Prompt Ramblings - 11. Prompt 296 - Photo prompt

The scent of sweet bread tortured me as I pulled on my tee shirt in my hurry to get ready. I was going to be late and Tommy had been baking, which was just my luck since I didn't have time for breakfast. I threw my bag over my shoulder as I shot down the hallway. Maybe I'd get lucky and there would be a chance to get a slice to go.

When I made it into the kitchen there stood my roommate mixing batter with a dejected look on his face. Five loaves of various breads lined the counter, more than what we could reasonably eat, and he was intent on making even more.

Shit. I knew the answer to the question even before I asked it.

“What's with all the baking?”

Tommy huffed, his bright blue eyes reddened on the verge of tears. “Steve dumped me last night.”

Wonderful. Here we go again. Steve was the most recent in an endless series of incredibly hot yet completely unavailable men that Tommy had the knack for hooking up with. All of them had the same criteria: high sex drives and the inability for monogamy. Tommy had an douche magnet in his head – or his ass.

Now we were in the cooking binge stage of his grief. I hoped this wouldn't last too long this time. The last one filled the house with so many gingerbread cookies, I can't even look at them anymore without gagging. All food overdosing aside, it ate at me when I was forced to watch him so upset.

“So to get him back you're going to put on fifty pounds?”

Tommy shrugged. “I can't see the harm right now.”

“Tommy, you know you're better than this.”

“All I asked was for us to date exclusively. What that too much to ask?” A haggard sniffle stopped his work. “He called me a needy freak.”

Tommy's shoulders began to quake as the first tear rolled down his cheek and I couldn't stop myself from dropping my bag and collecting him in my arms. Smaller hands than mine fisted in my shirt as he hissed into my chest trying to regain his fragile composure.

“I'm so sorry, Tommy,” I whispered.

My heart ached at his pain; we had been friends for longer than I cared to admit. I held him close and swallowed down the anger that boiled up at the callous words Steve threw in Tommy's face. It made me furious that here he was, crying and wounded in my arms again.

But this time around, along with my disdain for yet another unsuitable boyfriend, I felt a consuming annoyance for the man I was comforting. Once again, we repeated the pattern that would be my never ending hell. The longer I held him the worse it became.

“Why does this keep happening?” He whimpered into my chest. “What's wrong with me, Dan?”

“You keep going after these guys that are obviously only interested in a good time and when you try to push them into something they don't want, you're hurt and surprised when they walk out on you.”

My tone wasn't as supportive as maybe it should have been, but I couldn't calm down the burn in my chest. This whole situation was twisting my last nerve. Tommy pulled away from me, a deep trench between his cute brows as he gave me a dirty stare.

“Sounds like someone's a little jealous because they haven't been on a date since we moved in together.”

In retrospect, I probably should have been more sympathetic. I could barely understand where the frustration was coming from. I had always been the gentle, caretaker who cleaned up after him and always stood by his side. But this time when he snarled at me, I gave it back to him bigger and badder than he ever expected.

“Some of us have higher aspirations than being used as a party animal's cumdump.”

“Fuck you!” he shouted. “You're supposed to be my best friend!” The hurt look on his face did nothing to flatten my mood.

“I am your best friend. You're the one who asked what was wrong with you. I didn't realize you just wanted me to tell you it was all their fault.”

“What the hell's that supposed to mean?”

“You don't actually want a relationship in the first place.”

“You think I like being lonely? You think getting dumped makes me feel good about myself?”

My voice echoed in our little kitchen. “No, I think the whole thing scares you so bad, you set yourself up to fail every time. You pick guys that you have to know will never give you this unrealistic fantasy you have in your head. Then it all falls apart and I get to pick up the pieces for you to go through the whole fucking process all over again.”

If I wanted to make Tommy as pissed as I was, I succeeded. Red faced, his jaw ground so hard, it was the only thing keeping his shaking body from detonating as we stared each other down. In a huff, he turned back to the counter, grabbed his spoon and took out his rage on the batter in the bowl as he sneered back at me.

“I'm sorry if I'm such a burden on you.”

The ferocity of my move surprised me as I pounced, spinning him around and pinning him to the counter. I invaded his personal space and he froze like the prey he suddenly was. My voice was little more than a throaty growl; at this distance I didn't need more.

“Maybe if you spent less time chasing these shallow sons of bitches you might see there are other options out there. Instead of taking perfectly decent men and dumping them in the friend zone you might see there are people right in front of you who could love you for exactly who you are and give you what you've always needed.”

He tremored against this uncharacteristic display, my larger body surrounded him no longer the meek friend he took for granted. No longer content to be his big quiet buddy, my lips hovered over his, shuddering gasps as quick as his heartbeat puffed against my own. I could have crushed my mouth over his and taken him hard like every man he dated.

But I didn't.

I stepped back, my pulse hammering my chest as I admired the stunned and confused look left behind on Tommy's face.

“I have to go to work.”

Tommy didn't say a word. A strange sense of satisfaction settled over me, his wide eyes following my every move as I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out the door.