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The taste of Max’s lips made Aki release a sigh before he moved closer to him. Max’s hand hovered for a second before it finally settled on Aki’s cheek, his fingers gently curving to frame his face. The touch was so gentle on his face that Aki thought it was imagined until Max pulled away to kiss at Audrey’s neck.
He buried his face at her neck as a small inkling of doubt started worming into his head. Aki was upset with Audrey and they needed to communicate, not ignore the problem, again.
At the sound of Audrey’s quiet moan, Aki made his mind up and pulled away. He turned away and tried to control his breathing.
Audrey’s hand rose to his neck, “Ak?”
Aki turned his face back towards them at the call of his name. Max pulled away from his place in Audrey’s neck and turned to look at Aki, his eyebrows furrowed in a silent question.
“I’m sorry I can’t...I need to be alone.” He gently pushed at Audrey’s waist to get her to move off of him, standing up when she did. “I’m sorry.”
“Aki, what's wrong?” Audrey’s concern made a lump grow heavy in his throat and a ball of anxiety started to expand over his chest, making him reach a hand up to rub it in useless effort to ease it. Max’s eyes followed the movement silently, gently moving Audrey away so Aki could sidestep her.
He pushed past them and headed towards the door, Audrey turning around to track him with her eyes, her face contorted in confusion. The mix of feelings he had felt were too much too fast and he couldn't find the words to even begin to describe what he was feeling much less tell her. Audrey was his longtime best friend and he cared for her. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her by saying everything he felt right now.
He tried to keep it simple so he could get out of the room faster.
“I just got outed on national television,” Aki responded at last, struggling to get the words out, “ by my own dad. And outed by my girlfriend in a fucking dinner party. This is just-its too much. I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.”
The last thing he saw was the startled look on her face.
There was a knock on the door and at the sound of silence, it sounded again. “Akeno? Can I come in ?”
Aki opened his eyes from beneath the duvet he had buried himself in. He didn’t have the heart to tell his mom to leave him alone so he could wallow in his sadness so instead he called out an affirmative answer. At the sound of it, she opened the door and entered the room. He poked his head out of where he was buried when he felt the bed dip on the opposite end of the bed.
Whatever she saw in his face caused her eyes to get sad and her hand to reach out to rest on his cheek, “Oh honey,” He closed his eyes as her thumb silently thumbed his cheek before his mom removed it. “ I’m sorry about what your father did, Akeno. You deserved to come out to people on your own terms.”
“Thanks mom,” He said softly, sitting up beside his mom. He felt the need to apologize for not telling her earlier when she had checked up on him. He may not have been ready but she had tried to be there for him and he appreciated it even if he didn’t react the right way, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about … about being bisexual when you asked.”
“You don’t have to apologize, dear. If you weren’t ready to tell me then you weren’t ready to tell me,” She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “How are you feeling ? My offer of listening to anything going on with you still stands, you know. But if you don’t feel comfortable talking to me about it, it’s okay. As long as you talk to someone and don’t let all of it sit in your chest.”
Aki looked away from his mom’s kind eyes and towards the large window in the middle of his room. Normally he’d consider talking to Audrey about certain safe topics he knew she’d listen to but this? She wouldn’t understand this. Obie wouldn’t either.
He turned back to his mom and gave her a hug which she returned without hesitation. Luckily, she seemed to know what he was trying to say with it and got up heading towards the door.
“I’ll send some onigiri up for you if you don’t come down to dinner later.”
This time the smile on his face felt easy and genuine.
Come the next school day, Aki didn’t even feel like getting ready. Everyone at Constance must have already heard or seen the news segment so the students would be looking at him around school.
It wasn’t that he was ashamed of being bisexual. It was that he wasn’t the best at handling people’s eyes on him, it made him uncomfortable and he didn’t like the feeling of their eyes on his person. Realizing that he liked more than just girls felt like a new revelation close to his heart and knowing everyone including his friends would know made him feel like he was robbed of something precious and purely his.
Sure enough walking through Constance, people’s eyes followed him around. It wasn’t fair that people were paying this much attention to him for something that did not really change the essential parts of him. There were plenty of people that were out at the school but of course people were always into a spectacle and his dad had provided that.
Aki’s sat on their usual table by the stairs at the front of the school. The only people missing were Zoya, mysteriously Obie seemed to have gotten closer to Julien again and was sitting right next to her, their shoulders touching, and Monet, who left her other half seated next to Julien with an empty seat beside her. Obie looked at him briefly before he quickly turned back to Julien who was telling him something.
He tried to push down the hurt he was feeling at the silence from his best friend.
Audrey must have been waiting for Aki because when he passed the table to go into the building she called out to him and grabbed his forearm. He couldn’t stand to look at her right now with how conflicted his feelings were so he avoided looking at her, instead looking over her shoulder, automatically focusing on Max who was looking at the two in interest.
“Akeno, please just-give me a moment to talk to you,” Audrey’s eyes were so sad looking into Aki’s own and if it weren’t for Monet that came up behind him, he would have probably caved in to her request.
“Don’t you see he clearly needs some space? I’m sure he’ll seek you out when he’s ready,” said Monet in her usual biting tone with her cold smirk in place, prying Audrey’s fingers off of him. If there was one thing that Monet loved, it was annoying Audrey.
At the sight of Monet, it was like a switch went off on Audrey’s head. Her back straightened and all the signs of her sadness left her face so they could be replaced by anger.
“Akeno, surely you’re not thinking about being seen with her? She is a traitor to Julien and no one is speaking to her,” She questioned incredulously, raising her eyebrows. At the beat of silence she huffed and said, “I should’ve known you wouldn’t pick sides again.”
She retreated back to the group and Monet let go of his arm, turning to face Aki now.
“Nothing cheers me up like seeing the displeasure on her face at my doing,” Monet was wearing a red blazer paired with a black pleated skirt with a silver chain belt around her waist. Only Monet would come to school looking like she hopped off straight off the runway. As put together as she looked, Aki still felt there was something missing.
It was Luna, he realized. This was probably the longest he hadn’t seen them at each other’s side and he realized he didn’t like it.
Aki thanked her and awkwardly looked around the courtyard. Monet had never willingly talked to him for longer than five minutes on her own volition and Aki never did make much conversation with her. Audrey always got this look on her face that he knew to be displeasure whenever he did.
Monet must have been thinking something similar because she raised an eyebrow saying, “Surprised you didn’t follow her after she tugged on your leash.”
“She hasn’t kept me on a leash,” Aki denied weakly, knowing the words were a lie as he said them. He shook his head as he thought back to what Audrey said in annoyance. “Besides, you must have had a very strong reason for giving up Julien like that after all the work you and Luna put into her image,” he shrugged, “It must've been a hard decision to make.”
Monet seemed a little surprised to hear him say that, if the quick two second relaxation of her brows was anything to go. She went back to normal and tilted her head at him, looking him over. The scrutiny of her gaze had him releasing a shuddering breath, she always did manage to unnerve him. She seemed to have made up her mind on something because she started walking towards the doors, signaling him to follow her. He gave his friends one last glance, startled to see Max still looking at them with those light blue eyes of his, before he turned on his heels and followed after her.
“I have a couple things to do after classes end. You’re coming with me.” Monet didn’t give much room for argument because after that she stalked off on her own, leaving Aki to stare after her.
It turned out that ‘a couple things to do’ meant that Monet was going shopping. He’d trailed after her for the better part of two hours, answering her when she asked him about one thing or another, carrying her bags with him until she finally relented to stopping at a coffee shop. She’d made a face at the one Aki led them to, sitting at the edge of her seat primly on the patio while Aki ate a pastry.
“Are you going to finally tell me why you’re not with Audrey right now?” Monet sat primly in front of him, wrinkling her nose at his pastry before she went back to being expressionless.
Aki avoided her eyes and picked at his pastry for a second before he let his mind wander. He’d been simmering in his feelings for most of the weekend and for the better part of a day and he still didn’t know how to put it into words.
His phone buzzed in front of him and he automatically went to check it. Another text from Audrey saying ‘ ak pick up the phone ’. Aki locked his phone and put it back down.
The whirlwind that were his emotions wasn’t only about his girlfriend who had accidentally outed him. It went beyond that.
Audrey saw people in black and white just like her favorite old Hollywood films. Everything was simple in those films she liked but real people were not like that. She always pushed him to pick a side in arguments between her mother and her or their friends but it wasn’t in his nature to do that. Aki had been standing in the middle of arguments all his life, whether it was between his mom and dad, his three siblings, his friends or Audrey and her mother. Seeing people argue constantly always made him nervous and maybe that's how he'd grown an aversion to conflict or siding with someone in an argument. It was easier to end arguments if you didn’t take anyone’s side, carefully considered both and deescalated the situation if possible.
Aki knew that Audrey thought he didn’t care enough about her to choose her side but when he’d grown up being the peacemaker in his family where his siblings fought constantly it was hard to break the routine. It was because he cared that he gave her advice and tried to get her to see past herself so that she could see the bigger picture.
“Akeno, it was a simple question. What did your Daisy Buchanan do for you to finally take off your collar?” Monet coaxed, looking at him curiously. He realized that she hadn’t ever looked at him like that before, like he was interesting.
Aki rolled his eyes at her pet reference and sighed, “A mixture of things.” She made a little gesture with her finger impatiently, signaling him to continue. “I don’t know, I guess we don’t fit well together like I thought we did. She doesn’t like the fact I can’t side with her on anything, and she doesn’t really get me. I know she tries to but she still says things that feel like digs at my sexuality. She accidentally outed me to my dad and she gave me a very vague apology for it.”
Monet didn’t seem that impressed by anything he told her simply sipping her coffee. Now that Aki finally unbottled his feelings, he couldn’t seem to stop the words from leaving his mouth.
“I’m angry that she fucking outed me to my father knowing how he is and I feel bad that I’m angry because I know she didn’t mean it. I’m angry she didn’t try to really talk to me about it and tried to start something I wasn’t in the right headspace for. I’m angry that she doesn’t seem to understand why I’m upset with her because she already gave me an apology. But most of all I’m angry that she doesn’t really seem to know me. And its stupid because some of it is not even her fault,” Aki brought his hands to his head and stared at the tree branches above them thinking about his girlfriend, “All this anger makes me feel like I’m fucking rotten and I hate it.”
Letting all of his feelings regarding Audrey made him feel lighter than he had in a while. Usually he’d talk to Obie about things regarding his relationship but ever since Aki told him about cheating on Audrey when Obie assumed the person he kissed was a girl, Aki felt a hesitancy. It didn’t help that every time he thought about it, Obie’s face when he heard his father talking to the reporter flashed before his eyes.
His relationships with everyone in his life right now felt so rocky. Audrey. Obie. His father. Max.
Aki sighed and lowered his arms, going to stare at his pastry.
“Audrey is not going to get what you feel regarding being outed because she can’t fathom it. She brushed over it because she didn't understand or know what it meant for you.” It seemed like it pained Monet to say the words, to give Audrey the benefit of the doubt and not belittle her actions. “This applies to everyone else in your life including Obie,” she grimaced as she said his name before she leaned back in her chair and tilted her head, “I may have kept her away from you this morning but there will be no repeat, Akeno. You’ve let her walk all over you long enough, enough is enough. Stand up for yourself.” She closed her eyes briefly before focusing on him again, “I can’t believe I’m even saying this but let the people close to you know that they can’t walk all over you. Assert yourself and your feelings. If you don’t they'll continue treating you like a complete push over.”
The words sounded weird in Monet’s mouth and he thought it might be because she didn’t usually say things like that, especially not to Julien. She always chose her words carefully and it seemed like she was holding back this time. He’d seen first hand how she encouraged Julien to savagely take down girls at Constance. He recalled Monet telling Julien to ‘smite’ her sister.
That aside, she was right. Audrey and Obie wouldn’t know what Aki was feeling because they couldn’t relate. They had never been outed. He knew the conversation with Obie would be much easier than the one he had to have with Audrey.
“I don’t even think it's occurred to you but some couples are just not meant to be together.” Monet went on bluntly, arching an eyebrow at his startled look. “ What? It’s the truth. Look at Julien and Obie, he doesn’t deserve her and she’s still mooning over him for reasons I can’t even fathom,” She looked disgusted at the idea of being obsessed with the man.
Aki felt a bit hurt on his best friend’s behalf but he tried not to take it to heart. He knew Monet wasn’t fond of him and often tried to ignore his presence when he was around. The two years that Julien and Obie had been dating, he never did like Luna or Monet’s influence over her and had made comments about them towards Aki. He could only imagine somehow Monet found out what Obie had said. He knew lately Obie had not been the best boyfriend or even a good friend to Julien with the whole dumping her, ignoring her for a bit, dating her sister so quickly after breaking up with her, then giving her mixed signals. Still, he couldn’t let her shade Obie without sticking up for him.
“Obie is-”
One burning look from Monet and he knew not to bother.
The time that Aki and Audrey had been together was so long that Aki didn’t remember what it was like to be without her. They used to be so much happier and well connected before. They went everywhere together, smiling at all the guests and loved doing things together. Slowly things had become disjointed and he felt disconnected from her. He’d been trying to close the gap for a while now but maybe along the way the gap had only grown.
“Now that we got that out of the way,” She interrupted his musings when she pushed back the chair she was sitting on, standing up, “It's time to get you some new pieces. If you’re going to talk to your Daisy Buchanan, then I at least need you to be wearing something that gives a message. I will not take a no, Akeno.”
He hastily threw some bills on the table, the cashier was so friendly when he’d paid, and hurried after her.
Encouraged by Monet’s words and his own frustration with the situation, he found himself at Audrey’s place. He hadn’t changed into what Monet got him because if he did then he might back down from talking to Audrey now. He would keep his feelings to himself even longer. She had opened the door surprised to see him, looking like she was ready to go out of the door to go to the hospital with her mother.
“Ak, now is not a good time. I’m late to go to my mom’s and-” She rummaged through her purse for her keys.
Assert yourself and your feelings. He shook out his hands.
“No, I think this conversation is overdue, Audrey,” He shut the door behind him, “I won’t take too much of your time.” Aki gently grabbed her arm and led her to the living room to sit on the couch, facing each other. Once they were seated, he rubbed his hands on his pants and took in a breath. Somehow telling her how hurt he was by her actions seemed so hard when telling her his feelings before didn’t. “I left yesterday because I didn’t feel comfortable doing that when I was upset. I was upset with you because you outed me and then just glossed over it. You didn’t even try to talk to me about it.I know you’re trying to support me but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. Like when you tell me to pick a side, it feels like you’re making digs at my sexuality. ”
“Akeno, I told you I said something to your parents and I apologized.” Audrey’s brown eyes looked sad when they locked on him and the little line between her eyebrows that she got when she was confused appeared.
He reached over to grab her hands and squeezed them, “Audrey, you didn’t tell me what you said. I had no idea what you were talking about when I accepted that apology. It just feels like you didn’t mean it.“
“Ak, I am sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean to say it, I swear. I’m sorry that it led to your father and the…” She hesitated when she spotted the tall tale signs of him getting uncomfortable, “I would take it back if I could.” Audrey took in a shuddering breath in and rubbed her face, locking her eyes to his once more, “I will admit that this whole thing took me by surprise but I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable or make comments about your bisexuality. I just get mad at you sometimes and it comes out like that but I don’t mean to make you feel bad about it. At least not subconsciously. ”
Aki knew it hurt Audrey to admit something like this to him. She was so hard on herself most of the time once the initial anger wore off. He knew because he’d comforted her after countless arguments with her mother or Julien where she would accidentally say the wrong thing.
Most of what she just said were things he knew deep down but it was still nice to hear her say it. It felt real to him now and not like something some part of his brain cooked up to make himself feel better.
“I invited Max over because I wanted to thank both of you for looking out for me when my mom was not doing so well. I didn’t plan anything but the moment just ...happened. I thought you were fine. You hadn’t said anything so I figured you didn’t want to talk about it.” She continued, moving closer to him and interlacing their fingers. “You do want him, don’t you?”
He felt heat rushing to his cheeks and avoided looking into her eyes, “That's not the point.”
“Well,” Audrey hesitated, “I’m sorry then. That I didn’t talk to you about it, I mean.” She said, a bit doubtfully. She was clearly unsure of what to say to him at this point but she was attempting to make him feel better.
Aki gave her a smile for the attempt. Audrey moved the conversation to easier topics like how her mother was doing. It wasn’t long before they were outside the door, Audrey locking it and walking towards the elevator, the conversation now having switched to Zoya and Julien’s new fight. His mind strayed from the conversation and he thought back to what Monet said.
Some couples are just not meant to be together.
It was true, some couples didn’t work out. But that didn’t mean that Audrey and him were one of those couples. They had always been so good together and they would get over this rough patch. He was already working towards it. He’d been honest about his feelings and put it all on the table. Well almost everything. There was no need to talk about the way Aki couldn’t get a certain blue eyed boy out of his head.
He was working on it. Really.
They were fine now, they had to be.
Aki had finally responded to texts from his friends almost three hours later. He was curled up on his bed after closing the curtains to darken his room, the projector screen pulled down and the projector at the foot of his bed.
On the screen Jesse and Céline were talking, their soft voices filling the room talking about the rarity of connecting with people. He’d watched this more times than he could count and didn’t ever get tired of it. It somehow always made him feel better.
He texted Obie first, knowing he was worried about him if the two missed calls were anything to go off of.
OB: Hey, man. Where have you been? Call me when you get the chance?
Sent 3:25pm
Aki
hey dude sorry i was off lately. talk tomorrow?
Sent 9:32pm
OB: Don’t apologize, you’re good. Yes, talk tomorrow!
Sent 9:35pm
He read the last texts he had gotten from Max, trying to think of something to reply to him.
Max: are you going back to avoiding me? i don’t bite, you know
Sent 4:31pm
Max: now i'm the worried one.
Sent 7:54
What could he say? ‘Sorry I ran out of the room at the threesome attempt? I swear I do think you’re hot’? Or maybe ‘Hey dude I kind of have a crush on you but I didn’t feel comfortable yesterday sorry about that’? He settled for not sending anything at all.
The following morning was a lot more on the regular side. Aki sat with Audrey and the girls in the morning, their conversation flowing around him as he spaced out in search of Monet until it was time for classes to start. The students decided that he wasn’t as interesting as yesterday since there was a new development going on with Gossip Girl but there were a couple curious eyes glancing in his direction the rest of the day.
He never thought that he’d want to thank Gossip Girl but he wanted to send the account a thank you for posting about a cheating boyfriend in the year above them. It did the job.
When classes let out for lunch, he’d finally been able to catch sight of Monet. She was typing away on her phone as she walked out of her classroom, students jumping out of her way as she went down the hall.
Aki stopped in front of her when she got near causing her to halt to a stop, prepared to intimidate whoever got in her way. She looked unimpressed to see him only making a vague hand gesture in a silent question.
“I just wanted to thank you. For giving me advice yesterday. It helped me talk to Audrey about,” He waved off handedly, “all of that.”
It meant a lot, he didn’t say.
Aki didn’t know Monet that well but he knew she did not like public displays of emotions unless it was from her other half. So he kept it short instead of telling her how having her give him sound advice really helped him, that having someone who got it made him feel like his feelings were valid and reasonable.
“If you really want to thank me, you won’t let Audrey or anyone else do whatever they want with you anymore,” Monet answered detachedly, looking disinterested in the conversation. The slight upturn of her lips let him know she was at least the slightest bit pleased.
A beat of silence and she was gliding down Constance’s crowded halls again.
Aki had been sitting with Audrey drinking hot chocolate for about a minute before Obie came and sat on his other side. Audrey took one glance at the boy and declared that she was going to talk to one of her english classmates on the other side of the courtyard.
“Hey,” He offered lamely.
Aki raised his eyebrows repeating back the greeting. He’d let Obie control this conversation and see what he was going to say.
Obie ruffled his hair then started fiddling with the strap of his bag nervously, “I realize that I shouldn’t have acted like that the other day with the reporter,” Aki glanced away from him briefly, “You never hinted at liking guys before. It took me by surprise, that's all.”
“The other day that I told you I cheated on Audrey...I kissed a guy.” Aki confided, waiting to see Obie’s reaction. He knew Obie wasn’t homophobic. Their friends talked about their dates all the time and Obie never acted weird. He supported organizations that helped the LGBT community before. But Aki knew people reacted differently when someone close to them came out.
Obie’s eyes widened a bit, “Oh.”
Aki watched carefully as the moment of realization took over Obie’s face. His best friend scrunched up his face regretfully, “Aaand I told you that if you weren’t going to kiss the girl again then it was okay. Fuck, sorry.”
Aki shrugged his shoulders as if to say it was okay.
“Sorry man.”
Aki never got apologies from his siblings growing up so he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to receive them. He dumped his shoulder against Obie’s, “Hey man, at least you know better now.”
Thankfully, Obie knew him well enough to know what he was trying to do. He laughed and bumped his shoulder against Aki’s. “If there’s a next time, I’ll make sure to be gender neutral or at least ask.”
Not long after Obie got Aki to help him scout the halls for Julien who wasn’t in the courtyard. Once seeing her at her locker, Obie thumped his shoulder and left towards her. It seemed Max was only waiting for Obie to walk away because he called out to Aki trying to get his attention a second later.
“Akeno!”
He turned around to the sound of his name, finding Max heading towards him. He was wearing one of the school knit sweaters in white which only made the pink of his lips and the blue of his eyes all the more noticeable.
It really wasn't fair, Aki thought, he doesn't even have to try.
“I need to talk to you,” He breathed, stopping Aki by stepping in front of him. He stuck a hand in his pockets braced on, “Giving me the cold shoulder again made me realize I hadn’t ever apologized,” Max started, looking directly into Aki’s eyes. “For everything.”
A part of him thought he was imagining this, right now.
Aki knew Max cared for their friends. There was no doubt in his mind about it. He was always there for everyone whenever they needed him throughout the years they knew each other. He was right next to Aki as the two listened to Obie rant about something his mother had done. He was there for Luna and Monet in more ways than one. Monet always liked someone to scheme with her and Max usually offered his help. Luna and Max liked dressing people and usually liked coordinating the group so they could subtly match at an event if it came to that. Just recently, he’d taken out Julien to get her to distract herself a bit from the pressure of finding a replacement for Obie.
He’d been helping Aki take care of Audrey when her mother was not doing well.
But he knew Max had been blindsided for a time now, with more than one thing. Max loved his parents and looked up to their relationship. They were his world and to see his family out of the picture perfect circle they had previously been in had affected him strongly. Aki knew that's why Max had been off the rails recently and he tried not to hold Max’s words against him because of it. Some of the biting words he’d said to Aki were in an attempt to protect what he had thought had been a deep bond with Caparos. Aki got it. But it didn’t make it easier to hear.
That's why he couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. He hadn’t expected Max to apologize.
“When you didn’t answer me, I thought it was because you were angry with me,” Max confessed, stepping closer to Aki, “Rightfully angry with me for how I’ve been treating you. For outing you to Audrey, for ignoring your warnings about Caparros, for telling you off multiple times, for telling you that you were only using me,” The look in Max’s eyes was so intense that Aki knew he was being honest, that he really did regret what he said. With another step, he murmured, “ What I said wasn’t true. You’re anything but boring or basic, Akeno.”
There was a thrum in the air at the words the older boy had spoken. Aki’s breath hitched and he found himself unable to break the heated gaze they were locked in.
“You didn’t deserve it when you were just looking out for me. It means a lot to me that you did.” He placed his hand on Aki’s right shoulder and squeezed gently. The grounding touch caused Aki to swallow roughly. “I’m sorry for all of it, Ak.”
Aki bit the inside of his cheek, feeling that warm sensation he got in his chest whenever it came to Max make its appearance.
“I care about you,” Aki reminded him gently, “And I’m going to look out for you whenever I can.” The words brought him back to the last conversation they had here, where Max telling him off for the history teacher. The bitter memory was overpowered by the moment happening now, with its earnest words and the shared looks.
“Thanks, for apologizing.” Aki said the words so softly that he thought he would have to repeat himself but Max caught them regardless.
His lips stretched into one of his unbridled smiles that made his face glow, his eyes brighten and Aki’s heart beat a little faster. Max put his other hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. He closed his eyes, nestled his face into the crook of Max’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around him. He let himself hold him for a minute before he pulled away.
“Let’s go catch up with Obie,” Max suggested, pulling Aki along with a hand around his shoulders. Aki let himself be led as Max continued, “He definitely needs to be talked to about his love life recently. I mean sister hopping, really? He’s Constance’s male Sabrina Fairchild. ”
Aki lit up at the reference and glanced over at Max, “Does that make Julien David or Linus?”
They continued their conversation as they made their way down the hallways, arguing over which of the two sisters was which. The conversation was easy and the warmth of Max’s arm around him was pleasantly calming.
Aki still needed to talk to his father after hearing the voicemail he had yet to open. He knew that would be the hardest conversation yet. Perhaps his father wouldn’t be as vocal about his dislike of his sexuality as he had in the past or maybe he would. It would be hard mentally and he would need emotional support after it. But at least right now he had the people he cared about most back, supporting him.