The Nightly Montage

🧭 Friends With Secrets 🧭

In a span of two words, Papa's voice descended from jovial to suspicious. 

"Oh....Tai." 

"Tai!" I said, not-so-subtly nudging Papa away from the door frame. "What's up? It's kind of late, did something happen?" 

In the glow of our house lamp, Tai had his hands shoved in his jacket's pockets. What looked like a video game cartridge was held under one arm. "Yeah. C-Can I talk to you?" He squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm scared." 

Papa's eyes bore holes into me. 

"He's a friend," I affirmed. Tai furrowed his brow, and I continued, "It's probably about the fundraiser Raahi and I are planning--" 

Tai interrupted, "No, it's about M--"

"We can talk in private!" I yelped, adding two and two together. 

Tai was too honest for his own good. Even if he didn't mean to reveal that information, the slightest slip could cause Papa to watch me like a hawk. Mentioning Monty at a time like this would have Papa suspect that we weren't just friends. 

I missed the times when Papa could trust his own son without blinking an eye. 

I grabbed my parka, stepped outside and closed the outer glass doors while avoiding Papa's gaze. Giving a wave, I said, "Tell ana to put my plate in the fridge if I don't come back soon!" 

I fell into step beside Tai as we walked down the sidewalk, careful to avoid slipping on ice. 

"Why are you scared?" I asked. 

Tai silently handed me the video game cartridge--for Persona 3, I noted. 

We reached the park. I invited Tai to sit on the bench beside me, mentally counting down the seconds before Papa eventually followed us. 

Finally, Tai said, "Monty and I got into a fight. I don't know what I did wrong. Did I accidentally insult him about his game mod? Or was it just because I was behind on my share of the rent? There's so many expectations and rules to remember, but I can't do it all. Joachim, could you....I think as his boyfriend you would know what to do..." 

In any other situation, I would have been annoyed that Tai interrupted my family dinner. But his trembling frame made me think that for him, this was a big deal. 

"Hey, look. When Monty gets pissed, 9 times out of 10 you're not the focus of his anger," I reasoned. "I think he had a hard time during the holidays. He won't tell me though." 

"Hard time?"

"I really don't know," I sighed. 

Tai turned to me, genuinely confused. "But you're a couple. Aren't you supposed to know each other's secrets?" 

"I wish," I replied. "He's just a closed-off guy when it comes to family stuff. But in a relationship, I think clear communication is the most important. Monty has to work on that though. I'm sure he'll come back later with some kind of apology, and if he doesn't, I'll make sure that he does." 

We kept our relationship secret from our friends, only presenting us as loose acquaintances. While we both agreed on this matter, I wondered if this also factored into the way our relationship currently functioned--good, but at a distance. Always under some invisible constraints. 

This is a scene from Crossroads written from Joachim's perspective, and the dialogue content may change - so consider this scene mostly canon. Unless I change my mind :)