𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, ph.

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝐱𝐢𝐯. boyfriend on probation.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐱𝐢𝐯. —— boyfriend on probation.

─ i ─

"I don't get it."

Pick sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew that coming with this to his friends was a bad idea, given the fact that all of them combined would maybe─and only maybe─produce one working brain cell, but he wasn't sure if he could figure it out by himself. It wasn't something he should decide on alone at all, but he would consider this next.

"Pete, given the size of your brain and your reading comprehension, you really ought to be more specific," Pick answered slowly, turning back on his chair towards the bed from which a pillow flew his way a few seconds later.

"Fuck you, you're using long words on purpose to get me off track," Pete frowned, scrambling to sit up and get a better angle when he threw another pillow.

Kao slapped his boyfriend on the arm before Pete could reach for something else. "I just cleaned my room and I am going to deck you if you touch one more thing on this bed," he warned, but then looked towards Pick. "If we know who sent you the picture, why are we sitting here? Shouldn't you go and find that person?"

"That's what I meant. You're just stealing my questions," Pete snorted. "Why don't we tell the shorty while we're at it? I feel like he'd want to know that you received this crap," the boy added, sounding angry on his friend's behalf. When it came to people Pete cared about, there were very few things that would stop him from literally murdering for them; most of which were somehow related to Kao. Like, Kao said I'll sleep on the couch if I kill you today so I guess you got lucky kind of thing.

"Okay, it's─it's not that easy," Pick ran a hand through his hair, looking for the right words. But how do you say that the person behind all of this is Rome's brother? How do you say that someone hates their own family member enough to be ready to kill them with their bare hands? Just thinking about it made something turn in Pick's stomach, he couldn't even begin to explain this. "Rome has enough going on right now and we just started getting back to normal, I don't want to ruin it. Besides... it's my fault."

Pick once again looked down at the picture that's been opened on his phone for hours at this point. Two boys kissing in a car. In his car. It was taken from the front and as a standalone was nothing more than just a shot of some anonymous lovers; but there was a follow-up, of course. Because why stop at being a creepy stalker, when you can push it even further and become a fucking psychopath, photographing people until you get a clear shot of their faces? One of Pick behind the wheel, another one of Rome after he got out of the car. And it was Pick's fault because when he kissed Rome that time, he didn't even think of the consequences─it was daytime, and his car wasn't some FBI type of shit with windows that you couldn't see through, of course someone could have noticed them.

But the thing was... Pick wasn't used to being so conscious of his actions when it came to relationships. He kissed Rome because he wanted to, he felt like it and so he did it, and at that moment there was genuinely nothing other than "he looks so nice in my clothes" running through his mind. He wasn't stupid, he knew how certain people would react to seeing two boys kissing, but it was his first time liking a boy. And for Pick it wasn't the classic case of "I don't like men, I only like you" ─ he was, by now and after a couple of stupid conversations with Pete out of all people, pretty comfortable with the thought that he simply likes both girls and boys, but it was a fact that he didn't think about having a romantic relationship with a guy before Rome came along. So he didn't know what it's like to be judged by your sexuality, he didn't know what it's like to be afraid of people finding out. For him, at the time of that kiss, it wasn't a boy kissing a boy, it was one person kissing another person they liked, and it was that simple.