dorrekviii:
It wasn’t far to the closest McDonalds. Billy let go of Teddy’s hand when they neared the street, for which he was silently grateful. The warehouse was a safe space, but Teddy wasn’t sure he was ready to walk around in public holding hands with a guy. Not yet.
As they walked, Teddy practiced in his head what he was going to say.
Sorry I had a big gay panic and ignored you for a week after you took me into your confidence. No.
Sorry I almost killed you because I was distracted by your eyelashes. Oh god, double no.
When they arrived, he bought a little extra time to think by saying, “What do you want? I’ll go and order.”
“Just chips, please.” Billy smiled at him, sitting down in a red plastic chair.
When Teddy returned to their table with a tray of food, he still hadn’t decided how to begin. The silence stretched on, Billy picking at his chips and waiting graciously for Teddy to speak.
Show time. It was now or, well, not never, but no matter what Billy had said earlier, he deserved a medal for putting up with Teddy’s bullshit. An explanation was the very least Teddy owed him. He pushed his burger to the side.
“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.“I’ve been so awful. When I dropped you earlier, when — when I ran away last week,” he babbled, before stopping abruptly, not knowing quite how to continue. He glanced at Billy, who was watching him patiently. Bright red, Teddy squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head in shame. “And… I kissed you.” he forced out in a whisper.
He sighed defeatedly, and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. “How do you do it? I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re so strong. You don’t hide who you are, no matter the consequences. I can’t — I’m so scared, Billy.” He looked up at Billy, begging him to understand.
Billy waited with a concerned tilt to his head as Teddy gathered his thoughts, probably unaware of how completely terrified he looked as he did so. And then Teddy began to speak, and Billy forgot how because Teddy, beautiful, powerful, brilliant Teddy, was crying - and this time it wasn’t from a near death experience.
This was more than Billy was ready for and he didn’t know what to say, so he reached over and grabbed Teddy’s hand from where it was clenched on the tabletop and squeezed, wary of the people around them but ultimately more worried about Teddy than who was watching them.
“Teddy…” Billy swallowed, frowning as he tried to voice what he needed to say. “I don’t- It’s okay, I understand… And, I mean, I’m nothing special. I’ve never been anything special until I found out I was magic, and even now no one but you, Eli and Nate know I’m magic.” He shook his head and made sure that Teddy was looking at him before he continued. “Teddy, being scared? It’s okay. I’m still scared, every day I’m scared, but there’s not much I can do about the people at school anymore, all I can do now is let them know that I don’t care what they think. Just, I got sick of being someone I’m not, y’know? And I like who I am, and that freaks people out I think.”
Billy looked past Teddy’s shoulder and swallowed hard, “I don’t know what I’m doing, Teddy, any more than you do. I just kind of make it up as I go and hope for the best.” Smiling a little, Billy ignored the warmth that flooded his cheeks in favour of watching Teddy’s face to see if he was even making any sense. “And the kiss? Well, I kind of liked that if you couldn’t tell. Just like I kind of like you.”
(Source: therealmagicboy)