Chapter 18

After another two gruelling hours in the gym - one hour hitting the weights, another hour on the treadmill - Rob was exhausted and ready for lunch. He wondered how Ethan was doing, and he had to keep forcing himself to keep all thoughts of Ethan out of his head while he was working out. Still, it was difficult because Ethan was such a strong force of distraction for Rob, even when they had been little.

They had become friends in elementary school in Idaho Falls. No kid had wanted to sit next to Rob, who was already quite big for his age. But Ethan had saved him, had sat down next to Rob with a big smile and asked him if he liked Transformers. That had been the start of a beautiful friendship, and Ethan had been there for him all through grade school, middle school and high school. Then they'd both gone to the University of Idaho, where they'd remained best friends through college.

Rob couldn't actually remember a time in his life where Ethan wasn't right there with him, so the last six weeks at the ranch was understandably tough. Rob was embarrassed at how dependent he was on Ethan, but he just couldn't help it. He was so happy to see Ethan again.

When he got back to his room, Ethan wasn't there. Figuring that he must have already left for the cafeteria, Rob grabbed his towel and headed for the shower, grateful for the cool water and minty shower foam. Once he was done, he lumped his sweat-soaked exercise clothes into a ball and simply wrapped a towel around his waist, meaning to change in his room.

Dashing across the hallway, Rob let himself into his room - and jumped when he saw Ethan there. "Whoa, didn't realise you were in," he stammered, feeling a bit shy since he was half naked in front of Ethan with nothing but a towel.

Ethan didn't say anything for a while, a strange look on his face as he stared at Rob's body. "Um, yeah, sorry I just came back to get my phone charger," he muttered, his face reddening for some reason as he backed out of the room. "I, uh, I'll see you in the cafeteria."

"You don't have to leave," Rob called out, as Ethan hesitated at the door. "Just wait for me, I'll be done in a minute. Then we can go to the cafeteria together."

"Oh." Ethan seemed to be considering this before he finally nodded, stepping back into the room and returning to his bag to hunt for his charger. Rob made his way over to the wardrobe, wondering when it had gotten so awkward being in the same room with Ethan before. Ron silently cursed himself, hating that he couldn't stop harbouring feelings for his poor unsuspecting best friend.

He put on his boxers under the towel, taking it off and quickly getting dressed. He didn't know if Ethan was watching him or not, but he was definitely all too aware of Ethan's presence in the room, like a siren call he couldn't ignore. After pulling another workout shirt, Rob turned to face Ethan, who quickly looked down at his phone with a red face. Fuck, Rob had made things so unnecesarily awkward between them. No wonder Ethan was starting to feel uncomfortable around him.

They walked together towards the cafeteria, making small talk about work. Ethan filled him in about how the IT department was falling to pieces without Rob around, and Kumar was practically begging Ethan everyday to persuade Rob to come back. "Bet he realises just how much he needed you," Ethan snorted, as they followed the small group of staff towards the cafeteria.

"Isn't that how we humans operate?" Rob said with a chuckle. "We never know what we're missing until it's gone."

For some reason, that just made Ethan look extremely thoughtful. "Yeah, that's a good point."