Love sick no more

14. Decisions

"P'Ohm," Mick said hesitatingly later that night, after their evening shower. They lay comfortably together, with Mick limp against Ohm's chest, Ohm's face in Mick's hair.

"Mmmm?"

"Are we going to be in the open about us, at the university I mean?"

Ohm's eyes flew fully open. "Noh asked the same when they were leaving. I hadn't thought about it until he did." He paused. "It might be better to keep it a secret for now."

Mick's lower lip trembled. "Oh."

"Hey," Ohm turned to look at him. "It's not because I don't want to. I just worry about people's reaction. You have been bullied before, and well... If guys knew you were into guys, they might come after you again. I don't think I can tolerate another horde of admirers."

Mick relaxed. "I don't think I can hide how I feel about you."

Ohm stroked his face and kissed him. "Hmmmm, me either," he had to admit. Mick's skin seemed to be a magnet for his hands, he couldn't stop touching the boy. Then a wicked smile spread on his face. "Oh, I have an idea."

"What?"

"Meet me for lunch. I'll introduce you to my friends."

"So you will just introduce me to your friends out of the blue? Won't they be shocked?"

Ohm chuckled, a wicked glint in his eye. "Probably, but not why you might think."

"What do you mean?"

"There's actually three other guy couples in that table. There's Phun and Noh, of course, and you remember Pete. He's from our high school, he used to hang with Earn. He's not one to judge."

"What about Earn? Is he at our uni, too? I always thought there was something there?"

"No, Earn goes to another school. I never got the full story, but I think Pete had a crush on Earn, but Earn only wanted to be brothers. They had a rocky few months a few years ago, but these days they're close. Earn started dating a girl about a year back, and Pete seems okay with it. He had a girlfriend until recently."

"That's too bad. I liked Earn, and I thought they made a cute couple."

"It doesn't always work out, Mick. But they seem happy enough, in their own way."

"Mmm. Who else, in your table, I mean? You mentioned three boy couples."

"It used to be just the four of us, me, Noh, Phun and Pete, but about a year ago we met five friends at a football game, and bonded. There's two other couples among them, but they are an open secret, and only gossiped about at uni. That's Ae and Pete, and Tin and Can. They're friends, well, Pete and Tin were, first, and their boyfriends got dragged into the mix. Ae and Pete are really sweet, and really quite obvious, but everyone sort of pretends we don't know about them. I think Ae is worried about Pete being bullied. There was some of that earlier, and Ae is very protective of him. Tin is an arrogant asshole, rich and handsome. I don't think he's ever liked anyone, until he met Can. Well, Pete, a little, since they're both in the International Program, but Can is his first love. They're an odd pair, but fit together somehow. You'll like Can, I think. And everyone likes Pete. He's really kind and shy, and thinks the best of everyone. We call him Aepete, actually, to separate from the Pete from high school. I think Ae likes it, as it marks Pete as his."

Mick was processing this all quietly. "Who's the fifth? You said five friends."

"Oh, Pond! Ae's friend, and former roommate." Ohm laughed. "He's... one of a kind." He laughed again. "You'll see."

"So that's three from our high school, and five new friends since."

"Oh, and there's Rain. He's okay, but a bit of a cold fish. He's had several girlfriends in the past two years, I think, but he never confirms or denies the relationships. He only says 'No comment' or 'Mind your own business', if someone asks, including us. He's in the photography club with Pete, that's how he met us all on our second year at uni."

"So you think they'll be fine with us?"

Ohm laughed again. "Yes, but except for Phun, Noh and Pete, the others don't know about you. They only know that I lost someone important to me, but not that you're a guy. And I haven't told Pete about you being back, yet."

Mick finally got it. "You want to surprise them."

"Mmm. Do you mind?"

Mick smiled and snuggled closer. "As long as you'll be with me, and we don't have to pretend to be just friends."