Disclaimer: As always, the CIF disclaims any works of fiction done by the makers of "The Lorax". This chapter contains a bit of profanity as my boys duke it out but do not worry, it is only a couple of words that I think we have all seen before.
The Once-ler's homecoming was supposed to be something great but it certainly did not turn out that way. Shopping bags from various uptown Thneedville stores littered the living room floor still looking as though their goods remained packaged within. Decades of living on his own made the young seeming man frown at the mess. He would have to talk to Ted about it. Maybe the pair could hire a maid if the kid was such a slob. They were living in Thneedville now after all. Where was the boy anyway? "Ted. I'm home." The suited man continued and ended his search in the kitchenette of the apartment. It was spotless, as the Once-ler liked it, but Ted sat quietly in a plastic chair moving his mouth and hands like he was rehearsing what to say but not liking how it sounded. He would get into it then drop his hands back down to the surface of the brown table and shake his head only to start all over again. "Ted?" The brunet gave a slight jump at his voice then settled back down to stare back down at his hands once more. The lanky man had not seen his lover this disgruntled since he stood him up the night after their first time. At least this time the kid was not sulking in their room and barely eating. "What's wrong?" He was not sure if he wanted to know what was troubling the boy. It did not have the look of a problem he could just throw money at until it crawled back into the deep black hole it spawned from.
Ted turned to trace clear brown eyes gently over his lover's face before responding, "I need to know what's going on between us. Are we just fucking around or are we... something more?" Blue-gray eyes just stared as if they had not thought of this before, like the idea of them being anything other than they were had not even crossed the tall man's mind. When no answer came, those brown eyes darted away in shame. "Sorry, it was stupid. I should've just kept my mouth shut. I don't-"
"Ted. Be quiet." The kid crossed his arms over his chest as though they could somehow protect him from the hurt this conversation could potentially inflict and slouched down into the chair probably in a hopeless attempt to become one with the plastic. How could Ted even ask him that? Why would he ask him that? There really was no question in the Once-ler's mind as to what Ted was to him. "What do you want us to be?" There, there was the nervousness the other was surely feeling. It was now making a heavy and fluttery home in the pit of the Once-ler's stomach too. Putting all of your faith in the desires of another was something the business man had hoped he was past but here he was asking a kid where they stood in their relationship. Dear Lorax, he hoped it was the right decision.
The boy shrunk further into his seat though the Once-ler was having trouble imagining how it was even possible. Tossing his rich top hat onto the cheap plastic counter, the suited man crossed the room to stand behind his love and placed a gloved hand on the boy's hunched shoulder reassuringly. The contact was as much for the lonely man's comfort as it was for the boy who would undoubtedly go to friends and family if this conversation went the wrong way. The Once-ler did not have long to plot his own escape route for a bad end to this relationship though. Ted spoke in a quiet, broken sounding voice, "I uh… I want to date you. You know, like be seen in public together and go do stuff and not see other people too... Um… I think they called it 'going steady' when you were my age… Ow!" The last exclamation was brought on by a swift thwack to the kid's head.
The older man hoped it knocked a few of his freckles loose too! "I am not that old, boy!" Ted let out a dismal breath of a chuckle that reminded the Once-ler that he had not answered Ted's inquiry. Long green arms wrapped awkwardly around both chair and boy as he said, "Of course I wanna date you Ted. So, are we like boyfriends now?" Boyfriends fell clumsily from his mouth after everything else formed so nicely. Dating another man was something he never dreamed of doing but it was not necessarily an idea he was against, especially if it meant being with Ted.
The kid turned in his grasp to straddle the chair and blue eyes noticed a brim of tears in their brown mates. "Only if you don't see Ms. Angel anymore." Angel. Angel. Angel, where did he know that name form? O'Hare's slutty secretary! How did Ted even know about her and why would he think the Once-ler wanted anything to do with the pair of tits in a mini skirt?
"What does Miss Wiles have to do with anything?" Ted examined his confused expression with suspicion. "I may have to see her professionally but I'll try not to. She isn't necessary to get what I need in the city. I'll just find someone else who knows where the king of the munchkins is…" The mind behind the knife sharp blue eyes whirred to life with possibilities but he knew it would not be easy to find O'Hare. The time he had already spent looking proved that much.
Ted relaxed in his grasp when he recognized the sincerity of his words. "I guess you can see her. She thinks you're together, you know?" The suited man made a gagging gesture eliciting a laugh from his lover and a playful jab at a green clothed shoulder. "She even bought a suit to match yours at one of those expensive clothing stores uptown. So did Tavin." A shift in the kid's demeanor took place making him look unsure and vulnerable again.
"Who the fuck is Tavin?"
Ted met the Once-ler's gaze with one forged from the permafrost of the depths of one of the world's poles. "Audrey's fiancé." The gold digger's fiancé was dressing like him. How long had that been happening? Then pieces began falling into place. Facts toppled over one another in the black haired man's mind until a mostly completed puzzle was laid out before him. This Tavin guy was the one who was messing with Ted and Erin thought he was the Once-ler. This just got really really interesting.
So yeah... That's that. Thanks for reading. The next chapter will make up for the shortness of this one if I have anything to say about it and I am the writer so I should definitely have a say!