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Bath was beautiful. They ended up sitting on benches for a while in the park opposite the Royal Crescent, surrounded by daffodils and looking up at the stunning arch of terraced Georgian houses.
Balthazar’s phone rang. “Oh, um, it’s my mum.” He got to his feet and walked a small distance away from the others.
There was quite a variety amongst the group with the amount of contact with home. Benedick had been talking to his mum pretty much every day recently but Balthazar hadn’t really been in contact much.
“Just checking that you’re alive,” was his mum’s first comment.
“Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m still here. We’re in Bath.”
“Ah, Jane Austen’s Bath?”
“I um, I think so?” Balthazar was blurry on the specifics. “There’s lost of fancy buildings around. It looks like it could be Jane Austen.”
“I don’t think she actually built them, sweetie.”
“You know what I mean.”
"So," his mum suddenly said. "Rosa told me about Pedro."
Balthazar didn't want to jump to any conclusions though his stomach did clench up slightly. "Um… what about Pedro?"
"Well, I can't remember precisely but something about a beach and it raining and -"
"Oh my god," Balthazar groaned, already wishing he could block this moment from his mind forever. "Are you kidding?"
"What? Is it so bad for her to have told your own mother about these important life events?"
"I told her specifically not to tell anyone!"
"And why not?"
"Pedro isn’t out yet!" Balthazar realised that he was speaking quite loudly and glanced over his shoulder to see if the others were listening. They weren’t but he lowered his voice to say, "He's not even told his parents yet."
"Ok, ok, I get it. Mum's the word."
"..."
"Can I speak to him?"
"No."
"Balthazar, I just want a chat."
"Why do you want a chat? What do you want to chat about?"
"Just pass the phone over. I won't say anything embarrassing, I promise. I won't tell him about the first time you had a boyfriend over and the incident with the satsuma and the -"
"Ok, ok!" Balthazar said, mostly to stop her from talking. "I'll go and get him." He covered the phone with his hand and beckoned to Pedro.
Pedro did that adorable confused face that made Balthazar grin and beckon again.
“What’s up?” Pedro said, coming over.
“My mum wants a chat.”
“Oh, cool!” Pedro immediately took the phone off him. “Hi, Sue! … Yeah. … Yeah!” And he laughed, looking at Balthazar as he did. “No, she didn’t actually build them!”
Balthazar sighed and wandered back to the others, his eyes flicking cautiously back to Pedro every now and again.
“Baking!” Hero was saying enthusiastically as Balthazar perched on the side of the bench. “I miss it so much!”
Beatrice nodded. “I can’t wait to eat all of Hero’s baking.”
“I just want to sleep in my own bed…” Benedick said with a wistful look in his eye. “Without being disturbed by random people’s snoring and Balthazar’s sleep singing.”
“Hey,” Balthazar smirked, “I don’t, I don’t sleep sing!”
“You do though,” Beatrice said.
Hero grinned and patted the arm of his coat. “It’s adorable.”
“What are you looking forwards to?” Benedick turned to Balthazar expectantly. “Aside from the obvious things that are too obscene for Hero’s ears.”
Balthazar rolled his eyes then looked across at where Pedro was talking on the phone. “I don’t know,” he said. “Um, I guess… I’m not looking forward to going back.”
Beatrice looked unconvinced. “Ok, but the sun though. You want the heat right?”
“Well, yeah, I suppose… I’d prefer not to go back yet though.”
“This has been awesome but it’s definitely time to go home now, for me,” Hero said. “I miss my mummys and Leo and my bedroom and everything. And I feel really worn out.”
“Yah, I’m going to spend at least a week just lying on the beach when we get back.” Beatrice turned her face towards the cold sun, as if hoping to gain some extra rays. “I’ll just soak it all up.”
Benedick was nodding. “That sounds good.”
“Who said you were invited?”
“I am invited. I invited myself.”
Beatrice was grinning when she said, “Well, maybe I wouldn’t want you there.”
“It’s a public beach. From a legal perspective you have no right to keep me away.”
Hero met Balthazar’s eyes and shared an exasperated smile.
Balthazar was entirely unable to invest in this conversation though as half of his mind was over with Pedro. He glanced over again. There was a twinge in his neck that could be the sign of RSI. Pedro had one hand on his hip and the other held the phone to his ear. His was looking upwards to the tall building in front of them. Balthazar felt something in side of him flicker nervously.
Their flight was in three days from London Gatwick. Three days and they would be back in Auckland. Balthazar had been unconsciously dreading the trip ending for a while. Now it wasn’t so unconscious. It was fairly conscious. He knew that things with Pedro would carry on until then but who knew after that.
Pedro was laughing again and when he looked over and met Balthazar’s eyes, his smile widened.
Balthazar got to his feet and went back over. “Are you done yet?”
“… Yeah, that’s him,” Pedro said into the receiver, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “No, I won’t. I won’t say anything.”
“Ok, what have you two been… Ugh…” Balthazar groaned. “This is the worst.”
Pedro laughed and put his free arm around Balthazar’s shoulders. He pulled Balthazar in and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be silly, you noodle. We were just talking about your sleep singing.”
“I… I don’t sleep sing. That’s not even a thing.”
Pedro laughed then spoke into the phone. “Yeah, he said it wasn’t a thing… I know!”
“Alright, that’s enough! Say goodbye!”
When Balthazar had finally managed to wrestle the phone from Pedro and said goodbye to his mother, Pedro pulled him into a hug.
“You are adorable…” Pedro was smirking.
Balthazar pulled back and grimaced. “…What did she tell you?”
“You’re just too cute.”
“Um, I’m not cute. What did she say?”
“Nothing…” Pedro leaned forwards to kiss him, a laugh still playing on his lips.
And then the sounds of retching coming from a nearby bench were too loud to ignore any longer.
“Shut up!” Pedro cried over his shoulder.
“Balthy,” Beatrice was mimicking loudly in a gruff voice, “your words are the lyrics to my heart.”
Benedick attempted a Kiwi accent for Balthazar and failed hilariously. “Your hair is so beautiful, Pedro, I want to touch it all the time!”
“You play my heartstrings like a tiny little, fleshy ukulele.”
“You are so strong, like a Dothraki warrior. You are my moon and stars!”
“I’m going to pretend I don’t understand that reference because I play football.” Beatrice puffed up her chest and did her best caveman impression.
“You’re not as funny as you think you are!” Pedro yelled, but he was laughing.
Balthazar grinned too. He couldn’t help gripping onto Pedro’s hand a little too tightly.
Three more days.