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Chapter

Chapter Two.

Over the next few days I learnt more about Henry's family than I knew in the last seven years. His mother's pastimes, his father's business, I knew everything. The only one thing Henry refused to tell me was about his brother, Michael. He said that when I would meet him, I would understand why.

"Jess!" Henry exclaimed as I walked into his apartment. He was dressed only in a pair of boxers, with clothes all over the place. I raised an eyebrow at him. One would think that a girl lived in this place.

"Wow," I breathed out when he took out a bottle of wine from somewhere underneath a pile of clothes. "Are you throwing out clothes or something?"

He gave me a dirty look, "Of course not. I'm packing."

I raised my eyebrows. "Packing? Is that what they call these days?"

He glared at me. "Shut up. I have to look perfect, no matter what. And when you see how impeccably my brother dresses you will understand."

This was one more thing I didn't understand about Henry. He was amazing in every way. He had a great job, earned enough to get him through, had a lot of friends, was the apple of his mother's eyes, still he compared himself to his brother. According to Henry, if I thought that he was perfect, I would not know how to react when I would meet his brother.

"Your brother and you are two different people," I said, "If everyone in the world tried to be like someone else, we wouldn't have any originals. You are going to your parent's house. Not for a business lunch or something. You don't have to dress up in suits just because your brother is too much of a businessman to dress like a normal person."

Henry looked at me in surprise. It was as if he couldn't believe the words that had come out of my mouth. I had never ever chastised him for his choices, for the way he thought; I wasn't his mother for god's sake! But sometimes, I had to. I wouldn't be a good friend, let alone best friend if I let him compare himself to his brother.

"You're right," Henry sighed. "I shouldn't compare myself to Mike. You know what, sue the suits! I'm going to carry only shorts with me."

I laughed. I had no other response. He handed me the bottle of wine and I drank right out it, making him scrunch up his nose in disgust. "You are a really..." he paused, looking for the right word. "What is wrong with you?!"

I smirked, knowing the next thing I was going to say would probably make him kill me. "It's better straight out of the source sweetheart."

He gave me a dirty look, no doubt realizing what I was referring to. "Not funny Jess. Remember, no sexual jokes in front of my parents."

I frowned. "How are they going to believe if we are really a couple or not?"

"When we drop small kisses and cuddle like the normal couples...?" Henry trailed off, making my eyes widen in surprise. I stared at him, trying to process what he just said. Kisses? Cuddles?

"Your joking right?" I asked, crossing my fingers and mentally praying that he was. Kissing him would be no big deal if he wasn't my best friend! And the cherry on the top was that he was gay! Kissing my gay best friend wasn't really something on my '100 things to do before I die' list.

"We have to act like a couple Jess," Henry said slowly, as if he was talking to a child. I frowned as he continued, "I'm not a big fan either, trust me, but I really cannot blow this."

"Are you ever going to tell them?" I asked. This was a touchy topic for him. We almost never broached on this topic. It was taboo. I avoided it as much as possible, but sometimes I couldn't help but ask him.

He glared at me, but I didn't even flinch. "That's for me to decide."

"I'm just asking you," I sighed. "You cannot hide it from them forever, one day when you actually find someone, you may lose him because you refuse to come out."

He turned around and walked into the kitchen. I sighed, hoping that he would come to his senses.

While I waited for him to calm down and return, I picked up all the clothes from the floor. I hung up the suits in the hangers and laid them down on the couch. While I was folding all his jeans Henry came into the room. He looked surprised to see me still there and cleaning up.

"You didn't go," he said slowly as if waiting for the words to sink in. "I'm sorry for walking out like that. I shouldn't have. I will tell my parents. You have no idea how old fashioned they are. I know that's no excuse, but I will talk to them, in the far future."

I shook my head at him. He was such a kid sometimes. "Help me clean up before it looks like a hurricane struck this place."

He laughed. "Did you finish packing?"

"Nope," I shook my head. "I don't know what to pack. I was hoping that you would help me."

"We need to go shopping!" Henry announced.

I was just about to turn and run out the door when I heard those words, but the chastising look he sent my way stopped me in my tracks.

"I don't want to go shopping!" I exclaimed. "I have to finish up some work at the café. I'm leaving for two weeks."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You're the boss, you can take off whenever you want."

"Please Henry, no..!!" I whined, resorting to damage control measures. Going shopping with him was like signing a death wish. I had been through that torture enough.

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