Sunday, October 14th

     Jesse could vaguely recall some of the things that happened the night before. Like Calix being glued to Francesca’s lips, and Axel’s drunk whining about Donna, and the fact she wasn’t in the club when he had gathered enough courage to tell her he wanted her back.

But mostly, the fact that Jesse hadn’t been able to locate Yoni either and eventually went to Unity in the hopes of finding a guy to hook up with.

And how he found Yoni and Donna in there, dancing together.

After Yoni confessed to him how she thought she was possibly gay, and he had confessed he was gay himself, things quickly became blurry and vague.

He knew Yoni had thought it was funny they were both probably gay, and she had suggested to meet up the next day to talk about their relationship. It made Jesse nervous, mostly because he didn’t feel like hooking up while his fake girlfriend was there to see everything. Even if he later spotted her kissing Donna.

He had resolved in hanging at the bar, drinking his sorrows away.

The fact the bartender had given him most of the drinks for free hadn’t helped with his already wasted state when he entered Unity, let alone how bad it was when he left again. Which was a part that he didn’t really remember anymore.

All he knew was when he woke up in the morning, he was naked and laying in a bed in a room he had never seen before. He saw his clothes neatly folded on a chair in the far-right corner of the room, and since they were just laying there, Jesse wasn’t sure if something had happened in the early hours of the day.

Usually he at least remembered some parts. Usually he found his clothes scattered around the room, after a hurriedly undressing session with another hook-up.

But his clothes gave no hints away, and neither did his mind. The only thing he knew was that he had a huge hangover, and his throat was dry like sandpaper.

In a close distance, he heard a shower running, and there were sounds of clattering pots and pans. Still, it gave him no hints of where he was, and who had taken him home.

He rushed to get dressed—he always got awkward being naked while sober—and went on a search to find his phone and wallet. He hoped he hadn’t lost them, since that would freak his father out even further. Jesse did not want to push his buttons even more in the current situation.

And with situation he meant the fact he was in no way planning on getting his tattoo removed, so a new fight with his father would only be a matter of days.

While he was searching the bedroom, he found his wallet under the chair. But then the shower turned off and Jesse got up, wondering if he should just leave without his phone. He wasn’t really up for a meeting with a guy he couldn’t even remember.

So, he left, in a hurry, avoiding the person who was busy bustling around the kitchen by sneaking out. It wasn’t as if Jesse had no experience sneaking out quietly. While he hurried quietly through a part of the living room, he noticed pictures on a shelve, and recognized the cute bartender who gave him all those drinks for free, in one of the two guys. They looked a lot like each other, and Jesse figured they were brothers.

Which could mean there was a brother or parental figure lurking around that could bust him any second, giving him an even better reason to get the hell out before he was busted.

Luckily Jesse knew Yoni well enough to know where she would want to meet to talk, and as soon as he left the apartment, and the building overall, he got on his bike and rode towards Shakespeare’s; Yoni’s favourite diner.

He had no idea what time they would meet up, and since he didn’t have his phone in that moment, he figured he was best of visiting her house first. Might as well make sure she wouldn’t think he wasn’t going to show up.

If she wouldn’t get a response from him, she would probably think there was no use of going to the diner, and if he was going to sit around and wait for her, it would most likely be for nothing.

Maybe he could even suggest talking in her room, so there wasn’t a chance anyone they knew would hear what they were talking about. Jesse already regretted telling her about his sexuality, but he had been drunk. And he tended to do stupid things while drunk.

Like hooking up with a bartender he didn’t even know the name of.

And losing his phone during a night out, for the second time in a year. He would have to get a new one, but not right then. First, he needed to make sure Yoni would keep quiet about things, and tell her to make sure Donna wouldn’t tell anyone either.

Which was why, on an early Sunday morning, he rang the bell to her home.

     Yoni’s sister Lynn had opened the door, looking as if she had just returned home from a party. Her long blond hair curled over her shoulder—a bit messy after what seemed a wild night out—and she was wearing a tight dress with glitters all over it.

If Jesse had been straight, he would’ve definitely had a weak spot for her body, even if she was his girlfriend’s sister. Thankfully, Jesse was not, and he had fallen for Yoni because she was sweet and innocent.

Yes, he had fallen for her, just not sexually. Even if in the beginning, Jesse hadn’t completely figured out his sexuality, and he had always known something was off. Yoni was the whole reason he had started questioning his sexuality to begin with, and now he found out she might be gay herself.

What an odd world they lived in.

“Morning, handsome.” Lynn greeted him in a flirty way. He knew she was just teasing him, and he knew she would get annoyed once she—again—would notice her advances had no effect on him.

“Morning, Lynn.” He muttered a bit grumpy. “Is your sweet and handsome sister home? You know, my girlfriend?” He walked past her, into the house.

“She’s sleeping, why?” Lynn rolled her eyes and closed the door.

“Had a fun party?” He shortly turned to look her up and down. “I bet your parents would kill you if they saw you coming home like this.”

“Yeah, if they weren’t at church, they’d probably see me this way and indeed dump my body in the woods or something.” Lynn chuckled. “Lynn? Who’s Lynn?” She imitated her mother’s high-pitched voice.

Jesse smirked shortly, but then remembered he wasn’t there for a chit-chat with Lynn. He came here for serious conversation with his fake girlfriend. And since Yoni had confessed to him that she was into girls, or more specifically, Donna, it no longer felt wrong to call her a fake girlfriend.

She was probably thinking about him the exact same way; fake boyfriend.

“Well, I’ll be with Yoni.” He announced, right before he took the steps of the stairs two at a time. He wasn’t hurrying because he was excited to talk. He was hurrying because he wanted to get this over with.

Maybe—probably—in an hour or so, he wouldn’t be in a relationship any longer.

He knocked the door in case Yoni was awake, but when no sound came, he entered her room silently.

Yoni was still sound asleep in her bed, and Jesse was hesitant if he should wake her up, wait for her to do so, or crawl in bed with her and catch a bit more sleep himself.

He opted for the third option, searched a pair of sweatpants and climbed in bed with her after he changed his clothes. While he did so, however, Yoni woke up and sleepily looked at him in surprise.

“Jesse?”

“Hey.” He whispered back, and since it had been a thing for the past three years, he kissed her on the lips and allowed her to roll over into his arms. “Want to sleep some more?”

“What’re you doing here?” She asked while suppressing a yawn.

“We agreed to talk today.” Jesse explained, pulling the covers further over them, watching Yoni while she closed her eyes shortly. She was still cute, even if he didn’t feel physically attracted to her. Her blond hair was straight, and the bangs made her look innocent. Jesse loved when it was a tad bit too long, and she would keep blowing them out of her face, getting slightly annoyed by them.

“Yeah, later. I was gonna text you a place and time.” Yoni mumbled sleepily. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know. I lost my phone last night.”

“Again? Idiot.” She chuckled.

“I thought I might as well come here so you wouldn’t think I was ignoring you.”

Yoni took in a deep breath, yawned and then opened her eyes again. “Right. I… I can’t really remember everything that happened yesterday.”

“You eh…”

“We met at Unity, and I told you I like Donna.” She closed her eyes again and Jesse got a feeling she was afraid of his response, even if he had already told her he was gay himself. Which he regretted, even if Yoni was in the same situation. “Are we going to break up?” She eventually asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should.”

“Think about what happens if we do.” Yoni rubbed her eyes, and then pushed herself into a seating position. “Everyone will ask why, and what happened. And quite frankly, do we want to explain the truth?”

“We can lie and tell people we just didn’t like each other that much anymore.”

“Right, while we’re still close and everything? Donna didn’t even believe me when I told her I like her. Because she thought I was still head over heals in love with you.”

Jesse thought about her words, and realised she was probably right. Yoni was always right. Jesse figured Axel and Calix wouldn’t stop asking him why they broke up until he came up with a reasonable explanation. And since he still spent most his time with Yoni, telling them he didn’t like her any longer was probably a see-through lie they wouldn’t believe anyway.

“So, what do you suggest?” Jesse eventually asked, looking how Yoni was twirling a strain of hair around her finger while biting her lip.

“We can… stay together. At least pretend we are to the outside world.”

“And then what? How will people react if we don’t hang out anymore?”

“Jesse? If we’re both indeed… gay… we can go to Unity together. We just tell people we go home, and head over to Unity without them knowing any better than that we went home together like we usually do.” She shrugged a shoulder. “And then agree we see other people.”

“So, you want to keep up a charade?”

“As if that isn’t exactly what we’ve both been doing without each other knowing.” Yoni chuckled, and they both smirked a little, before sighing. It remained silent for a short while, but then Yoni grabbed Jesse’s hand and squeezed it shortly.

“How long have you known?” She asked timidly.

“I don’t know. A while now. At first I was doubting but a few months ago I couldn’t deny it any longer.” Jesse admitted with a shrug. “You?”

“Few months of doubt. The kiss with Donna yesterday… It felt right.” She chuckled again. “What a mess we are.”

“What a mess indeed.” Jesse nodded, and then they both laughed. It was a ridiculous situation, but Jesse felt relieved they were in the exact same situation. At least nobody was getting hurt anymore, now that the truth was out. It made things complicated, but it was so much easier in the same time.

“So, we’ll stay together for the time being?”

“Yeah, let’s be each other’s cover-up.” Jesse chuckled, before he smiled. “And just so you know, I do love you.”

“Just platonically.” She agreed. “I know, I feel the same way.”