OFFLINE REALITY

Two iced choclates.

"I didn't say anything yet, Chris. You need to stop being defensive about everything."

"Whatever man. You're the last person I want to hear that from." Chris adverted his eyes away from the person in front of him.

"Look, if this is about Jay.."

"Don't talk about him! I don't want to hear it!"

"You have to at some point."

"At some point, from anyone but you."

"Why are you so against him liking me?" Sky decided to be upfront with the guy in front of him because his walls seemed thicker that the walls used to hold the Great Wall together. Not only that, Sky was getting a little irritated. Chris was ruffling Sky's feathers in so many ways right now that it was making him lose his cool that he was trying so hard to maintain.

"Oh, now you can speak normally?"

"I always could, it's a matter of choice here." Sky knew that Chris was nit-picking at this point, being intentional in talking about the things that made Sky look bad. "Now tell me, what's up with you and Jay?"

"Fuck off."

"Chris."

"No! Why would I tell you! I've known him way longer than you! Yet he goes off liking someone that helped him out for one day! What kind of bullshit is this!"

Sky had no idea what Chris was going on about but thought that this was not a good time to ask about himself. "If you like him, you should have told him from the beginning. Not wait it out and vent your anger on me."

"Too bad, you're the one he likes!"

"Well, if today he stopped liking me and starting seeing someone else, would you go and punch that person in the face? If that person is a girl? Would you punch her too? Make him break up with the girl? Stop being childish!" Sky spat out and Chris went silent.

"If I could, my drink would be flying towards you right now," Chris muttered.

"Then I'm thankful for the little self control that you have right now."

"Tsk, you can be quite witty and that's annoying."

"It depends on the person that I'm with. So, are we done arguing or not?"

Chris rolled his eyes, clearly not liking Sky's answer and response at all. He fell back towards his chair, face turning a little red from the anger. "What do you want to know?"

"Why the hell are you acting this way?"

"I don't think that's your business," Chris spat out.

"You're afraid, aren't you?"

"Shut up! You know nothing!"

"You don't want to be labeled by others, am I right?" To be fair, Sky was pushing the limit now. Chris made it clear that he wasn't into talk but there was a hunch in him, telling Sky that Chris and him were in the same boat.

"I was once bullied and teased to no end," Sky decided to blurt out. "I'm sure Jay or Chester might have told you about it. They seem to know a little about my past."

"Oh, they know everything. You guys went to the same school and shit."

"Yes, that's beside the point though." Sky tried to think of a way to summarize whatever that went down, simplifying it as much as possible. "I was bullied because I took interest in the same gender and if you didn't know already, I never told anyone about it. Not even my mum. Well at that point in time, she had zero clue. So, I'm guessing we're the same."

"How are we the same? No fucking way."

"Stop fighting back with me and listen." Sky was exasperated at the person in front of him. "Stop cutting me off." Chris sensed the anger and nodded his head, unwillingly of course.

"We are the same because I'm guessing you never told anyone either. Probably in the same situation as me a few years ago, feeling like you have no one to talk to."

Chris finally kept his mouth shut for the first time since they sat down at the table. They have gathered a few stares and glances from the people that were sitting near them but that didn't bother Sky right now. He was more interested in talking some sense into Chris.

"If you talk, it may be easier for you to open up your heart to the people around you. I decided to talk to someone for once and I know it's cliche to say it but I kind of found some closure in a sense."

Chris clicked his tongue. "Closure my ass."

There was some silencer between the two because Sky was unsure of what Chris was thinking right now. His expression seemed troubled, mixed in with a little anger. Chris kept staring at the drink in front of him, condensation forming on the glass.

"I can see why he likes you so much now." Chris muttered, little unwillingly.

"I don't think that's what I was trying to do here."

"I only ever looked at him this whole time," Chris said quietly. "For him to have his eyes elsewhere..."

Sky could see the look of defeat flash across briefly in Chris' eyes. It lasted only a split second but it was there. Sky couldn't help but feel the strings in his heart tugging. The look went as quickly as it came, which Chris straightening his back and taking a sip of  his drink.

"Don't hurt him, or I'll make sure you suffer," Chris warned out of nowhere and it confused the hell out of Sky.

"Huh?"

"But it doesn't mean I will give up. If you hurt him, I won't hesitate to take him away from you." Chris got up from his seat and turned away. Just before he walked off, Chris said something but it was too soft for Sky to hear. Just like that, Sky was left baffled in his seat.

"Why did he say that? What did he say before leaving?" Sky thought to himself. Whatever it was, Sky wasn't too worried anymore because it seemed like Chris had accepted Sky a little.

More importantly, Chris accepted himself a little more too.