The Lies That We Tell

𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥

"Wake up!"

Hearing those words, Quentin immediately lifted his head to see who talked. He didn't have much time to fully wake up before someone hit him on the right shoulder. He let out a yell and even had to see that he didn't get a bruise, just in case.

"Get up, the carnival is waiting! We already let you sleep more than us which is a bit unfair if you ask me," complained Amanda.

God, he was so tired and didn't have the energy to deal with this so early. He sighed and put his head to the pillow to get even five more minutes to sleep. That was when he felt someone's eyes on him.

Quentin looked up and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped his mouth when he realized that his head was on Theo's left shoulder. How long had it been like that? He must have moved while sleeping and Theo hadn't noticed.

Brown eyes were watching him like a hawk and there was a frown on Theo's forehead as if he was trying to figure out something. After a few seconds of staring at each other in silence, he finally blinked and stood up, mumbling something about the bathroom.

Quentin, on the other hand, sat on the bed for another minute or two, trying to understand what just happened before deciding to ignore it completely. He was too tired to deal with Theo's shit right now.

"What are you still doing in bed? We are leaving in half an hour, maybe even less," Amanda walked in the room, took his hands and lifted him up from the bed, not even stopping to consider what he was wearing or if he was wearing anything at all.

That was a bit strange for Quentin, who still thought of her as a stranger or an acquaintance. Yet you sleep in her home, his mind reminded.

"Morning," he said while going to find something to wear. When he found his beige trousers with black suspenders and a blue t-shirt, he was ready to take his boxers off when he realized that Amanda was still in the room.

"Jesus! Can't you see I'm almost naked?" he yelled shocked. She opened her mouth, then closed it before opening it again as if she was trying to find words before rushing out, not saying a word.

He was putting on his trousers when the door opened, this time revealing all dressed-up Theo who clearly took one quick look at him from head to toes before taking his phone from the floor, avoiding his eyes. Before Quentin could say anything, he was out of the room as fast as he came in.

Was he still embarrassed about the fact that they slept together and kind of cuddled together? Now that Quentin stopped to think about what happened in the night and how they acted after waking up, all that staring and weird tension between them, he realized that he should feel awkward about it too.

For some reason, it just amused him, especially after seeing Theo clearly overreacting about it. God, it's not like they had sex or anything else. All they did was sleep a bit closer to each other than what was planned.

Since he didn't have time to do his normal make-up routine, he simply put on a little bit of mascara before checking the clock, noticing that it was 9.30am. He walked to the living room where everyone else was sitting, apparently waiting for him.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?" asked Amanda's father. It was clear that he wasn't expecting to see Quentin wearing make-up but he hid it quickly. Instead, he gave him a friendly smile and he wasn't faking it.

That kind of acceptance, especially from a stranger, was still new to Quentin. For a second he was almost confused on how to react but then he just smiled back. Despite that, he knew that he wouldn't forget the feeling of genuine acceptance anytime soon.

Amanda was standing next to her father, packing her yellow bag while her two sisters were sitting on the couch but her mother was nowhere to be seen. Quentin said hello while yawning a lot. Then he turned to look at Theo who was silently sitting on the sofa, away from everyone.