Gabe's point of view
"Knock knock," someone called and I looked up from my guitar. "I'm coming in."
"Sure." I mumbled and then looked back at the guitar. "What do you want?"
"What was that the other day?" Ashton asked as he walked in, closing the door behind him. "Honestly Gabe, what was that?"
"I don't know " I admitted as I tried strumming a B minor chord. "I really don't know. I was mad and-and I couldn't stop myself from just... blowing up."
"That really wasn't fair." He told me and I nodded as I pressed harder on the strings, only to get a sharp spike of pain running through my finger.
"I know!" I told him, my voice louder than I intented it to be. "I'm a fucking asshole for that. I get it. You all had your chance yelling that at me yesterday."
"Don't put words into our mouths, we never called you that. We just said that was wrong of you to say. We did drop the words fuck and fucking a lot though, I'm sorry about that." He told me as he sat on my bed. "You just... you don't call him Christina, he's Chris."
"I don't know why I did that." I said as I looked at my hand, determined to get that damn chord down. "I just wanted him to leave me alone and-and I guess that I thought if I said something they would hurt him, then he'd leave me alone."
"You did more than just hurt him." He assured me and I sighed.
"I know..."
"You should go apologize." He told me and I laughed loudly. "What's so funny?"
"Apologize? Like that's gonna fix anything that I said!" I scoffed and then set my guitar aside. "I'd be lucky if he even lets me look at him after what I said. Do you understand how fragile he is over this stuff? It's like throwing a plate at a wall."
"Maybe... Maybe give him some time? After all, you guys have a YouTube channel together and can't just abandon it over a fight." He reminded and I shrugged.
"What I said is enough for him to hate me for the rest of my miserable, lonely life." I ran a hand through my hair and he rubbed my back. "I guess I just... I felt... better than him."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he's the talented one. He can sing and he can play guitar, and I guess since I have more friends at school and a girl who's actually interested in me, I felt like I actually was better than him. Like it was some kind of silly competition." I confessed and crossed my legs.
"You know you're talented too. You can sing just as well." He complimented but I didn't buy it.
"I don't know." I shook my head. "Chris was just born talented, and I can't even do the most basic barre chord in the history of guitar."
"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it." He assured me and I just shrugged. "So, what did you do when you skipped school the other day?"
"Friends and I hung out at the park." I admitted. "Around noon, we ended up going out to eat, then ended up back at the park before I walked to the school to get picked up."
"Do you understand what kind of trouble you could have gotten into? What if something happened to you?" He asked and I was silent. "We thought you were at school. Why did you skip?"
"Because I thought it'd be cool. I have good grades and they all wanted to skip, so I just agreed to it." I told him and leaned back against my headboard. "I don't regret it though. I'm sorry, but I had fun."
"I don't want you to regret it, just wanna make sure you know that it's not okay to just skip school cause' you felt like it." He told me and I nodded. "Besides, if you didn't know, you're grounded just because if what you said to Chris. That's it. Really, like... as long as you don't skip again, if do, then you'll be grounded then."
"Figured as much." I laughed and he nodded. "You said I can't leave the house, but can I have friends over?"
"Just one." He bargained and I nodded. "If it's Rakel, you can have her over after that hickey fades."
"You can see it?" I asked and covered my neck, holding the spot that was blotched with red. "Fuck."
"You're fourteen, stop moving so fast."
"It's what everyone does now, Ash. It's fine." I dismissed and he laughed.
"At fourteen, I was watching my siblings and cooking them dinner, not getting it on with some girl." He told me and I looked away. "I know most people can't keep it in their pants, but don't me like those people."
I just agreed to make him happy, and he ruffled my hair. "If you ever skip school again, or disrespect Chris like that again, you'll be grounded for more than just the rest of the week. Better watch that mouth, and tell your friends they can go out by themselves." He told me and I nodded my head.
"Will do."
"Come on, we still gotta talk to you two. Be civil." He warned and I promised that I would as I stood up. I following him to the living room, and I saw the garage door open, revealing Luke and Chris.
"We're going to change before we start, hold on." Luke said and I couldn't help but twitch my eye as the slight smell of cigarettes filled the room.
"You're fucking kidding me." Ashton called and I pulled the collar of my shirt up to my nose. "That fucking - you promised!" He shouted and Luke yelled back.
"You did too!"
Ashton rolled his eyes and Calum came downstairs with Michael, looking around. "Stop yelling, shit. I can hear you over our game of Fifa." Michael said and Ashton walked up to him.
"I'm getting a glass of water." I told them before bolting out of the room, immediately running to the kitchen. Arguments broke out once again, and I grabbed a glass before filling it with water from the tap.
I took a drink and I heard Michael groan. "I know it's hard to quit an addiction, but it's gonna kill you!" He yelled and I winced.
It's even worse when they talk about it.
I shook my head and then went back into the living room when it went quiet. Luke was wearing different clothes, along with Chris, and the two sat side by side one another, their legs crossed and arms behind the other's head.
"What did ya' need to talk about?" Chris asked as he wiped his forehead. "Sorry if I stink, the basement is hot and we were jumping around."
"Because of you two being idiots," Ashton glared at them and suddenly Chris looked offended. "Too many rumors are spreading. Our manager gave us two resolutions."
"Why didn't you tell me beforehand that he talked about this? Where was I?" Luke asked with furrowed eyebrows as he looked at his friends and boyfriend. "Why didn't he tell me aswell then? I'm apart of the band."
"Cause you're also apart of the problem! You don't tell the problem the solution, you give him the solution." Ashton snapped and I winced for Luke.
"Watch the way you talk to my boyfriend, Irwin." Calum warned and grabbed Ashton's shoulder.
"It was one video guys-"
"And Chris had an anxiety attack because of it when he went to school." Calum pitched in, and Luke looked at Chris. "What were you thinking, Luke?"
"We were having fun and I asked if I could post it, and he agreed. I didn't think fans would blow it all out of proportion and people at school would find out. People don't even listen to us anymore. Who knew they still followed our every move?" He asked as Calum crossed his arms.
"They don't listen to you beause there's no new record yet. You can only listen to Don't Stop and Money so many times." Chris laughed and Luke rolled his eyes.
"It's not about whether they still stan us or not, it's about your guys' health, personal and school lives, and our reputation." Ashton told them and I looked at him.
"What about your reputation?" I finally spoke up and he looked at all of us.
"None of us came out as gay and bisexual yet!" He threw his hands into the air. "Now that it's rumored two fourteen year olds are living with us, questions and drama is stirring worse than ever. They're calling us gay-"
"Well we are." Luke told him. "I don't know about you, but I'm gay as hell. Calum's bi, but still gay. You're gay, but insecure about it. Michael's bi, but still he's fucking gayer than all of us! We're all gay and dating our best friend!"
"But no one's supposed to know that, that's the problem!"
"The problem is, you're scared of what people are saying. Chris and I had this talk downstairs, it doesn't matter what they say or how much attention they give you. The only thing you need to worry about, is yourself." Luke told them and Chris nodded in confirmation.
"That's fucking rich coming from someone who smokes a pack a day." Ashton scoffed and I looked at the glass in my hands.
"You're getting off topic, and personal. This isn't a rivalry of who's better than the other, or who's right or wrong." Michael finally spoke up. "And we're not yelling, we're talking."
"I'm tired of talking when no one's listening!" Ashton told him and I looked over at Chris.
"I'll go make a video or something. Guys just stop arguing, please." He tried and Ashton seemed even more upset.
"We're not fucking arguing, Chris-"
"Don't you dare yell at my son like that." Luke snapped at him and it went quiet. "You're arguing, Ashton. Stop it. No one else is yelling but you."
"Let's all just take a moment. Baby, calm down." Michael told Ashton and he took a deep breath. "What are we going to do so we can prevent further rumors and keep their personal lives, just that, personal?"
"We're a YouTube duo, Mikey. Sooner or later, we're gonna have to get used to the attention. People already know us at school and on the streets." I told him and he looked at me. "We can't hide this forever."
"Your kid is right." Calum agreed and I took a drink of my water. "Sooner or later, they will find out and rumors won't be rumors on the internet, but the truth. We are gay and we're dating and we adopted two teenagers who are also a couple of musicians."
"I choose later. None of us are stable enough to juggle this kind of responsibility and attention from them. If we tell the world, there will be hate, anxiety attacks, mobbing, spotlights." Ashton listed and Michael sighed.
"I agree with him. I really do, and not just because we're dating." He told us and Ashton nodded.
"Tell them." Chris said and we all turned to him. "Just tell them. The only proper solution, isn't it?"
"We were told that we can either fake date our friends and say you two are the kids of an older friend, or we can tell the world." Calum told us and it was silent once again.
"They picked the friends we'd fake date aswell. We have until Friday to decide before he decides for us." Michael added and Luke stood up.
"I am not fake dating anyone, and I'm not letting my boyfriend fake date anyone." He said and Calum agreed.
"Guess we're at a fork, we want to stay a secret, you guys want to come out." Ashton pointed out and they looked between each other as Calum walked up to Luke.
"Fake dating never works. You'll get exposed, and people will just be upset you lied to them about everything." Calum told them and Luke agreed. "It's better to just... just suck it up and tell them."
"No. Absolutely not. Unlike you, I care about Gabe enough to not put him out there so soon. He doesn't need that pressure on him." Ashton said and Michael agreed, acting as if I wasn't in the room with them.
"Neither does Chris, but he knows this is going to come out sometime." Luke told him and I held my breath.
It felt like the giant picture we all were, was being split right down the middle, and it hurt. I didn't say it, but when Chris met my eyes, it knew that he could see it too. This was all quickly falling apart, and I had no idea how to save it.