Inglorious Roomates

Chapter 15

It wasn't a lie.

Like in middle school, when he asked Mason how he knew he was attracted to guys "just for research" and not because he was bi-curious... or when he told his mom it definitely wasn't his lacrosse ball lying in the shattered glass inside her brand new car... or when he told his dad in the emergency room that his braces were stuck on another boy's zipper because they were wrestling in the locker room, or when—

Whatever, the point being, this was nothing like any of that.

It wasn't a lie by omission either.

Like how Theo said he ignores most of Liam's Snapchats because—imagine Liam's best imitation of Theo's obscenely rugged voice that sounds like a constant stream of liquid sex pouring from his stupid lips—"Every time I see your face it's against my will, Dunbar, keep your stupid selfies to yourself."

Meanwhile, he was unaware that Liam could see when he screenshot every single one of those "stupid selfies," and Liam will gladly take that information all the way to his fucking grave. Now that was a lie by omission.

This, Liam was going to tell Theo, so it was a temporary lie. Hit it with some basic algebra and it all cancels itself out eventually, right?

...

Right?

Ugh, Liam was so shit at math.

He'd been planning to tell Theo, but it's not like it was an easy decision or like he had too many prime opportunities. What, with Theo avoiding him for the better part of two weeks, then all the shit with his IED, the stress of it all like swarming bees beneath his skin, angry and crawling on top of each other to get out.

Maybe he could've said something on the trampoline, where they casually spilled the most bitter truths between the mundane kicks of a ball. But in that moment, where they shared a trust as smooth as the flow of blood between them, how could Liam bring himself to taint the vein that Theo opened to him?

He couldn't, so he swallowed the lies, trapped and stinging in his throat, his mouth this rabid hive threatening to erupt and eat them to the bone.

"Do you wanna die before we even make it back to the dorm?" Theo batted Liam's hand away, "Knock it off."

Though it probably wasn't in the best interest of his survival to distract Theo from driving, Liam couldn't help it.

"Nah, you wouldn't kill me on our first date, would you?" He grinned, the cut at the corner of his mouth stinging a bit, faintly seared with the memory of Theo's lips. He reached over the console, teasing Theo and tugging the torn fabric over his middle, widening the hole in the sweater with the shoddy butterfly patch— a remnant of Liam's short-lived embroidery hyperfixation, in a graveyard of hobbies that failed after one flustered outburst.

Theo seemed to momentarily give up fighting off Liam, gripping the steering wheel, "This isn't... that."

His voice sounded a little tight, and Liam assumed it had to do with a certain tightness in his jeans and how close Liam's hand was to it, his knuckles brushing Theo's stomach where they were hooked inside the torn sweater.

"So, are you implying that we've had dates before this?" Theo's abs flexed when Liam grazed them again, "Or that we're gonna go on a real date in the future?"

Theo suppressed a smile, a habit of his that Liam both adored and hated, "Real smooth, Dunbar. I'm saying I don't know if this counts as a date."

Liam sat up straighter in the passenger seat, trying to read Theo a little closer and catching how he subtly shifted, pointedly keeping his eyes on the road. Theo was never bursting with personality, just faint nuances that would slip through sometimes, but not like chiseling a brick wall or hacking away at steel.