"Tashen tells me everything."
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Jude is putting what he needs for his days work in his bag, stuffing leg warmers (not the pink ones) along with a fitted track suit, a towel and his reusable bottle of water into a long zippable bag. He was on auto pilot. Body going through the motions of the morning routine, with his mind in a cloud of emotion. 

Milo Macdonald had been all Jude had thought about. He couldn't help it. Milo just made him feel a type of way. Just thinking of him made Jude get excited, his adrenalin coursing just that little bit faster through his veins. He hadn't felt like this in a long time. 

But right in this moment, Jude feels depressed, sad, deflated. Hell! He felt jealous. Jealous of how Hester always managed to ruin every moment of intimacy like it was some kind of wicked plot. He knew he was being ridiculous and kept shaking these crazy ideas from his thoughts, but they kept on returning.

How could just a little attraction cause Jude to feel like he was in the deepest depths of a close relationship?

Tashen had told him to fight for what he wanted, but was he the fighting kind? Did he have the strength to pursue this? Jude wasn't sure. He always felt too vulnerable, too foolish to show his feelings. Scared he would frighten the other person away, but if he sat around and said nothing, was compliant and agreed to what was happening around him, he would never get what he wanted.

Jude's thoughts are brought back to the present when he sees Tashen's door open, with a shirtless Charlie emerging, rubbing sleep from his eyes, yawning, mouth so wide, it could swallow a car!

Charlie Burrows. The embodiment of an Adonis. His torso, perfectly designed, with every detail just so. Jude always joked he was sculpted from clay, probably by Tashen's fair hands, with the amount of time that man spent feeling his boyfriend's chest and body.

Jude remembers when he first met Charlie. He was a shy guy, almost hiding behind Tashen whenever Charlie came around. Jude and Charlie didn't really speak to begin with. Jude always felt that Charlie was a little distant for some reason, but as they got to know eachother, they actually had more in common than they realised, growing up in the same town for one. Now they were friends.

Charlie ultimately makes Tashen happy and that's all Jude could want for his best friend.

"You slept over?" Jude asks, though it was obvious Charlie had. 

"Mmhm." Charlie smiles raising his brows in acknowkement as he makes his way to the fridge in the corner of the kitchen, pulling out two cartons of milk, one banana, one strawberry. 

There is a brief moment of silence before Charlie returns the dialogue. "You sorted out your date problems?"

"What do you mean? Jude looks at Charlie with surprise.

"Tashen tells me everything." Charlie half chuckles, making Jude glance at Tashen's bedroom before rolling his eyes. He could just imagine Tashen spilling it all to Charlie like some kind of gossip girl. "Hey I won't say anything." Charlie reassures, but can I give a piece of advice?"

"Sure." Jude sighs, halting his bag packing, giving Charlie his full attention.

"Don't jump to any conclusions with the guy's flatmate. I mean...I didn't like you much at first." Charlie forces an apologetic smile, and looks down at the milks he had just placed on the kitchen counter. 

"Oh really?" Jude puts on a very unimpressed tone, with an underlying half smile presenting on his face. What had he done to deserve such prejudice?

"It really was nothing personal, It was all me." Charlie defends. Before sliding into one of the breakfast bar stools. 

"What are you getting at?" Jude questions, now joining him on the adjacent stool.

"You and Tashen are very close and to begin with I was jealous of you. You had what I wanted and yeah, I didn't like how he cared for you. But as I got to know you and Tashen more, I saw that there was nothing to be jealous about. What you and Tash have and what Tash and I have are completly different." Charlie looks back up at Jude who is deep in thought. The words sinking in.

"Have you even met the guy yet?" Charlie asks. Jude shakes his head. "Well then that's what you need to do. Don't finish something before it's even started. You're probably stressing over nothing."

"Yeah I guess you're right." Jude sighs. 

"Of course I'm right!' Charlie beams.

"Char...where's my milk?" Both Jude and Charlie look in the direction of the slightly open bedroom door. 

"Coming baby!" Charlie pushes himself off the seat, grabbing the milks from the counter, giving Jude a half smile on the way before entering Tashen's bedroom and closing the door with his foot. 

Jude sighs as he hears laughter and muffled chat and a dog bark from behind the door. He slumps down on the stool. Maybe he should text Milo. Maybe they could start over.

He pulls out his phone and messages...