Coming Home - A Zerkstar Fanfic (Sequel to Coming Out)

Chapter 9 - Cover It Up

Josh stood in the kitchen, making himself a sandwich. He had decided to ignore Vikk and carry on recording videos with Simon and the others. In fact, it wasn't very hard to avoid Vikk - he was hardly ever there with them.

"Josh. Hey."

Josh turned away from his sandwich to face Simon. He acknowledged him with a small nod and an eyebrow shrug, before going back to preparing his meal.

"So, I was thinking, maybe we could have a party. JJ and Harry are coming back and it's been a while." Simon said as he watched Josh go into the fridge.

"I don't see why not. We could invite the others too. I'm assuming Vikk won't come. After all, his girlfriend is everything." Josh said, moving things around in the fridge.

Simon froze as he realized what Josh was looking for. He watched Josh close the fridge and look at him with a suspicious glare.

"Did you take my Dr. Peppers?" He asked threateningly.

"No... Yes." Simon said guiltily, before turning around and running back to his room; Josh chasing after him.

*********

Josh stood in the living room, leaning against the wall as he watched his friends laugh and catch up with each other. Music was blaring from the Sonos system and some of the boys were dancing about, laughing as they made silly moves.

Josh glanced over to Simon, who sat on the sofa; his elbows on his knees and his hands in a tight ball in front of him. He stared down the hallway, as if waiting for someone to magically appear. Josh smiled as he realized exactly who Simon was waiting for - Ethan. He was the only person left to turn up.

Ethan finally arrived, pouring excitement and happiness into Simon, who ran to answer the door. Josh smiled as Simon left the room and waited a while to give them their moment, before going into the hallway to meet them.

"Hey hey! The Emon reunion was cute, but this is a party, not a romantic movie." Josh smiled as the two pulled away from a tight hug.

"Come on, everyone's here, we've been waiting for you!" Simon said as he pulled Ethan into the living room.

Josh joined the two in the living room, where Ethan was greeted by the others. "Eyyyy, it's gayboy!" JJ laughed as he pointed at Ethan. Ethan looked down at the floor as JJ laughed at him, he looked back up at JJ, a hint of anger and shame in his eyes.

"JJ, you're already drunk and the party's just started!" Simon moaned as he pulled a bottle of beer out of JJ's hand.

Josh watched as Simon tried to cover what had just happened, and by the end Ethan was smiling again. Josh had noticed the increased affection between Ethan and Simon, but he wasn't too sure as to whether it was romantic or friendly. But he knew Ethan was sensitive when it came to gay jokes - he'd act like it was nothing, but the truth was that it hit him more than anything.