FAKE REAL FEELINGS (boyxboy)

Fake dating always backfires but what if that's exactly what you want to happen?

To the rest of the world, Theo Winter has it all. Star of the swim team, wealthy family, a perfect social life, and a reputation as the school's ultimate, untouchable fuckboy. But behind the golden-boy facade, Theo is drowning in severe depression, hiding his scars, his pain, and the crushing weight of being his father's perfect heir. He's masterfully kept everyone at a distance.
Until Elias.
Elias "EJ" Jones is a shy rock musician, a brilliant singer, and the bandmate of Theo's sister. He's also harboring a massive, deeply inconvenient secret: he might be into Theo. Like a lot. Eli is determined to bury this crush until it dies a quiet death.

Then Theo proposes a ridiculous arrangement.The deal? They become "practice fake boyfriends" to help each other prepare for their actual real-life crushes. To make it interesting, they place a wager: a bet to prove that cliché rom-com tropes never work in real life.

It's the perfect plan. Except for two minor details:
-They are both absolute idiots who don't realize they are each other's real crushes.
-Rom-com tropes are clichés for a reason.

As the fake dates turn into real feelings and the lines begin to blur, Eli is forced to face his heart, and Theo is forced to face his darkness. Will their fake relationship be the anchor Theo needs to finally heal, or is playing with love a guaranteed recipe for disaster?

TW: 18+, vulgar language sexual content, trauma, abuse, suicidal descriptions, death, sexual related trauma mentioning, substance abuse, homophobia, depression, self harm.

There's NO unhealthy behaviour between the main leads!
this is boy x boy!