C You Belong To Me

[justpush]

Nolan rummaged through his plate, eating something. He glanced at Thomas from time to time. Finally, he decided to break the silence.
"It's been a long time since we talked.... But I guess you weren't complaining. So many people around you."

[Whoknows]

Thomas shrugged, “it’s nice to have people to spend time with”, he muttered, finally looking up at Nolan before going back to his dinner. He did honestly miss Nolan but he felt weird about him being pregnant, he just didn’t expect it to happen to him.

[justpush]

Nolan only nodded and returned to his meal. He also drank water. Then he looked around the table. Their parents were busy talking.
"In college well?" he asked Thomas

[Whoknows]

“Yeah”, he replied, stabbing at the meat, “there’s loads of rumours floating around of you”. He didn’t know what he said that. He just wanted Nolan to know. Thomas suddenly sighed, “excuse me”, he said as he left the room, heading to the toilet.

[justpush]

Nolan looked sadly into the distance. Immediately after, Thomas went to the bathroom, and the pregnant man timidly stroked his tummy. He was sorry, but he had to go on living. He had someone to live for.
"I'll go lie down, my back hurts," he lied, and then smiled slightly.

[Whoknows]

Thomas stared at himself in the mirror and fixed his hair. He didn’t like the person he was becoming, the cuts on his knuckles and the late nights home were becoming frequent. He washed his hands before leaving and seeing Nolan standing in the hallway.

[justpush]

Nolan threw him a brief glance.
"My back hurts... I'm going to go lie down. And you go, the main course will be served in a moment," he replied with a weak smile as he began to climb the stairs.

[Whoknows]

“Alright”, Thomas said, then paused. “I hope you’re okay”, he meaningfully added, before walking off back to dinner. He sat back down with the parents and picked up his fork, listening to what they were saying.

[justpush]

Nolan's mother when her son was gone finally sighed.
"You don't even know how hard it is for me to watch Nolan suffer.... He wants this baby so much, but the baby's father doesn't show up. Nolan doesn't want to talk about it."

[Whoknows]

Thomas looked up, “I heard they broke up”, he admitted, cutting up some food. He put his knife and fork together and set them down, finished with his dinner.

[justpush]

The woman looked at Thomas with a suffering look.
"Oh my..." she sighed "Thomas? Maybe you could stop by and see Nolan sometimes? I'm afraid he's depressed," she explained

[Whoknows]

He shrugged, “I can try but he haven’t been friends in months”, he told her, feeling abit sad about his past friend. He wondered if things would still be awkward if they started talking again.

[justpush]

The woman felt a little uncomfortable. She fell silent.
"Nothing by force Thomas... I'm sorry. You probably have a lot on your mind," she replied, and then changed the subject.

[Whoknows]

“It’s okay, I’ll try”, he said before the conversation was changed. He sat there bored until he got the urge to go and talk to Nolan, maybe work things out. Thomas snuck away from the table and went upstairs, knocking on Nolan’s door.

[justpush]

Nolan thought it was a maid so he invited the person inside. It wasn't until he noticed Thomas that he became a bit abashed. He was already dressed in pajamas and a bathrobe.
"Oh, it's you..."

[Whoknows]

Thomas nodded, “yeah, um”, he hesitated, he didn’t really know what to say because he didn’t expect this to happen. “I just wondered why you didn’t really want to be my friend anymore”, he asked, looking down at his hands.

[justpush]

Nolan stroked his thighs lightly, then fell silent for a long moment. He managed to speak in a calm tone.
"Xavier.... Xavier claimed that you are not a good influence on me. That I was rocking too much and not focusing on him enough," he explained and looked at his neighbor "Now I know he was just jealous."

[Whoknows]

He hummed, “oh, right”, he said, not knowing what else to say. Thomas sighed, turning to leave again before stopping, “well I hope now you’re not with him that I’ll be seeing you more”.

[justpush]

Nolan smiled weakly.
"I'm not with him... And I never should be," he whispered, then stroked his tummy soothingly "Good luck in college.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you."

[Whoknows]

“Thank you”, Thomas said turning away. “Make sure you name the baby after me”, he joked as he left the room to return downstairs.