My two roommates, Jared and Colin, looked back at me, dumbstruck.
‘You’re what?!’ they said, almost in unison.
‘I’m moving out,’ I repeated, solemnly.
‘But… why?’ Jared asked, brow furrowed like he’d been asked to sit an English exam. ‘Did you find a girlfriend we don’t know about?’
‘Nope,’ I shook my head. ‘Nothing like that.’
‘Is the rent too expensive?’
‘Nah, it’s actually been super affordable with three of us.’
‘Then why?’ Colin interjected, crossing his arms.
‘Fellas,’ I said with a deep sigh. ‘Living with you has been amazing. I’ve learned so much from both of you. Jared,’ I turned to him. ‘You taught me how to use a multifunctional home gym system to get fit.’
‘It’s true,’ he nodded, wiping away a tear. ‘We did do that.’
‘And Colin,’ I said, smiling at him. ‘You taught me what it feels like to be bored of winning games of table tennis.’
‘What?’ he frowned. ‘How?’
‘By being so, so good at losing,’ I told him. I sat back and looked them both up and down. ‘But together, you taught me something much deeper, something much more important than how to use a home gym or how to dominate a table tennis table. Australia could have taught me that anywhere.’
‘So what did we teach you?’ Jared asked quietly, eyes brimming with tears. ‘How to love another man, completely platonically?’
‘No.’
‘How to fit an entire six-pack in the back of a completely full fridge?’ Colin asked.
‘No,’ I shook my head, then frowned. ‘Well, yes. But not what I’m talking about.’
‘Then what are you talking about?!’ Jared burst out, throwing himself out of his sofa and pacing up and down the living room. ‘What was it that makes you think that you can abandon us to go and live by yourself in some tiny apartment too far away from any good pubs? Huh?’
‘You taught me,’ I started, rising to my feet and placing a hand on his shoulder. ‘The value of silence.’
And with that, I walked over to my suitcase and wheeled it out the door.