Boy/Boy Problems

The Unexpected Visitor

Never in the history of the invention have two people reacted quite so dramatically to the sound of an intercom buzzing. That was perhaps an exaggeration but for Teddy and Lily King it felt like the truth. Their whole world slowed, narrowing towards a singular focus, a singular idea, a singular hope.

The possibility that Luke Ryan, international action movie star who just outed himself on Twitter, would fly halfway around the world to make sure Teddy was okay was ridiculous. As lovely as Luke was, and he was a genuinely lovely guy when he wasn't being totally oblivious, it was unlikely he would have the ability or inclination to waste that much effort on Teddy.

Still, Teddy wondered if maybe it could be him. As long as the sound of the intercom lingered they could pretend, he could pretend. It was nice while it lasted but soon enough it rang again and Teddy had no choice but to spring into action, which was surprisingly difficult considering the amount of alcohol he had imbibed that evening. His reflexes certainly weren't running at optimum levels, he almost tripped as he jumped off the couch only managing to save himself by grabbing Lily's arm.

"What are you doing?" asked Teddy swaying a little as he tried to steady himself without someone to hold onto.

"Finding out who's bothering you," replied Lily.

Teddy grabbed her before she could move. Lily didn't not enjoy being manhandled, especially when she had been drinking so she physically removed Teddy's hand with disgust before marching over to the intercom.

"It's my house," yelled Teddy.

"It's an apartment," said Lily. "And you're the one being hounded by the press about whether you're bumming your old roommate so you're not supposed to answer the door remember."

"It's not a door," yelled Teddy for no other reason than to get a rise out of Lily. He knew she was right. There were very clear instructions about answering the phone, and the door, and leaving the apartment. The instructions being that he wasn't supposed to do any of that until they figured out what their strategy would be. Of course that blanket ban implicitly included anyone he happened to be around as well, including Lily, but it wasn't explicit and therefore it was definitely a loophole worth exploiting.

They both held their breath as Lily pressed the button that connected to the foyer door before cautiously muttering a greeting as though it were a question, "Hello?"

The voice that screeched loudly through the speaker in response to Lily's greeting was very familiar, but it did not belong to Luke Ryan.

"Let me up asshole or I'll tweet your location," cried Alice Lee, her voice cracking a little through the intercom speaker.

Alice Lee was one third of Australia's biggest girl band. She was outspoken, beautiful, and just happened to be Luke Ryan's ex girlfriend. That wasn't why she was yelling threats through his intercom at 9pm on a weeknight though. She would never actually reveal Teddy's location to anyone that would harm him, she was just brash in her manner and she was known to exaggerate for dramatic effect. She was as it happened not just Luke Ryan's ex-girlfriend, she was also one of Teddy's favourite people on the planet.

"Don't test me your highness you will lose," continued Alice when she didn't get reply she wanted.

Lily didn't bother to ask Teddy before buzzing Alice up. There was no point in trying to argue with Alice she had a way of getting what she wanted. Like when she first started dating Luke and Teddy wanted to hate her but she wasn't having a bar of that. She took Teddy aside one evening in their old apartment and told him they were going to be friends whether he wanted it or not. To her credit she was right, they did become friends. At this point it could be argued that in some ways Teddy was closer to Alice than he was to Luke, not that Teddy was likely to admit that out loud.