museum w kids and landon. so i’m awesome!

They sent a picture of themself in a wavy mirror, their torso wide and their hair stretching up to the sky. Even with the distortion, he could see the sunny smile on their face.

Zhong: You ARE awesome.

They really were. Even when slightly confusing.

Ash sent back a blushing emoji.

Zhong grabbed a few things from the fridge, feeling lighter just knowing that Ash was having a good time and hopefully Dustin would be better soon. When they were both happy, everything was right in Zhong’s world.

Zhong coaxed Dustin to eat a few bites while he paced and went over what he was going to say to Landon when he saw him again. Zhong offered a few comments here or there, but mostly this seemed to be what Dustin needed to do to think it through.

Eventually, he put a stop to it, though. Go find something else to do. You’ve got a good apology going and you have a plan.

I don’t think I can focus on anything else right now.

Zhong looked around the room. Play your guitar.

Reluctantly, Dustin pulled it out. Zhong couldn’t hear any of it, but judging by Dustin’s expression, he was playing something melancholy. Hopefully he and Landon weren’t going to make a habit of this.

Zhong curled up at the end of the couch with a book and tucked his feet under Dustin’s leg. Now all he had to do was wait.

The sun was just setting when his phone buzzed again.

Ash: you think landon should come over now?

Zhong: Definitely. I’ll let him in.

Ash: god that was a long day.