Derby Disaster

CHAPtEr tEN

Leo opened the door to see Will and his boyfriend standing on the doorstep. Will was taller and tanner than when he'd last seen him. The boyfriend looked nervous, holding Will's hand. "Hi, come in. How was your drive?"

"Good," Will smiled as he stepped inside, pulling Rory in after him. He gave the shorter boy's hand a reassuring squeeze. 

Leo was shorter than Will remembered. What was he? Like five two or three? Will hope he wasn't still picked on for his size anymore. The O'Callaghan house looked different than their last one. There were no pictures up of Charlotte, Leo and Tommy's mom, and it seemed too shiny. Will knew that that family was constantly moving, what with the brothers' sports and what not. Cleaning was maybe once a week and not deep before they had moved away. There were a pair of black heels in the row of shoes in the entry way. Had Jim started dating? Remarried? Will had never known Jim O'Callaghan be interested in dating after losing his wife. The stocky man had been content caring for his sons as best he could. 

The short redhead looked from Will to Rory. Something seemed to be going on. Rory looked too nervous for this to be just about meeting a childhood friend for the first time. Will was looking around the house with his gaze like he was an inspector at a crime scene. "What's going on?"

"We were going to see--" Will began.

"No," Leo shook his head. He crossed his thin arms across his chest, hiding the logo on his wrestling hoodie. "You are here for something or your boyfriend wouldn't look like he is about to have a stroke and you are a detective."

Rory looked to Will. He didn't want to be here in the middle of this at all and he hoped Will would tell the truth. "Will..."

Will kicked himself mentally; he should've known Leo would have seen through this façade. "Can we sit down for this?"

                                                                            ***

After Will finished his recount of the events, he looked expectantly at Leo. The boys were all sitting around the kitchen table. Tommy was at a friend's house, and Jim was at work. Leo had his arms folded on the table in front of him. 

"So the woman that blackmailed me gave me your email, I gave it to Will, and here we are," Rory said. He felt his stomach twist. What if she walked in?

Leo sighed. He believed it easily since Tina was so...so...twisting with all of her actions. She had made his dad put away all photos of his mom. "Tina is living with us. She is dating Dad."

"You're not questioning any of this. You normally have to ask so many," Will studied his friend's face. "Why?"

"Tina moved in and has been trying to erase Mom. Dad is drinking again."

Rory looked between the old friends after Leo's explanation. From the context, he knew that this was not a good thing. Will's face was now frowning deeply. His lovely blue eyes were now clouded with a mixture of anger and sadness. 

"I want her gone," Leo said in a voice thick with emotion. 

"Then we have the same goal," Will stated. "You want her gone, I want Ava to confront her. She needs to admit to sabotaging the show."

"We should leave before she comes back. She knows me," Rory said. Both of the other two understood his meaning; it would be bad for them for Tina to know they had met about her. 

As they stood and made for the door, Leo stopped them and looked at the fake boyfriends. "You two should go on a real date." He smiled at them, showing his gap between his front teeth. 

                                                                                     ***

Leo's words hung in Rory's head as they began their trek back to Horseland--"Go on a real date". Like to the movies and dinner? That would mean risking the possibility of his brother seeing him out holding hands with Will. He looked over at the blond teen, smiling slightly as he watched him drum his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song playing over the radio. "We found out her name."

"We did," Will smiled, glancing over at Rory. He was thrilled that he was one step closer to figuring out this mystery, but he was baffled as how Leo hadn't believed they were dating. This road trip had been more successful than he had imagined; he had gotten a name and possibly a new friend. 

"Wanna go on a real date?" Rory asked after a few minutes of silence. 

"Yes," Will couldn't stop the earsplitting grin on his face. Finally, a date with someone he could imagine himself kissing. 

Rory was smiling too. "We gotta thank Leo for this."

"Yes we do," Will laughed softly. 

A/N

Hello again all you beautiful people

Have a fantastic month of June

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