Boy/Boy Problems

Luke

Falling for a pop star wasn't really part of Luke's plan. To be fair, Luke wasn't really a big fan of making plans when it came to his personal life. He thought looking too far ahead took the surprise out of it and Luke loved surprises. Luke was able to maintain a surprising personal life as long as it didn't affect his professional life because when it came to his career Luke definitely had a plan and that plan really didn't involve falling for Teddy King.

Often people who knew the happy-go-lucky Luke socially were confused by his professional reputation. They figured he'd be same goofy unfocused mess he was on a Saturday night when he arrived at work Monday morning but Luke took his career very seriously. He'd worked hard to build himself up from pretty but forgettable soap star to a potential Academy Award winner and he wasn't about to derail it for anyone. Except Teddy fucking King apparently, he thought as he settled on the uncomfortable grey couch between Teddy and Alice.

"Sorry to burst your bubble L," Alice said with a smug smile that said she was not sorry at all. "But I know for a fact that 'Undressed' is about Alex."

"Alex?" cried Lily in disgust as Luke feigned shock. He'd known the song was about Alex all along, he just liked to make Teddy blush.

"What's wrong with Alex?" asked Teddy with a pout that Luke wanted to kiss right off his beautiful face.

"He was a fuckboy," replied Lily like it mattered.

"Yeah well songs not about how nice he is," said Teddy burying his head in Luke's shoulder.

"I guess," said Lily still sounding unsure.

"It's fucking unfair that Alex is full on gay," sighed Alice.

"If anyone could turn him it'd be you," said Luke with a laugh.

"I tried!" insisted Alice excitedly. "But he was strictly six."

Lily frowned and Alice kissed her cheek making Luke smile at the love radiating around the room. He'd always been a romantic but he'd never really been one for double dates, with Alice and Lily though he was starting to understand the appeal.

"Can we please change the topic now?" begged Teddy barely audible from the way his face was curled into Luke's shoulder.

"No," said Lily and Alice in unison. It was so well synchronised Luke wondered for a second whether they'd rehearsed it.

He laughed at Lily and Alice's determination to rattle Teddy into sharing his secrets but he relented after he felt Teddy frown against him. He didn't have to see Teddy's face to know what it looked like. The piece of skin between his brows knitted together in a tiny crinkled bump, his entire face have distorted downwards without really changing all that much. When Teddy was sad he always looked like he'd been tasked with the nuclear codes and was trying to figure out whether it was worth blowing up a whole city to save the world. It made Luke want to climb inside his head so he could see how to cogs were turning and then maybe he'd be able to figure out how to fix him. But he couldn't fix him. That wasn't how people worked and Luke knew that. Still the impulse to try was too strong sometimes.

"How about we talk about which Girls Own songs are about me then if you're so keen?" asked Luke a half attempt to deflect the conversation.

"Easy," answered Alice starring him down like a challenge. "First up the obvious 'Mr Right Now' and of course 'Tough' but you might not know about 'If I Could Love You'. That one was held back until the next album so most people don't pick it. They think it's about Angus for some reason?"

Lily laughed, she obviously had more information about the Angus connection, as Luke starred in aw at Alice's ease. She had always been comfortable sharing herself with the world. He knew enough about her to know that it was a defensive strategy in the same way Teddy hid behind secrecy. Alice always said that if she sold her own stories no one else could. It was a decent strategy to avoid being blindsided but it took a toll. Luke knew he'd never be able to be as open with the world as Alice was, for his own sake as much as Teddy's, but he admired her and he understood what she was trying to do with Teddy even if it hurt to watch. He needed to talk to someone.