townes zamoras. 18.

february, 88 add.

evening.

"It's been a week," his father said.

Townes hadn't seen him walk in. He shut the refrigerator door quickly, even though he hadn't found the snack he'd been looking for. "What?"

"Last week I asked you to keep up your distraction," his father said. "There's been nothing since!"

"That's not true," Townes replied. "There's been plenty of speculation. People are still talking about it. That's not nothing."

"Who's talking about it?"

"Literally today, I heard someone asking Esper what they should tell the media," Townes said.

"People are still interested."

"But they need to be more interested," his father said. "They need to be fully, completely distracted from Stelvio."

Townes took a deep breath. "There will be people who are more interested in actual politics than what I'm doing, no matter what," he said.

"But you can decrease that group," his father said. "I want more."

"I told you it's not that simple," he told him.

"Is this about the disagreement again?" his father asked. "I thought I told you to resolve that."

"I did," he said. Not that he'd done it for his father, but it was true. "Today. It's still… delicate."

"Why?"

"Because… I…" he trailed. "I'm trying to look out for the long-term right now."

"I don't give a fuck about the long-term," his father replied. "This isn't a request. I'm telling you that you need to do this. Do you understand me?"

"I… I do," Townes answered.

"Good."

the next morning.

To his relief, when Esper walked into class the next morning, he took his old spot on Townes' left.

"If you tell me I look like shit," Esper said, "I'm going right back where I was."

Townes fake-winced. "Does saying you look terrible count?"

"Unreal," Esper replied, but he still took his seat. "You're ridiculous."

"Thank you."

"You're not welcome."

"I can't believe you actually sat in the back," Townes mused. "You must have felt really strongly about me to do that."

"Would you quit it?" Esper asked. "I didn't even like it back there."

"What, it was hard to hear?"

"It kind of was, actually, yes."

"So that means… you felt really strongly about me…"

"That you were an attention-seeking asshole, yes."

"No such thing as bad press," Townes shrugged.

"What about literal bad press?"

"Like I just said: no such thing."

"Agree to disagree."

"No."

"So you want to, what, disagree to disagree?" Esper asked.

"I don't know. I just enjoy disagreeing with you."

"It's fucking annoying."

"Yeah, and it's fun to watch you get annoyed."

"Fucking hell."

"See? That was great."

"Oh, shut up."

afternoon.

As their last class of the week let out, Townes shut his notebook with a sigh. "Thank god that's over," he announced.

"Thank god what's over?" Esper asked.

"That whole week," Townes said.

"What? You were lonely up here all by yourself?"

"That's a huge reach from what I was saying."

"Was it, though?"

"The week is over. Therefore, I'm excited about the weekend. Obviously."

"If you say so."

"I do, actually, say so."

"What's going on this weekend that you're dying to get to?" Esper asked.

"Not going to class. That sounds nice to me."

"For someone who claims to be the top student in all his classes-"

"Which I am-"

"-you seem thrilled to not be in class."

"I just get tired of all the praise and adoring fans. You would know about that, right?"

Esper pulled on his coat. "Sort of. I get tired of you all the time."

"Very funny."

"Thank you."

"Let me guess: you're going home."

"Wow. Wonder how you figured that one out."

"I'm really smart. That's how."

"Oh, good to know. I hadn't noticed."

As the class had nearly finished emptying, Townes lowered his voice. "I actually would like to talk to you, though," he said. "About some stuff. In private."

Esper raised an eyebrow. "You and I have very different definitions of 'private.'"

"I mean the actual definition."

"So, my definition?"

He sighed. "Yeah. Okay."

"So not the coffee place, or the library, or the hallway, or this room." Esper gave him a look. "Is this you inviting yourself to my house again?"

"Would you rather go to mine?"

"No."

"So… is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Esper said. "The kids will probably be around."

"I mean, yeah. They live there."

"Yes…"

"And if they're gonna follow your example, well, they're gonna spend all their time at home."

"Sure. Maybe they also noticed I was upset about something and wanted to hang out with me. Or maybe reporters and classmates are, once again, harassing them for information about me, and at home they don't have to deal with that."

"People are harassing them?" he asked.

"Less now, but yeah, they are," Esper answered.

"That's… awful."

"Yeah. It is."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"You can tell them that yourself," Esper replied. "They'll probably be too nice about it, because honestly, they've had worse- I don't know if you've ever seen the final eight home interview they had to do- but they had a shitty week, too. Mostly Rhylee, because high school girls pay more attention to this shit than middle school boys."

"I will." They started heading out. "I remember that interview, yeah. I remember it got cut short."

Esper pushed the door open. "That was when Luna and Aliyah showed up, yeah."

"Luna and Aliyah…?"

"Portia's parents."

"...Oh."

"Yeah. They're honestly great. I don't really get why most of the time, but… they're very nice."

"Well, that's something."

"I guess, yeah."

Esper was right- by the time they made it to his house, both his siblings were already home. Ryden was actually walking down the stairs as they came in the front door.

"Hi, bud," Esper said, shutting the door behind them.

"Hi." He looked at Townes, walking down the last few steps. "Hi."

"Hey," Townes replied. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I had two Science Olympiad meetings this week."

"Oh, nice. How'd they go?"

"Good!"

Esper gave Townes a look.

Townes hung his coat on a hook and cleared his throat. "I also wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about last week. I know people have been bothering you about it."

"That's okay," Ryden said. "People mostly forgot about it by Wednesday. And I've been focused on my meetings."

"Good."

"Besides, I can tell my team that I know you, and they think that's cool. They don't care about the other stuff as much."

Townes grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Awesome. I really am sorry, though, okay?"

Ryden nodded. "It's okay."

"Hello?" Rhylee called from deeper in the house.

Esper followed her voice, and Townes and Ryden followed him. "I'm back," he said, and they found her in the kitchen eating a bowl of pretzels, Bullet tucked around her feet.

"Hi," she said. She glanced at Townes. "Hello."

"Hi, Rhylee."

She looked back at Esper, and then at Townes again, and then back at Esper. "Are you guys…?"

"Are we what?"

"I don't know. Did you make up?"

"Mostly. First, Townes has something he'd like to say."

Townes nodded. "I'm sorry people have been mean to you because of what happened last week. That's on me."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I'm really sorry. It had nothing to do with you."

She nodded. "I, um, I appreciate that. Thanks."

"Of course."

"I'm glad you guys are… friends… again."

"Same." He glanced at Esper, who was squinting at Rhylee. When he looked back at Rhylee, she was starting to smile. "What?"

"I didn't say anything!" Rhylee said.

"Sure you didn't," Esper replied.

Townes glanced at Ryden, who shrugged. "I have no idea." He walked over to Rhylee and stole some of her pretzels.

"I forgive you," she told Townes. "On one condition."

"What is it?"

"So you guys are, like… friends now?"

"Rhylee!" Esper groaned.

"Or are you… like…"

"I swear-"

"It's a fair question!"

Townes grinned. "No, she's right. It's a fair question."

Rhylee smiled back. "Do you have an answer?"

He looked at Esper, who crossed his arms, before turning back to Rhylee. "Is it okay if I get back to you on that one?"

"Sure, but you don't get any forgiveness until then. That was the condition."

He nodded. "Okay. Got it."

"I'm right here, you know," Esper reminded her.

"I know."

"Can I have more pretzels?" Ryden asked.

"Not all of them!"

"I only want… three."

"I have four left!" Rhylee said. "How many pretzels did you steal already? I thought this was full!"

Ryden shrugged, dusting crumbs off his shirt. "A couple."

"There's more in the pantry," Esper interjected. "We'll be upstairs if you need anything."

Rhylee raised her eyebrows. "Why upstairs?"

"So we don't have to listen to you guys fight about pretzels."

"Yeah, because you guys would never do that," Rhylee replied.

Ryden caught the joke. "You guys never argue about anything," he added with a grin.

"Everyone is so mean to me in my own house," Esper said to no one in particular. "Okay. Be like that. We'll be upstairs. Goodbye."

He turned on his heel and left. Townes gave the pair one last grin before following him out of the kitchen and upstairs.

He immediately liked Esper's room.

He'd expected it to be a lot more... orderly than it was, which surprised him. It was still clean, but it was cluttered in a cozy way. There were bookshelves on every wall, each almost full with stacks of books and journals. The wall on his left was largely taken up by an enormous window overlooking the city, three mugs left forgotten on the windowsill. Esper had parked a desk right in front of it, deep wood with a lamp and covered in papers and more mugs. He had a few small plants littered throughout the room, a few on the windowsill, one on the desk, a few more flourishing alongside the stacks of books. His bed was on the right, large and covered with pillows, the headboard the same dark wood as the desk. His nightstand had another half-filled mug and an empty glass. The few open spots on his walls, which were green- as far as Townes could tell, which was tough given the clutter- had pictures of him and his siblings. Townes noticed the scars weren't present in any of them.

Esper tossed his backpack by his desk before sitting on his bed. "So what did you want to privately talk about?" Esper asked.

Townes sighed, pulling up Esper's desk chair. "This is going to sound bad for a second."

"...Why?"

"Just listen, okay? It's about my dad."

"What about him?" Esper asked, more serious now.

"You know how you thought I did the whole… thing last week on purpose? To distract from my father's whole 'election fraud' thing?"

"Yes."

"He thought that, too. And he, um… he was really excited about it. He loved it. He… he, um, he wanted me to keep doing it. Um, wants me to keep doing it, actually. Currently."

"What? Why?"

"Because it sort of worked," Townes admitted. "I didn't mean to, it just- it also happened to be really good timing for him. So now he expects more."

Esper was quiet for a moment. "Are you asking me to, like…"

"No, no no no. Nothing like that."

"Okay."

"Because I am sorry about that. I didn't want that either. It was an accident."

"I know."

"Good." Townes took a deep breath. "He… he just… it's been a lot of pressure."

Esper nodded.

"He keeps bringing it up. He has been all week."

"Okay," Esper said. "What do you want to do?"

Townes rubbed his jaw with his palm. "I want him to leave me alone."

"Okay."

"And the only way I can think of… to get him to do that… is to give him what he wants."

Esper gave him a long look. "Is that what you want, though?"

"I don't know."

"I'll be honest with you for a minute," Esper said. "I don't like your dad. I'm not interested in doing him any favors."

"I… yeah. I get that."

"And my siblings have been through enough just by being related to me."

"They have."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Esper sighed. "Is he going to be shitty to you if you don't do this stuff for him?"

"Yeah," Townes murmured. "Maybe. Probably."

"Because I don't want that."

"Me neither."

"So if we… what does he want, exactly?"

"The same stuff, I think," Townes said. "Pictures and shit."

"Okay, okay. I, um, honestly, that last one was a bit much for me."

"Yeah."

"But would, like… being seen together here and there… would that be enough?"

"Maybe. It would be better than nothing, which he's getting right now."

"Not like last week. Just the normal stuff. Like when we're in that café you're obsessed with."

"But… I don't…"

"You don't what?"

"I don't want to make you do this," Townes said. "Because I- I don't want to give him anything. Especially after last week. Because that was shitty, and I don't want it to- to be like that."

"Like what?"

"Like… pretend. For him."

"I, uh… would it have to be pretend?"

Townes, who had been looking down at his hands, looked up at Esper. "What?"

Esper shifted in his seat. "I mean… please don't make me say that again."

"Not pretending, like… we're…?"

"Like we're actually dating, you idiot."

"Oh!"

"Unless you don't want to."

"No, I… that would work for me."

"That's your response?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It would work for you? Really?"

"What?"

"After all this bullshit?!" Esper reached over and grabbed a pillow off his bed, throwing it at Townes.

"Why are you throwing things at me?!" Townes shouted, smacking the pillow aside. It flopped next to him on the floor, and he looked back at Esper, appalled.

"Because you're ridiculous!"

"Yeah, and apparently you're into that!"

Esper threw another pillow at him in response. Townes jumped out of his chair.

"Would you stop it?! You're gonna break all the shit you have in here!"

"Not until you find a better response than 'it would work for me!'" Esper answered, grabbing another pillow.

"I should've known you'd resort to violence!"

"Take it back!"

"Fine. I take that part back."

Esper threw a third pillow.

"How many pillows does one person need?" he shrieked.

"Now you're judging my pillows?"

"Yeah, I am!"

"Instead of figuring out a better reply?"

"How am I supposed to do that when you're throwing things at me?!"

"It's just pillows, you big baby."

"I'm not a baby."

"Then think!"

"Fine!" Townes swatted another pillow out of the air. "I'm sorry! That would be nice! I'd like to do that! I would like to actually date you for real and not pretend! Is that better?"

Esper dropped his next pillow. "Yes."

"Good," Townes grumbled. "So… so we, like… we just go out for real, and get a picture of it every once in a while?"

"If that's enough to keep him off your back, then sure," Esper replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Maybe. We'll have to see."

"Great. Is that everything you wanted to talk about?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

He grinned. "That was productive."

"I'm so glad you enjoyed throwing things at me."

"I did, actually. I should do that more often."

"Um, no."

Esper stood, picking his pillows up off the floor. "I don't know. I think it was helpful."

"Not for me."

He tossed them back on his bed. "That's fine with me."

"Sometimes pillows hurt, you know."

"They barely touched you!"

"Not when you throw them that hard. And that was really hard, by the way. I bet you could give someone a concussion with one of those-"

Esper finished replacing his pillows and crossed the room to where Townes stood, grinning like an idiot- which he was- as he cut Townes off with a kiss. Townes rolled his eyes but let it happen, quickly forgetting he was supposed to be whining, because- because this was real, now, this was confirmed… it was his, and it wasn't pretend, and it wasn't for anyone but himself… he had a boyfriend.

(Esper was his boyfriend.)

(It was real.)

He kissed him back and ran his hands up to Esper's shoulders, letting one wander into his hair. It was softer than he'd thought it would be, and Esper's hands found his waist as he kissed him harder, and it was… it was just…

…he was kissing his boyfriend, and it was perfect.