The Hills (boyxboy)

Chapter 9

Sunday rolls around and I find myself on bedroom floor with Pepper reading a book next to me as usual. Our parents did make it back home by noon. Terrence was willing to bet twenty bucks that they had sex in the motel. But they didn't drop any hints, so neither Colton nor my brother got the money in the end.

I sigh and close my history book. It makes a soft thump when I lay it on the floor which causes Pepper to look up. I take off my glasses and use the sleeve of my 'Trust me I'm a Jedi' hoodie to clean them.

"You okay?" Pepper asks. It's rare for me to put aside my textbook during our sunday afternoon bedroom floor sessions. I should tell her what happened though. She's my best friend. She always tells me everything, whether I want to know or not, so I feel inclined to return the gesture.

"I think Colton and I are sort of dating." I say and bite my lip. My head drops down and I look at my hands as they fidget in my lap. A heavy silence covers us. Then Pepper throws her book aside and squeals. Looks like she was rereading the Hunger Games. I think it's about the third or fourth time she's reading that series.

"Oh my God! I can't believe this! How did I not notice anything happening? I mean obviously you've been talking more with him because of the track thing but this... This is amazing! How'd you do it? Who made the first move? I don't think it was you you're way too uptight."

"Pepper."

"Does Terry know? I mean it's gotta be awkward just imagine him walking in on you two I mean you're his best friend and brother he's gonna have a seizure."

"Pepper."

"How does it feel to finally be out to two people? I wonder if you'll finally start acting more gay now. I won't be surprised if you don't though. You're weird. Colton has good fashion sense though maybe he will rub off on you. Plus he's a theatre kid. Isn't that a gay stereotype?"

"Pepper!"

Pepper gasps and slaps both of her hands in front of her mouth. "I'm sorry!" she whisper shouts. I smile and shake my head. Then I give her some more details before she launches off into her endless babbling again.

"I think he made the first move. I mean, he really just walked up to my room yesterday and told me." I say and let out a soft laugh. I can feel my smile widen at the memory. Pepper grins and squeals again. "I'm so happy for you. It's honestly amazing to see you smile again. Brings back a lot of good memories."

For a moment we just sit there and smile at each other. Then we both pick up our respective books again and continue reading. The air somehow feels cozier now. And I feel like our friendship just became even tighter. "He likes penguins too." I blurt out after a while. Pepper giggles and shakes her head at me.

A soft creak interrupts has me look up at my bedroom door. It's opened halfway, revealing a brightly grinning Colton. "Hey Rence." he whispers. "Can you hold onto this for me?"

My heart flutters upon hearing him call me 'Rence' out loud. It's so much better than Terrence his nickname. Suck on that my brother.

I get up to see what this mystery item is that Colton wants me to hold onto for him. Turns out it's... Terrence his shoes? A scoff escapes from my lips and I raise an eyebrow at him, hoping he's going to elaborate. "Terry wants to go to the mall but I'd rather hang out here cause you're here so I'm hiding his shoes." he says with an innocent grin. Then he looks over my shoulder. "Oh, hi Pepper." Pepper smiles and waves at him. It's easy to tell that she's having a hard time containing her usual fangirl behaviour.

A soft 'thump' resounds as I drop Terrence his shoes behind my door. Colton gives me a thumbs up and goes back downstairs from where we can easily hear the sounds of my dear brother's hectic searching. "Seriously! What the fuck! I swear they were right fucking here!" "That sucks man. Wanna stay in and watch Daredevil instead?" Colton's smooth voice interrupts him. I smile and shake my head, then close my bedroom door and face a grinning Pepper. Here comes the squealing. Before long she stops and looks at her watch.

"We should go downstairs in like ten minutes for a snack to avoid suspicious timing. Then I'll act like I've been wanting to watch whatever they're watching forever and drag you along so we can join them."

I blink at her.

"You realise Terrence knows, right?"

Pepper blinks back at me.

"Terry knows?"

I nod.

"Yeah. He ships it."

And thus we head downstairs immediately, where we find Colton waiting in the living room. He hugs me as soon as I'm within reach. Terrence quickly puts two and two together. "You're so evil Colt! Where'd you hide my shoes!" he yells and punches him. Colton lets go of me and punches him too. "I'm not evil! You're evil for trying to keep me away from my boyfriend!" he exclaims with a laugh. My heart flutters. He called me his boyfriend. I guess that means we are official. And that I'm very lucky mom is out visiting our grandparents while dad is in the backyard, messing around with some old, second hand car he bought online a little while ago. I'm not ready to come out yet.