Page 56 of Back to You

And with that, he was moved in.

Barnabus crept through the new apartment, clearly offended by what he deemed substandard surroundings. He paused to hiss at the sofa.

“I know buddy, but it’s not forever. It’s just where we live for now,” Brandon said.

That night, he was preparing for bed when he heard Barnabus caterwauling outside his bedroom door. He opened it. “What’s wrong?”

Barnabus sauntered through the door and hopped up on the bed.

“I beg your pardon?”

The cat settled into a loaf next to his pillow.

“Since when do you get to sleep in the bed?”

Barnabus yawned as if to indicate that it was bedtime and Brandon needed to get with the program.

“Did Ethan let you sleep in the bed?” That was a strangely depressing thought. He pictured Ethan, desperate for comfort, curling up with the little cat.

He sighed. “Clearly you’ve learned some bad habits, but I’m not going to be the asshole who kicks you out.”

He climbed into his new bed and dragged the annoyed cat close.

First night in his new apartment.

He hated it.

***

“It’s been so long since I’ve lived alone, I’ve gotten used to living with someone else,” Brandon said.

“Well, I hate to be this asshole, but the last few months with Ethan were a lot like living alone, weren’t they?” Marcus said, brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You’ll get used to it, man.”

Brandon retreated to the kitchen, having decided to experiment with sourdough. He usually wasn’t one for trendy foods, but he’d seen a fascinating recipe for a double chocolate sourdough, and he figured it might sell well. He occasionally sold bread loaves through the cafe when he got the urge.

Several hours and 12 gorgeous loaves of bread later, Michelle breezed into the kitchen. She stopped and regarded all the bread.

“One of these is for me, right?”

Brandon gestured to one already packaged on the counter.

“Thanks! Okay, you’re baking bread, so I’m guessing night one in the new place wasn’t that great?”

“It’s just weird,” he said. “I went from living alone to living with Ethan, to staying with you guys, and now I’m alone again. I just have to figure out how to live by myself.”

“Did you ever think that maybe this is an opportunity for you to figure out who you are outside of Ethan?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you guys had gotten kind of codependent for a while there. And when that was taken away because of his job, you didn’t know how to cope. Maybe you need to be alone to get comfortable in your own company?”

“You still think we were codependent?”

“You were a little. Ethan was a lot. I can’t imagine how he’s taking this.”

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