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“Gilded,” Frankie said and Obie threw a balled up napkin at him.
“You do know where he lives, Diego. You could send him an invitation!” Seth chimed in as if this were a great idea.
“Mierda,” Diego cursed, and he downed the rest of his wine. “Franklin. Would you like to move into the second bedroom officially? The best friend and business partner suite, as it were.”
“You could get a golden—”
“Gilded,” Frankie said in exasperation.
“A gilded nameplate!” Seth chirped and Frankie groaned.
Perfect. Diego could solidify himself in the friend zone with a golden, gilded name plate.
Maybe then he wouldn’t be tempted to blow up their friendship accidentally by stumbling into Frankie’s room… or into Frankie’s bed.
* * *
MovingFrankie’s meager belongings into the apartment took less than half a day and just like that, all of Diego’s secret hopes and wishes came true.
Except not really.
The first few weeks living with Frankieweresort oflike a dream. They woke up around the same time for work, Diego at the bar, and Frankie doing breakfast deliveries. Then Frankie would come back home sometime during the day and flood Diego with “to dos,” questions, and updates that Diego would respond to when he got home from work, which was usually right when Frankie would leave for the dinner delivery rush. Frankie would either bring home dinner, or Diego would try to have something ready for them to share around eight and they’d talk, work, plan, and, more often than not, cuddle.
It was bliss, and it was torture, and it was too much and not nearly enough. Diego found himself jacking off in the shower like a teenager – which he’d done very little ofasa teen, since he had been so out of touch with his own body, he couldn’t even look at never mind touch himself. Now, while he wasn’t in love with his body, it did finally feel likehis. To top if off, he had the added bonus of going through a second puberty, and an increased libido due to T.
His bio dick didn’t exactly work like a cis dick. He would have had to undergo a much more complicated surgery with higher risks to connect and move his urethra, and there was little that could be done about producing semen. While the full surgery was still an option, Diego felt solid in his conviction he didn’t want it. He couldn’t pee standing up without a specific kind of packer, but it got erect, or rather it would engorge with blood and get a bit bigger, which was one of the most important things to Diego. It fit in the curve of his palm, in theory allowing him to rub one out like every cis guy could, and took for granted.
The surgeon had taken tissue and tendons from his labia majora to help elongate his bio dick, and while it was sensitive to touch, it didn’t feel much different from rubbing against what was left of his labia – in other words, not a whole lot. He’d learned, and Collin and Emilio had shown him, how to take and give pleasure with his body. He’d even done some exploration with toys, both in his front and back hole, but still liked jerking it like any other dude in the shower. While embarrassing because of its origin, aka his roommate, it was incredibly satisfying.
Every once in a while, he worried that Frankie might hear the vibrating toy he liked to use, but as the days continued to pass, Frankie started spending more and more time on deliveries, and a couple of times came home after Diego went to sleep.
Diego missed their intimate moments, sharing funny stories from their days, and connecting over food and drink, but the renovations on the cafe were really ramping up and sometimes Diego was almost glad for the peace and quiet at night.
When Frankie had first moved in, Diego’s biggest worry had been that he would do or say something to clue Frankie in on his feelings, and Frankie would run screaming, or at the very least no longer be comfortable around him.
His second biggest concern, one that began to itch under his skin and gnaw at the back of his mind as time continued to pass, was that Frankie would go on being oblivious. Maybe he would bring home some unsuspecting hookup and Diego would react poorly – like crying on the bathroom floor. Strangely this never happened. The hookups, not the crying. Well, actually both. For a while, Frankie seemed to be working, occasionally seeing friends, and then coming home to hang out with Diego, or to go directly to bed if he got home late at night.
One night at the end of November, Frankie texted that he wouldn’t be coming home. Diego didn’t cry or overreact. Instead, he reacted like a rational adult and worked until he passed out on the couch. The next morning he woke up with a neck and back ache bad enough to drive him to tears, but he refused to give in.
The second, third and fourth time it happened, Diego went out with some of his other friends to try and distract himself, and they tried to console him that at least Frankie was respectful enough not to bring his hookups home. The fifth time it happened, he FaceTimed with his cousin, who told him he should either tell Frankie how he felt or consider going out and finding someone to spend his own nights with.
The sixth time it happened he called Obie and asked if he could see him and Seth. Obie apologized profusely but said they had a guest staying with them and wouldn’t be able to host him, so Diego fell asleep curled up on the couch again with nothing but the drone of the TV to keep him company.
When Frankie returned from these nights away, things felt a little off, and Diego couldn’t tell if he was the one being weird or if Frankie was. At first, Diego was pretty sure it was him acting strange, tiptoeing around Frankie and trying not to do anything that would drive him away again. However, from the third night on, Diego could say with confidence Frankie was the one being weird.
At first, Frankie was sort of skittish around Diego, avoiding touching him in any way, even just a casual brush of the hand when they both reached for the remote would have him shrinking back into the couch cushions. Then, he seemed to do a hard pivot and became almost clingy, demanding Diego spend time with him and cuddle on the couch together before bed. It almost felt like Frankie was pulling him close only so he could push him away harder the next time he didn’t come home.
When this happened the sixth time, Diego kept trying to remind himself simply to enjoy Frankie’s increased interest in him before it waned again, but he was beginning to feel his nerves fray and his patience wane. He was doing laundry, daydreaming about hopefully spending more time with Frankie that week, when he got a text from Emilio. As it turned out, he was going to be passing through town over the weekend and wanted to stop by and see the cafe.
Diego quickly responded that it wasn’t ready to be seen yet. As he dug yet another pair of Frankie’s boxers out of his clean laundry basket, Diego wondered if maybe Emilio would want to see the apartment instead. All of Diego’s interactions with Emilio had always been clear and to the point. They both liked sex, they both liked sex with each other, and so they enjoyed each other’s bodies and each other’s company one night at a time and then went on with their lives. Unlike the mess of indecision and confusion that had become his relationship with Frankie, he found himself missing that level of candid, carnal pleasure seeking.
Diego wasn’t going to sleep with Emilio though. Not with Frankie one wall away. But, he could have him over, flirt a little, feel good about himself, and enjoy the fact thatsomeonewanted him. Hell, Frankie might not even be home since he seemed to be going out on weekends more and more now. Diego chucked Frankie’s boxers into his bedroom, pulled his phone back out, and invited Emilio over.
Of course Frankie chose that Saturday evening to decide he wanted to “spend some time with his best friend” aka Diego.
“I actually have a friend stopping by tonight. I’m not sure how long he’s going to be here, but I think you’ll like him,” he said casually.
Diego had no idea if Frankie was going to like Emilio, but after the stressful past few weeks, he just didn’t care anymore.
