Funny How Love Is (Maylor AU)

Chapter 78

"What are you all smiles about?" Tim asked Roger suspiciously as the two of them cleaned up after dinner, the blonde at the sink—dressed in a pair of patched-up flare jeans and a baby blue t-shirt that donned the unusually stretched-out message of 2ND ANNUAL SARATOGA FREEBEE FESTIVAL across his elevated chest—while the brunette brought the dirty dishes over. It was only the two of them, for Nana only made the meals; she never stuck around for the cleanup. That was the boys' responsibility—always had been, always would be.

"I've got plans tonight," Roger divulged, scrubbing the remnants of their dinner from the plate he had in his hand and riding the high of his anticipation for the party that night with reckless abandon. He barely got through the rest of yesterday after Brian invited him, and today was near unbearable—spending most of his time debating what he should wear, if he should bring a change of clothes for later, and whether he should be ready to go as soon as Brian showed up or act like he hadn't been thinking about it all day and make the poor guy wait.

"Plans? You made plans without telling me?" The disapproval in Tim's voice was evident, but in case his boyfriend failed to recognize it, his furrowed brows, straightened lips, and negligent handling of the dishes as he dropped them into the sink made it even clearer.

The blonde glanced over his shoulder at the brunette, matching his facial expression. "Yeah, and? I'm a grown adult, Tim. I don't need your permission to make plans. Remember what we talked about?"

Without thinking, Tim wrapped his hand tightly around Roger's upper arm and pulled the two of them close—his nails digging into the blonde's skin and his hot, heavy breath grazing his neck as he snarled, "Yes, but I didn't give you permission to talk back to me like this. I gave you permission to take a little break from Liz, that's it."

Roger clenched his jaw, looking his boyfriend dead in the eyes and growling, "Let go of me."

"Tell me where you're going," the brunette demanded, willfully ignoring the blonde's plea while tightening his grip on his arm. Roger winced and lost hold of the plate he'd been attending to, the breakable item clattering against the other plates, bowls, and glasses piled in the wash basin.

"Nana's in the other room," he cautioned his partner under his breath, attempting to tear himself out of Tim's grasp but only succeeding in worsening his situation—the hold Tim had growing impossibly tighter and squeezing a tear out of the blonde's eye. By that point, his bliss had tapered off, no longer having the effect it did just moments ago. The glimmer of hope the party gave him was but a faint glow in the distance now, dimming and shrinking with each passing second.

"Since when do you care?" Tim growled, his own eyes glistening with rageful tears, "You said you wanted her to hear this—her and the whole damn world, remember?" He was shouting by the end of his response, risking another noise complaint from their neighbors—or worse, Nana.

"I want you to let me go," the blonde whispered in agony.

"Yeah, and if I let you go, what are you going to do?" the brunette sneered, yanking Roger towards him and having their bodies collide in a burst of toxic passion, "Leave for...for your 'plans' tonight and never come back? I know you want to, but...but what about our plan, babe?" With those last few words, Tim's demeanor completely changed—the anger building up inside of him dissipating within the blink of an eye to reveal a sincerity and a touch of desperation. He brought a hand up and slipped a strand of Roger's hair that had escaped from underneath his wig back into place, causing the blonde to flinch. "Aren't you excited about it? It's the change you've been wanting; the change you and I need."

The music instructor stared at his delirious partner with a constricted chest, the air around them thin. His eyes flickered with frustration, his mind screaming that their plan wasn't going to work no matter how hard they tried but his heart crying out for the opportunity of a life where the two of them could be happy, together.

Conflicted, Roger bit his quivering lip and finally tilted his head down, a single teardrop rolling down his cheek and falling to his feet with a small splash. "I told you, Tim, we can't—"

"Can't what?"

The two startled boys looked over at the old but slender woman who sneaked out of the bedroom, a shawl draped over her thin shoulders and a glass of whiskey in one frail hand, the other sitting on her bony hip. She raised a penciled eyebrow and took a sip of the poignant drink, anticipating her grandson's or, who she believed to be, his girlfriend's answer. The couple shared a quick, wordless exchange—the conversation had with just their eyes—before Tim laughed anxiously and wrapped an arm around Roger, turning them both towards his grandmother.

"Liz here's worried about us getting married," he told her with feigned confidence.

Nana gasped, her shriveled hands moving to her chest and the glass she'd been nursing slipping through her fingers. It shattered upon contact with the floor, the amber liquid splattering over their toes and feet. "When did this happen?"

"It didn't," the blonde instinctively replied, dissolving Tim's embarrassed grin into a scowl as he cleared his throat and tucked a piece of the slightly disheveled wig he had on behind his ear, responding with a slightly higher voice, "I mean, we're not getting married. I just...I don't think it's a good idea for us. You know, money-wise." Money wasn't the issue.

"She's just nervous," Tim chimed in, hoping to save face in front of the woman who practically raised him. He turned his head towards Roger and smiled, caressing the blonde's cheek and brushing away another stray piece of his hair. The wigs were just a courtesy at this point—Roger's hair having grown out long enough that it could pass as a woman's cut, therefore making the hairpieces unnecessary. However, for the sake of spending all day at home with Nana, he threw one on. "I'm trying to tell her there's nothing to worry about so long as we're together." The brunette looked back at his grandmother. "Don't you agree, Nana?"