Secret Sweet Nothings [incredibly gay]

Dinner with Roman [Chapter 3 - 2/2]

Once they finished giving their orders to the waiter, Roman turns to Arthur and starts to make conversation with him. They both chat for a bit about life and things they like, mostly going over stuff they already know about each other since they learned everything about each other over their first call. They both laugh and smile and start to feel close and comfortable together. Finally, Arthur brings up his two boyfriends who are also sitting together, talking and having drinks.

"Uhm.. when you said to give my boyfriends a greeting, did you really mean it..?" Arthur asks, losing himself in the eyes of Roman.

"Yes of course, would you like to go and say hi to them now? Before they leave?" Roman replies, a soft and gentle tone to his words.

Arthur nods and they both get up out of their seats. Roman walks over to him, and holds his hand. Arthur takes a deep breath and they both start walking over to Luca and Arlo.

Luca and Arlo are chatting and laughing away until they see Arthur approaching with someone else.

"Oh my gosh, is that Arthur...?" Luca questions Arlo.

"Oh yeah it is! With someone else too, we should ask if they want to drink with us!" Arlo smiles.

Luca looks uneasy with how oblivious Arlo is and sighs, "I don't think he's very happy, Arlo." he states.

Arlo looking confused stands up and makes his way to Arthur.

"Arthur, how are you? I didn't know you had a date today!" Arlo says whilst hugging him.

Arthur pushes him away and stares at him, tears forming in his eyes again.

"Yeah you didn't know because you never bothered to ask..." He mumbles.

Roman quickly hugs Arthur and looks over at Arlo. He glares at him before lifting Arthur's face and whispering something into his ear.

Arlo's thoughts start to overwhelm him as he questions everything he's done in order to make Arthur feel like this. His stomach churns and he begins to look pale. Luca rushes over and grasps Arlo's hand. Everyone is silently staring at each other, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, Roman inhales and commands everyone to go outside, "Right. We need to talk everything out. Go outside everyone, I'll speak with the staff to delay our food and drinks.."

Arthur, feeling nervous with Arlo and Luca, without Roman, hesitantly lets go and walks outside. Arlo and Luca follow him behind as Roman goes off to the staff near the kitchen to talk with them.

Outside, the three stand quietly. Arthur, in attempt of breaking the silence, walks over to Arlo and hugs him.

"Are you okay..? You look really pale.." He murmurs as he stands there in Arlo's arms.

Arlo begins to weep, holding Arthur strongly.

"I'm sorry.. I don't understand how I could've made you feel like you're not with us and not even notice it. I will make it up to you no matter what. I just... feel sick.. hold on...."

Arlo let's go and runs back into the restaurant, heading for the bathroom. Roman walks out and glances back at Arlo, he walks over to Arthur and Luca and tells them,

"I'll go back inside and wait for you guys. This isn't my business to get involved with and I should give you two some space to talk it over with together..."

Arthur smiles and nods at Roman as he walks back into the restaurant and sits down at the table.

Luca looks at Arthur and mumbles something.

"Huh..?" Arthur tilts his head in puzzlement.

Luca sighs and steps closer to Arthur, "I'm really sorry... I knew what was going on and made no effort to include you." He rests his head on Arthur's shoulder feeling shame, guilt and embarrassment.

Arthur doesn't know what to do and wishes he could disappear. It was so hard to face his problems and the people around him. He wished he didn't make such a fuss about everything. Now everyone knew he was feeling lonely and everyone is feeling down. He ruined everyone's mood just by being selfish. Why couldn't he just mind his own business and get on with his own life.

He starts to burn up and his head starts spinning. Every little sound begins to fade and his eyes shut, everything dark and silent around him.

Suddenly, he can hear voices around him. Is it Luca? Arlo? Roman?

"Why didn't he tell us!! We're his family. That damned child, always keeping to himself!"

"Honestly, if he just told us, we would've helped him! What a selfish brat."

"We're always right. His relationship was bad for him."

"Right?! He got jealous just like we said. If only he just listened to us!"

"Mum.. Dad.. please stop.."

"I agree with Viv.. he's your son, you can't just say things like that about him..."

There's a sudden clap and Arthur's eyes snap open. His breathing heavy and hot. He sits up and sees his sister holding his brother in her arms, a big red mark across his brother's face. His mother looking red with anger and his dad arms crossed, jaw clenched.

Arthur takes a moment to realise what's going on and wonders where Luca, Arlo and Roman are. His head begins to ache and he violently coughs.

"Goodness lord, get that boy the soup that I made!" His mother exclaims.

His dad walks out to get the soup and Arthur sits there staring at everyone, speechless. His mother sits down on the bed next to him and holds his face. Vivian and Johnny go and stand on the other side of the bed, worried for their little brother.

He sits there, his mother holding his face until.

*SLAP*

"How dare you be such a stupid child!!"

Vivian and Johnny look away in disbelief and fear.

Arthur's face burning and his mind racing, his head aching and his heart stuck in his throat as he starts to tear up.

"How dare you!! You couldn't have been any more dumber?! You're so f*cking selfish, you stupid b*tch!!"

Johnny and Vivian rush over to grab their mother off of the bed. She wriggles out of their grasp and continues to shout at Arthur, whilst their dad stands with the soup in the doorway.

"You should've told us!! You should be open with your family, you should be honest!"

Vivian rushes out of the room, crying with fear and anger. Johnny follows her, also scared of the tension. Arthur left alone with his shouting mother and useless father.

"Alright hunny that's enough, he needs the soup." His dad calmly says.

Taking no notice of the mother's shouting and physical harm to his child, he hands him the bowl of soup and hugs his wife, kissing her forehead.

Arthur cries silently to himself, as his parents walk out of the room. They shut the door and he searches for his phone. He sees it on his bed side table. Picking it up he calls Arlo. He realised at the restaurant Arlo didn't realise what was going on and just wanted everyone to be happy. Arthur called him, choking with his tears like waterfalls making pools of water on his blanket.

He felt so alone. So frustrated, angry, devastated, hopeless.

The phone beeped and Arlo spoke,

"ARTHUR? ARE YOU OKAY??" He shouted through the phone, panic and desperation in his voice.

Arthur just cries, not knowing what to say. Both not saying anything, Arthur and Arlo cry, on different ends of the phone. Both feeling so lost and in search of finding a way to fix everything.