A Promise to the Moon [BL]

Chapter 8.:

The following morning, Pete woke up with his limbs sore and heavy, together with the feeling of a truck running over him several times during the night. Pete followed the instructions of his doctor, doing simple exercises in bed to make his blood flow. With the pills he needed to take every morning, he began feeling better after a few more minutes. During the days when he woke up this tired, he had to take care of his body more thoughtfully, controlling not only his breathing but, as well, keeping his calm and avoiding any excessive activities, to stabilize his heartbeat.

He took a slightly cooling shower, taking care of the body shock. The condition when he looked for the apartment was the air-conditioning in the bedroom, since he had to keep his body cooled, without unwelcomed sweating, which was caused by an overheated body. The temperature played its role in Pete's health condition as well. There were too many factors he had to keep track of in order to decrease the risk of his heart failing.

Pete was about to take a shower when the doorbell rang. With his boxers on, and a sleeveless shirt which he used as a pajama, he went to open the door. To his surprise, Bass stood there with several bags in his hands and multiple others standing around him on the ground.

“Good morning.” Bass greeted him with a broad smile on his face, directly making Pete feel pretty uncomfortable. The second day in this town, and this person standing right in front of him was already getting on his nerves.

“Good morning. When you said you would send someone to take care of the groceries, I thought you meant someone who works for you or who you know.” Pete tried to keep his tone under control. He didn’t dislike Bass, but his sparky character and talkative persona just made him feel tired the same moment his eyes landed on him. The thought of having a chat with Bass made Pete desire for a bed once again.

“That would take too long. Plus, ma prepared breakfast for you so I thought I would bring it as well and since I was on the way, I took care of the things you sent me on the list yesterday and some other I thought you might need.” The cheerful tone was something Pete couldn’t unheard of even if he wished to. Bass was literally flashing the energy coming through his sparkling eyes and his body language expressed excitement with every movement Bass made.

Since he was already standing in front of Pete’s door, he couldn’t just send him back. Especially since he took the time to bring the stuff. If it were anybody else, Pete could simply ask him to leave the stuff in front of the door and leave. Pete moved away from the door so Bass could enter, carrying the bags in his hands to the kitchen. Pete wanted to take the others which Bass placed on the ground, but before he could pick up the third bag, Bass had already come back, taking them from him and collecting the rest. In the end, Pete didn’t have to carry even a single bag with the groceries, which were actually for him.

“Let’s have breakfast first,” Bass told him while taking out the plates from the cupboard and opening the boxes with the breakfast his mother prepared for Pete. Pete scanned the plates, looking at what kind of dishes Mrs. Aranya prepared. Almost the same as yesterday, most of the food cooked by her was healthy, except only a few which couldn’t be cooked any other way, but Pete could eat them, although just a few bites.

“Does your mom always cook like this?” Pete asked curiously. It wasn’t the breakfast he would choose for himself, same as yesterday she cooked too many dishes, but Pete would definitely say that this kind of cooking mirrored the style of someone who took off his or her health regularly.

“Sort of.” Bass paused for a second, surprised by the question Pete asked, but after a short silence, he replied. Pete usually interacted only with his parents, teachers at the school and his best friend Vee, so his social skills were very low, but even if he could notice, Bass was partly avoiding the answer.

When he thought about it, yesterday he picked him up, and took care of him the whole time they were in the car and back in the restaurant. Even in the restaurant, he chose to sit in the place, away from people, and he told Pete to sit inside the corner, right in front of the wall. Bass even recognized Pete was tired and instead of persuading him to go for the tour, as they originally planned, he simply drove him back home without arguing. Even now, when he came with the groceries, he didn’t let Pete carry a single bag. This kind of attentiveness he got only from Vee and some teachers. Not even his parents doted on him this much.

“Do you provide this care for all of your tenants?” Pete asked him directly. Bass paused one more time. Pete observed him cautiously, trying to read his expression. Bass had a problem to answer, since he had to think about what he could probably disclose. Pete began thinking how he should ask to figure out how much he knew about him. Bass definitely knew more than he was willing to share and, since the only person Pete talked with was Bass’ mother, he had to get that information from her. Already Mrs. Aranya's care yesterday seemed off, but Pete was too tired to think about it or focus on it. Then it hit him. A specific sentence his mother said before he left the house early yesterday morning suddenly made sense. Pete never told them where he would move, yet his mother somehow knew where Pete rented an apartment.

“You talked to my mother.” Pete guessed out loud. More precisely, he was burning his brain trying to figure out what they knew, and his words were more of a speculation in his mind which he spoke out loud rather than directed to Bass. Bass silently observed Pete as his mind raced towards the conclusion. He began thinking whether he was too obvious about taking care of Pete and trying to avoid anything which could exhaust him.

“Just leave.” Pete turned to Bass with an unspecified expression all over his face. He felt confused, betrayed, and cheated as well. Pete knew his mother loved him more than anything in this world, and she would do everything to keep him safe. If she could give him her own heart, she would do that.

“It’s not like that.” Bass tried to reason with him and fix what he had caused. His mother was going to get insanely angry with him for making Pete suspect anything. She even emphasized the importance of not letting him know, yet he messed up.

“Please,” Pete insisted. “I am not angry. It’s just…” Loud sigh escaped Pete’s lips when he was trying to figure out his feelings. He couldn’t blame his mother for worrying and caring for him, but at the same time, he just wanted to spend his possibly last days having no one lurking behind his back, telling him what he should eat, when he should sleep, how he should behave.

“I understand.” Bass’ voice reflected his emotions, which grew inside. He didn’t mean to make Pete upset. When his mom told him about Pete’s condition, which she found out from Pete’s mother, he felt terrified and couldn’t even imagine how Pete had to feel or what was in his mind when living his daily life with the knowledge of dying anytime.

Bass dropped everything he was doing before he left Pete alone in the kitchen. Pete took multiple deep breaths, trying to calm his speeding mind before he pulled out his phone and searched for the number of his mom. He kept staring bluntly at the screen of his phone, with the word ‘mom’ written on the screen with her phone number below it. It took him a while to hit the button and dial her number.

“Good morning, my sweet boy.” Her sweet voice greeted him, although Pete could hear hidden sadness in her tone. She was missing him.

“Good morning.” He greeted her back. The moment he heard her voice, he couldn’t start the shower of questions which he had prepared in his mind during the time he looked down at the screen of his phone.

“Is everything alright my dear?” She asked him when Pete didn’t speak for a few seconds and they both ended in an awkward silence.

“I was just missing you and wanted to hear your voice.” What Pete said wasn’t technically a lie, since he was missing her, but it wasn’t the reason he called her. He wanted to ask her whether she had told Mrs. Aranya about his sickness, but the reaction Bass gave him when he asked actually answered that already.

“I miss you too. Are you eating well? Is everything alright there? Is the apartment to your liking?” Her sudden enthusiasm once Pete told her about missing her erupted like a volcano, sending a wave of emotions in his direction.

“It’s alright, I guess. I had little time to explore the area. The apartment is comfortable.” Pete answered her, but more questions came to his mind, especially since she asked about the apartment itself. Pete didn’t know how much his mother was involved with Mrs. Aranya, but he realized it wouldn’t do any good to ask about that. It honestly didn’t matter to him as much as he thought it would. If making sure there were people who would care for him, at least partly, made her feel comfortable and let him do what he wanted, it was most likely worth this little sacrifice. She did it behind his back, without him knowing it, and she probably wanted it to be like that, so Pete wouldn’t have to worry and feel pressured.

“I am glad to hear that.” She replied to him, with a relief recognizable in her voice. Just that little emotion, which appeared in her tone, made Pete feel right about his own thoughts. She must have been sick and worried after his fight with the father and his abrupt leaving of the house. This was the least he could swallow to let her be at last partly comfortable.

“When I settle down and get to know the places here, maybe you could come visit me. I’ll show you around.” He still felt a bit awkward talking to her. The last words he spoke before he left home weren’t pleasant ones and until now, he didn’t apologize. The apology ticked him on the tip of his tongue, but he still didn’t feel like apologizing to her for what he said, although he knew his words were too harsh and she didn’t deserve it.

“I’d love that.” She told him.

“Then it’s a deal,” Pete replied to her. They spoke on a phone for longer, with Pete telling her everything that happened yesterday in the restaurant, leaving only Mork out of the picture. He told her about his planned tutoring, which he explained as keeping his mind sharp while waiting for the operation. The awkwardness between them slowly dissipated and Pete once again talked to his mom openly, as he always did before.