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As soon as Todd got home, he knew something was off. He opened the door to the smell of coffee brewing for the first time since he moved out of his parents house. He stumbled into the kitchen, drowsy from work.
“Good morning!” Neil said, drawing out the greeting.
Todd squinted at him before pouring a cup of coffee. “You’re up early,” he pressed while stirring in some creamer.
“About that...” Neil looked away guiltily. “Have I told you how much I appreciate you lately?” He batted his eyelashes.
Todd took a slow sip of coffee. “What did you do?” He questioned threateningly.
Neil threw his hands up defensively. “Nothing!”
Todd shot him a look and said, “I don’t believe you at all.”
“Alright, alright. My parents are coming over.”
Todd made a conscious effort not to spit his coffee out. “What?!”
“They just called me and said they were coming to visit!”
“I thought you didn’t even talk to them?”
“I don’t!”
Todd set the coffee down. “So you want me to avoid the apartment for the day?” He asked, trying not to groan.
Neil had a glint in his eye. “Actually I was going to ask for your help.”
Todd raised an eyebrow. “Cleaning?”
“No!” Neil hesitated. “Actually that would be nice but that’s not what I mean.”
Todd crossed his arms, waiting to hear whatever crazy scheme his roommate had cooked up now. “What is it then?”
“You know how my parents didn’t, ah, take my coming out well?”
“Of course.”
“So I was thinking that maybe if I was dating someone it would be an extra ‘fuck you!’ and they’d probably leave earlier...”
“But you aren’t dating... oh.” Todd nodded. “Do you need me to set you up?”
“Not exactly...”
Todd paled. “No way.”
“Please!” Neil begged.
Todd was halfway through another objection when he saw Neil’s wide eyes and innocent smile.
“Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s only for the day! It’s perfect! We’re already roommates!” Neil persuaded. “It’ll be just like when I got you to try out for Romeo and Juilet!”
Todd rolled his eyes fondly at the memory. “They made me play Mercutio because there weren’t enough male actors and I forgot half my lines.”
“But you had fun! Come on, ‘methinks the lady doth protest too much,’” Neil’s eyebrows bounced and Todd sighed, sensing he wasn’t getting out of this one.
“Fine,” he groaned.
Neil punched him playfully. “That’s the spirit!”
“Why are they even coming to visit?”
Neil shrugged. “Who knows, but I’m sure this’ll get rid of them.”
“Well I’ve got to go, have fun cleaning!” Todd tried to make a quick getaway, but Neil grabbed his arm.
“You’re helping!”
“I’m already doing you a favor,” Todd argued.
Neil flicked his nose. “I paid rent this month, don’t make me kick you out.”
Todd faked a gasp. He couldn’t help that being a writer was hard. “You wouldn’t!”
Neil shrugged. “No, but you still owe me one.” He couldn’t argue with that.
Their apartment looked cleaner than it ever had before. While Neil scrubbed the kitchen sink, Todd sat on the counter.
“What are we going to tell them anyways?”
Neil looked up at him. “That we’re dating, duh.”
“Yeah but what if they ask us questions?”
Neil went back to cleaning. “I guess we should have some sort of practice, huh. Well they don’t know about you at all so we can say whatever we want.”
“Okay how did we meet then?”
Neil shrugged. “We’ll tell the truth, we met in college and became friends after I ran into you on campus and spilled coffee all over you.”
Todd swore he could still see red touch Neil’s face when he remembered it. It still made him laugh. Neil shot him a death glare.
“Alright, that works. When did we start dating then?” He felt weird saying that out loud. Talking about dating his roommate, even if it was fake, caused a strange buzz in his chest.
“Well obviously I asked you out.”
Todd scoffed. “What do you mean ‘obviously’?”
Neil smirked. “Please, I’m the one who suggested we move in together in the first place.”
Todd opened his mouth to protest, then shut it. He had a point. “Fine, how did you do it then?”
Neil hummed. “Okay, remember when I fell asleep during a lecture and you woke me up after class and that’s when we became best friends?” Todd nodded. “Well, I took you out for a coffee as thanks and then we lived happily ever after.”
Todd smiled down at his shoes. “Well, that’s easy to remember.”
“Anything else we should think of?” Neil quirked an eyebrow, smiling up at him.
“I don’t know, you’re the actor here.”
“I mean you did play a mean Mercutio.” Neil grinned. “Oh, we should set some boundaries.”
Todd shifted uncomfortably. “What do you mean?”
“Well we are ‘dating’ so they’ll probably expect us to act like a couple. How much are you comfortable with?”
Todd cleared his throat. “Well, enough to convince them.”
Neil dried off his hands. “Okay, well we should probably hold hands.” He reaches for Todd’s hand. Todd rolled his eyes and took his hand. Neil smiled and Todd noticed how close he was.
“That’s fine.” Todd really didn’t mean to sound so breathless.
“And we’ll have to sit together and act like we’re in love...” he hesitated. “And there’s a slight chance that we’ll have to kiss.”
Todd’s eyes widened as he chewed his bottom lip. Before he could respond, Neil dropped his hand.
“But we don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Neil reaffirmed.
Todd cleated his throat. “Well, we might not have to but if we don’t have a choice then I’m okay with it if you are.”
“I’m an actor, I’m used to kissing people on stage.” Neil shrugged.
Todd felt a strange pang of jealousy at that. He swallowed it down and nodded absentmindedly. Then the intercom clicked on and Neil’s parents announced their arrival.
“Showtime!” Neil grabbed his hand and dragged him off the counter over to the door.
They held hands as he buzzed them up and stood nervously by the door. Todd squeezed Neil’s hand comfortingly as their door clicked open to reveal his parents. His mother choked up when she saw him as his dad lingered by the door.
“Oh Neil! It’s so good to see you!” She dropped her bag and pulled him into a hug. Neil let go of Todd’s hand out of surprise and hesitated a second before awkwardly tapping her on the back. She let him go and his father offered his hand. He shook it quickly.
“It’s been so long!” His mother exclaimed, looking around the apartment proudly. “You’ve done well for yourself.” Neil blinked at the praise. Her gaze landed on Todd. “Oh and who’s this?” She looked to Neil to introduce them.
“Uh, this is Todd.” Neil cleared his throat, steadying his voice. “My boyfriend,” he added quickly. Todd grabbed his hand, hoping to sell the idea. He tried to ignore the flutter of his heart at his words.
His mother beamed at him. “Really?” His father studied him, then looked over at Neil.
Neil tapped Todd’s hand with his thumb.
“Um, hello! It’s nice to meet you,” Todd offered his hand to Neil’s mother first.
She shook her head and hugged him too. “Oh I’m so excited to meet you!” She pulled away and got a good look at him. “You caught a good one Neil!” Todd felt heat in his face. He offered his hand to Neil’s father next. He shook it stiffly and made intense eye-contact. He looked uncomfortable to say the least.
Neil’s brain must’ve finally kicked in, as he finally invited them in. His parents each had a bag, causing Todd to shoot Neil a look when they weren’t looking. His roommate only shrugged. They set their bags at the door and went to sit on their newly-cleaned couch.
“Can I get you anything? We have coffee,” Neil offered.
His mother smiled. “Coffee would be wonderful, dear.”
His father nodded. “Yes, please.” It sounded far too forced. Todd stood around awkwardly until Neil pulled him into his bedroom and closed the door.
“What the hell is going on?” Todd whispered.
“I don’t know! They’re being so... nice?” Neil huffed.
Todd squeezed his shoulder. “Maybe they want to make amends.”
Neil scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know what to think.”
Todd shrugged. “Well, I’m right here if things get ugly.”
“Thanks, Todd.” Neil looked at him meaningfully.
“Now go get them coffee before they start snooping around.”
Neil rushed out the door while Todd smiled after him and shook his head fondly. He sighed. For a moment it had felt so nice to be introduced as Neil’s boyfriend and to feel accepted into his family. He had to remember that this was all pretend and Neil didn’t really feel that way. He walked out the room to find Neil handing his parents cups of coffee. He came up behind him and put a hand on his back.
“So!” Neil’s mother took a sip of coffee. “How did you two meet?” Todd stepped up to tell the story, sensing that Neil still needed a minute. It was Todd’s favorite story to tell anyways. He launched into a quick explanation about spilled coffee, knowing how embarrassed it made him. His mother laughed and Todd felt privately proud of that fact.
“And when did you start dating?”
Neil told that story, but he added how cute he thought Todd was and how it was love at first sight. It would’ve made his knees weak if he wasn’t sitting down already.
His mother gushed over how adorable a couple they were while his father sat silently. Neil swallowed.
“So, what brings you guys around?” He asked. Todd has known him long enough to know when he was acting.
His mother sat her cup down and folded her hands onto her lap. “I know we haven’t been the best parents to you, but we want to change that. We support you 100% and you’ll always be our son. We’d like to be back in your life.” Neil’s breath caught in his throat. Todd rubbed his thumb over their intwined hands absentmindedly. “I’m sorry for the way we’ve treated you, son.”
Tears sprang to Neil’s eyes. His father looked down, not speaking up at all. Neil sniffed and Todd looked over with concern. He wasn’t crying, but he looked emotional.
He looked at his father pointedly. “You made my life miserable. You tried to keep me from doing the one thing I love. You... you didn’t accept me for being who I am. What makes you think you can just change your mind?”
His father looked up and tension filled the room.
“I don’t hate you,” Neil said gently. “But I can’t just forgive you. I need time.”
His father nodded slowly. “I’ll make it up to you, because losing you is the hardest thing that’s ever happened to us. I love you son.” His mother placed a hand over his father’s hand. Todd looked down at his and Neil’s own hands and realized they mirrored the action.
“We want to hear what you’ve been up to! If you’d like, we want to come visit once in a while.” His mother smiled politely.
Suddenly her phone buzzed and she flipped it open. “What? Oh no! 10am? That’s fine, thank you.” She looked over at them. “Our flight’s been delayed until tomorrow.”
Neil cleared his throat again. “Uh, you can stay in my... the guest room for the night.” Neil showed them to his room and gave them time to get situated.
He pulled Todd aside. “I didn’t expect that at all. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight. Sorry for dragging you into this.”
Todd pulled him into a hug. Neil warmed at the contact. This was safe and familiar.
He squeezed him back tightly.
“I told you,” Todd pulled away to look at him. “I’m here for you.”
Neil surged forward and kissed him. Todd was taken by surprise, but before he knew it he was closing his eyes and kissing him back. He tangled his fingers in his hair and felt his heart leap. Then Neil pulled away and Todd saw his dad retreating back into Neil’s room.
“Oh, I didn’t see him. You surprised me,” Todd brushed off, letting go of his roommate.
A strange look played across Neil’s face, but before he could respond, his mother appeared next to them.
“Don’t mind me, lovebirds!”
Todd definitely didn’t jump at the sudden interruption. He retreated into his room, closing the door behind him. Neil could make a quick excuse about separate closets or something, Todd needed a minute to think. He wasn’t really sure why Neil kissed him, but he wasn’t complaining. He only wished Neil wasn’t only acting in that moment. He shook off his thoughts and sat on his bed. A moment later, Neil knocked on his door.
“Come in.”
“Hey,” Neil said, sitting next to him. “I ordered food from that Thai place you like.”
“Your parents would eat take-out?” Todd teased.
Neil rolled his eyes. “They’ll manage.“
Dinner went pretty much the same, with Neil’s mother doing all the talking. They could hear his parents arguing after they went to bed early.
“I wish they’d get divorced already,” Neil sighed, collapsing onto the couch.
Todd shot him a sorry look. “Do you think they would?”
“No, they’re too traditional for that. My mom seems to actually care, but I don’t think my dad will ever come around.”
Todd shrugged. “It feels like he’s on his best behavior, so maybe he’s actually trying.”
“I wish I could know for sure...”
That’s when they heard the door creak open. Without thinking, Todd lunged forward and captured his roommates lips for the second time that day. It felt like some weird sort of fever dream, Neil’s hands instinctively finding his face. It was quick thinking on Todd’s part that he still couldn’t quite defend, but Neil was responding in earnest, so he felt like he did the right thing. They parted when they heard his dad clear his throat.
Neil looked over at him, rebellion lighting his eyes. “Did you need something?”
The man’s face twitched, but he held himself back. “Where’s your bathroom?”
“Door on the left.”
Neil looked back at Todd and a moment passed. “Good move, Anderson.”
Neil had resigned to sleep on the couch, but Todd pulled his arm.
“Come on, you can sleep with me.”
He blinked. “How forward!”
Todd rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up, it’ll look better to your parents anyways.” Neil shrugged. “Plus, they’ve already seen us make out twice now.” Neil laughed as Todd tugged him into his room.
The whole situation they found themselves in was strange, but laying in the same bed as his best friend who he had just made out with mere minutes ago was near the top of the list for Todd. However, when he looked over at his roommate, squinting at the same ceiling Todd looked at every night, he couldn’t help but laugh and push him off the bed.
“Hey!” Neil whispered, getting back up. He laid back down, facing Todd. “What a crazy day, huh?”
“Your parents are interesting people,” Todd laughed.
“They’re insane,” Neil smiled brightly.
“I’m glad they’re trying to make things better.”
A conflicted look passed through Neil’s face. “It’s weird. My mom used to be so quiet, but now she won’t stop talking. And my dad, he’s trying I guess. He hasn’t gone off on me yet so I guess that’s progress.”
“Maybe they have changed.” Todd smiled at him sleepily.
“Maybe.” Neil ruffled his hair. “On a serious note, has anyone ever told you that you’re a horrible kisser?”
Todd grabbed the pillow under his head and smacked Neil with it.
Neil almost fell off the bed again, laughing and saying “mercy!” Todd laughed. “I’m joking, jeez Anderson.”
“You’re only a better kisser because you do it on stage all the time.”
“So you admit I’m a better kisser!” Neil poked him in the chest. Todd huffed, crossing his arms.
“Aw, come on you weren’t that bad,” Neil waved off. Todd looked away from him in false offense. “Fine, you were wonderful.”
Todd looked over at him and smiled. “Go to bed, Neil.”
“Oh how could I possibly sleep after such a life changing kiss?” Neil asked dramatically.
“I’ll make you sleep on the couch, I swear to god.”
“Fine, fine! I’ll be good!”
Todd woke up with Neil sprawled across his chest. He felt a sudden rush of panic, before remembering last night. He sighed and ran his fingers through Neil’s hair. He couldn’t help it, really. He yawned and laid his head back on the pillow. Briefly he realized that he could get used to this. Then reality slapped him in the face and he knew this was likely the last time this would happen.
Neil’s eyes opened a moment later and for a second they just looked at each other.
Neil, overcome with emotion, blurted, “I love you.”
Todd looked up for one of Neil’s parents, assuming he was acting for them, but Neil gently guided his face to look at him.
“I’m not pretending, Todd. I’m in love with you. Acting like a couple almost killed me because I knew it wasn’t real. I couldn’t stand another minute of not telling you.”
Todd gaped, wondering how this could be real. He was a writer, for God’s sake, why couldn’t he think of anything to say? He did the only thing he could, he kissed his roommate. It felt so much more intimate this time because they were kissing in Todd’s bed first thing in the morning and they had no audience to perform for.
Todd broke the kiss, feeling the need to fill the silence. “I-“ he studied each aspect of Neil’s smiling face. “I love you too.”
They waved Neil’s parents off not much longer afterwards so they’d have time to catch their plane. Neil’s mother hugged them both with promises to keep in touch. Neil would never admit it, but Todd knew it was filling a gap in his life that he’d long forgotten about. He grabbed his hand. Speaking of filling gaps...
Neil leaned over and kissed him sweetly. “You’re doing the dishes tonight,” he announced, sprinting back to his room.
“No way!” Todd called after him. He shook his head, a wide smile taking over his face. This was the moron he’d decided to fall in love with.