day twenty-three (mlm) (being outed)

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06/23/21:

YES THESE ARE THE CHARACTERS FROM DAY SIX-- IT'S SORT OF A "PT. 2" TO THEIR ORIGINAL ONE-SHOT

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I firmly disagree with Bob Ross. There are definitely such things as unhappy accidents. Unhappy accidents are of a peculiar sort, because they're generally born of happy accidents. Happy accidents like opening the wrong bedroom door and kissing the wrong twin. Happy accidents like doing all manner of unspeakable things that you've been longing to do in the dark by the light of the moon. Happy accidents like waking up in your best friend's arms and getting up to leave but being pulled back down.

"Don't go, Ri," Will had murmured. I didn't want to anyways.

Of course, these happy accidents led me to be brushing my teeth (for obvious reasons) in the upstairs bathroom. It so happens that Will and Bella share an upstairs bathroom. And it was Bella's room I was supposed to go to last night. Bella walks into the bathroom, and her mouth opens in a silent "o." I'm so fucked.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. Her voice is a little shaky, and her eyes scour my shirtless body. I cringe when they land on my pants, which are, in fact, Will's pajama pants. It shouldn't be that bad. I can make an excuse about "bros being bros" and say I slept over in Will's room last night. But Bella's eyes widen, horrified, as she catches sight of my neck.

"Um," I say, raising a self-conscious hand up to cover the marks. "I'll be going now."

"Who did you sleep with last night?" Bella asks, eyes narrowing. I guess she's not used to not being wanted - especially by me.

"Ri," calls Will's voice from the hallway. He walks into the crowded bathroom, chuckling a little. "Did you know you gave me—" I'm shaking my head furiously, and his eyes catch on Bella (who's extremely short) standing between us. Will flinches, stepping back. His gray eyes are wide.

"Bells?" Will asks.

Bella takes one look at him and shrieks. "You and Ri slept together?!"

Will looks positively terrified. (Also positively terrific, though this is a bad time to comment on his beauty.) "No," he says quickly. "No, of course not. I would never... Not with Ri. Or any dude. Come on, Bells," Will gives a nervous laugh, "I'm not gay." He whispers the last word as though it's an awful curse.

"I don't know anything," Bella says, hostile. "All I know is that Ri has hickeys, you have bags under your eyes, and he's wearing your fucking pants."

Will winces. "It's just bros being bros. He slept in my bedroom. So what? We've done it hundreds of times before."

"He slept with you," Bella hisses. "You haven't done that before. Or have you?" She raises her chin, defiance in her eyes. I silently remark that I had no idea Bella would have such a problem with people being gay. Not that I'm gay. Wanting to sleep with Will - and sleeping with him - doesn't make you gay. Anybody would want to sleep with Will, regardless of whether they liked men or not.

"I never slept with him!" Will shouts in her face. He sounds like a petulant child.

"You better not have," Bella says, raising a shaking finger.

"I don't get why you would care so much if I had, though," Will adds.

"Because it's unnatural! And gay people are bad," Bella replies. "Inherently, they're all bad."

"Are they worse than cheaters?" I ask quietly.

Bella whips around, glaring at me. "If you tell a soul," she warns, "I'll out you both."

"There's nobody to out," I say flatly, and I mean it, but it doesn't feel like that when Bella storms out, the door shuts, and Will crumples against me. "Will," I say, soft. He just shakes his head.

"The whole school is gonna know by the end of the week," Will whispers. He sounds pained. "We shouldn't have done that."

I recoil from him, hurt. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that it was stupid," Will says, his voice raising.

I push past him and leave. Bella is standing outside of the bathroom, frozen. I don't spare her more than a glare before storming into Will's room and grabbing my clothes. Will is standing in the doorway to his room when I turn around. "Look, this shouldn't happen again," he says, attempting to make his tone gentle.

I stare at him blankly, feeling a little numb. Everything this morning has happened so fast. "Of course," I reply, giving a tiny brittle laugh.

"I'm not gay, so..." Will trails off. He shifts awkwardly from foot to foot. "Are we good?"

I walk past him, silent, and make for the front door. Bella is waiting beyond one of the corridor bends. "What do you want?" I snarl at her when she lays a hand on my chest. I blink back the angry, hurt tears that are pricking at me.

"I'm just saving you from the pain," Bella tells me. "It'd hurt worse if Will broke your heart."

"We're not gay Bella," I snap.

"But you like him."

I don't deny it as I leave the house and get into my car, which is parked by the rose bushes. When I get home, I drop my head against the steering wheel and cry.

---

that was a roller coaster of emotions

um

anyways

have i redeemed msf with a long one-shot at last???

does bella finding out about their gay tryst count as being outed, dauntless?

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