Love's Green Thumb

36. His Prince

Song: Crave You- Flight Facilities

okay so this update is almost a week early n Idk if I'll have anything to post now on Friday but I just finished writing this chapter and I need to share it with the world because I'm emo n it's a long ass update n someone stop me this book is a fucking mess haha I'm dead

The pills were heavy on Shouyou's tongue.

They sat in his throat like rocks, not wanting to go down, and he rested his hands against the bathroom sink.

When he looked in the mirror, his reflection stared back at him with dead eyes and a bloodied lip.

Just swallow them. Everything will feel better once you do.

But he couldn't.

He thought back to earlier this week, back to the humiliation he'd suffered two days ago, back to his burning shame.

Just swallow them.

The anti-depressants sat in his throat in silent protest, just as they had been doing for the past five days.

+++

Two days earlier

Hinata shifted his body on Tobio's top bunk, watching his boyfriend(?) pace across the room.

"What'll we do? They're coming so soon... What am I going to tell them?" He mumbled, brow furrowed.

"How about the truth?" Hinata offered, only slightly miffed.

Kageyama paled. "But, I- no. You don't understand, Shouyou."

As he continued his worried pacing, Shouyou felt himself getting more and more irritated. "Then enlighten me."

"Just stop, okay!" His hands were suddenly tugging at his hair, nervous and angry. "Sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to-..." He hung his head in defeat and collapsed into the corner chair.

"I still don't see what the big deal is." Hinata bit back another biting comment. "So your family is coming up next week. What's wrong with that?"

"They don't... They don't understand, Hinata."

"Understand what? You're being weird, Tobio."

"They don't get this...lifestyle!" Suddenly, Kageyama couldn't look at Hinata.

Hinata felt something in his stomach tighten into an angry knot. Did he want to verify what he was thinking? "Lifestyle? You mean-... That you're gay?"

Tobio's inability to meet Shouyou's eye gave him all the answers he needed.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of gratitude for his mother, who had always accepted her son with loving arms, not even giving a second thought about his sexuality. How hard it must be for Tobio to...

"Wait, do you they know?" He spoke suddenly, quietly. Unsure of whether he wanted an answer.

Tobio's hands toyed with each other. "About...us? No. No, I can't tell them. They wouldn't-." He didn't continue.

Hinata looked away in shame. "What am I to you, Kageyama?"

He didn't want to be having this talk. Not now, not in this way. It was supposed to have been romantic, not on the brink of a storm that was brewing between the two boys.

"You're my-" Kageyama knew what he wanted to say. Boyfriend. It would be so easy, and yet he couldn't bring himself to do it. "-friend."

As soon as he said it, he knew how badly he'd fucked up. Above him, Shouyou's face twisted, turning into something bitter and annoyed.