The Treehouse [BxB]

four

Mickey was standing in his kitchen, leaning against a countertop, and fiddling with a loose thread that was peeking out from his sleeve, "Mum?" He asked tentatively.

She was stood by the stove, stirring the contents of a boiling pot with a wooden spoon, "Yes, honey?" She replied distractedly.

"River is gay."

She loosened her grip on the spoon, glancing up to meet her son's nervous gaze, "Okay."

"Okay?" He questioned anxiously. River was waiting for Mickey upstairs in his bedroom, probably with sweaty palms and his ear pressed to the door.

"Okay." Mickey's Mother repeated, "What do you want me to say, honey?"

"I don't know." Mickey mumbled, "He was scared of...y'know...of what you would think."

Her face was full of sympathy as she smiled softly, "I love that boy like a son, Mickey. You tell him that."

"I will." He grinned bashfully, "But he knows."

"He could have told me himself." She pointed out as she focussed back on the steaming pot, "I don't care what he is, as long as he never stops being your friend. You need a boy like that in your life."

He nodded along, "Yeah." He breathed out, knowing she was right, but savouring the irony of her words. Everyone thought River was a good influence, when in reality, he was worse than Mickey. He smoked, drank, slept around, did drugs. But because he was smart, apparently that made him perfect.

"Is River eating with us tonight?"

"I think so."

"Okay. Dinner will be ready soon." She told him.

"Thanks, Mum." He leant over and planted a kiss on her cheek before heading back upstairs.

When he returned to his bedroom, River was sprawled out on Mickey's bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly, chewing on his lower lip. His eyes darted across to meet Mickey's, clouded with worry, "So?" He didn't sit up. He didn't move a muscle. He couldn't.

Mickey smiled, "She's cool with it." He shrugged, "I told you there was nothing to worry about. She loves you."

River sighed heavily in relief, his hands clutching his chest, "Thank fuck. I don't know what I would've done if your family didn't accept me."

Mickey jumped onto the bed to lay down beside his best friend, staring up into the cheap galaxy that was glued to his ceiling. Mickey and River had stuck the little glow-in-the-dark stars around his bedroom when they were ten years old, so when River stayed over, it would feel like there were sleeping under the stars. All these years later, and it still felt like that. Like they were floating through space, and the only thing tying them down was each other.

"Guess who I bumped into at the petrol station?" River broke the silence, his heartbeat slowing down as the fear left his body. Mickey's Mother had accepted him, and so had everyone else. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

"Who?"

"Casey Dawson."

Mickey's eyes widened in disbelief, "Really?"

"Yeah. He works there."

"You're shitting me?" Mickey tilted his head so his amber eyes met River's crystal blue ones, "What happened to boarding school?"

"He dropped out."

"Well, fuck." Mickey stared back up at the ceiling, his eyes tracing the dusty luminescent stars, "What's he like now? Is he fit?" He grinned.