Call Me Milo (boyxboy)

Chapter 11

Tucker's answer doesn't come as a surprise to anyone in the room, that is, except for the person who was his first kiss. And his eyes are bulging. Dizzy looks over at Tucker who refuses to lift his gaze from the carpet and starts coughing in shock.

"Diz, you good?" Chance asks and hits Dizzy's back in an attempt to seize the coughing fit.

"I'm fine," Dizzy manages to say in between coughs. Tucker becomes glad for the little distraction because he isn't further questioned about the details of his first kiss with Dizzy. And he had just admitted to himself and the group simultaneously the fact that he loved Dizzy for the first time. Not that he still does, however.

The game continues for a few more rounds as the boys and the girl become just slightly buzzed. Though all the while, Dizzy stares at Tucker who makes no effort in returning the gaze. He can feel Dizzy's eyes trained on him but he cannot bring himself to look at the boy he so foolishly admitted to loving some time before.

The night drags on, Tucker's eyelids weighing down on his eyes as he fights the need to close them. Cindy slides an arm under Tucker's and clings to him as she leans into his side. He instantly becomes uncomfortable and shoots a nervous glance over at Chance who doesn't seem to care. Tucker tries to wiggle himself out of her grasp but to no avail. She keeps on clinging to him.

"You know," someone begins to say. "It's obvious you're making him uncomfortable."

Cindy simply giggles and looks up at Tucker with a smile that showed she didn't believe the words that Dizzy had spoken nor did she care. But Dizzy now has no tolerance for the girl.

"He doesn't mind it," Cindy says back.

"Jesus," Dizzy says, bringing a hand to his face. "Just get off of him. And to think you're doing this in front of your ex."

"Hey now," Chance says. "This right here is the reason I knew we'd never last."

Cole laughs at that and stretches out his legs on the floor, leaning back.

"Get up," Dizzy says as he sighs and rises from the floor. "Switch places with me for the new game."

There is no 'new game' however. Dizzy just quickly thinks of an excuse to get the girl to detach herself from Tucker. And surprisingly, she does.

"Okay," she says and takes the place on the floor previously occupied by Dizzy. Dizzy plops down next to Tucker who becomes still. He's still embarrassed about his confession but Dizzy just slumps next to him and sighs again. Without any more words to say, Dizzy tilts his head back and raises a half-empty beer can to his mouth. He finishes it quickly and places it on the ground between him and Tucker.

And here is where Tucker sees firsthand how Dizzy got his nickname. At this point, everyone in the room is only slightly buzzed after playing truth or dare. Tucker, however, drinks only a few sips of his beer but Dizzy is nearly wasted. He struggles to get to his feet and places a heavy hand on Tucker's shoulder, his head hanging down. It was hot, the hand, and it burned through to Tucker's skin.

"Diz, I think it's time for you to get home," Chance speaks up after prolonged silence.

"Can't you see I'm trying?" Dizzy says, pushing even harder on Tucker's shoulder to try to help himself up. Tucker slides his arm under Dizzy's and pulls him up. Dizzy leans into Tucker's side and Tucker struggles to keep him upright. Chance offers to give Dizzy a ride home but Tucker dismisses it as Chance is in no condition to drive. And so, there was no helping the fact that Tucker had to be the one to deliver Dizzy back to his home. They're about to leave the room however, when Cindy speaks up and stops the two in their tracks.

"Hold on," Cindy says. "Why isn't anyone allowed to call you Josiah? I mean, that's your real name and all."

Dizzy breathes out a large sigh and takes a few seconds to reply and his words come out with difficulty. "I don't want to be bound to my father any more than I have to."

"So it's your father's name too? Josiah?" Cindy further questions.

"Yeah," Dizzy replies. "And that's all that I'm saying for now."

Surprisingly, everyone lets the topic fade away and Tucker figures they're all too buzzed to really care anyway. Though, it seems as though Dizzy has just one more thing to say about it.

"You guys don't have to call me Dizzy all the time. Or Diz," he says and looks at Chance, waving a loose finger in the air. "Just call me by my middle name."

Chance leans back, his arms behind his head and sends a lazy grin Dizzy's way. "Well, Diz. What is it?"

"Milo."

"Cute," Chance says, grinning wider than he had been before. "Though, it's going to take a little getting used to. I've been calling you Diz for years now, Diz."

Dizzy scowls after hearing his nickname immediately escape the mouth of his best friend after telling him to address him by his middle name.

Chance just laughs before saying, "Sorry, it's going to take a little getting used to, Milo."

And then Dizzy does something Tucker had only seen him do twice before. He lifts the corners of his lips in a smile that seemed to infect the whole room as everyone smiles back at him. Perhaps their smiles were due in part to their drunken states at the moment, but Tucker couldn't stop looking at Dizzy's smile for the second time.

It was as if Dizzy was finally letting go of a piece of the father he despised so much. And in that brief moment, he felt free.

The two boys head downstairs as one of Dizzy's hands firmly grasps the railing and the other one grips Tucker's arm tightly. It pains Tucker, but he doesn't say anything and struggles to haul his tipsy childhood friend down the stairs and to his car. Dizzy immediately slumps in the passenger seat of the car and his head hangs down. Tucker figures he has fallen asleep and takes a deep breath before departing from his driveway, but is mistaken.

"Sorry."

Tucker slightly jumps in his seat as Dizzy's voice startles him.

"W-what?" Tucker asks.

Though nothing could have prepared Tucker for what Dizzy was about to say.

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