Chapter 16
The door popped open, and Ben's smiling face filled the gap. He wore nothing but a pair of sweats, his adonis belt slipping beneath the hem. Sweat glistened between his pecs. Behind him, a mass shifted in the bed. Ben's smile melted as he looked in my face, "what are you doing?"
"Oh my god, Silas," he shut the door and slipped into the hallway. "I had no idea you were coming."
"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you." A laugh resonated behind the door, "what's going on here?"
"Nothing," Ben looked left and right down the hall, looking for an escape, or savior, "it's like seven in the morning,"
"Well, you never really told me how things were going. I wanted to see you."
There was a muffled call, 'Ben', in the background, "you should have warned me."
I reached for the door handle, and turned it, "do you have someone in there or what?" I burst into the room, leaving Ben frozen in the hallway. The dorm room was very regular. There were two beds, one on each side of the room, and two desks on either side of them. A guy and a girl lay in one bed, against the far wall. The empty bed, which I assumed was Ben's, was tidy and made. I stood in the center of the room, putting pieces together.
"Who are you, dude?" the guy asked.
I turned around, Ben stood framed and backlit in the doorway. "Are you…are you fucking your roommate?"
The guy sat up in bed. The girl lay behind him, partially covered by the sheets, "again. Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Ben's boyfriend." I stared right at Ben, who remained in the doorway. A long and uneasy silence filled the room. Everything went sick and green. "What is going on here? Seriously?"
"Please don't hate me Sy, but it just happened so quick. We all got really drunk a week ago, and ended up in a threesome." He re-entered the room, slowly, pleadingly, "it was only supposed to be a one-time drunk thing."
"But I wanted to do it again," The guy said. The girl still lay silent next to him. "It's not like cheating. there's no emotions here."
Ben stood right next to me. Placing his hand on my shoulder, Ben looked squarely into my eyes, "Silas, I'm not cheating, this is just sex. It's meaningless."
I crumbled at those words. We didn't have an open relationship. There was no agreement, "So, sex is just meaningless to you? Everything we had is meaningless?"
"I didn't say that…"
"You just took a shit on it all, Ben. On everything. Consider this over." I turned, and left the room quickly.
Ben followed, running after my quick steps. "Silas! Baby, come back here." He grabbed my arm and spun me around. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done this."
"Damn right. I care about you, Ben. And you just proved you don't give a fuck." I stared angrily into his face, wanting to punch him and throw him to the ground. "This is over, Ben. Enjoy your life." I jerked my arm from his grip and went quickly down the hallway.
Ben followed. "Silas, I'll do anything, if you say the word I'm done with the two of them."
"If you'd do anything, you should have not done this. You should have known this wasn't what our relationship was about. Leave me alone, Ben. I don't want this anymore." We stood in the lobby, and Ben started to cry. He looked pathetic, in the early morning light in his sweats, shirtless with tears streaming down his face. He sobbed openly. I watched as the front desk girl stood up.
"I'm so sorry, Silas. Please take me back."
"No, you cheated on me with two people. It's not going to happen."
He whispered through sobs, "what if you fuck them too? Shame me for what I did."
The whole thing turned me off. I wanted to be gone, and back home. I felt like an idiot for driving through the night to see Ben. I wanted to take the whole thing back, "Ben. It's over. Have a good life." I quickly left the building, and didn't look back. Fast footfalls reverberated behind me.
"Silas, it was a dumb drunk mistake. Don't tell me you've never made one."
"I have, but not like this. Not anything close." Heat wafted from the already-baked asphalt, "leave me alone, goodbye."
Ben melted as I unlocked my car. "Silas, I only want you."
I laughed. "Goodbye, Ben." I sat down in the driver's seat, and turned the ignition. The last I saw of Ben was in my rearview mirror, red-faced and crying in the parking lot.