Carlos comes back from his short-second trip out of the house to get a cake.
“He~ey! I got you a candle that says ‘Sorry,’ I think you’ll love it.”
Landon holds back a slight smile, but Carlos playfully pushes him and he laughs. The shower really did ease him, and the thought behind getting a cake from his friend did make him feel better. It was one of those cakes with glazed fruits at the top and chocolate bits sprinkled along the sides; likely, it was an ice cream cake. They keep play-fighting each other.
“Man—knock it off!” He playfully elbows Carlos in the gut.
“Oohh, don’t make me smash your face in this cake!”
Laughter fills the air, even as the sense of dread still lingers. Landon tries not to think about it, but accidentally spaces out reminiscing all of his other celebrations—parties celebrated with his lover—and his expression shifts slightly. Carlos’ keen eye notices and he sharply says,
“Hey, your cake’s gonna melt. You better call a slice before I take the good ones.”
“Oh, on my birthday?” He teases.
“Hey, I bought the cake!”
“Mm, and I bought this house!”
“.. Touché.”
Carlos makes his way to the kitchen to get a knife, handing it to Landon who takes it hesitantly. He cuts uneven slices, serving Carlos a purposely plain, smaller slice.
“Seriously?—”
He cuts him off, “Ah, I’m the birthday boy, now. You could give me a crumb on your day.”
“No, I’m not giving you shit on my day… And I’m making you buy my cake.”
Landon snickers and Carlos cracks a smile.
Landon asks, “How are we even gonna eat all this?”
“I dunno, I’m sure you have friends who’ll eat it. I’ll eat a slice or three, like, over a few days, too.” Carlos says.
They both grin and take a bite of their slices.
Landon complains, “Man, I’m totally gonna get sick.”
They stepped outside now, the sun setting slowly in the distance. Thin layers of ice formed over some puddles on the streets and lawns.
“Yeah probably, but hey, at least you had fun contracting it!”
Carlos laughs and Landon looks down at his shoes as they move. It seemed like his roommate always had energy, to run and bounce around, to laugh and play, and, hell, he’d even gotten a pretty good job right in front of him. It wasn’t a huge secret that Carlos would end up leaving him, too. Yet, he dreaded the thought, the day, the time. He wanted to stop the sun’s movement, stop the rain from falling, and stop the universe’s orbit. Maybe that was his birthday wish. He looks up at Carlos, who’s looking at all the gardens with flowers frozen over, trees with little leaves left, and almost slipping on the pavement.
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