Leo absentmindedly ate his cereal, as the events of last night played in his head. Thankfully, he had controlled his alcohol intake, so at the very least he wasn't suffering from a hangover. He wanted to text Milan and ask how he was. But he wasn't sure if he should.
After all, Milan did sneak out while Leo was still asleep.
Kai was sitting at the kitchen counter as well, grading papers. Leo looked at the older man for a few moments, before speaking up.
"Did you always know you were gay?" Leo asked. Kai looked up in slight surprise, wondering what brought this on.
"Huh?" Kai furrowed his brows, "uh, no, not really. I was pretty convinced that I was straight for the first eighteen years of my life."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I just assumed it was the... Default setting, y'know? Even though I knew better, but still," Kai said with a shrug.
"What changed?" Leo didn't actually know how Roan and Kai got together. He did know that they were best friends since childhood, but that was about it.
"Things just... happened with Roan and I, I'll spare you the details," Kai said with an awkward laugh, making Leo cringe, "but yeah. I was still in denial for a long time though, before I finally came to terms with my sexuality."
"And how did you come to terms with it?" Leo asked.
"I just stopped being an idiot and realised I was head over heels for my best friend," Kai shrugged, "I did some pretty stupid shit when I was questioning myself, but thankfully Roan was— is always patient with me."
"You two make a good couple," Leo stated truthfully, making Kai smile. This was probably their first time having such an open conversation, and Kai couldn't help but feel happy, "why the sudden interest?"
"I, uh, no reason," Leo muttered.
"I won't judge," Kai promised. Leo hesitated as he looked down at his bowl, before sighing and continuing.
"I think I might like someone. But I've, uh, I've never really liked anyone before, so I'm not sure," Leo said softly, "I know I'm a little too old to be getting this worked up over something so small but, I don't know, crushes and dating was never on my list of priorities before this."
"Roan is always better at these kind of talks than me, but," Kai paused for a moment, "but I hope you know that it's okay to like whoever you have feelings for. And even if you don't have feelings for anyone, then that's completely valid too."
"I don't know what to do from here," Leo admitted, "it's all so new to me."
"Hey, I get that. I dated girls before Roan, but never had a second date with anyone. I always thought I never had feelings for any of them because I just hadn't found the right girl for me. But turns out the right girl was actually a guy who had been in front of me the whole time," Kai smiled, "there's no time limit on figuring yourself out, go at your own pace."
"But I don't want to lead him on if I'm, uh, incapable of reciprocating," Leo said.
"Then be honest with him. Tell him where you stand and where your head's at. If he's worth it, then he'll understand. And if doesn't, then that means he doesn't deserve you."
"I just don't want to hurt him," Leo's voice was low as he sighed.
"Milan seems like a good kid, I'm sure if you talk to him then the two of you will work it out," Kai stated. Leo looked up at Kai with wide eyes, and the older man just raised his hands in defense, "hey, I have eyes, okay? I've seen you both together in school."
"Oh, I thought Roan told you about—" Leo immediately shut his mouth as Kai looked at him with a suspicious look.
"Told me about what?" Kai asked. Leo got up from the stool, shaking his head as he kept the empty bowl in the sink.
"Nothing!" Leo started walking out the kitchen.
"Leo! Get back here, young man!"
~~~
Leo tapped the pen on his desk as Kai was giving back their assignments after grading them. He saw the smiles and the frowns on students' faces as they recieved their score, making Leo anxious about an assignment for the very first time.
Kai finally reached him, and kept the papers facing downwards on his desk before giving him a small smile and walking away. Leo gripped the edge of the paper, took in a deep breath, and then finally flipped it over.
B+
He got a B+, for the first time in years, he got a B in history. Leo grinned as he stared at the grade, he looked to his right towards Milan, who was already looking at Leo. Leo raised the sheets, showing Milan his score. Milan smiled at him, and gave him an awkward thumbs up before looking away.
Milan left the class as soon as the bell rang. Leo struggled to catch up with him because of the sea of students, but he grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could lose him again.
"Milan!" Leo called out, "listen, about Friday night—"
"I'm getting late for class," Milan interrupted him. His face was already starting to warm up from embarassment, and he really didn't want to have the awkward talk with Leo.
He came onto Leo, and got rejected. His heart really couldn't handle a repeat of that again.
"I'll walk with you," Leo suggested.
"Uh, thanks but I have to run," Milan shook his hand off Leo's grip, before turning away and jogging off towards his class.
Leo sighed as he watched the other boy's retreating figure. A part of him wanted to go after him, another part of him wanted Milan to turn around and look at him at least once, but neither of those things happened.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that Milan was embarassed about what happened, and Leo just wanted to talk to him and communicate, like Kai had advised him too. But how was he supposed to do that when Milan wasn't ready to listen?
Leo turned around, walking away in the other direction. He passed the history classroom, where Kai was leaning against the doorframe. Kai looked at Leo with a frown, and Leo just shrugged at him.
"Give him time," Kai said as he gently patted Leo's shoulder. Leo nodded before leaving, and Kai went inside the classroom.
In the other corner of the school, Milan was sitting next to Quinn in their biology class. The teacher wasn't there yet, and Milan was freaking out.
"He wanted to talk, I just ran away from him," Milan groaned, "if he didn't hate me before, then he definitely hates me now."
"Wild idea, but maybe you should just, you know, listen to him instead of jumping to conclusions?" Quinn said, and Milan stared at them with narrowed eyes.
"Listen to him say what? Oh Milan, I'm sorry but I'm straight and you don't have boobs," Milan tried to mimick Leo's deep voice.
"First, that was a very bad impression of Leo," Quinn said, giving Milan a what the fuck look, "second, have you seen how that man acts around you? He's anything but straight."
"Who's jumping to conclusions now?" Milan retorted.
"I'm just stating facts, fruitcup, has my gaydar ever wronged you? Remember that guy at Starbucks who you were absolutely certain was straight?" Quinn rose an eyebrow in challenge.
"That was a one off, shut up," Milan muttered. The two stopped talking after that as the teacher finally entered.
The next couple of classes passed by in a blur, Milan wasn't looking forward to the end of the day. Not only did he have math with Leo, but also their Mathlete meeting. Delilah and Jai always paired up during those, so Milan would have no option but to work with the boy he was so hell bent on ignoring.
Just before lunch, Milan went to use to the restroom. Once he was done with his business and was drying his hands, the door to the washroom opened. Milan only looked to the side when he heard the footsteps coming towards him.
Milan's eyes widened as Leo marched towards him with a determined expression on his face. He looked a little pissed off too, and Milan nervously stepped back. Milan felt the wall against his back, as Leo finally stopped in front of him. Leo kept both his hands on the wall beside Milan's face, trapping him in as he leaned in real close.
"No running away now, you're going to hear me out," Leo kept a finger under Milan's chin, lifting his face up so that they were looking eye to eye, "you're going to listen to every word I say, okay?"
"Uh..."
"Answer me, Milan, are you going to listen to me or not?"
Milan stared at Leo, the shock visible on his face as his mouth went dry. He knew he was supposed to say yes, but no words came out. All he could think was how attractive Leo was up close, and how this was the worst time and place to get an erection.
***
my kink is healthy communication