A few days later...
Benjamin's birthday party...
Alan was watching the party once again, admiring the hard work he had done, when he happened to see that Marcus was leaning against a dimly lit wall, fiddling with his cell phone, as if there wasn't a party going on around him.
The teacher became even more suspicious when he saw a sideways smile on his face.
"There was something going on there and I'll find out by the end of the night," Al thought.
He felt two arms encircling him from behind, making Alan startle at first.
- What are you thinking, love? - Ben asked him, giving his neck a sniff. The teacher shivered at his lover's act.
- Don't you think my cousin is hiding something?
- And what could he be hiding?
- I don't know," Alan says, but continues, "He's not his normal self, that's true.
- And what is his normal?
- You know, my cousin loves to party.
- So what's he doing glued to his cell phone?
- That's what's bothering me.
- Go and talk to him.
Benjamin pushed his boyfriend, so in his mind he was encouraging his lover to go and talk to his cousin. B. didn't like to see Al suffering for something he didn't know.
- If you don't go, I'll go," Benjamin said, pushing Alan to go and talk to his cousin.
- All right. - I'm going - he said, giving his boyfriend a kiss - I'll let you know what I find out.
Marcus was talking to Antony on his cell phone, he loved parties, but his attention was on his house, and worry was on Marcus' mind.
Hello.
Antony, is everything all right?
21:00
Hello.
Marcus, everything's fine.
Go and enjoy your cousin's party.
21:05
I can't...
I think I'll go
21:10
Marcus blocked his cell phone and decided to find something to drink, his mouth was dry, he needed something to drink, his worry about An alone in his house didn't make him feel at ease.
As soon as he'd got his drink, he went back to the same place he'd been, picked up his cell phone again, but Antony still hadn't answered, which was causing him extra concern.
The truth is that Marcus feels something strange that he still can't put a name to, but the doctor likes to be by An's side, which makes him wonder.
Still unsure of his feelings for Antony, he finished drinking the drink he had picked up, but still without an answer, his concern grew and Marcus decided to leave.
Just as Alan was about to speak to Marcus, he headed for the exit and left. The teacher, unable to understand what was happening to his cousin, started to follow him, but before he could continue he received the following message:
Alan and Benjmin...
Something's come up, I'll have to go...
21:20
There, the worry that something might be happening to Marcus took hold of Alan, causing his thoughts to swirl with possibilities.
What was happening to Marcus? What was so important? Questions and more questions swirled around him, the doubts, or rather, the curiosities he harbored made him more anxious and want to know what was so important that his cousin had gone to do.
This was eating away at Alan, who now watched the party in search of his friend/sister Jo Ann, wanting to share his doubts with her and try to figure out what Marcus was doing with his life.
Marcus arrived at his house, actually an apartment, in one of the most expensive buildings in the capital of Bestemming, in a hurry to find his new "colleague".
A colleague who was feeling something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but he knew deep down that it was love.
He opened the front door to find the hallway leading into the living room, so the doctor could see the sofa and the television.
The sofa was made of white leather, a blanket wrapped around Antony who was lying across it, his head resting on his spleen. He was sleeping peacefully, like an angel.
Marcus was sure that he had fallen asleep while watching a movie that was already playing the credits, and without knowing what to do, he went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat.
He searched the entire kitchen, but unfortunately found nothing. The doctor hardly ever stopped at home, which would explain the lack of food in the house, but he would solve this in the most practical way he could find: he would order hamburgers for both of them.
While he was ordering the burgers, he thought about what had happened when Antony had left the hospital and was afraid to tell his hit-and-run driver that he had no place to stay.