Page 20 of Izzy
"What the hell, Izzy?" Jude shouted.
It was humiliating that all of his friends were in the other room, hearing the entire argument.
"I told you right after I said it that I lied.."
Ulises shook his head. "I think you told the truth."
It was difficult for Ulises to believe someone would want to be with him in any capacity. He was sick all the time. He didn't blame anyone for not wanting to stick around.
Izzy growled again and grabbed the shirt from his hand. "You're wadding it all up. It's gonna make it wrinkled."
Ulises sat on the bed and let Izzy pack for him since he was being so critical about everything. "Why do you care if my clothes are wrinkled?"
"Because I just do, okay. And before you start in on me again, let's just agree to the fact that I'm a shitty person for saying what I said." Izzy grabbed a stack of shirts out of his dresser, putting them into the suitcase. "Also, your packing skills are for shit."
Ulises shook his head. "That's nice. Go ahead and insult the guy with the lumpy neck. Cause he has nothing else to worry about but satisfying your perfectionism."
Izzy sighed. "Sorry."
"It's fine."
"It's not. I should know how to navigate your health issues by now. It's just that you make me crazier than she ever did."
"Who are you talking about?"
"My sister. She had health problems too. A lot like yours actually. Only her tumors were cancerous."
"Was she human?"
"Yeah. Same mother. Different fathers. My dad was a dragon shifter. Her’s was human."
"I'm sorry about your sister."
Izzy smiled. "She would have liked you."
"Why do you say that?"
"You're so calm about your health. She would have found comfort in that."
"I've dealt with it my whole life. You just get used to it. And the possibility of dying, I guess." Not that he wanted to make the conversation morbid, but it was something he'd had to considermore than most people his age. Death had stopped scaring him a long time ago.
"She wasn't ready." Izzy should his head. "No. That's a lie too. The truth is, I wasn't ready to let her go."
That took a lot for Izzy to admit. Why he was confiding in Ulises was in question, but he let Ulises in when he probably hadn't with very many people.
Ulises touched Izzy's hand. At first Izzy hesitated but he laced their fingers together. He didn't stop there. He pulled Ulises up from his seated position on the bed and hugged him.
It didn't have to mean anything, right? They'd been Dragon Skull family for three years. Their past sexcapades didn't have to muddy those waters.
When Izzy ended the hug, he smiled. "I'm the one who should be comforting you. Not the other way around."
"That's okay. It's what friends are for, right?" Ulises continued packing where Izzy left off.
"We're friends, now?" Izzy took the clothing from him.
"Haven't we always been?" Ulises took them back from him. "I've got it. But thanks."
"But just friends?"
