Black And White

Chapter 10

When Curt and Owen finally got home that night (well, the next morning) it didn't take very long before Owen was curled up in their bed and Curt was passed out on the couch. That was how they had decided it should be for at least a couple of weeks, after what had happened when they kissed and what nearly happened when they woke up together. They figured it would be best to just take things slow for the time being to give them both some time to process everything that had happened.
     But that meant Curt was totally oblivious to the lack of sleep Owen was getting. Despite his nonchalance about the situation with his parents, the guilt was almost too much for him to bear. But he kept the front up around Curt. He had enough of his own issues to deal with, Owen didn't want to worry him any more.
     But he should have realised that wouldn't last when he got to sleep at five in the morning and then forgot to set an alarm.
     Curt walked into the bedroom to wake Owen up and saw him curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed and the duvet discarded on the floor. He could see Owen was trembling and his face was pale. And it glistened with the remnants of tears.
     "Owen!" Curt said softly as he kneeled down at the side of the bed and tried to shake Owen awake.
     "Curt? What are you- what time is it?" He squinted are the light and tried to relax, so as not to worry Curt any more. But it was too late for that.
     "It's half past one. Owen, are you all right?"Curt moved away slightly. All he wanted to do was hug Owen, or curl up in the bed with him but he knew he couldn't. It was just too soon.
     "I'm fine." Owen sat up, hugging his knees close to his chest and Curt sat on the edge of the bed, facing him.
     "You're shaking. What's wrong?"
     Owen avoided eye contact, his eyes tracing each little crevice in the bedsheets.
     "Whatever it is-"
     "It's my parents."
     "Oh."
     "I looked at mum's facebook." His voice was unsteady and his bottom lip started to shake.
     "You know you shouldn't torture yourself like that-"
     "They're convinced they only have one child. And I've talked to Annabelle, she understands the situation. Well, as much as she can understand this fucked up mess, but she can't get back here for at least another couple of months."
     "I thought you and your parents weren't-"
     "We've not spoken in years. I never really wanted to. They're just homophobic arseholes. But- God, why am I even sad?"
     "Because you've lost your parents. Of course you're gonna be upset about it," Curt said gently as he contemplated taking Owen's hand, "Even if they were horrible to you."
     "I just don't see why."
     "Feelings often don't make sense. I think you're better figuring out how to deal with them, rather than driving yourself crazy trying to understand them."
     Then Owen took Curt's hand and looked at him, "When did you get so smart?"
     "I've had my fair share of confusing feelings to deal with." He smiled.
     "I guess you didn't have a weird green alien-god thing brainwashing you for four years and numbing you to practically everything you were supposed to be feeling."
     "No, I didn't. Now, do you want some breakfast?"
     "I'm not really-"
     "You didn't have anything last night."
     "Stop using things I have said to you against me," he laughed in disbelief, "And fine, I'll come through in a few minutes."
     "Good."

As promised, Owen did get through to the living room, where Curt was sat watching TV, a few minutes later. He went to the kitchen and got himself a bowl of cereal before sitting down on the sofa next to Curt.
     "You're having cereal? It's past lunch time."
     "I'm not really hungry."
     Curt just looked back at the TV, not wanting to push it. They had only been back together a few days. He didn't see much of a point in trying to push Owen to talk to him in detail about what he was going through.
Especially since he knew he wasn't being totally honest himself. He slipped his flask behind the couch cushion, hoping Owen wouldn't look there and moved his focus back to the TV. He felt guilty lying to Owen, but what else could he do? He didn't want to give him anything else to worry about.

~

(A/N: Okay, so I was planning on ending this after maybe one more chapter but I think it's going to end up being a bit longer than I expected? I should really start coming into these things with a plan rather than winging it and totally going off/forgetting about the plan that I did originally have. Originally they were supposed to get stuck in the b&w and Xander was supposed to save them but I just sort of forgot that.)