4*TOWN

Familia 3

T stands in the corner of his room, staring at himself in the mirror. There are dried tears on his face, and his eyes are red. He sighs, catching a glimpse of the polaroid from earlier in his peripheral vision.

"Stupid."

He kicks it, causing it to flip over so he can't see the face anymore.

Since it's his first actual argument with Z, T doesn't know what to think. He doesn't know what it means for the two of them, either. He only thinks that he's done something wrong, something to make Z feel like he's not good enough for him.

T hears a knock on the door, whipping his head towards it.

"Go away."

"T, please let me in. I need to talk to you."

Z's voice breaks, and on the other side of the door, he's fighting tears of his own.

"It's open..."

T says, going to sit on his bed again. When Z enters the room, he stands in front of him.

"I'm sorry."

"Was I not enough for you?"

T says quietly, looking at the floor.

"What? Of course you-"

"Then why do you need her? I don't understand."

"T, I seriously haven't talked to Daria in years. She doesn't mean half as much to me as you do, and she never will."

"But Ana said-"

"Forget what Ana said for a minute, okay? She's just trying to get between us."

"I never thought she'd..."

"It doesn't matter. Just listen to me, please."

"I'm listening."

Z takes a breath, preparing himself to speak again.

"So, a few years ago, way before I met you, I was friends with Daria. Me and her, we uh... we had sex. A lot."

T frowns.

"But really, I thought that if I did that with a girl, it would kinda... I don't know, cure my gayness."

Z says, and T's frown fades. He even laughs a bit.

"I didn't wanna disappoint my parents, so I tried to just... like girls. Clearly, it didn't work."

"That makes more sense..."

"It's dumb, right?"

"A little. But I get it. I just... I wish you'd have told me about this before."

Z looks away, shameful.

"I know I shouldn't have hidden that kinda thing from you. I haven't ever told anyone about it."

T doesn't frown, but looks at his boyfriend sadly. Z holds eye contact with him, kneeling in front of the bed and taking both of T's hands in his.

"I am so sorry. It's never smart to keep stuff like this from your partner, I don't know what I was thinking. It'll never happen again."

"A- and you won't talk to her again, right?"

"Never. You're the only one I need, T."

Z says softly, gazing into T's watery eyes.

"I guess I should have listened to you before getting so mad. I'm sorry too."

Z hugs him, and it takes T a few seconds to hug back.

"We should never argue again. That was the worst thirty minutes of my life."

T says, his usual wit returning to him slowly.

"Yeah. I hate seeing you cry, and knowing it was my fault..."

"Don't even worry about it, I'm okay!"

"Good. Now let's go to bed, I'm exhausted."

☆

Over the week, Z, T, and his family make the most of their time together, visiting many of Columbia's tourist attractions. There were even 4*Townies
that recognized them in one of the plazas they went to, which resulted in the family running from a huge mob- but that's a story for another time.

Ana eventually apologized, although T is still very skeptical of her being around his boyfriend. Z insists that it's fine, but T still makes sure to put at least ten feet of space between her and Z.