Ben, Ethan and David

Ben had noticed that Ethan had been distant lately. They had been lovers and living together for almost a year. The past 2 months or so, Ben and Ethan had been hardly intimate in bed. Ethan was a young man of 23 so having a low libido for sex was rather uncommon. The advances and hugs of Ben were repelled with an excuse of being tired. And the constant texting of Ethan with his "friend" David was rather too often to be platonic. Ethan was also very secretive and guarded of his texting. He did not want Ben to see it which beg to question if the texting were truly innocent and just between friends.
One afternoon as Ben and Ethan were window shopping, Ethan commented on an item that he could get David for his upcoming birthday. Ben was rather jealous of this cause Ethan did not even get him anything for his birthday. Ben did not really care initially that Ethan gave him no present cause he knows money was tight with Ethan. But for him to spend on a gift for a friend and not his lover was rather unacceptable. Ben protested and Ethan did not pursue the issue. Ethan just secretly decided to get David a gift without Ben knowing.
In one of the arguments that Ben and Ethan had, Ethan mentioned that he could move out anytime cause David offered his spare bedroom to him. Before this offer, Ethan was rather "stuck" with Ben. He may have loved Ben initially but his feeling were transferred to David lately. He may not have pursued this feelings for David if he did not have an option to get out of his living situation with Ben. Money was tight with Ethan and getting an apartment of his own was rather a very difficult prospect. But now that he can move in with David, he had rather grown bold in pursuing David while still living with Ben. Ben was not stupid and he had seen this coming. So he talked with Ethan about it. They agreed to think about their situation over one weekend when Ethan was to spend the said weekend with his family in the country. But a few days prior to the said departure of Ethan to his parents, he did not go home to Ben at all. Ben called his phone but only got the voicemail. At around midnight, Ben got a call from Ethan saying that he fell asleep in the couch at David's and he was spending the night there cause it was rather late to go home. Ben was filled with fury over this blatant display of disregard for their relationship. To Ben, this was already a clear answer from Ethan that he wanted out of the relationship. So Ben just told Ethan right there and then over the phone that they were finished. And that Ethan can tell David to prepare the bedroom for Ethan to move in ASAP.
The next day as Ethan arrived, Ben asked him when he could move out. Ben just wanted to get this over with. Ethan told Ben that David changed his mind about the offer. David said that he wanted to take it slow with Ethan so moving in was not a good idea. Ethan at this point was in a very tight situation. Ben wanted him out and yet David rescinded his offer. What was he to do? Ben at this point had decided that he and Ethan were over. So Ben did not offer to take Ethan back but rather gave him one week to look for a place and move out. Ethan had no money and had bad credit so finding an apartment that suited his "style" was rather a daunting job. Ethan was always moody the next couple of days. He was rather even rude and short to Ben. Ben wasn't taking any of these sitting down so a full blown shouting match ensued. Ethan was angry that Ben could not give him more time to find a decent apartment. Ben snapped back that he should blame David for rescinding his offer. Ben told Ethan that the one week he gave Ethan was an act of kindness and not an obligation nor duty. This clearly Ethan did not understand. He felt entitled like he had always felt. And there was also the matter of money Ethan owed Ben. Ben was prepared to give Ethan time to repay his debt but he was keeping the antique plate set Ethan owned. To Ethan, those plates were precious cause they were given to him by his mother. On the day of his moving out, he was very angry that he could not bring his plates with him. Ben was not stupid to just let Ethan walk away with his debt. You see Ben was rather shrewd about this and he handled the matter rather impeccably logical. Ben was very happy to have Ethan out of his life. The only thing connecting them now was the debt Ethan owed Ben. Ben could not wait to sever the umbilical chord connecting them. So one month after the said move out, Ben emailed Ethan that he was moving to San Francisco so the debt needed to be paid immediately. This was of course just a ruse by Ben to get his money back. Ethan begged Ben to give him more time but Ben was unrelenting. More angry emails were exchanged. One being a threat from Ben to sell the plates and another to bring Ethan to small claims court. Ben really did not care at all for Ethan anymore. If anything else, he would rather see Ethan suffer financially. Ben had seen the true color of Ethan and he really just wanted pay back. Ethan was able to come up with the money. Where and how, Ben did not know and neither cared. Finally, Ben was completely free. He learned a valuable lesson. The feelings for Ethan once he held dear were undone. To this day when Ben and Ethan see each other in public, no words are spoken or looks exchanged between the two. And this suited Ben just fine.