~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke sat on the sofa as Jules put Eoin to bed. He'd go in and kiss him goodnight when Jules was done. Then he'd leave. He couldn't stand to be here any longer if it meant being near Jules longer. It hurt too much and his hurtful words kept running through his mind, making him wonder if this was it. Sure, it was only one word, but it was a word that Jules knew would hurt him. That made it ten times worse than the bullying from all those years ago. Those had been kids who hadn't wanted to get to know him. But Jules... Jules did know him. Had known him since they were both four. So why-
"He's almost asleep. If you're going to go say goodnight, now's the best time."
Luke nodded and without saying a word, got up and went to Eoin's room. He smiled at the little boy. Leaning over the black and blue race car bed, Luke hugged Eoin and kissed his forehead.
"'Night, little one."
"'Night, Bigfoot," Eoin responded sleepily.
Eoin kissed Luke's cheek, then lost the War of the Evil Sleep Monsters. He watched the little tyke sleep for a few minutes. Then, with a heavy sigh, he left the room, turning off the big light. Jules was in the living room, shaking out a blanket. Luke waited whiled Jules finished.
Jules looked up, smiling. "You can have the bed. I'll take the couch."
"No." A muscle in Luke's jaw twitched.
"No? Wouldn't you rather the bed? It's comfier."
"No."
Jules sighed, shaking his head. "Okay, I knew this would be harder to get past. I was prepared for ignoring the problem not to work."
"I'm going home."
"What? You can't go home. You promised Eoin you'd stay."
"Yeah, and I already told him I might not be here when he wakes up. That means there's no point in me staying here all night, is there?" When Jules failed to respond, Luke nodded. He turned on his heel and walked purposefully to the door.
"Goodbye."
"Wait! You can't just leave like this."