The Lies That We Tell

𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤

Theo had been busier than ever this week. With his new work at the coffee shop, basketball practices, school work and his mother, there wasn't much free time only for himself.

Gone were the parties and fun nights with the guys and surprisingly, he hadn't even missed them that much. Of course, he could have gone out a few times when he had time but he was determined to get a better relationship with his mother and that wouldn't happen if he was getting wasted at the bar.

After his father left, he and his mother had tried to get their lives back to normal by getting rid of all the extra help they got in the house which meant that they had to do the cooking and cleaning alone.

It was fine, though. For once it felt like home, like a family who worked hard to have a nice, a little messy but still comfortable place to go after work and school.

Both of them hated the fact that there were other people basically living in their home but his father had insisted help. Now that he had moved god knows where they had realized that the two of them had let him decide alone too much about everything.

"Isn't your game next Friday?" Isaac asked, taking a seat beside him in the cafeteria.

Another good thing that his father leaving caused was the fact that he and his cousin had started to spend time together. At first, it was Isaac and his parents offering help but now they hang out together like they used to do when they were younger.

"No, this Friday. Everyone is talking about it, where have you been?" he laughed.

"Not that into basketball, sorry. I'll still come to watch, maybe get Phoebe and Queenie come with me," Isaac said a mouth full of food. Queenie. Theo sighed as he thought about his own nickname for that red-haired boy who had been in his mind more than anyone else.

Despite going to the same school and working together, he hadn't had time to see him much. There had been a few nights when he had felt the most lonely and just... sad, and that's when he had also given himself permission to remember that night.

He didn't know why he told Quentin about his father. He was planning to keep it to himself and inside the family but it just felt so nice to be with him that day that it just slipped out.

He wasn't expert with feelings but even he knew that no one told that kind of personal thing to a person they didn't care about.

That scared him so much that he had tried not to think about it, ignore Quentin's whole existence and go back to the way things were before he had realized that he might not be as straight as he had always assumed. There was a problem, though, and that was Quentin himself.

It was almost like whenever he was determined to keep his distance, he would see that red hair and those blue eyes, and then the thought of not speaking with him anymore was scary. And then he would freak out again and go back to thinking distance was the best idea and repeat that for dozens of times.

It also didn't make it any better that Quentin seemed to be genuinely worried, asking if he could help anything, trying to comfort him. It took everything in him to take his hand out of Quentin's warm hand. But he had to. There were too many people around them and what would they see? Two guys holding hands.

"... and Cecilia sprained her leg and cried like a baby!" Theo blinked, realizing that Isaac was still talking while he was daydreaming.

He turned to look at his cousin who had apparently gone to get more food to his plate which was full of food. How could he eat so much? Theo knew that he was a swimmer but Theo played basketball and still couldn't eat half that much.