Chapter Text
"Don't worry, it'll be fun!" Teresa had promised, "For good old time's sake, come on!"
Thomas regretted agreeing to this stupid meeting. He had his reasons for not wanting to see the majority of these people ever again. Especially his ex-boyfriend. It wasn't as if he was still in love with him, it didn't even hurt anymore. Well, yes, sometimes he did cry before going to sleep, wishing the love of his life would be there to hold him. And yes, every now and then he thought about calling the older one to ask him out. But he really didn't love him anymore. Not a single bit.
Okay, so maybe he still kind of liked him. 'Like' as in 'love.' But he truthfully hated himself for his feelings.
How could he still be interested in the guy that broke his heart? Who lied to him, cheated on him, who didn't even feel a tiny little bit sorry? Why did he still spend so much time thinking of the boy who didn't even felt the necessity to call him, to fight for him? Thomas didn't know. He just couldn't understand himself.
=
"We should move together. I mean, we have been dating for the past couple years and... it would just make sense, I don't know. What do you think, Newt?"
"Tommy, I'd love to move in with you."
=
"Teresa, I can't do this."
"Of course you can! It's not like there's anything to be afraid of. You're going to meet your old friends from high school. Don't you remember how amazing it was back then? We were inseparable and so close! And now we're barely in touch anymore. It'll be cool to catch up."
"But Newt's probably going to be there... with Minho."
Thomas and Minho had gotten along very well for quite some time. That was until the Asian boy decided to take his chances with Newt. Afterwards, Thomas never talked to his former friend again. No matter how many times Minho called or texted him. Thomas just threw his phone away and bought a new one, so that no one from his past could bother him anymore.
"It's been two years, Tom. Don't you think it's time to forgive them?" Teresa asked.
"As long as I'm still hurting," Thomas explained, "I'm not going to forgive anyone."
=
"You've been spending a lot of time with Minho lately..."
"Um, yeah. But don't worry about it, we're just friends. He's a nice guy, you know?"
=
As soon as Thomas entered the room, he wanted to leave again. It wasn't because of the terrible country music that played in the background or because of the stinking smell of smoke. No, it was because of the sight of his ex-boyfriend leaning over to his new lover, whispering something in his ear while laughing.
Oh fuck it, now Thomas definitely knew that he was still in love with Newt. It was the only logical explanation for the pain in his chest as he watched the two boys who sat at a table together a few metres away. For a second, Newt turned around and looked directly into Thomas's eyes. He looked shocked. The British boy instantly got pale and looked away in embarrassment. Thomas could feel his heart skip a beat.
He hadn't seen Newt in two years.
Newt looked more mature. It was weird how he could have changed so much while still being the same. He got more handsome, at least that was what Thomas thought, but maybe it was just his imagination. He felt like a complete idiot. Here he was, longing for his ex-boyfriend to pull him into his arms and to tell him that from now on everything was going to be fine. Ridiculous. Thomas was pretty sure that his entire body language practically screamed "I still love you."
Teresa, still standing next to her best friend, gave him an encouraging smile.
"Trust me," she said, "The evening will be super nice."
=
"Wanna go to the cinema tonight? I heard that this new movie, that came out a week ago, is amazing."
"I can't. I promised Minho that we would...Um... pick out a gift for his... mother's birthday? But maybe we can go to the cinema tomorrow?"
"Sure..."
=
Thomas wandered around in the room, trying to avoid Newt. He felt incredibly torn between wanting to be near him and wanting to run away from him. Every now and then he quickly glanced towards Newt's direction, only to see the blond talking to Minho. It hurt. It hurt so damn much.
Although Teresa had sworn to stay with Thomas the entire time, she had vanished only a few minutes after they had entered the party. Now she was talking to Alby and Gally, exchanging old stories. Thomas honestly felt like the fifth wheel. No one really talked to him or paid attention to him at all.
And then there was this really unfortunate incident.
Thomas was walking down a dark corridor (if the others kept ignoring him, he might as well explore the building.) What he found was his ex-boyfriend - with Minho.
"You said he wouldn't be here! You promised, Minho!" Newt hissed angrily.
"Calm down, it's... It's a chance? The two of you could talk? Be friends again?" Minho had sounded optimistic.
"I really don't want to see Thomas."
Enormous pain shot through Thomas entire body. Well, now he knew for sure that Newt wasn't interested in making up with him.
What he didn't know was what Newt told Minho after Thomas had left his hiding spot.
"You don't get it, Minho. It still hurts like hell. He left me and I... I just can't forget him. I still love him and it bloody hurts like hell."
=
"Thomas, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure, what's wrong, Brenda?"
"It's about Newt."
"What do you-"
"He's cheating on you."
=
Smalltalk had never really been Thomas' thing. He was terrible at it and every time he tried to actually speak to someone it seemed more like he was forcing himself onto somebody.
"So," he began another disappointing conversation,"This is supposed to be some kind of 'meet your old friends once again' thing but I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before."
The girl in front of him furrowed her eyebrows.
"Smooth."
"I was actually being serious."
"I'm here because of my boyfriend, you probably know him," she explained while taking her glas from the table in front of them.
"And your boyfriend's name is...?"
"Minho."
=
"Maybe you should just tell Thomas that-"
"Are you crazy? I cannot bloody tell him about it. Not yet. And you won't say anything either, okay? It's not the right time. This is our little secret. I'm going to talk to him... in a few months maybe?"
Thomas stopped listening and just ran. He had heard enough.
=
Apparently Minho had a girlfriend. And apparently they had been dating for almost two years. There was only one possible explanation for this. Minho had decided to ruin Thomas's relationship just so he could get together with Newt and then cheat on the British boy. Thomas was furious. Minho propably broke Newt's heart. And still they managed to remain friends?
Thomas noticed that something about his theory was off, he just couldn't quite figure out what it was.
When he saw how Minho stood up to walk over to the toilets, Thomas decided not to think anymore. Now it was time to act.
=
"Tommy, can I talk to you for a second? It's really important and I've been waiting for a really long time to tell you-"
"You know what? No, you cannot talk to me. In fact, I don't want you to ever talk to me again, okay? Just get lost and leave me alone!"
"Wait, why are you-"
"I said go away! I hereby break up with you. There you have it. Are you happy now? Was it at least worth it? All the lies and the betrayal? I really hope that you will be happy knowing that you threw away a once in a lifetime opportunity. You could have had the greatest life ever, a caring boyfriend and who knows what else might have happened. But no. You decided to destroy all of it. And the worst thing about this is that you didn't even try to make this the least painful that's possible. I'll never forgive you for that. I hate you."
=
Thomas pressed Minho against the wall.
"How dare you break Newt's heart?"
The Asian boy didn't seem to have any regrets.
"I could just ask you the same. After all, you were the one who broke up with him," Minho hissed.
He freed himself from Thomas's grip and pushed the brown haired boy away.
"He cheated on me," Thomas explained furiously.
"He didn't cheat on you. Who knows how you even got that idea!" Minho yelled back.
"Oh, so you're saying that my boyfriend - thanks to you now ex-boyfriend - spending all of his time with some random dude is totally normal and nothing to worry about?" Thomas shot back.
"Have you ever asked him why he spent his time the way he did?"
Minho's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Oh please. It was crystal clear, wasn't it? I didn't need to ask him and he didn't need to tell me, hell, I didn't want him to look into my eyes and say 'Hey Tommy, I've been cheating on you for the past few weeks and now I think we should break up.'"
Minho didn't answer for a while.
"Listen closely, you idiot,” he then whispered, “Newt did not cheat on you. The reason he spent so much time with me was because he needed my help with something. He wanted to surprise you.”
“Oh, of course!” Thomas hissed, getting angrier with every passing second, “And what kind of surprise would require your help?”
“He wanted to propose to you.”
tbc in part II