CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER: 05
Abe hadn’t reached out to him for almost an entire weekend.
It wasn’t as if it was an accident either, or that he was too busy, because Topher had tried.
Sure, he knew Abe didn’t have a cell phone, but he did have a house phone. Each time he called, someone would answer, he’d start talking, and they would hang up.
So instead he tried ignoring what Frida said, because he knew it wasn’t true. Topher didn’t get crushes, especially not on people like Abe. He entertained the idea of himself kissing other people, and didn’t like it, so he concluded that it was just the idea of Abe kissing that upset him.
Topher put in a lot of time imagining Abe doing things with other people, from dating to hugging to holding hands, there were many scenarios in which he felt totally fine with Abe doing to someone else.
So really, Frida had no idea what she was talking about.
There really weren't any complicated feelings that came with this. Sure, occasionally he had accidentally imagined himself in those scenarios from earlier, but that was just because he had difficulty imagining others. As soon as it happened he would always correct it, so again he was perfectly fine.
He definitely didn’t have an issue with people being gay, he just knew for sure he wasn’t. That’s all.
Back to the point, Abe was ignoring him, and Topher did not get ignored. Okay, he did, but not by someone like Abe.
The last time they spoke to each other was Friday, and it was now Sunday. Really, what did Abe expect him to do in his situation? If he wanted an apology, Topher wouldn’t be giving one. He didn’t do anything wrong, in his eyes.
Joan was what Abe wanted, it’s not Topher’s fault that the two of them had a plan and he was the only one who stuck to it. He was his friend, and he begrudgingly wanted to make him somewhat happy.
He saw a logical decision, and went for it, and it had worked too. Joan never looked so jealous in her life, he made sure he watched her.
So what was the issue?
Honestly, if he wanted to know, he’d need outside help.
Topher didn’t want to, not after what she had tried implying, tried convincing him of, but if there was anyone who could help him on this it would be Frida. She knew his situation after all.
The two of them never spoke often, let alone did they have each others’ numbers. Though, she was available to message on her socials, so he took advantage of that.
It surprisingly didn’t take long for him to get a response.
She asked him what he had wanted, and he mentioned how Abe had been ignoring him for days. Frida told him to ‘hold on’, and she hadn’t responded back since.
He didn’t know what he expected, honestly. If anything, she was most likely telling Joan right now, since he had promised to talk to Abe and evidently had not. It shouldn’t bother him that much anyways, this fake-relationship was clearly over, if the silence from his ‘boyfriend’ was anything to go by.
Just as he started to definitely not wallow in his own pity, he heard a few fast knocks on the door downstairs.
He quickly sprung up, almost tripping over his feet. Topher raced towards the stairs, Abe’s name on his lips before he instantly froze taking in the sight of who was there, let in by his mother.
“Woah, what’s the rush little man?”
Harriet held her hands out, in case he ran into them, Frida standing directly next to her.
Topher just stared for a while, face heating up from embarrassment. Straightening up, he cleared his throat, “Uh, nothing..”
Frida lifted a side of her unibrow, “Right..” she definitely didn’t buy that, and he knew it.
He schooled his expression, frowning up at Harriet, “What’re you doing here, you don’t even like me.”
“Nope, but I like romance, and drama!” Topher gave Frida a look at that last part, of which she only shrugged, “Plus, Frida filled me in after your guys’ talk. I know I found the letter, but having that many details really helps me put it into perspective!”
Topher instantly panicked, “Whatever she told you, it’s not true.”
“You fake-dating Abe?”
“Uh- no, that’s true.”
“Then what part isn’t?”
“The part about me liking Abe!” He instantly slapped his hands over his mouth, widening his eyes, “Which I don’t! Like I said, not true!”
Harriet stared down at him, a smile widening on her face before she looked over at Frida, “Okay, I see it now.”
He looked between the two of them, disbelief on his face, “Really?!” he rounded on Frida, who just smirked at him.
“Nevermind that, man. Your boyfriend is ignoring you, let’s try and fix it.”
They walked past him up the stairs, pointedly ignoring his cry of ‘not my boyfriend!’. He had no choice but to follow, eventually leading them to his bedroom. Frida made her way to the bed, pointing at the flag above it with her thumb.
Topher glared, “That’s for guests!”
“What guests have you had?”
“.. Abe.”
He watched as the two girls laughed with one another, and he already regretted asking anyone for help.
“Alright, so, you haven’t spoken to Abe in days.”
He sat at his computer chair, facing the two of them who were on the bed and floor respectively.
“Not true, I’ve tried calling his house multiple times.”
“What happened with that?”
“I got hung up on each time..” He hung his head down, taking his phone out of his pocket.
“That’s good, he told his parents about you then!”
He glared back up at Harriet, who quickly slouched again, “Or not..” she awkwardly said.
Frida hummed to herself, thinking to herself. Topher glanced over at her, waiting for her to say something, “Have you gone to visit him?”
He shook his head, “Wouldn’t that make him more angry? I don’t really have the energy to do all of that.”
The girls groaned, “That’s such a man thing to say, you need to go see him!” Harriet exclaimed, standing up too quickly, wobbling slightly.
Frida put a hand to her leg, steadying her, “She’s right, dude. You need to apologize.”
“What would I apologize for?! We both agreed to everything we did, it’s not my fault he got cold feet halfway through!”
“Yeah but, that’s not his fault either really, now is it?”
He frowned, grumbling to himself as he turned in his chair.
“I guess not..?”
“When someone isn’t sure about something completely, then you don’t do it. Even if they said yes prior, over something as simple as a kiss.”
Topher groaned, “I get that, but we kissed before. So how was it any different?”
Harriet quickly turned towards Frida, mouthing ‘before?’ at her, she could only shrug in response.
“You were in front of a lot of people dude, more specifically Joan. He likes her, man!”
“That’s true.. so, you think if I go say sorry he’ll get over it?”
Frida stood, walking over to him to lean against his desk, “You don’t apologize to someone just to get their forgiveness. You gotta do it because you mean it, so do you?”
“If it helps you, imagine if Abe had randomly kissed you before any of this stuff even happened, in front of everyone!” Harriet chimed in.
Topher continued frowning, his chin on his knees. If he thought about it that way, he supposed he would have been upset. For some odd reason, he knows he wouldn’t feel that way now, but back then he would have acted out.
Which means he definitely did have to go apologize, because deep down he did mean it. Even if he’s not that great of a person, he knows he cares for Abe somewhat. He was his friend.
He sighed, running a hand down his face, “Yeah, yeah okay I do mean it.”
Harriet cheered, clapping her hands. Frida smiled at him, “You know, you’re much more enjoyable to be around this way.”
His eyebrow twitched, “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Who knows!” She stood directly on her feet, pulling him up from his chair, a yelp leaving his throat. Frida turned him towards the door, and pushed him.
“Get out of here and go confess to your man!”
He took a step, before pausing, looking back at her.
“You know exactly that is not what I’m doing.”
She feigned a look of innocence, pointedly not looking at him, “Who, me?”
He stared, squinting his eyes as he shifted his gaze on the two of them.
“I’m going now, but not to ‘confess’ my undying love for him. It’s to apologize!”
He heard the two of them respond with ‘right..’ as he left the room, almost down the stairs before he yelled back up at them to get out of his house.
Once everyone was outside, Harriet asked if he wanted a ride to Abe’s.
Not being one to ignore an opportunity to be lazy, he agreed and was shoved into the backseat. Soon enough they were on the road, and Frida pulled out her phone.
“I’m gonna ask him if he’s home right now.”
Topher put his hands on the side of her seat in front of him, “Are you crazy? You can’t ask him that! He’ll get suspicious.”
“Yo, chill! I don’t have anything to do with the two of you, me asking him this is totally fine. We’re friends, you know.”
His frown came back, scoffing, “Sure, right. Whatever..”
He threw himself back into his seat, staring out the window. Frida let him know later that Abe was indeed home, and soon enough the car came to a stop.
“Alright, get the hell out of here.”
Frida reached back, opening his door and pushing him out.
“Hey!”
“Sorry, good luck with Abe, but I’ve got a date to get to soon!”
The car sped off, leaving Topher in the smoke. He coughed a bit, waving the air, before looking over at the house he was in front of.
Okay, this was fine.
He was going to walk to the door, knock, and say sorry. That was easy, a piece of cake really, a baby could do it.
Except.. Topher really wasn’t one to apologize, he doesn’t remember the last time he genuinely said sorry, and he couldn’t get his feet to move.
It was as if he was frozen in place, just stuck staring at the windows.
He saw the curtains shift slightly, and felt his heart stuck in his throat. Soon enough the door opened, and he was still stuck where he was, nowhere near close to the entrance.
“Topher?”
Abe stood inside, staring out at him.
He tried to speak, and found difficulty in doing so, all he could manage was a muffled noise.
“Um, okay.. I’m going to close the door now..”
“Wait! Wait- I..”
The door stopped, as he stared out at him.
Topher cleared his throat, a strangled noise. “I can’t move.”
“Listen man, I’m not really in the mood-”
“I’m sorry!”
The other stopped, staring at him. Silence fell over them, and he was starting to think Abe was waiting for him to continue.
He wanted to, he did, but it was a bit overwhelming.
“I just wanted to help you get Joan, that’s all.” Topher looked away, his voice getting quieter, “It worked, but I know that’s besides the point.”
Abe opened the door more, stepping outside and closing it behind him, “I can barely hear you.”
Topher just stared back again, wide eyed as Abe got closer.
He did not like Abe, not in the way others think, but he couldn’t get Frida’s incessant words out of his head, as the other got closer.
“I said- that I’m sorry. I have come to realize I shouldn’t have kissed you, even though we both agreed to, but that’s besides the point..”
He looked back down, coughing slightly, “You weren’t sure, and that should’ve been a sign to me. I just knew that it would work, I want you to get what you want, and Joan seeing that worked.”
Abe sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, “I guess it kind of did.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know, I just acted on instinct alone when I saw her coming over. I was just as anxious as you, y’know.”
“Right.. You know, your instinct being to kiss me sounds pretty gay.”
“You know that’s not what I meant!”
Topher watched as Abe laughed, and all the tenseness inside of him smoothed out. He felt he could breathe again, and he smiled slightly up at him.
“I know it worked though, Joan likes you.”
Abe sucked in a breath, staring down at him.
“Frida told me, and honestly it makes sense.”
“You’re sure she does, one hundred percent?”
Topher nodded, his smile widening, “Definitely.”
He looked down at Abe’s hands, and the other took a moment to process what he was told. Eventually, Abe looked back at the door, and took Topher’s hand to bring him inside.
“Okay, let’s make a plan then.”
He’d rather die than look into why he wanted to hold his hand, and let himself be led to the other’s room.
“A plan?”
“Yeah, like our breakup and how I’m going to confess to her.”
“Oh..” Topher shook his head, clearing his throat for hopefully the final time today, “Right, okay, so..”
“Let’s have it be mutual, I don’t want to cause a scene.”
He nodded at Abe, “Yeah, that’s fine. We only really need to personally tell a few people anyways.”
Abe smiled down at him as they sat on his bed, “Exactly. Now, as for Joan..”
The two of them spent the rest of the day planning out what to do for tomorrow, and how Abe was going to confront Joan.
It wasn’t that bad, all thoughts considered. For some strange reason, Topher felt a bit melancholy. He couldn’t place why, because he was happy. Really, he was. Abe was about to get what the two of them (hardly) worked for, in the end everything paid off.
So he wasn’t sure why his chest started to hurt, the more they figured out the details of Abe’s confession, and why his throat felt tight.
He opted to just ignore it, and that’s what he did. For the rest of the day, well into the evening, he ignored what was eating away at him.
Topher wasn’t entirely stupid, but he was stubborn.
By the time it was night, the two agreed to have a sleepover at Abe’s.
As he laid there in bed with him, watching the other slow into a sleep, Topher let himself stare. He denied it, every time it was brought up, because how could only a few days have done this to him, but he knew what this was.
He liked Abe, more than a man should like another, objectively.
More than Topher should, personally.
Abe was going to confess to Joan tomorrow, and all he could do for that is watch. Of course he would be the type of person stuck in an unreciprocated relationship, or lack-of-one.
Just great.
CHAPTER END