Page 55 of Back to You

“Uh, do they do that often?” Michelle said.

“Who does what?” the landlord said.

“The neighbors, do they fight like this a lot?”

“I don’t hear anything.”

Now they both stared at him in disbelief. The smile on his face never faded despite the fact that he was now clenching his fists.

“Are you okay? You kind of look like you’re having a stroke.” Michelle said. Brandon nodded.

The landlord sighed. “Okay look, I know the walls are thin. I’ll talk to them again about this. Honest to God, I wish they’d just break up.”

He stomped out to go pound on the neighbor’s door. Michelle turned to Brandon.

“We were so close to a good one here, too.”

The next place apparently didn’t allow cats even though they’d said in the ad that they did. The one after that had just filled the last vacancy.

They headed for the final apartment on their list, energy flagging from a day of fruitless apartment searching. “It’s okay if you don’t find something today,” Michelle said. “You know you’re welcome to stay with us as long as you want.”

“I know, but I need to get my own space. Not only for Barnabus, but you guys deserve your privacy. And also …” he took a deep breath. “Honestly, I think I need to do this for me. I’m using living at your place as a crutch at this point.”

“Whatever you need, B. If you need to find a place of your own, then that’s what we’ll do.”

They toured the vacant apartment in silence, the apartment manager standing quietly in the doorway. It was a pretty basic place, white walls and clean carpets. The kitchen was adequate by Brandon’s high standards. It had one bedroom, which was all he really needed. It was bland and boring and nothing like his last home.

“I’ll take it,” he said softly.

He needed to move on with his life. It was time.

***

Ethan stood at the counter, staring at the note.

Ethan,

I made some of your favorites for you. I know you aren’t eating enough.

Please get better.

Brandon

He stared and stared at the paper, absently noting the heating directions. He opened the fridge and grabbed the container on top and robotically put it in to heat.

Once it was ready, he sat down at the table and put the first bite in his mouth.

Then he dropped his fork and broke down in tears.

CHAPTER 13

IT DIDN’T TAKE long to get Brandon moved in to his new apartment. He’d decided to leave all the furniture for Ethan, so took only his clothes, a few items that were important to him, and of course, Barnabus and all of his accoutrements.

Ethan was, unsurprisingly, nowhere to be seen. Brandon had texted him, but other than telling him to take what he wanted, there had been no response. Through Lake, he knew that Ethan had taken on the whole mortgage payment after Brandon had left, but they still needed to sit down and discuss the condo at some point.

Once they’d moved his things and cat over to the new place, he set Michelle loose in a furniture store to terrify unsuspecting sales associates. Two hours later, he finished setting up delivery of a new bed, mattress and sofa.

He slept one last night at Michelle’s house, waking early the next morning to take delivery of his furniture at the apartment. Then he ran out to Target to grab a cheap nightstand and other miscellaneous home goods. His dad came by later with a brand new big-screen TV, which he helped Brandon set up.

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