Page 36 of The Weight Of It All

Fifteen

Reed knew I couldn’t jog and talk at the same time, so he stayed alongside me, the support in his silence loud and clear.

The path that traced the bay was for joggers and cyclists, dog-walkers and pram pushers. It was very scenic and a popular place to be. But in the past, I’d simply driven on the road next to them, never given any of them a single thought.

Now under a perfect Sydney sky, they smiled at us or gave a nod or a “hi” as we went past each other. I had to admit, it was nice and reaffirming that society, and people in general, didn’t all suck like I’d presumed for years.

I wasn’t miraculously cured of my cynicism, but the change of outlook, no matter how brief, was refreshing.

Don’t get me wrong, I was still dying. And I’d never been more relieved when Reed’s phone beeped. He pressed a button and said, “That’s three Ks. Wanna keep going?”

I stopped and waved my hand dramatically before putting my hands on my knees and gulping in air. “No. Dying. Fuck. Legs. Lungs. On. Fire. ”

Reed was barely sweating. “You’re doing great. And you’re almost halfway. Come on, keep walking.”

We’d probably walked a hundred metres before I could talk properly. “It’s different than running on a treadmill.”

“It is.”

“It’s harder.”

“Treadmills are a controlled environment. This isn’t.” He looked at his watch again, and pressed some more buttons. “Come on. This time we’ll go for one K.”

And so we jogged again. I was nearly taken out by a guy on a bike, and Reed had to pull on my elbow to avoid me being mowed down by a lady pushing a stroller, who I was certain was being remote-controlled by the evil toddler in the stroller.

The little kid laughed when I almost tripped over but miraculously managed not to face plant.

I considered giving the kid the bird, but thought it might be frowned upon.

Somehow, I made that one kilometre, then we walked for a bit while I caught my breath. Before I knew it, we were around the other side of the bay, and I could see the Haberfield Rowing Club up ahead. “Jesus.”

Reed smiled effortlessly and showed me his watch. “Less than two kilometres to go.”

I had a sip of water. “And I’m not even dead yet.”

“Not even close,” he replied. And so we started to run again. Well, maybe the word run was a little ambitious. At the rate we were being overtaken by people with prams and dogs, it was safe to assume the term slow jog was probably more apt.

But I didn’t stop for another kilometre.

This time I needed to not walk. I needed to stop completely and take some deep breaths. With my hands on my hips, I had to work to get air into my already struggling lungs.

Reed gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You’re doing great, Henry. Almost there.”

If I looked directly over the water, I could see Drummoyne swimming pool and Terry Park, where Anika, Sean, and Melinda were waiting in the shade on blankets with cushions and baskets of food... exactly where I wanted to be.

“Only got the bridge to go.”

I looked over at the Iron Cove Bridge, the bridge I’d driven over countless times, and noticed for the first time what connected the path to the bridge itself.

“Oh are you fucking kidding me? Stairs?”

Reed grinned. He fucking grinned. “Come on. You’ve got this, Henry.”

By the time we got to the bottom of the stairs, I was mentally prepared to die. Reed waited at the first step with me, and together we looked up to the top. “It’s just twenty steps.”

It may as well have been twenty million.

“Tell me,” Reed said. “When you first walked into the gym, on that very first day, how far could you run?”

“Not far.”

“How many sit ups could you do?”

“None.”

“How many steps could you do on the elliptical?”

“About ten.”

“And how many can you do now?” he asked. “In just under two months, Henry, how far have you come?”

“A lot.”

“Are you gonna let twenty steps stop you?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“You’ve done over six kilometres, Henry. I’m telling you, you got this. You can do this.”

I nodded. I could do this. Reed was right.

I had come so far. With a deep breath, I did the sign of the cross, just in case, and took the first step.

Then another, and another and another, and before I knew it, I was at the top, and I was on the home straight.

I literally just had to run the length of the bridge, and it was all downhill from there .

I looked up at Reed. “I wanna run to the finish line.”

His grin was breathtaking. “Atta boy.”

So I gave it all I had. I left nothing behind, and I pushed myself harder. And when I thought I couldn’t go another step, I just kept going.

I pushed and pushed and made the bridge, then the final few hundred metres back to where we started.

It almost killed me, but I fucking did it. I could barely stand, my legs were absolute jelly, my lungs were burning, and putting my hands on my knees and trying to breathe was all I could do to stop from keeling over.

Reed put his hands up, victory style. “You did it!”

I put my hand to my chest. “We.” I took a few lungfuls of air. “We. Did. It.”

“Henry!” Anika yelled, and I stood upright just before she collected me in a crushing hug. “You did it!”

“I did.”

She let go of me like I was covered in some kind of contagious bacteria. “Oh my God, you’re all sweaty.” Then she was all excited from a safe distance. “But you did it!”

Some people walked past, and Anika announced to them, “He just did his first Bay Run!”

“Well done. Congratulations,” they said.

I waved them off. “Trying. Not. To. Die.”

Reed laughed and pulled me against him, kissing the side of my head. “You did it, Henry.”

I let him hold me up. “Still trying not to die.”

We turned to walk slowly back up to the picnic, where Sean and Melinda were waiting. Sean looked like he’d just woken up from a nap, and Melinda stood up and went to hug me, but when she saw me, she put her hands down and took a step back. “Oh. I’ll hug you later. Well done, Henry.”

“Great effort,” Sean said.

“Thanks, guys.” I collapsed onto the blanket, lying flat on my back. “Ugh. Everything hurts.”

Reed sat down next to me. “You did great, Henry. I can’t believe you ran the last part.”

Anika cleared her throat. “Uh, excuse me. I ran from here all the way down to the path. Where’s my gold medal?”

I snorted. “Stellar effort, Neeky.”

“I know, right?” she said proudly. “Here, let me get you something to drink. You hungry?”

“I knew I brought you along for a reason.”

She laughed and rifled through one of the picnic baskets, and I manoeuvred myself so I could rest my head on Reed’s lap. “You right there?” he asked me.

“Still not entirely sure I’m not going to die,” I explained.

He smiled down at me and pushed the hair off my forehead. “Can you believe you just did the Bay Run?”

“Nope. I wouldn’t have done it without you.”

His response was an eye-crinkling smile, which was my new favourite thing.

Anika held up a container. “Here’s some grapes. And I have some crackers, some low-fat cheese.”

“Low-fat cheese is a thing?” I asked.

“A disgusting thing,” Anika said, “but a thing, nonetheless. I figured if you were doing this whole running thing, you wouldn’t want normal food. I have apple juice, mineral water, and some filtered vitamin water or some such nonsense they’re selling these days.”

So we stayed at the park, lazing in the shade of the trees on blankets and snacking on fruits and crackers, talking and laughing for hours.

It gave me a warm thrill to know my friends liked Reed and that he liked them.

There would be no division, no separation in social circles, like there had been with Graham.

Reed laughed with Sean and chatted with Anika and Melinda while I rested my head on his lap .

When I tried to sit up, my body protested, and I groaned. “Oh good Lord. Do the Bay Run, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.”

Anika sipped her juice. “They lied, honey.”

Reed laughed and sprang to his feet. He held out his hand for me to hold so he could pull me up. “Let’s get you home.”

We helped pack up the picnic and said our farewells, with promises to talk soon. Anika gave my hand a squeeze, and the smile in her eyes told me she liked him. Her approval made me happier than it should have. “I’ll call you later,” I told her.

“Hopefully you’ll be too busy,” she said cheerfully. I wanted to kick her in the shin, and Reed thankfully pretended not to get what she meant. She just laughed at my horrified glare. “Love you, Henry.”

I flipped her off, then waved goodbye to Melinda before Reed and I walked back down to my car.

After all the lead-up to today, it was hard to believe it was over. I was proud of myself for completing the Bay Run and thankful for Reed being with me every step of the way.

“Where to now?” I asked.

Reed looked over the top of my car at me. “Your place.”

I grinned, and hope of what was to come flooded my belly. When we got to my place, I threw my keys on the table and let out a groan.

Reed looked concerned. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore, but not as bad as I thought, to be honest.”

“Want me to run you a bath?”

“You’d do that for me?”

Reed gave me a shy smile. “Of course.”

“Then I would love that.”

He planted a soft, wet kiss on my lips, lingering just long enough for me to want more. For me to know there would be more. And I knew then that we’d take our relationship that one step further today. I knew we’d end up in bed, and I knew I’d have him inside me.

My blood warmed at the thought, my cock stirred, and I hummed.

He smiled knowingly and bit his lip as he walked away. Yep. I knew exactly what we’d be doing. All afternoon, with a bit of luck.

I was going to be sore tomorrow from running today, so at this point, it was a case of go hard or go home.

I heard the bath water start and smiled to myself. I could get used to being looked after like this. He was so attentive, so considerate, it made me want to be the same for him. “Want something to eat?” I called out.