letting go

Fish couldn't exactly say when they became best friends. He guessed they were. It wasn't like he really wanted the job. As he looked at Josie there in the breakroom, fifteen minutes before they were to open the library, Fish was glad Henry could at least confide in him.

"Just, let him..talk." Fish knew Josie was ready to hear every detail. Everything about Henry and Leo and their night at the motel room.

"I still don't know how, you got away with it." She looked at Henry as if he were some sort of bad ass.

"Maybe..maybe Henry doesn't want to talk about it." Fish winced as if this might not be a good thing, after all. Instead, he pushed one of the muffins that Josie brought toward Henry who was already hugging his mug of steaming coffee.

 "Aren't you going to check on Dean?" Fish looked at her in her little sweater set and plaid skirt. Fish felt certain she'd dressed for Dean.

"He's getting the bookdrop." Josie looked at him as if she knew very well she was being nosy and so was he.

'Its OK, I want to..talk about it." Henry looked a bit confused. Possibly, it didn't end well.

"What did, you do?" Josie squinted hard as if Henry needed to tell them. Now.

"Look, Henry, you don't ..have to say anything. OK?" He looked at Josie as if to let her know she better not blab any of this, to anyone.

Henry took a deep sigh.

"I made him cry." Henry said ever so straight lipped.

"YOU DIDN'T." Naturally, Josie thought the worst.

Fish pushed his auburn hair back into his head. He sat there in his chair looking at Josie as if she'd said enough. She stood there timid as if they were going places in her head that she didn't want to go. She left when she heard the old metal cart come through the circulation door.

"It wasn't like that." Henry then looked at Fish who only nodded.

"I didn't think it was." Fish thought he knew Henry hadn't gone to that motel room just for sex.

"I wish I didn't have all these feelings." Henry gritted then. "But I feel better about a lot of things with Leo. I do." He almost choked on tears. "He still loves me. I don't know how."

Fish bit his bottom lip, in thought.

"So, you feel closer now?" Fish finally asked. "That's all, you could ask for." Fish smiled then, hoping Henry could move on and not wallow in stale thoughts of the past. This was a new beginning. A better one.