Where the Lines Overlap

"Can we not do this right now?" I asked as I brushed past Ken in my lame attempt to postpone his roasting. I knew it was a futile attempt though.

"Sure," he replied. I was so shocked at his reply I stopped, turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" I asked, not expecting him to let me off the hook so easily.

"Of course not, did you honestly think...you know what nevermind that," he said, shaking his head as he did. "Upstairs. Now."

He didn't wait for a reply as he turned and headed up the stairs. I knew he wanted me to follow him, but quite honestly I didn't really feel like following his every order. I mean, I was still the older brother right? So I went to the kitchen instead. Don't get me wrong, I'll be going up there to talk to him, but it won't hurt to make him wait a little longer.

As I walked into our small kitchen, I saw my dad seated at the dining table talking to my mom who was leaning against the sink. My appearance caused both pair of eyes to fall onto me and I immediately felt nervous under their simultaneous stares.

"You're home," my mom announced, pushing off the sink and walking over to my father.

"Yeeaaah," I dragged, growing suspicious at their peculiar behavior.

"So, how was your day?"

"Nothing much."

"Any particular reason your brother was pacing the living room just now, muttering to himself?" my mother asked, pushing her long dirty blonde hair behind her ear. I looked over to my dad, who was silent but staring at me behind his glasses, waiting for an answer like my mother. Great, I delayed one interrogation and walked right into another.

"Nah. It's nothing. He's blowing things out of proportions," I said, breaking their gaze and going to grab a glass of water.

"Oh? So you're both alright? No fight?"

"What? No, of course not. You know Ken, he exaggerates stuff. It's nothing really."

I could see the disbelief in my parents eyes but I was thankful that at least they weren't as good at picking up on my lies as Ken was. "Okay, if you're sure."

"Yeah, I am. He's just being Ken," I said, slowly inching towards the kitchen exit. Not seeing either of them protest at my imminent departure, I felt safe enough to excuse myself. "So, if that's all, I'm going to head up?"

At my mom's nod, I quickly turned and exited, but stayed outside the kitchen door though, leaning against the wall, waiting. I held my breath, hoping that I would be able to hear my parents, if and when they started talking about what just happened, when they thought I was no longer listening.

"Did you buy that?" I heard my father's voice first. I smirked to myself; my parents were too predictable.

"Not at all, but that still doesn't mean we know what's happening between the two of them," my mother replied.

"It can't be too serious, right? They do this all the time. They'll go upstairs, talk it out and tomorrow morning everything would be back to normal. You know them, they share almost everything." I was slightly impressed by my dad at that point. He definitely knew us inside and out.

"Yeah, but I always still get a little worried."

"Don't worry about them. They're adults now, they can handle themselves."

"That's debatable," my mom said and I let out a silent scoff. I had heard enough though, so I sneakily crept up the stairs. They didn't know what Ken was upset about, meaning that he hadn't let anything slip yet. I mean my parents know I'm gay, but I've never actually been in a real relationship before, if what I have with Taron can be called a relationship at all. We didn't actually say we were boyfriends or anything so, was it official? Furthermore, he was elite and I had no idea what my parent's thoughts were on interclass relationships.

I opened my bedroom door, only to find Ken pacing the floor. He looked up when he heard the door, glaring daggers at me. "Took you long enough."

"I needed to grab a glass of water," I explained, holding up the glass in my hand.

"Water? There is no time for water."

"Oh, I didn't know this was a matter of life and death."

"Of course it is!"

"Well, you're alive and so am I, so I guess crisis averted," I said, walking over to my bed and sitting down, taking a sip of water as I did.

"Can you stop?" he asked, grabbing the glass in my hand and placing it down on my bedside table.

"Rude! I wasn't done with that," I protested.

"We're gonna talk about this. Now."

I sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

"Let me get into my fag hag persona first," he said, taking a breath and composing himself. "Like oh my god, what happened between you two?" he said, mimicking those ditsy girls from those old movies we used to watch. I was glad he had taken my water away from me, because if I had been drinking I would have spit all over him.

"Can you please not do that?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable by his sudden personality change.

"You sure?" he asked and I nodded. "Okay fine then. So what happened? When I called, Taron said...I don't even want to repeat it. The mental images it brings up."

"Then I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear what happened between us."

"Not that part you idiot, I meant the events leading to it," he said, flicking me on the head.

"Okay okay, no need to get physical," I said, rubbing the spot where his finger contacted my forehead. "Well, after you and Alena ditched me—"

"We didn't ditch you," he interrupted.

"Do you want me to tell you or not?" I scolded him for interrupting me. He wordlessly apologized and zipped his mouth. "Anyway, I was wandering the research centre when Taron attacked me and pulled me into his office. I was scared shitless man, you don't even know. You should have seen his face."

"I can imagine. Carry on."

"So he was angry at first and I thought it was because I raped him. I mean, that was the logical thing right? Turns out it wasn't that but because Will Harrison had confronted him regarding my interview. I explained to him how Will had it wrong and I ended up blurting how I was sorry about raping him.

"With new ammunition, he of course went off on me again, still not at what I was expecting though. He was angry that I had left abruptly and not the actual events that took place. To say I was confused at the time was an understatement. One thing led to another and he ended up kissing me."

"Wait wait hold up. He kissed you? As in he initiated the kiss?"

"Yeah, I was shocked as hell. Said that was what he wanted me to do that night."

"Whoa whoa whoa back up here? He kissed you?"

"Yeah, I already said that. Keep up will you?"

"But that means he likes you, which explains why he wasn't angry by your actions. It also explains why he was angry when he thought you bad mouthed him to Will. Holy shit, this is awesome!"

I raised an eyebrow at Ken. Why was this awesome to him? I thought he would be opposed to the idea of me and Taron together. At least, that's the vibe I got from the phone call. "Why is it awesome? I thought you would be mad."

"What? Why would I be mad?" he asked, shooting me a confused look.

"I just assumed after your phone call."

"Oh Kev, I love you but you are seriously dense sometimes, you know that?" he said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"So I've heard." It wasn't but a few hours ago that Taron said the same thing.

"First of all, I was the one who was constantly trying to get you to confess your crush to him. Why would I do that if I didn't want you two together? Taron's an asshole and I don't know why you like him, but you do, so I'm happy for you. Second and more importantly, him liking you is awesome because that means that I was right; he did enjoy what you did. I mean, I'm right most of the time, but I was taking a gamble with this. Of course I'm happy that I have further proof that I am just so damn clever."

"Humble. Very humble," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"You're just jealous that you're not as awesome as I am." he smiled, and I couldn't help but chuckle, but not without pushing his grinning face away from me. "What about you? How do you feel about all this? I know you've been fawning over him since forever, but like are you happy?"

"Okay first of all, I did not fawn over him, and of course I'm happy. I'm on a strange high right now that I can't shake off, despite my trepidation about having a relationship with an elite."

"Ugh, not that again? There is no rule that states natals and elites cannot be romantically involved with each other," he said, staring at me with judgment in his eyes.

"Then tell me why you don't see natals and elites pairing up."

"Because they don't get to interact with each other. Trust me, if natals and elites interacted more, interclass relationships would be popping up everywhere. Anyway, where does Taron stand on this? I mean he's the one in the relationship, what does he think about you guys dating and the social status between you?"

"Well technically we aren't really dating," I said, rubbing the back of my neck in a lame attempt of avoiding the question.

"Crazy twin brother say what?" he replied, an eyebrow raised in my direction.

"We never actually said we were boyfriends."

"Trust me, you're dating. So back to the question. What's his thoughts about all this?"

I sighed. "He doesn't care," I said, feeling the blush creep up on my cheeks as I said it.

"There you go. Stop overthinking and just let things happen."

"Easier said than done Ken," I said.

"No, it is that simple. You just need to stop second guessing yourself Kev. You have to learn that not everything in life can be planned. Sometimes things are going to happen, whether you're expecting it or not and the only thing you can does go with the flow. So really, just be happy that you and Taron are together and focus on that."

I sighed again. I knew he was right, he was always right. Part of why I didn't like getting caught up in my head was the very fact that I overthink things. Ken was right, the only thing I should have been feeling was happy. "We've been making a habit of having these deep conversations recently haven't we."

"Hey don't look at me. They're your issues," Ken said, putting an end to our conversation by heading towards the door. "How come I never go to you for advice?"

"Because I'll give you bad advice?" I replied, knowing full well that it was the truth.

"Probably," he said, closing the door to my room.

I lay down onto my bed, thinking about everything that had happened. I couldn't shake the image of Taron's smiling face from my mind and I subconsciously found the sides of my mouth curling into a smile. Like I said, I didn't know what we had. He had asked me to be his boyfriend and although I don't recall straight out saying yes, I'm pretty sure he could sense my answer. Still, this was all new and I didn't know how far Taron wanted to take this, but I guess I'll just have to follow Ken's advice of going with the flow.

Over the next few days however, it seemed that Taron's view on our relationship differed from mine. While I thought we were going to take things slow and figure this out at a more comfortable pace, Taron was more than a little eager to make things official. He seemed to feel the need to broadcast our relationship to everyone that I knew. Yes, Taron had labeled what we had as an official relationship, even though I don't recall agreeing to be his boyfriend.

First was Alena. He had apparently met up with the fellow elite a few hours after leaving me that Friday night, gushing to her how happy he was that he and I were dating. Alena, of course was surprised to the point that she couldn't help but feel like Taron was lying. This in turn, led to the early morning call the next day to, you guessed it, me.

In my daze, I don't recall what exactly transpired during the phone call but it basically revolved around her telling me how she had been kept up all night with some news from Taron. I remembered confirming to her that he was indeed telling the truth, hoping that it would have put an end to the call and I could return to my sleep. How wrong I was because all it led to was her berating me about keeping my crush on Taron a secret from her.

"I'm sorry Al, but can this wait till I'm actually awake?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"No, it cannot. I can't believe you had a crush on Taron and you didn't tell me. Hell, I thought you guys hated each other."

"I'm not the only one at fault here you know. Taron kept you in the dark too; shouldn't you be lecturing him too?" I sighed.

"I tried believe me, but he was so happy nothing I said seemed to affect him. See, Taron wears his heart on his sleeve, but you, you like to keep it all bottled up. I figured you'd let me lecture you more than he would."

"Oh I feel so honored," I said, before letting out a yawn.

"Okay fine, I'll let you sleep but this conversation isn't over."

"I know."

But Alena was only the first. Like I said, Taron had seemed to make a point to announce our relationship to the world and that included my parents. Remember how I said I wasn't sure how my parents would take an interclass relationship? Yeah well, Taron decided to find out on his own, without my knowledge mind you.

It was Sunday when I woke up and did my usual morning routine, nothing out of the ordinary. I proceeded downstairs to the kitchen, expecting to see my parents enjoying a quiet breakfast together, but no that wasn't the case. Who else but Mr Taron Wolfrum was seated at the table, enjoying a plate of scrambled eggs my mom had prepared. My appearance at the kitchen door immediately drew my parent's attention to me, but the only thing I could notice was Taron. The only thing that ran through my head was, 'What was he doing here?'

"Taron?" I muttered, the only thing my brain could piece together.

Taron turned at the sound of my voice, smiling at me. "Hey man, thought I would surprise you."

"Oh I'm surprised all right," I said, looking to my parents who still hadn't said anything, looking at me as if waiting for something to happen. I stayed still though, the only movement from Taron as he got up and walked over to me.

"Good morning," he said before quickly placing a small kiss on my cheek, which I instinctively pulled away from, though Taron didn't really notice. My eyes darted from Taron to my parents, who didn't seem all that shocked from the impromptu kiss that Taron had bestowed upon my cheek.

"Um...Taron, can I speak to my parents...in private?" I asked.

I waited as Taron looked between me and my folks, before finally nodding and quietly made a hasty exit. I waited for him to be completely out of the kitchen before turning back to my parents. Exhaling a deep breath, I walked over to the table and took a seat across my parents.

"I think explanations are in order," I said, placing my hands neatly on the table, one on top of the other. My parents remained silent, wordlessly telling me to carry on. "Okay, so how much did he tell you guys already?" I asked, knowing that from their expressions and lack of surprise at the kiss, Taron had already spilled some news to them.

"Not much actually. We were surprised when we had a visitor this early, more surprised when the visitor turned out to be an elite, and even more surprised that he introduced himself as your boyfriend," my father said in a calm voice. His calm demeanor did nothing but make me more nervous.

"Well...boyfriend is such a strong word."

"So, he's not?" my mother now chimed in, with the same icy calm voice my dad used.

"Well...he is...maybe...kind of. It's all quite new to me too," I stammered, rubbing my knuckles.

"And how exactly did you meet him?" my father continued. I could sense the probing nature of his questions, like the kind a dad used to question a teenage girl's new boyfriend in those old shows.

"He's a friend of Alena's. We met at the gym," I replied obediently.

"Hmm..." he dragged, stroking his chin in thought. "I gotta say, I always thought you'd have found someone smaller than you. Never thought you'd be into those big guys. So, are you the pitcher or the catcher?"

I swear my eyes grew so wide, I thought they would pop out of my skull. Did he mean what I thought he meant? "I'm sorry...um...I don't—"

"Oh come on, it's a straight forward question. Are you the poker or the pokee?" my father asked. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, setting my skin ablaze. I can't begin to describe the awkwardness and embarrassment of discussing my sexual habits with my parents. I literally choked from the tension building up in the pit of my stomach.

The smirk that slowly crept up on my dad's face made my blush deepen. My mom's lips too came up into a small grin. "Oh stop it Dave, you're embarrassing him," she laughed, lightly slapping my father in the arm.

"It's fun making him flustered though, isn't it?" he replied, chuckling to my mother.

"The most."

I raised an eyebrow as I watched my parents chuckling at my expense. "What just happened?"

"You just got punk'd, that's what happened," my father said.

"Wait...so you're both okay with this?"

"Of course we're okay with it. We were starting to wonder when you were going to find someone, let alone an elite."

"You don't think it's weird? I mean, dating an elite?" I asked.

"You and Ken already have an elite best friend, we knew it was a possibility that you may date elites too. It's not really all that surprising."

"Yeah I'm not the only one heading down that path too," I muttered under my breath, referencing Ken's secret crush on Alena, which my parents don't know about.

"What's that?" my mom asked.

"Nothing. So...you're really okay with this?"

My dad rolled his eyes, like legit rolled them. "Do you want me to question you about your sex life again?" I got the message loud and clear. It was my cue to go.

I put my hands up in surrender, standing up and heading for the exit. Before I left, I turned back to my parents one last time. "Thanks guys." They both smiled but said nothing else.

I exited the kitchen to find Taron seated at my couch, shaking his leg as it hung over one knee. Seeing him, so relaxed and chill made me feel a slight sense of frustration towards him. "You, follow me," I said, walking to the front door.

"But I'm not done with breakfast," he said, referring to his half eaten plate of eggs on the kitchen table.

"Oh yes, you are." I didn't turn to see if he followed; from my tone he should know that it wasn't a request. I exited the house and leaned against the wall, waiting for Taron. Not two seconds later, his frame exited and stood before me. "Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"You very well know what, Taron. Why did you come here and announce that you were my boyfriend? First with Alena and now with my parents? Are you trying to tell everyone?"

"Your parents know you're gay. I'm aware of that. You think I'd out you without knowing those facts first?"

"I'm not talking about that, idiot. Don't you think that maybe these are the things you should discuss with me beforehand? I mean, I specifically recalled that I never actually agreed to be your boyfriend," I said.

Taron replied to that with a raised eyebrow. "Really? Are you telling me you don't want the be my boyfriend?"

"No...it's not that."

"So do you or don't you not want to date me? By that I mean the whole shebang, relationship and stuff. Official," he asked although I knew he already knew the answer I would give.

"I do okay, it's just...I mean what if my parents didn't like the idea of me dating an elite? Did you think about that?"

"And there it is. See why I did what I did now?" he said.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Kev, you still think people care that we're of different social classes. I did what I did, to prove to you that it's no big deal. Alena doesn't care, and neither do your parents. Will you stop second guessing this relationship and just go with it?"