His Award

It took Claude a moment to even part his lips to speak but he still didn't manage to say anything. Beau kept his piercing eyes on his best friend, hoping it wasn't anything too serious or upsetting. The last thing Beau needed was to hear that something was wrong with Claude. No… he doubted it was anything like that. To Beau, Claude was invincible. He's been through more painful situations both mentally and physically that Beau knew he wouldn't be able to handle if it was himself in those situations.

Claude cleared his throat and looked down at the now damp concrete. Finally, he said, "I want you to meet my girlfriend. Will that be okay?"

Beau felt his heart clench. He balled up his hand into a fist and shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" Beau replied a bit quietly. The rain was getting harder now so when Claude tilted his head to signal that he didn't hear, Beau gave him a tight smile and loosened his tight fist. "Yes! Let me meet her." He said with some fake enthusiasm.

Claude chuckled and wrapped his arm around Beau's shoulder to lead him as they started to walk again. "She's really pretty and nice. She has this laugh I die to hear- she's hard to make laugh. But…" Claude's words were drowned out by Beau's thoughts and his focus on the rain. Beau was happy for Claude. He was. The clench around his heart didn't go away though… He felt like puking. Beau just told himself that it must be jealousy or worry. Claude always had a new girlfriend who he would speak highly of but they never lasted and Claude was always hurt unless he was the one who broke it off. On the other hand, Beau hadn't had a single date before. He barely had a boyfriend in the past. Jealousy? More likely.

The walk was short after that. By the time they had reached Beau's apartment, the two friends were drenched in the cold rain. It was still raining and looked like it would be all day. Beau was cold and already regretting his wish to walk in it.

"I'm cold…" He mumbled and hugged himself.

Claude looked at Beau and laughed before gently pushing him forward towards the doors of the apartment. Thankfully there was a balcony above the entrance door so they were covered from the rain. "Let's wait here until we go in. The last time we tracked in mud and rain, the owner got onto us."

Beau nodded and leaned against the wall. Beside him, Claude squatted down and set Beau's bag in front of him. "My things are wet."

"How do you know?" Claude looked up at Beau.

"Look at us. Look at my bag. We're all soaked, Claude." Beau rolled his eyes and tightened his hug on himself. He began to rub his arms.

Claude laughed again and adjusted so he was sitting instead of squatting. "Don't talk about your bag as a person. You sound weird. It's no wonder you don't have other friends." He teased.

Beau bit his tongue and shook his head. "No. I'm just too busy to make any. You're the only one that sticks to me." Beau paused and squatted down to pull his wet bag closer, "Are you secretly in love with me? Obsessed even?" It was a simple tease back but he could feel his heart clench and skip a beat at the anticipation of an answer. Yes… it had to be jealousy. Beau wanted to know what a loving relationship felt like and Claude was the closest person to him.

"I guess you can say that I am." Claude answered in a serious tone.

Just as his heart stopped skipping beats, it began to do it again. Beau didn't know what to say back. He could barely open his bag without hesitating. He bit his bottom lip to stop himself from speaking. Beau didn't want to become a stuttering mess in front of Claude when Claude knew he had a crush on him in the past. He closed his bag and stood up quickly with a blur following because of the fast pace. Still, Beau ignored the dizzy sensation and leaned onto the wall, "You… Go home. I don't want to see you anymore today."

Claude smiled and stood up as well, "Then I'll pick you up tomorrow for lunch."

Beau shook his head and opened the door to the building entrance, "No need. I'll already be out. I want to go to the studio." Beau put his bag on his shoulder. "Go." He Instructed one more time.

Before Claude could say anything, Beau had already walked inside and shut the door behind him. He made sure to go up quickly to his family's apartment just in case Claude followed behind him. Beau locked the door even though it was useless because Claude had a key. They gave him a key when they graduated high school. His mom figured they would stay friends after so many years.

"Beau?" He heard his father say.

Beau turned around to see his dad with his work shirt untucked and his tie missing. At first, Beau turned his eyes away. He didn't want to talk to his dad. Talking to him made him feel guilty towards his innocent mother. Even so, he cleared his throat and looked at him again. "Yes?" He asked.

"I didn't know you were getting discharged yet. Your mother must not have known either or else she would have told me." His father waved Beau over to him.

Hesitantly, Beau went over. "I left in a hurry. I'm an adult now so I didn't think it would matter."

His dad shook his head and took Beau's hand. He gripped it a little. Beau almost pulled away from confusion. He couldn't remember when he last held his dad's hand. "Are you feeling okay today? I haven't been able to see you or be alone with you."

"Well, I don't think they would have let me leave if I wasn't okay." He snarkily answered with a small scoff. The older man looked at Beau confused and his grip on Beau's hand loosened some. "I mean, I'm okay. That was a joke. swear."

He nodded and released Beau's hand, "That's good." He simply stated and turned around to go into the kitchen.

Beau clasped his hands together. Suddenly they were cold and empty. "Hey, Dad," Beau started up and followed him into the kitchen, "Can you make me something to eat? You know, like how you used to when we were home alone together." He asked with hope. Beau could remember the days when he was upset with something and his dad would catch him home alone. While his dad's cooking wasn't as good as his mom's, Beau still liked it best. His dad would always decorate the food and try so hard no matter how bad it looked or how burnt and/or how undercooked it was. Beau would still eat it all happily.

His dad picked up what Beau assumed was his coffee and sighed. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm about to go back to work. I got an urgent call just before you came in. I'm finishing this and then leaving." He held up his mug and then took a sip. "Will you be okay?"

The air got stiff for Beau and his stomach dropped. The small hope he had vanished. Right… maybe his mistress called. This was going to be his dad's chance for a new family. It would be easy for him to replace Beau with a new son if he was already leaving him. Beau took a small step back and hung his head, "Yeah. Bye." He said quietly and left the kitchen without lifting his head.

There was no way of him knowing for sure that it was his dad's mistress that called but he couldn't think of another compelling person who would call after his dad looked tired and that he just got home. Beau went into his room and locked that door behind him too. However, he did go over and open his windows that peered out into the street. He liked to listen to the pitter patters of the rain. Every now and then he could hear thunder and lightning. At the same time, there was music in the distance likely coming from the musicians that found cover.

Beau started to move around some of his boxes and continued to fill one that was specifically for his ballet awards. He tried to put everything in neatly. Just then, some yelling and banging outside caught his attention. Beau went back over to his windows with curiosity (at least he called it that while his mother called it being nosey). It was a shock to see Harley and his guitar on the ground with a man looming over him. Beau could see the flash of anger in Harley's eyes.

Not knowing what he should do, Beau rushed over to his awards then back to the window and held one up to throw just as the man raised his fist to Harley.