I’m such a fucking dick. Sky berated himself internally, pressing his forehead against his closed bedroom door. He knew Leo was standing on the other side of the door, looking like a kicked puppy.

Sky locked the door and stepped away from it, pulling his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose. Tuning out Leo’s knocking, he roughly untucked his shirt and undid the top two buttons. He tossed his glasses on his pillow and curled up on the foot of his bed, on top of the sheets that were all askew from how quickly he jumped out of bed. He curled in tighter, hugging himself, and muttered into the mattress, “it really would be easier if I could never see you again.”

*

Knocking did nothing and when Leo reached his hand down to the knob he found it locked. Leo groaned, letting his head fall forward, his forehead thumping against the door. Unsatisfied, Leo lifted his head and let it thump against the door a second time.

To his right, Luka took a sip of their coffee... loudly.

Leo stood up straight and looked over at Luka, “it’s... Luka, right?”

Luka lowered their mug and said, “yep,” popping the p.

“How long have you been involved with this...” Leo gestured at Sky’s locked door and behind him at the closed door of Mr. Evans’ office, “... stuff?” he finished, letting his hand fall limply to his side.

Luka shrugged, “a few days.”

With one last sad glance at Sky’s bedroom door, Leo walked back towards Luka and the kitchen. He glanced down at his abandoned breakfast on the coffee table and sighed. He stepped down into the sunken living room, grabbed his plate, then continued to the kitchen. As he dumped the cold toast and scrambled eggs into the trash can under the sink, he asked, “what did you tell your family?”

“Don’t have any family.”

Leo froze then slowly straightened up and turned back towards them. Luka was leaning against the kitchen island, still staring down the hallway that held Sky’s room. They tilted their head back far enough that they could look at Leo without turning around, “and my roommate is probably glad I’m out of his hair.”

“Sorry?” Leo winced when it came out sounding like a question.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Luka turned around to look at Leo more normally. They laid across the kitchen island, chin propped up in one of their hands. “It’s my family’s fault they don’t have me in their lives anymore.”

“Right.” Unsure of what to say, Leo returned to his task, rinsing off his plate and putting it in the dishwasher.

While his back was turned, Luka started talking again, “the only people that are probably going to miss me are my fans. Sky hasn’t let me make videos since I got here.”

Leo shut the dishwasher then leaned against the kitchen counter, raising an eyebrow, “videos? What, are you a Youtuber or something?”

Luka took a big gulp of their coffee before slamming the mug down with a laugh, “or something!” With their palms flat on the counter, Luka bent backwards in a huge stretch, their spine cracking audibly, “I’d better get dressed before the big scary boss man comes out of his cave and yells at me.”

Luka left their mug on the counter and walked away, wiggling their fingers in a little goodbye wave as they passed by on their way to their bedroom.

Leo picked up their mug, rinsed it and stuck it in the dishwasher, muttering under his breath about cleaning up after yourself. Luka’s door clicked shut and Leo was alone in the big, empty main room of the Evans’ penthouse apartment. A stuffy feeling swelled up in his chest and Leo made his way to his own room. Leo stopped in front of his door and looked back down the hall where Sky and his father were sullenly locked up behind closed doors. With a sigh, Leo stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door and pulled out his phone, opening up the call log. It had barely been more than an hour since he’d talked to his mom but he found his finger hovering over the call button. Without really thinking about it, he pressed it, biting his lip as he listened to it ring.

She picked up quickly, as she always did and Leo brought the phone up to his ear. “Hi, honey! This is a pretty quick ‘later’. Is everything ok?”

He pulled the phone away from his mouth enough that she wouldn’t hear him take in a shaky breath. He pushed away from the door and began to pace. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Listen, I talked to Sky and I...” he paused, staring down at the minifridge and the ‘Absolutely NO Alcohol’ sign. “...I’m sorry. I can’t tell you anything. Just that Sky needs my help and I’m going to stay with him for a while, but I can’t tell you why, it’s his secret.”

“How long is ‘a while’?”

Leo rubbed the back of his neck, squeezing his eyes shut, “I don’t know, maybe all summer.”

Leo’s mother was silent for a long time. Then she sighed, “alright. I trust you. I trust Sky.”

Leo breathed out a sigh of relief, “thanks Mom.”

“Just don’t completely forget about me. This was supposed to be my last summer with my baby.”

“Of course I won’t.”

“And let Sky know that if there is anything I can do for him, just ask.”

Leo’s lips quirked up in a slight smile, “I will. Love you.”

“Love you too, honey.”

The call ended and Leo let his arm fall to the side. He flopped onto the bed, letting out a long, deep grown into the mattress.