Extra Credit: A Gay Love Story (Elliot Extra Book 1)

by Erin Bilton-Hayes

  “Nice choice. I’ve always thought these ones are good luck, you know.”

  William smiled politely, “really?”

  “Oh yes. Young chap like you picked one up for his new office a few months back, came in last week for another because he’s expanding. I cut one for my daughter for the first home she moved into with her boyfriend. They’re getting married next year.” He turned away, pulling a heavy leather apron off a hook and shuffling into a back room where there was a brief whining of machinery, then handed the key back to William and rung it up on the chunky old register. William slipped the key into his front pocket, feeling the edges of it still warm against the pads of his fingers, and fished out his wallet with the other hand.

  “Well, hopefully it’s lucky for me too.”

  “Only one way to find out, eh? You have a good afternoon then.”

  It wasn’t quite two when he arrived home, unlocking the door with the new key to check it worked. It slid easily, the lock clicking smoothly. The curtains in the living room had been opened since he left, and the spring sun was streaming through. Tyler sat on the couch, his laptop balanced on one knee and a cup of coffee in front of him on the table. He turned at the noise and smiled. “I made a fresh pot of coffee; I only woke up about half an hour ago. How was class?”

  “No class today, it was just admin stuff. Back to it tomorrow though,” William handed over the key to Tyler, “find anything for breakfast?”

  “Yeah, I raided your cereal collection. Do you eat anything else?”

  “Coffee, mostly. Fruit. I need to go shopping though.”

  “I’ll tag along, if you want to go this afternoon? What are you teaching this semester, anyway?”

  William picked up his coffee cup from the table where he had left it this morning (so much for keeping his worst slobbish tendencies to himself) and wandered into the kitchen to pour himself a cup. “Sounds good, I’ll shower then we can head off?” he called back, then “uhhhh, a special paper on dystopian narrative fiction, a creative writing paper, I’m doing a bunch of grading for an experimental poetry paper too.”

  “Poetry?”

  “It’s bad. Have you ever tried to grade a blank page before?”

  “I was going to say, that’s not really your style. What else have you been up to since I saw you last anyway? It’s been ages, like, months since we hung out even before I left.”

  William paused, briefly frozen trying to figure out where to sit. Could he fold in next to Tyler? Should he sit across from him? “Uhhhhh, I guess-”

  Tyler saw him hesitating and shut his laptop, sliding it under the couch “shit sorry, I’m practically taking up your whole lounge.”

  William sat, folding a leg underneath himself. “Yeah, I guess just teaching really. None of it’s fixed, but I like it and I think I’m getting better at it. Bits of my own writing, you know how it is. I’m working on a book, but mostly- “

  “Mostly thinking about working on it?” Tyler sounded amused and sympathetic.

  “Got it in one, yeah. What about you? How was Australia?” William finished with a note of uncertainty in his voice. He wasn’t sure if this was off the table, conversationally speaking.

  Tyler worried at his lower lip, chewing it as he picked up his cup, cradling it in his lap. “It didn’t really go to plan. We just – it wasn’t…”

  “You don’t need to tell me, if you’re sick of talking about it.”

  Tyler barked out a humorless laugh. “Oh! No, not like that. I haven’t really talked about it at all. Just trying to, you know… make it linear, all that.” He paused, draining the coffee, but continuing to hold the empty cup. William waited. “I was really excited about moving, a new start, somewhere fresh. I like it here, but it’s- it’s small, when you’ve spent a few years here, you know that. Anyway, Jules went on ahead, and she was set up when I arrived.”

  William nodded, “a few months ahead, right?”

  “Yeah, and she had a job there.”

  “What have you been doing for work?” asked William curiously.

  “Well, that was kind of it. She was going out to work every day, and I’ve been writing. I got a few different contracts, some of it my name, some ghostwriting, but all from home. So, she was out meeting people and I was kind of…not. And we got along amazingly when we were both here, but I guess that was like… the first few months is always like that, you know? Brand new.”

  William was sympathetic, he’d made variations on this mistake himself.

  “Anyway, we didn’t fight, but we also didn’t… I don’t know, it sort of felt forced. It felt like I had a housemate, not a girlfriend. I was trying to get out, make friends, but she already had friends by the time I arrived, and I didn’t want to sort of push myself into that.” Tyler sounded miserable all over again, and William felt guilty for asking. He remembered suddenly that when he and Tyler had been in school together Tyler had often hung back from parties or Friday drinks unless explicitly invited. When they’d had dinner it was usually just the two of them, always arranged, never just happening. William started to get a creeping sense that maybe Tyler wasn’t quite as confident as he had appeared in class.

  “So, I pushed through for as long as I could” continued Tyler, “but we stopped, you know.” He paused, the slightest pink rising across his cheeks. “We stopped having sex. It felt very lonely.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry” William was sorry, he couldn’t think of many things lonelier than travelling halfway around the world to live with someone who decided they didn’t love you anymore. Hearing Tyler talk about sex also made his brain briefly white out and made him extremely aware of how close he was to him on the couch.

  “Yeah. So, I guess by, I guess six months in? I’d kind of figured out it wasn’t going to get any better. I tried to see what I could of Sydney and cut my losses. But it didn’t feel good having to come home so soon, you know? Hard to get more dramatic a declaration than moving to Australia, it’s a bit – well, it’s quite a public kind of way to break-up.”

  “I guess. I don’t know man, I think everyone knows break-ups suck.”

  “I suppose so. I think also – ah fuck, sorry, I’m just dumping so much stuff on you right now.”

  “Hey no, it’s ok. I get free reign to whine about bad student poetry, you get to complain about break-ups.”

  Tyler flashed a grin, and William felt blindsided by it. He kept being caught off guard by the intensity of the crush flaring again and again. “What if I start writing poetry of my own?”

  “Hard pass.”

  “Anyway. I didn’t start writing poetry, but I felt a bit. I don’t know, it sounds so stupid, but I thought that moving might give me a sort of direction? I never really knew what I’d do after college, and some people – you – always seemed so sure about where you would end up, you know?”

  William made a noise of shock “what? I mean, I’m still living in the same place, it’s not like I have some big plan or any- “

  “No, but you have a career. You’ve got writing with your own name attached to it, and a place of your own. You have a spare room, that’s pretty much the pinnacle of adulthood.”

  William hadn’t really expected that the funny little nook he’d carved out for himself would be impressive to anyone, or that the jealousy he had felt for the seamless ease with which Tyler’s life seemed to come together might be reflected back.

  “I guess. It feels weird to hear you say that. The spare room is handy though.”

  “Yeah, look – I shouldn’t need it long. I’ll start looking next week and- “

  William cut him off. “Honestly, I was thinking of finding another roommate anyway. I was starting to get a little weird living on my own. Stay as long as you need, don’t rush into some house you hate, ok?”

  He could see a line of tension dissipate through Tyler’s jaw as he said that. Fuck, his jaw, how was anyone this attractive, let alone someone who was sitting on his couch being grateful and, evidently, impressed
by him.

  “Thank you, so much, I know I keep saying it, but thank you, you’ve been such a lifesaver.”

  “Honestly, it’s so fine. Like I said, I kind of needed someone here to help keep me sane”, William paused. “I think I need to shower, then I should probably go and buy some food. Do you still want to come?”

  “Yeah – I want to see if anything’s changed since I left.”

  William tilted his head, considering. “Honestly I don’t think so, this place kind of stays the same”.

  Tyler looked up, meeting his eyes properly for the first time in a few minutes. “That’s sort of a relief at this point.”

  William started stripping off, before remembering he didn’t live alone anymore and hastily kicking the bedroom door shut. His towel was in the bathroom and – shit. He had no idea what the rules were any more. Was he allowed to walk around in boxers? It was his apartment, technically. Also, Tyler had looked pretty settled on the couch. The bathroom was just across the hall…

  Naturally, the second he opened his door he bumped into Tyler carrying his laptop back to his bedroom. “Ah, sorry” he stepped to the side and brushed past William in the narrow hallway, the hem of his shirt brushing against William’s bare hip as he did. William flicked his eyes down but felt Tyler’s gaze skimming his shoulders before he pulled the bathroom door shut behind himself. He leaned back against the door, wondering again why exactly he had decided to do this to himself.

  He stood in the shower letting the cold water run over his head, eyes closed, willing the electric heat he could still feel on his skin where Tyler had touched him to relent.

  Chapter 5.

  “Do I still need to call shotgun if I’m the only passenger?”

  “Don’t ask me, I only learned to drive two years back. I haven’t been fully briefed on the more arcane rituals. Shotgun passenger has to manage the music though.” William unlocked the car, leaned across and jiggled the handle of the passenger door until it opened, and waited for Tyler to fold himself inside. Sitting next to someone who was ever so slightly taller than him really emphasized how small the car was, unfortunately. Tyler moved his seat back as far as it would go, letting his legs stretch out in front of him. He was wearing a pair of faded but still tight blue jeans, and William allowed himself a discreet look at how they clung to his thighs, then threw him the aux cord.

  “Nothing over 120bpm, or I’ll end up with a speeding ticket.”

  Tyler smirked. “How’s the driving life treating you?”

  “Great thanks. I’m just a little too efficient.”

  William was internally beating himself up for allowing his mind to wander in this direction, but shopping with Tyler felt cozy and domestic. Given they had been friendly but not particularly close he wasn’t expecting this kind of easy back and forth, but they settled into a conversation like no time had passed. Almost better than before, if he was being honest. He wondered if there might be something in what they’d talked about earlier, about growing up, although that felt kind of overdue now that they were both in their thirties. In any case, he was less anxious about being right or being impressive, and more able to just relax into Tyler’s company.

  “God, I missed these while I was in Australia” Tyler grabbed a packet of luridly colored snack-cakes and threw them in the trolley. “The cereal over there sucks, too.”

  “No place like home, huh?”

  “I made it back without crushing an old lady under a house, even.”

  William snorted, and bumped Tyler with his hip, the familiar gesture feeling easy, like it had with Heath. “What do you want to eat besides, uh, cake and puffed rice with sugar?” he wasn’t sure if he should try to shake off the coupled-up way they were bantering back and forth.

  “Do you cook much?”

  William shook his head. “Honestly, I’m usually so beat after work I just wind up eating toast or something. I try to throw a vegetable in there now and then, but they’re usually out of a bag.”

  “I’m not bad at cooking? I can do dinners the next few nights, if you want. Give me something to do until I rustle up a new contract or two.” Tyler subtly moved in beside William to take over steering the trolley.

  “Oh! I mean, if you don’t mind, yeah. That would be amazing.” William was surprised and grateful for the offer.

  “Sweet. I’m going to loop back to where we started in that case, and throw some other stuff in here. I’ll grab these, call it rent.”

  “Dude you really don’t have to- “

  Tyler cut him off. “No. No you are doing me such a big favor, seriously”, he paused, “also, you haven’t seen me eat yet.”

  Tyler may have a point, considered William. He knew Tyler was absurdly nice, and that he filled out a t-shirt extremely well (possibly even better than when he last saw him). He didn’t know much else besides that, and he hoped Tyler didn’t have some lurking and as-yet-undiscovered bad housemate habits. Although, they hadn’t really discussed how long term this would be, so William could probably handle it if he hogged the shower for a week. William had a vague notion from one of his ex-boyfriends that maintaining the amount of muscle which Tyler had required a surprising amount of food, although he was fuzzy on if it was critical that most of it was unseasoned chicken breast.

  “Are you vegetarian?” William asked suddenly.

  “Huh? No. Why? Are you?”

  “No, no I eat virtually anything. Grad school habits die hard. I just realized I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to like, gross you out eating pepperoni pizza or whatever.”

  “Oh! No, like. I never trust people when they say they’re chill to live with, but I’m legitimately quite chill to live with. What about you? Any housemate pet peeves?”, Tyler looked up, holding a pumpkin in each hand as he weighed them up, looking both ridiculous and completely sincere.

  “Not really, I guess just don’t eat the last of something and if you’re not going to replace it”, William considered for a second. “I also hate vacuuming, so if you feel like a chore, you’re welcome to that one.” It occurred to him this was more functional than any conversation he’d ever had before a boyfriend moved in.

  “Respect the last bite rule, and knock myself out vacuuming, got it”, Tyler nodded solemnly, placing the larger of the two pumpkins in the trolley.

  “So, what’s the plan now you’re back?” William asked as they pulled out of the car park.

  “Honestly, I don’t really know. Like I said earlier, I kind of hoped moving away might help me figure that out.”

  William nodded, and waited.

  “I thought about trying to pick up some tutoring, just after school stuff, I guess? Or teaching undergrads maybe. I’ve still got some writing ticking over, and a manuscript I’ve been fiddling with.”

  “You’ve been writing a book?”

  “Well. I guess technically, yes” Tyler agreed.

  “That sounds like it could be a plan.”

  “William, how many of our cohort are making a living writing now.” Tyler’s tone was flat, a statement, not a question.

  William made a noise conceding the point.

  “Yeah. I mean, I am making a living writing, it’s just not writing that I’m excited about. Maybe that’s all I can hope for, you know?”

  “I guess. I don’t know, it can’t hurt to send out the manuscript, right?”

  “It’s not… finished. Properly.”

  William remembered Tyler agonizing over single lines in his work when they studied together. “Not done, or not finished?”

  “Oh my god, don’t pull the professor voice on me, that’s not fair! It’s done, I guess.”

  “You know, I know a thing or two about books” deadpanned William. “I could take a look.”

  Tyler looked pained. William decided to let the topic drop.

  Tyler insisted on carrying more than his share of groceries inside, then started doing something which looked incredibly complicated in the kitchen. “I’m just going to work on s
ome stuff for class tomorrow” William gestured towards the desk tucked into the corner of the lounge. “Just give me a yell if there’s anything you can’t find.” He felt slightly guilty just leaving Tyler alone, like he should be playing host, but he guessed that Tyler had a point, sort of. If he wants to show his gratitude by cooking something that smells, holy shit, absolutely amazing he’s more than welcome to. William settled in to answer emails and print off his notes for class, feeling cozy and domestic. He was more or less finished, the first time in months he’s felt legitimately on top of what he has to do, when Tyler appeared in the doorway, a smudge of flour on his wrist and a tea towel over one shoulder.

  “Dinner is pretty much done, but I can put it in the oven if you’re still working on something.”

  William glanced back to his desk, where the latest version of the article was sitting. “I’ll come back to it later, I think I’m ready for a break.”

  “Cool, is eating on the couch ok? I figured if you’ve been living off toast you probably aren’t too precious about eating at a table.”

  “No, couch is good by me.”

  Tyler disappeared through the doorway, and reappeared a minute later precariously holding two plates and a couple of forks. William shoved the pile of books and papers on the coffee table to one side, making space to put the plates down.

  “You’ve actually got like, a pretty sweet kitchen set up you know. Just no food to go with it” said Tyler, settling onto the couch next to William.

  “I mean, a lot of it came with the place” said William, shrugging.

  “Oh yeah. I wondered about that. I didn’t want to like, pry I guess, but what’s the deal with the whole…” he made a circular gesture with the fork, “owning a house thing?”

  “Well, apartment. And luck, really. I was the only grandchild. Dad got the rest of what they had tucked away, I got this place. Including a kitchen designed for someone who cooks, I guess.”