Neil goes for a run every morning while Andrew sleeps in for another hour
Some mornings, Neil gets a late start because Andrew wakes up, too
Neil doesn’t ask Andrew to join him on his runs, he knows it won’t happen
But one morning, Neil confesses that he misses Andrew during his morning runs and he can’t wait to get back home
Andrew just stares at him, then finally says, “316%” and rolls over to go back to sleep
Two weeks later Neil leaves their apartment at 5:30am for his normal daily run
Twenty minutes into his route, a cyclist in full cycling gear on a professional road racing bike passes too close to him, forcing Neil to jump out of the way
He stares at the cyclist, but he’s already too far away to be sure who it was
A few days later Neil is midway through his morning run when another cyclist rides too close again, this one on a rugged mountain bike
Neil saw his face this time
It was Andrew
When Neil gets back to the apartment, Andrew is lounging on the couch reading a book with both cats curled up on his lap
He ignores Neil’s entrance
Neil decides right then not mention the cycling
Two days later a cyclist on an orange folding bike with a tall seat and a rider in neon green bike shorts who can barely touch the pedals brushes up against Neil
It’s all Neil can do not to crack a smile
There is no mention of the incident back at the apartment by either of them
The next morning during Neil’s run, Andrew goes whizzing by him on a bright purple Schwinn with a sparkly silver banana seat that has a seven foot pole with a flag at the top attached to the back of it
(The flag is a rainbow color)
This time, Neil can’t help his grin but manages to wait until Andrew is past seeing it
Andrew still acts as if nothing is going on when Neil gets home, so Neil sticks with not mentioning it
However, Neil can tell by the twitch in Andrew’s lips that Neil’s lack of commenting is getting to him
The following morning, Neil is almost done with his morning run when Andrew zooms past him wearing silver and orange bike shorts and shirt, riding a hot pink tricycle, complete with wheel clackers and green and white streamers flying from the handlebars
Neil falls to the ground from laughing so hard
Andrew looks back at Neil with a smirk on his face and keeps on cycling
When Neil gets back to the apartment Andrew is once again reading on the couch
Nothing but My Aching Soul 