𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬

Chapter Fifteen.

AFTER THE THREE were done with lunch, Cait had moved to the side that Romeo was sitting on and Spencer was washing the dishes that they used. "Oh, well, I always wanted a big family, but sadly that wasn't on the cards for me." She now tells the Castillo.

He listens intently to every word as she then points her finger, "Spenny is an IVF baby." She said and he glanced over at the boy washing dishes. "Oh. Really? I didn't know that." He says, smiling at her. "Yeah. I always wanted a girl, of course. And then there was the double disappointment when it became apparent that Spencer doesn't have a queer bone in his body." She then cackles loudly.

His smile falters at her words, realizing how she was behaving. "I'm so sorry. Especially since you're clearly queer." She apologized now and by now his smile was gone. "It's just toxic masculinity is just so... it's so pervasive." She said and he just forces a smile. "He was such a sweet little thing. And when he hit puberty, it was like, well, there's obviously just some element of biology to it all, isn't there?" She now goes on. "I mean, despite my best efforts, there is something in the DNA of a man..." She then looks over at Spider.

"And it's just very dangerous." She now says as he stared at her with a blank face. "Spider can be an asshole, but he's not dangerous." He defends the blond. "Mm, mm, mm!" The woman hums as she had taken a sip from her wine and was shaking her head. "No. But you know what I mean." She merely explains.

She sets down her glass, "I had this nightmare." She began and he just listens. "And you'll understand this. I think I read somewhere that hispanic people, everything has a meaning, like dreams are the window to the future, you know?" She says and he raised his brows. "So I had... I had this dream. That the police... the police come to my door, and they tell me that Spencer's... God, I don't know if I can even say it." She whispers quietly.

"That Spencer has done something unforgivable to a girl." She stated, shrugging. "I mean, what do I do?" She says quietly then looked up at him. "Do you think that if a virus got rid of all the men on the planet, that all our problems would disappear like that?" She asked and he just looked at her up and down. "I reckon you'd be left with a few." He says quietly and she just narrows her eyes on him.

"Do you?" She asked and he just turns his head away. "Thanks for lunch, mom." Spider says now, looking over. "We should probably go upstairs." He now tells Romeo who gets up. "Yeah. Thank you so much, Cait." He said, forcing a smile at the woman who just laughs. "Oh, it was my pleasure." She says and Romeo walks over, looking at Spider. "Lovely to see you." The woman tells him.

"Oh, and by the way, um... I think this painting might actually be a fake." He pointed at the painting she had bragged about before lunch. He leans to the side. "Oh, yeah, look. Made in China." He said then grinned at the woman before turning to leave the kitchen as Spider follows after him, smiling.

Upstairs, Spider pointed, "my room's that one, with the wide open door... I gotta use the bathroom first." He says quietly and Romeo nods, walking down the hall. Spider's room. It's exactly how he imagined, like a typical teenage boy's bedroom, with photos up on the walls with half naked women. He looked all around, Spider's mother's words echoing in his mind about him not having a queer bone in his body. Maybe she was right about that.

Maybe that's why Spider isn't sure about Romeo. Sure, they kiss and Spider goes down on him, or helps him out, whatever, that doesn't necessarily mean he's into guys. He could just be doing it for fun, to have control and power over Romeo. This realization makes Romeo frown, looking down. Is he really being used? Is Spider actually unsure of him?

"Oh, I am so sorry that you had to sit through that." Spider walks in and he turns around, watching as the blond goes to sit at the end of his bed. The curly haired boy sits by him, "I'm sorry you have to live with that." He says, sounding sympathetic. "I live in a household with three women. Scary, latina women, too. But... I've never been treated that way." He said as he glanced over at the boy.

"So, let me guess, if that's what they think I am, that's what I'll be." He now stated, making the blond confused. "What?" Spider looks over at him. "Is that why you act the way you do? It's just some sort of giant fuck you to your mom?" Romeo now asked, staring into his eyes and Spider just looked away.

"I get that it'd be hard not to react to, but I don't buy any of that shit she was saying. You do know that, right?" He asked and Spider just stares down at the floor. "We all have a choice about the kind of man we wanna be." He says, now nudging the boy who raised his head. "Unfortunately for you, you chose asshole." The curly haired boy quipped.

The two chuckle together and Romeo looks at him. "There's still time, Spence." He says and Spencer looks over at him. Spider. Spenny. But Spence? That made the blond weak, staring at the brunette who smiles at him. "Uh, so did you drive?" He suddenly asked. "Or do you want me to drive you home?" He asked, glancing away and Romeo just frowned.

"Uh, yeah, uh, no, I drove. So..." He got up but he stops, thinking about it. "Why don't you wanna have sex with me?" He asked and Spider looks up right away. "What?" He asked and Romeo frowns. "We've kissed. You've seen me naked. You've... given me a wristy and we've been here before. Like, is it me? Or is it you?" He rambled on to the boy.

"I get it. I haven't been with, like, many guys before either, and neither have you, at all but this is really unfair to me, because it feels like a repeat of last time--" "no, no, no, no. It's not you. I promise." Spider cut him off. "Then what is it? You just don't want to? Because I get it. You like girls." He said and Spider shook his head. "No. I want to. I really do." He emphasizes. "I just can't..." He says.

"Is it 'cause I'm a guy?" Romeo whispers and Spider just sighs. "It's not that, Romeo." He says, shaking his head and Romeo suddenly kneeled down in front of him. "Then what is it? Can you just talk to me?" He begs and Spider just looks down. "I can't get it up." He admits and Romeo furrows his brows.

"What?" He says quietly and Spider looks away, sighing. "You're just gonna laugh." He whispers and Romeo shook his head, grabbing his hands. "That's okay. Seriously, Spence. We can... we can still try if you want to." He said, holding the blond's hands in both of his own.

"I think it would just be embarrassing for both of us..." Spider continues to avoid eye contact with him and Romeo frowns. "Okay. Whatever you want..." He says and Spider nods. "Cool. Feel free to run away whenever now." He says and Romeo reached up, touching his face gently. "Spider. I'm literally on my knees in front of you. I don't have anywhere else to be." He said and Spider finally looks at him in the eyes, just staring at him with that look again.

"Do you wanna watch a movie? Maybe something French?" He now grins and Spider rolls his eyes, looking away. "Tried to keep that from me, didn't you, baguette boy? Oui, oui, oui, monsieur. S'il vous plait." He says as he laughed, leaning forward. "Petit miam." He goes on as Spider laughs quietly. "Shut up!" He says and Romeo leans back.

"You got a laptop?" He asked as he glanced around the bedroom and Spider just stared down at him. "Yeah. Come on." He got up, crawling up further his bed and Romeo follows, plopping down next to the blond who sets up the movie, a random comedy movie. He leaned closer and rested his head onto Spider's chest, the blond's arm going around him. As if they were two puzzle pieces that fit so perfectly together. The movie plays and towards the ending, Romeo fell asleep and Spider just stared down at him, smiling faintly.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

authors note
i love them so much.

+ updating early today bc i'm travelling and might eventually have to take over with driving so yeah :-)