Holding On & Letting Go [✓] (Boyxboy)

Chapter Twelve

"What did he say?"

She sighs. "I'm not sure I should be telling you this."

"Mum, please."

Her shoulders drop in defeat. "He said 'I love your son and I want to help him get through this. What do I do?'"

I gape. "He said that?"

Mum nods. "I know you're probably feeling betrayed right now. Aria knew because they were friends in high school and he would confide in her. I had the feeling something was going on and so did your father, but we didn't know for sure until Jack came to us."

When I don't respond, mum cocks her head. "Troye?"

I shut my eyes. "I kissed him."

"What?" When?" Mum exclaims.

I shake my head. "No, last night. I was the one who kissed him first. He just reciprocated."

"Oh, wow." Mum covers her mouth as she stares at me in surprise. "Do you...?"

Biting my lip, I look away. "I don't know. And that terrifies me, mum! I don't know what to do. Gabriel wants to meet me when I go to New York and Jack is going to be there. What am I supposed to do?"

"Oh Troye," she hurries over to me and embraces me, rubbing my back gently. "It's going to be okay."

"When I asked Jack last night, I just knew. But he said nothing would come of it."

Mum gently brushes the tears forming in my eyes. She places her hands firmly on my shoulders and looks into my eyes. "Troye, be honest with me."

"Okay?"

"Do you love Jack?"

"I-I don't know," I whimper. "I want to say no but something just keeps pulling me in the other direction."

"And this Gabriel guy, how do you feel about him?"

"How can I feel?" I ask. "He's really nice and really sweet but I've never met him. Now that I know about Jack, how can I go to New York to meet someone else? I would just be breaking his heart all over again. I already betrayed him with Cameron."

"Troye Evans you listen to me." Mum says fiercely. "You did not betray Jack by being with Cameron. Jack knows this, now I need you to know it too. You chose Cameron because he made you happy and Jack never said anything because he knew that. You don't owe Jack anything."

"I kissed him, mum!" I exclaim. "How can I go to New York and meet Gabriel when I kiss someone else and run off!"

Mum brushes the hair out of my eyes. "I admit, it's a tough one. At the end of the day, you need to think long and hard about this. Who do you want to be with?"

"I don't know." I whisper. "Gabriel is a really nice guy, but I've known Jack my whole life. Where does this leave our friendship?"

"Well, you have to decide now if it's only a friendship. Otherwise, you'll just be hurting Gabriel, Jack and yourself."

I groan miserably. "Why is this so hard?"

Mum pats my back, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I know you haven't had the best of luck when it comes to love, honey. I don't want to tell you who to choose but when you were younger, you always used to tell me you just wanted someone who can make you laugh. Think about who will do that."

With that said, she leaves the room to let me dwell in my thoughts.

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