The cold war 23

Returning from the kitchen holding two cans of coke, Jake handed one to Ben before sitting down on the sofa next to him.

His can hissed as he pulled on the ring pull before bringing it to his lips. The sugary liquid felt refreshing as he poured it down his throat, glugging down half the can before looking over at Ben who was just starring at him.

“You don’t happen to have a diet, do you”? Ben asked holding his own can out in front of him.

Jake smiled, “oh… erm…no sorry, but I can see what else I’ve got if you’d like”?

“You’re laughing at me”, Ben said pouting, “you think I’m stupid for asking”?

“No, of course not”, Jake replied reaching over and rubbing Ben’s shoulder”, I was just surprised that’s all, you’ve never asked me for a diet anything before”.

“Well… things are kind of different now”, Ben replied, leaning slightly to his right to remove the hand from his shoulder”, never mind, this will do”.

Jake nodded, taking another swig of his drink before looking down at the almost empty can in his hands feeling a little awkward.

Hearing an odd clicking sound, Jake turned to his right, “do you want me to do that”? he asked, seeing Ben fumbling about with the top of his can trying to slip the end of one of his long acrylic nail tips under the ring pull.

Looking embarrassed Ben nodded, “please, and you wouldn’t happen to have a straw would you”?

“No straws, I'm afraid, but I can get you a glass”, Jake said taking the can, “give me a second, ok? I’ll be right back”, he added before walking off to the kitchen once more.

Alone in the kitchen, Jake slapped himself on the forehead, “what the hell is wrong with me”, he thought to himself, why is this so awkward”. After taking a moment to compose himself, he placed some ice in a glass, opened the can, and poured it on top.

Determined to ease the tension, he took a deep breath and made his way back into the living room, smiling as entered upon seeing the beautiful feminine creature sitting on his sofa, patiently waiting for his return.

“Here you are”, Jake said passing Ben the drink, “I thought you might like some ice too”.

The corner of Ben’s lip curled up slightly, “Thank you”, he said before taking a sip.

“Listen, I’m sorry if things have been a bit awkward between us recently”, Jake said lifting one leg on to the sofa and twisting his body around to face Ben, “can we start over, you’re my best friend and I miss talking to you”.

“I’m sorry too”, Ben replied, “I’ve just felt so confused recently, I’ve been having all these strange feelings and thoughts lately, there's this voice in my head that keeps telling me they are wrong, but no matter what I do I can't get rid of them", Ben said before pausing for a second to gauge Jake's reaction, "perhaps wouldn't understand”, he added lowering his eyes.

“No, I get it”, Jake quickly replied, “I understand, probably better than you think”.

Ben looked puzzled, “what do you mean”? He asked looking up and batting his long lashes.

“How about we talk about tomorrow”? Jake said changing the subject, “seeing as we are being honest with each other, I’m kind of shitting myself”.

“Can I see the message”? Ben asked twisting his body to face Jake.

“Sure, here”, Jake replied, opening his phone, and passing it across, “not much information there, just a time and a place to meet, I hope I'm not about to have my kidney's harvested and sold on the black market".

Passing the phone back, Ben looked up into his eyes, “I’m sorry, Jake”.

“Don’t be”, Jake replied taking Ben’s hand, “nobody forced me to do anything, I chose to help”.

“But I shouldn’t have got you involved”, Ben replied allowing Jake to run his fingers between his own, “I… I…”.

“Shhhh”, Jake said placing his freehand under Ben’s chin and leaning in.

As he felt his lips touch his feminized friend's, Jake felt his pulse quicken and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Ben's lips felt like little soft pillows and tasted like the most delicious strawberries he had ever tasted, but before he even had the chance to process what was happening, Jake suddenly felt Ben jerk backwards, ripping his hand from his own.

“I’m... I'm sorry”, Jake stuttered, “it's just, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and also the coolest, I love you, Bunny”.

Ben’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open, “I… I… excuse me for a moment, can I use your bathroom”?

“Err... of course”, Jake replied surprised by the question as he watched Ben rise to his high heeled feet and totter quickly from the room.

Edging to the front of the sofa, Jake placed his head in his hands, “you idiot”, he said to himself, smashing his palms into his forehead, “too soon you idiot”.

For the next ten minutes, Jake sat rocking on the edge of the sofa listening for any sound of life. The apartment was eerily quiet but at least he hadn’t heard the front door open as he had expected.

Starting to worry, he was just about to go and check to see if Ben was ok when he heard the toilet flush. Lifting his head, he listened as the bathroom faucet came on and then turned off again, he then heard a door open and close and the sound of high heeled shoes clicking noisily.

The sound grew louder until he saw Ben turn the corner with a rather serious look on his face.

Without stopping Ben strode towards him with purpose, “Bunny, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that without….”, his sentence was halted when Ben placed a long red nail to his lips, “Shhhh”, Ben said, climbing atop his lap and wrapping his arms around Jake’s neck, “I love you too”, Ben said softly.

Jake, with a dumb look on his face, stared up into Ben's dark beautiful eyes, completely shocked by the turn of events, “I... I... don’t know what to say”, he replied.

Ben smiled, “you don’t have to say anything, just kiss me, you idiot”.

(See image 1.2)