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“You told them what?!”
They were waiting for their flight at the airport. Everybody else at the gate turned to look at them.
“Keep it down, will ya?” Matt said in a hushed voice. “I told them you’re my boyfriend.”
“But…” Gus floundered, “why the hell would you want your parents to think I’m your boyfriend?”
“I needed to get them off my back, ok? They keep trying to set me up with their friends’ kids and it’s super weird.”
His roommate considered this. “Ok, but why me? And why are you just telling me now?”
“I don’t know, you were the first person who came to mind!” Matt said, throwing his hands in the air. “And if I told you sooner, would you have even agreed to come on this trip with me? It was hard enough convincing you already.”
Gus frowned, crossing his arms defiantly. “And who’s to say I won’t just get up and go back home right now?”
Matt leaned back in his seat, putting his feet up on his luggage. “Because, Augustus, I know you. You’re not going to spend a week packing, get up at 4am to get to the airport on time, and wait for an hour to get through security just to go home and forfeit the money we spent on your plane ticket.”
The younger man slumped back into his own seat, knowing that this was all true.
“Fine. But you owe me.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “What’s your price?”
“Well, for one, you’re reimbursing me for airfare—”
“—what?!—”
“—and I get to pick out movies for the next month. And you need to give me that corduroy jacket of yours that I like.”
“Augustus, that’s not—”
“Take it or leave it, Matt. I'm not afraid to embarrass you in front of your parents.”
“Okay, damn. Deal.”
“Sooo,” Gus said after a pause, “how do we do this?”
Matt quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Like, we should probably set some ground rules, right?”
Matt shrugged. Of course he had put no thought into this.
“Alright, well, we can hold hands and stuff, but I’m not kissing you,” Gus warned him.
“‘Stuff’, huh? What exactly does that involve?” Matt waggled his eyebrows.
“Gross, dude! You know what I mean. Like, you can put your arm around me or whatever.”
“This is stupid,” Matt said, rolling his eyes, “We pretty much do those kinds of things already as friends. Why do we need to have rules?”
“Well, you want to make it believable, don’t you? Speaking of which, how did we meet?”
“Did you hit your head or something? How did you forget how we met?”
Now it was Gus’ turn to roll his eyes. “Not how we really met, dumbass. How we met as boyfriends.”
Matt shrugged. “If they ask, I’ll just say we were friends first and then we started dating a few months ago. Easy.”
“A few months ago? And you’re already inviting me to meet your family?”
“Fine. Six months. Happy now, babe?”
“Hm. I guess. Wait—babe?! We didn’t talk about pet names?”
Matt just shrugged, a wry smile on his lips. “You said you wanted to make it believable.”
~
It was snowing when they landed in Denver. Gus had never seen snow in person before (aside from when it was already half-melted on the ground) and he was absolutely enthralled. He insisted that they wait outside for their Uber even though it was freezing, but Matt had to admit that it was kind of worth it to see his friend’s eyes light up like a little kid as he tried to catch snowflakes on his tongue. He was still staring fondly when Gus caught him.
“What?”
“Nothing, you’re just a dork.”
“Shut up.” Gus shoved him.
Their ride arrived, and they quickly stuffed their luggage into the trunk and stumbled into the warmth of the car. Gus felt himself getting nervous at the prospect of meeting Matt’s parents and keeping up their little ruse. He tried to distract himself by looking out the window, but everything seemed to just blur together. It wasn’t long before they pulled up to the modest brick house and Gus held his breath in anticipation as they waited at the door.
Matt nudged him. “Relax, dude. They’re not gonna bite.”
Matt’s parents were, in fact, very nice. His mom was a small and somewhat nervous woman with curly hair and glasses. His father was stocky with graying hair and quiet. Gus couldn’t help but feel like there was some tension between them and their son, but he wasn’t surprised since he knew that Matt wasn’t exactly close with his parents. They received a quick tour of the house for Gus’ benefit, and were shown the room that they would be sharing. Apparently both of them had neglected to take into consideration that they would be sharing a bed, and had to try to hide their obvious discomfort at the idea.
Shortly after they got settled in, they joined Matt’s parents for dinner.
“George, could you pass the potatoes, please?” Matt’s mom, Sharon, asked her husband before eying their guests. “So, Augustus, what is it that you do for work?”
“Oh, just Gus is fine,” he said, shifting a bit in his seat, “uh, I’m actually studying right now to get my graduate degree in paleobiology.”
“Oh, my, that certainly is impressive, isn’t it? I bet something like that pays quite well too,” Sharon continued. Then, she turned to her son. “See, honey, you could have gone into something like that instead of pursuing this silly acting career of yours.”
Matt ran a hand over his face. “Can we please not talk about this right now?”
Gus frowned, looking between them. He knew it wasn’t his place to get involved, really, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Actually, Matt’s job pays for most of our expenses. He’s been in a few commercials lately, did you see them? They were really good. And he’s been directing some of his own stuff, too.” He smiled boastfully. Matt’s parents just blinked at him while Matt seemed to suddenly become self-conscious, staring down at his dinner plate to hide his reddening face.
They were surprised to hear Matt’s dad speak up first. “Well, we’re glad to hear that,” he said.
“Yes, perhaps we haven’t been as supportive as we should have. Sorry, honey,” Sharon said to Matt.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Matt’s mom made another attempt at small talk.
“We saw Steve a few weeks ago. He came to visit with his girlfriend. Very sweet girl. I do hope this one sticks. That may be our only hope for grandchildren since Matty decided he doesn’t like girls.”
“Mom!”
Sharon cocked her head, looking genuinely confused. “What?”
“There are other ways to have kids you know. I mean, not that I’m thinking about it or anything—”
She hummed. “Oh, that’s too bad. You don’t want to have children, Gus?”
“Uhhhh….maybe? Haven’t really…thought about it much.” He blushed.
“Well, either way,” Sharon continued, “I hope you’re being safe. I’ve heard about these men who seek out—” she dropped her voice to a whisper, “— sex with other men and then end up bringing STDs back to their wives.”
Matt looked like wanted to disappear under the table. “Mom, that’s not...what are you even talking about?”
“Well I’m not implying that it’s the same for the two of you, of course, you’re both men. I’m just saying that it’s good to be safe even if you’re in a monogamous relationship. You know, your father and I—”
“—that’s it! I’m done. Goodnight.” Matt said, standing up abruptly and leaving the table.
Panicked at the thought of being left alone with the two near-strangers, and in the middle of that conversation no less, Gus got up to excuse himself. “Um, I better go check on him. Thank you for dinner.”
~
Later that night, they lay in bed, both unable to sleep.
“That was awkward,” Gus admitted.
Matt sighed. “I know. Sorry. Now you can see why I wouldn’t bring a real boyfriend to meet them.”
Gus wasn’t sure why, but the words stung. “Yeah.” He swallowed. “Why do you even come to visit them, anyway? Clearly you guys don’t get along very well.”
He could feel Matt exhale next to him and shift to face him. “I don’t know. I was so desperate to get away from here—from them—for so long. I guess I kinda wanna prove to them that I’m doing ok on my own? Well, more like rub it in their face. Thanks for what you said back there, by the way.”
“No problem.” Gus fidgeted with his locs. “I meant it, y’know.”
“I know. I don’t think they’ll ever really acknowledge it though. You heard how my mom gushed about Steve. I can never compete with him. It’s always ‘Steve this’ and ‘Steve that’. Hell, my dad likes him better and they’re not even blood-related! But he followed his footsteps and joined the military so now they’re like two peas in a pod.”
Gus didn’t know how to respond. He wanted to do something comforting, but he didn’t want to make things any weirder than they already were between the two of them. Eventually, he settled on laying his hand on Matt’s shoulder. To his surprise, it didn’t get pushed away.
~
The next morning they woke up much closer together than before. Matt was the first to notice and promptly yelped and threw himself halfway across the room before clearing his throat while Gus just blinked at him, confused and honestly a bit cold now that he was alone in the bed.
“So, uh, my parents are working today, and I figured we could go hang out and explore a little around town,” Matt said, trying to act casual.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Gus sat up and stretched. He pointed to the en-suite bathroom. “Is it cool if I take a shower first?”
“Sure, go ahead,” Matt said. He was busy rifling through his suitcase for something and wasn’t paying much attention. When he turned around, he was surprised to find that Gus had already undressed for the shower, wearing just a pair of boxer briefs. He looked away quickly, suddenly feeling extremely warm. Why was this so uncomfortable? They’d seen each other in their underwear plenty of times before.
Luckily, Gus seemed oblivious to whatever was going on with him, and went into the bathroom, giving Matt a chance to get himself together. When it was his turn for the shower, he let the water run cold.
~
They stopped at a coffee shop first, per Gus’ request, and then went to check out a couple of bookstores and a record shop. By then, they were getting hungry again, so Matt suggested they grab lunch at a deli that he used to frequent in highschool.
As soon as they entered the small restaurant, they were hit with a blast of warm air and the smell of toast and chicken soup. Gus was practically drooling. He couldn’t wait to eat. But Matt’s eyes widened as he spotted something towards the back and he grabbed the other’s arm.
“We have to go somewhere else.”
“What? No! I’m starving,” Gus said, a little too loudly.
Matt’s eyes darted between him and something else behind him. He dropped his arm, looking agitated. “Fine.”
As soon as Gus turned around, he was met by 3 faces. A freckled woman with purple hair; a tall, tanned man with a mole on his chin; and a shorter man with blonde hair.
The purple-haired woman spoke first. “Matty! What a surprise. We haven’t seen you in ages. ”
“Hey, Bria,” Matt said through clenched teeth. He didn’t seem at all happy to see them. Gus put it together then that they were probably the reason he’d wanted to get out of there so quickly.
Bria, apparently, had her attention focused on Gus now. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your cute friend, Matty?”
A surge of jealousy struck Matt suddenly and unexpectedly. He grabbed Gus’ hand. “This is my boyfriend, Augustus. Augustus, this is Bria, Gavin and Angmar.”
“Angmar?” Gus questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s actually my last name, but that’s what everybody calls me,” the blonde explained.
“Boyfriend, huh?” Bria reflected. “Well, that explains a lot…”
Matt’s grip on Gus’ hand tightened.
“You two make such a cute couple,” she continued. Her eyes were set on Matt and there was something sinister in them that made Gus shift uncomfortably. “Tell you what, why don’t I take a picture of you two?”
“That’s ok, we were just about to eat—” Matt started
“Oh come on, it’ll only take a minute.” She grabbed Matt’s phone out of his pocket, holding it up horizontally.
Matt gave in and tried to smile for the photo, hoping to get it over as quickly as possible. Gus followed suit.
“C’mon you two, let’s see some of that love and affection! How about a little kiss?” Bria suggested, peeking out from behind the phone.
Before Matt could object to her annoying request, he felt hands gripping his jacket firmly and pulling him in and then he was suddenly pressed against his best friend’s lips and nothing else mattered anymore.
It ended way too soon. Bria must have taken some photos and given him back his phone before leaving, and they must have ordered food after that, but he wasn’t really paying attention to any of it. All he could think about was how his world had just shifted a few minutes before, and how soft Gus’ lips were.
“Dude, you ok? You look kind of pale. She must have really done a number on you, huh?”
Matt blinked, trying to follow the words back to the present. “Huh?”
“Bria? I figured she must not be your favorite person, the way you were acting. Sorry I kissed you, by the way. I know I said no kissing, but I was just trying to get her off our backs.”
“Oh. Yeah. No problem.” Matt swallowed, trying to shake off the feeling of disappointment.
“At least now you don’t have to worry,” Gus continued.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I think they bought it. That we’re boyfriends. So you don’t have to worry about it getting back to your parents. That’s what you were worried about, right?”
“Right.” Matt stared at his food, no longer feeling hungry.
~
The next few days of their trip went by quickly. They went to a museum with Matt’s parents, where Matt was happy to let Gus pull him around to show him different things of interest. Gus also talked him into going ice skating, even though neither of them really knew how to, and it ended up being quite disastrous. They had a few more awkward meals with Sharon and George. And in between, they held hands and invaded each other’s space more than normal, neither of them ever mentioning it.
The night before they were supposed to leave, they were watching a movie after dinner on the couch. Gus had curled up close and had his head resting on Matt’s shoulder. Matt couldn’t focus on the movie. His heart was hammering and his head was buzzing. He had to know what was happening.
“When we go back home, things are going to go back to normal, right?” He asked.
Gus lifted his head, looking up at him with an indiscernible expression. “Is that what you want?”
Matt lowered his voice in case his parents were around. “I just…I think maybe we’ve taken this whole pretend thing a little too far.”
Gus sat up then, putting some space between them. He looked upset.
“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“No, no.” Matt waved his hand. “It’s not that. I just wanted to make sure we both were on the same page about where we stand. As friends.”
“Right. As friends.” Gus looked away. “I’m kinda tired, think I’m gonna head to bed now. See you in the morning.”
Matt let him leave and remained in his spot on the couch, staring at the tv even though he wasn’t watching the movie. Sharon came in a few minutes later.
“Where’s Gus, honey? I was going to ask if he wanted to help me make cookies.”
Matt stared at her blankly. “He went to bed. Wasn’t feeling well.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Would you like to help?”
Matt leaned back against the couch cushions, closing his eyes. “Actually, mom, I’m not feeling too great either.”
“Oh no. Well, try to get some sleep before your flight tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks.”
When he went to go to bed a few minutes later, he found Gus sleeping on the floor.
~
The flight back was awkward. They barely spoke to one another from the time they left Matt’s parents house to the time they arrived back at their apartment. Gus took the window seat on the plane and spent the whole flight with his headphones on, looking out the window, acting like he was trying to put as much distance between the two of them as possible.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally made it back home. Gus grabbed a few things from the kitchen and went straight to his room without a word. Matt set his luggage aside to unpack later and grabbed a drink from the fridge, settling onto the couch to try to distract himself with a book.
A few minutes later he set the book back down, unable to focus. The beginnings of a headache were gnawing at his temples. Augustus was clearly upset with him, and he didn’t understand why. Isn’t this what he wanted, for things to go back to the way they were before?
Matt began mindlessly scrolling through his phone, looking at social media and checking his emails. He wasn’t really even thinking about it when he clicked on his photo app. The picture that Bria took was still there. Looking at it made his chest feel tight.
“Fuck.”
He set his phone down and went to knock on his roommate’s door. There was no answer. He wasn’t surprised.
“Augustus, I think I packed one of your shirts by accident.”
He listened as footsteps padded toward the door and he could hear it being unlocked.
“I already have all my—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence because Matt leaned in and kissed him. It was just a chaste kiss, giving him the opportunity to back away if he wanted to, but instead Gus wove his fingers into Matt’s hair and deepened it. They broke away just to go back for several smaller kisses, smiling into each one.
“Matt,” Gus whispered, sounding a bit intoxicated on all of the affection, “I don’t think this is something that friends do.”
“I know.”