The Lies That We Tell

𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰

It wasn't as bad as he had thought. Alright, Theo had actually enjoyed the whole evening. He didn't know why or how but somehow he adored Quentin's family more and more after each visit. That big, loud family who he felt more comfortable with than ever at his own home.

And fuck, he would be lying if he said that Quentin meant nothing to him. He hadn't even realized how much until he left home yesterday and Quentin continued to be with Amanda. It was stupid to be jealous but he couldn't help it.

There was nothing wrong with Amanda, she was actually a pretty funny girl who was much more tolerable than most of the girls at their school. Despite that, he couldn't help but wish for her to disappear so that he was alone with Quentin, on his bed watching his favorite movie.

Yes, he could see the excitement and joy and many other feelings on his face as he watched a movie that he didn't only have as a book on his bookshelf but what he had also watched probably at least a hundred times. Theo had started to pay a lot of attention to Quentin and his likes and dislikes. What did that say about him?

Quoting millions of romance books, he had never felt like this. And now he had no idea what to do with that information. Should he say something? Move on and pretend that Quentin was just a friend of his cousin? No, that meant that he wouldn't have him in his life, at least not the way he wanted him to be.

"Amanda is there!" Quentin said, pointing a familiar girl sitting at the table close to the coffee shop's door. Apparently, she had gotten a drink for herself while waiting for them to finish their work shifts that were once again at the same time on a Saturday morning from 7am to 3pm.

"Hey! Did you have a nice day? Can we just sit here until I'm done with my drink?" Amanda asked and of course, Quentin already agreed before Theo could say anything.

Rolling his eyes, Theo sat down next to them and took his phone to send a 'have a good day at work' message to his mother who had probably just left to work an hour ago.

Once again, she was working at the hospital but fortunately didn't have a double shift this time. Things were great between the two of them. Of course their relationship wasn't similar to what Quentin had with his mother but that wasn't a bad thing.

They had done a lot of things together now that his father had left but cooking was something they both had started to love even more when they were together in the kitchen after a long day at work. If there was one thing he would criticize it would be the lack of communication.

Yes, they talked a lot but most of the time it was what some people called pointless small talk. They didn't really have any of those deep conversations that he could only have with his mother about feelings and future and so on.

Honestly, lately Theo had been so unsure about everything and not just about his father. He had no idea what he wanted to do in the future and that didn't only mean his sexuality but also what he wanted to do in the future professionally.

All of his life he had thought that his dream was to be a professional basketball player, that was all he had ever wished for. He still loved basketball but he was unsure if that's what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

He had even started to question if this was what he really wanted to do. What if there was something else he would like more? How would he know if he never tried anything else? What if he simply wasn't good enough to get a scholarship that he had dreamed to get since he was just twelve?

Something had changed, he was a lot more insecure than before, and it all began before his father even left. Hell, he hadn't been mentioned after the day he left and Theo wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. It was like they really pretended that he never existed in their lives.