Learning Curves ✔ (bxb)

Chapter 15

Theo's POV

I completely forgot about Stephanie.

"Why do you ask?" I reply nervously.

"Your mom asked How are you and Stephanie doing? I hope you're taking care of her, she really seems like the one you're going to marry." He glares at me.

"Stephanie's my fake girlfriend." I mumble.

"What do you mean fake girlfriend?" Michael growls. I swallow nervously.

"She's someone who's been pretending to be my girlfriend since 12th grade to get my parents off my back about being single." I sigh. I know this is going to end badly.

"Look, I get it if you didn't want to tell your parents about liking guys, but shouldn't you have told me you have a fake girlfriend? And since 12th grade? Why couldn't you have ever broken up with her?"

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot about her, honest! I don't really talk to her." I panic. He's starting to look pissed.

"This is still a big thing to keep from me, Theo. It could be considered cheating, and how will I know if you're going to keep any more big secrets for me if this continues?" Michael says angrily. I feel my heart stop.

"...if this continues?" I whisper quietly, looking down.

"Yes, Theo. If. Trust is a huge part of a relationship, and if I can't trust you to be honest with me, our relationship would fall apart anyway." Michael informs sternly. I start really panicking now. He's going to leave me! The whole 4 months spent together would have gone completely to waste, just because of this stupid thing. 

My anxiety starts rising. One of my greatest fears is being abandoned, and it looks like it's starting to come true.

"Please don't leave me! I'm really and truly sorry, I'm not hiding anything else I promise! Ask any questions and I'll answer them honestly." I'm almost yelling by the time I'm finished speaking. I think Michael can sense the alarming amount of panic in me, because he's no longer angry, but concerned.

"Okay Theo. Answer some questions for me, and if you're completely honest, I'll try to give us another shot." He decides looking at me. I nod.

"Tell me the story of you and Stephanie."

"S-she was a good friend of mine in secondary school. My parents were always asking me when I would get my first girlfriend, since they found it kind of odd that I was already in grade 12 and I've never had a girlfriend yet. So one day, I got fed up that they were asking me all these questions, so I said I had a girlfriend to get them off my back. They were so happy, they brought me out to a nice dinner and everything, I felt so bad and I didn't want to tell them I lied. I was scared if they found out the reason I lied as well, they'd kick me out or something." I take a shaky breath to calm myself.

"When they met her, they were so enamoured with her, they basically started planning our marriage as soon as they saw her. It was all a bit much, but they were so invested, I couldn't break their hearts and tell them I lied, that I wasn't even remotely attracted to her. I'm the only child too, s-so they put all their expectations on me. That's why they're pressuring me to start a family so soon. I just let the relationship continue throughout university, although I stopped talking to Stephanie a lot. Stephanie never ended up finding someone she loved, so she said it was fine for me to continue the disguise." 

Michael stares at me for a second, as if processing all that I've just said, before nodding.

"Why do you think your parents would kick you out if they found out the real reason you lied?"

"... I'm gay. My parents are devout Christians that believe strongly that homosexuality is a... sin." I whisper, almost scared to say it out loud. Michael gives me a sad smile.

"Me too. My parents have basically taught me to respect them, so my whole life is basically dedicated to their wishes. This whole... me being Bisexual is new to me. I really wouldn't have considered it until Rowan basically told me to 'fuck what my parents think' and just make the decision for myself." He informs. 

"So... are we still... together?" I ask timidly, nervously fiddling with my sleeve.

"Yeah, guess so." Michael murmurs fondly. He stands and walks over to me, cupping my face and giving me a quick kiss on the lips. I smile and hesitantly hug him back. When he makes no move to push me away, I rest my head on his chest. His arms wrap around me. I let out a sigh of relief.

We head downstairs to grab some snacks, and just as we reach the bottom of the stairs, the doorbell rings. I frown in confusion. We weren't expecting anyone today.

Ethan, who's sitting on the couch, gets up to answer it. Rowan's at the door for some reason.

"Hello. Can I help you?" Ethan asks, eyeing Rowan up and down appreciatively.

"I'm looking for Michael." Rowan replies. Michael walks over to the door.

"What is it?" He asks. Rowan scowls at him.

"I've called you 20 times. It's already 1 in the morning and I was wondering where you were." He snaps, Michael's eyes widen a little.

"Shit, it's already 1? Sorry Theo, I need to go, I have classes really early tomorrow." Michael apologizes. I wave him off without a worry, smiling.

"That's okay. Bye Michael, Rowan." I chuckle, closing the door when they exit.

"That's the friend?" Ethan asks me. I nod.

"Damn, he's hot." Ethan sighs. Liam comes down from his room, clearly been woken up.

"What happened? Where'd Michael go?" He asks.

"He left. It's one in the morning, Li. You can head back to bed, sorry for waking you." I smile. Liam nods and tiredly trudges upstairs.

"Today's been... a day." I sigh, I feel pretty drained from the nerve-wracking conversation between Michael and I.

"Did you fuck?" Ethan asks, cleaning up some of the mess in the living room.

"What? No!" I splutter, embarrassed at the thought.

"Too bad." My best friend shrugs, heading upstairs to sleep. I roll my eyes and head to bed too.