When Liv walks into her room and finds Tash flipping though her photo album, she barely manages to restrain herself from doing something she'd probably regret. As much as she'd probably enjoy it, the last thing she wants to do is worry her brother and Robert anymore than they already are. Besides, she wants to get out of here as soon as possible, and she doubts that breaking Tash's nose would help much with an appeal.
Tash glances up, looks more than a little smug to be caught riffling through Liv's things, and turns her attention back to the book. Liv feels her fists clench at her sides.
"Who's this," Tash asks, pointing at one of the photos.
"None of your business," Liv snaps. "Just give it back, okay?"
Tash rolls her eyes. "I'll give it back if you tell me who they are."
Liv glances at the book, and sees the photo that Tash is pointing at - one of Aaron and Robert at their wedding. Her lips twitch slightly at how happy they look, and then her stomach clenches as she is once again reminded of how much she misses them.
"My brother and his husband," Liv says, reaching down to grab the book. She closes it and holds it to her chest. "Touch my stuff again and you'll regret it."
"Huh." Tash looks thoughtful. Liv doesn't really care, as long as she stays out of her way, and away from her stuff.
…
"I'm serious." Tash leans forward on her desk, grinning. "They looked good."
"I know what you mean," another girl chimes in. "I saw them when they came to visit Liv. Thought they were both her brothers or something though."
"You do realise gay couples exist, right?"
"Why are you even talking about this?" another girl asks. A few people look at her in disbelief, and looks away.
"Uh, because they're fit? And together. Which makes it even better."
"We need more blokes around here…"
There are a few sighs, and a few nods of agreement.
Tash looks thoughtful. "So…when's the next visiting day?"
"Hey! All of you, pay attention!" A sharp bang on the wall interrupts the conversation, as the teacher finally realises that half the class has long since stopped paying attention.
…
People are staring. It takes Aaron and Robert a while to notice, because it's not like everyone is doing it — it starts with the odd glance here and there, but then it seems to happen more frequently, and soon they realise that it's not just in their heads — people are looking directly at them.
Aaron frowns. "Okay, what's happened?"
Liv blinks. "Huh?"
"They're all — staring for some reason."
"How should I know?"
"Liv," Robert says warningly.
"What?!" Liv glares. "I haven't done anything!"
There's a giggle from the table behind them. All three of them turn to see the girl sitting behind them lean towards the table beside her, and whisper something to her neighbour, all the while staying at them. The two people sitting in front of her, a middle-aged couple who they assume are her parents, look baffled at the girl's behaviour.
Aaron turns back to Liv, his frown deepening. There's more than a little concern in his expression now. "Are people giving you a hard time here?"
"No! Seriously, everything's fine." Liv catches another person looking at their table, and her jaw clenches. Nearby, she sees Tash glance over and smirk, and feels herself tense. She wouldn't be surprised if Tash had something to do with this.
Aaron and Robert still look sceptical, but seem to have caught on to the fact that Liv's confusion was genuine, and that she was as clueless as they were. They're still concerned, because it's them — especially Aaron, although Liv's pretty sure that's just because Robert hides it better. Still, they're able to move on for the most part, and the rest of the visit is filled with small talk about how her studies are going, and how everyone is back home.
At the end of the visit, Aaron hugs her, and then Robert does. She once again sees people staring in their direction, with more than a few of them looking disappointed.
Her eyes narrow. She really needs to get to the bottom of this.
…
The next day is momentous for Liv since she actually shows up for class. She's pretty sure this is the first time since she arrived here, but Robert and Aaron have caught wind of her lack of attendance, and Liv can't help but feel bad. She's worried them enough, and the last thing either of them need is her causing more trouble.
She steps into the room just as someone says, "Are you sure they're together?"
"Yes," Tash says. She's lounging on top of one of the desks, and Liv's pretty sure she'll be told off as soon as their teacher arrives.
"But," someone else says (Liv's not sure who. She doesn't really know anyone here besides Tash, and if they're anything like her then she doesn't want to), "like, I get that you think that, but they weren't exactly all over each other, were they?"
"They were visiting someone in prison," Tash says flatly. "What did you think they were going to do, take off their clothes and start shagging right there on the table?"
"Yes please," someone else says, giggling.
"Besides, Liv told me."
Liv's eyes narrow and she takes a step forward. "What did I tell you?"
Tash glances up and raises an eyebrow. "Oh. You're actually here."
"What did I tell you?" Liv repeats. "What have you been telling them?"
She's expecting something bad, and her mind flashes back to the water bottle incident. She grimaces; this is honestly the last thing she needs.
What Tash does say is not what she expected.
"Your brother and his husband."
"Uh, yeah. Why?" She frowns. "You got a problem with it?" It doesn't matter if Aaron and Robert want her to keep her head down — she won't let anyone talk badly about them.
"What are their names?" another girl asks.
Liv glares at her. "Why's it any of your business?"
"We don't have a problem with it," Tash says, smirking.
"Quite the opposite," says the girl beside her.
"The hell are you on about?!"
Tash shrugs. "They're fit."
"Uh. Gross." Liv's face scrunches up. "That's my brother and Robert you're talking about."
"Robert," someone sighs. "Such a lovely name."
"It's a name," Liv snaps, because, seriously? Is this really happening right now? "What the hell are you lot on about?!"
"So…how did they meet?"
"Have they been married for a very long time?"
"Did one of them change their last name, or did they both keep their own last names, or did they hyphenate them — you know, I've always wondered what you'd do in that situation…"
Liv's standing there gaping when the teacher finally walks in, interrupting any further conversation. She sits down, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. She thinks back to visiting day, and all the stares they'd received, and thinks, 'Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me.'
…
The next time Robert and Aaron come for a visit, Liv hopes things have died down.
They haven't.
She's pretty much kept to herself, so she hadn't exactly known what to expect, although (although she did get the question, "Will your brother and Robert be visiting tomorrow?" thrown at her, to which she'd simply glared and walked away) so she's not exactly sure how bad things are. At the very least, she's hoping the others can stop themselves from staring at them this time around.
She should have known better. She doesn't think any of these people really care about that. They're still glancing over, giggling, and now that Liv knows what they're probably thinking about, she really doesn't want to be here.
She sinks down in her seat, ignoring Aaron and Robert's questioning looks, and ignores their questions about whether or not everything is going well.