There was a loud knock on the door. I rolled out of the bed where Alex was still asleep. I opened the door a crack to see who's on the other side and I was welcomed by Josh's grinning face. He waved a pink card at me that said Quarantine Pass.
I furrowed my head and let him in after spraying his whole body and soul with alcohol.
"I'm not the virus." Josh protested.
"You may be a carrier."
"Fair enough."
Josh sat comfortably and turned the TV on. It was almost noon and a drama played on screen.
"Where's Alex?"
"Sleeping." I answered as I rummaged through the fridge to cook for lunch. "You're gonna eat here?"
Josh nodded and smiled. I decided on macaroni and cheese. Alex emerged from the bedroom and went straight to the kitchen. I wasn't sure if he noticed Josh or not. He put his arms around my waist and nuzzled his head in my neck.
"Food." He mumbled. I blushed when I found Josh looking at us, his gaze was piercing. I wasn't sure. I patted Alex in the head and pushed him away gently.
"I'm gonna cook." I turned him and pointed towards the he living room. "You got a visitor"
Alex groaned but walked to Josh and greeted him with a lousy "hey"
Another knock on the door broke the silence.
"Why are we getting a lot of visitors today" Alex grumbled but he opened the door anyway. It was Zach and Mike. He sprayed Lysol in the room the moment those two stepped in. "Too many viruses."
"You should be using the quarantine pass to go to the supermarket not to go to my house." Alex grunted.
I listened in while contemplating on what to cook. I eventually dropped the pasta and cooked rice and fried pork chops since I was gonna feed a bunch of guys, might as well cook a meal heavy enough for them.
They were bickering in the living room when I came in. Alex was sprawled on the couch while the other three were on the floor playing video games.
"Lunch is ready." I announced. The three looked up at me and went to the kitchen. Alex stayed on the couch staring at the ceiling like it's the most interesting thing in the world. "Lunch?" I asked him.
"Later." He mumbled.
I shrugged and left him. I went to the kitchen and sat beside Josh. They were devouring their meal. I had to remind them that I exist and that I haven't eaten. I also saved a plate for Alex.
"You two getting along?" Mike asked.
I looked at him and gave a slight nod. I was about to speak but Josh beat me to it.
"Too much, actually." He said.
"What?" I said rather sharply. I don't know why I did. I just felt like he was accusing me or something.
"You and Alvin, you two are getting along really well, right?" Josh said, his voice laced with anger.
I stared at him in confusion.
"Josh, snap out of it." Mike said softly. Zach who was seated on my other side gave me a tap and motioned me towards the back room.
The back room was a 15 x 15 square, windowless room behind the kitchen. It was more of a stock room as it contains boxes of imported canned goods Alex's parents send from abroad. This was also where Alex kept his alcohol.
"Sorry about Josh." Zach started. I wasn't sure of what he was looking for. He was picking cans, reading the label and putting them back down.
"It's ok" I answered, leaning by the doorway.
He finally found a can of low sodium meatloaf, he smiled and looked at me. "You know that Alex is.."
"Gay?"
He nodded.
"I kind of figured."
"Good." He then turned his attention to the bottles of alcohol at the opposite side of the room. "See, Josh wasn't really happy about it. They're best friends so he had no choice but to accept it."
I kept silent.
"And because Alex wants to keep his friendship with Josh, he kept on dating girls to appease him. But when you entered the picture.." Zach settled on flavored gin and picked up the bottle. "He decided he'd rather be hated by his friends than not spend time with you."
My eyes furrowed and I stared at Zach. I didn't realize that it would be so complicated with his friends. " So, Josh hates me? Is that it?"
He shrugged. " Maybe."