Philip had caught a ride with Vivian to the awaited dinner at Vivian’s. He could barely contain his excitement during the week. When Philip had brought it up with Vivian on Tuesday right after practice Vivian had insisted they waited until Friday to have him over. Philip pouted a little, but realized it could be a good excuse to see if he could wiggle out a sleepover. He already knew Theo wouldn’t mind, but Vivian seemed like he would be against it. He snuck a change of clothes with him anyways in his gym bag, claiming he had to wash his gym clothes at some point.

He had also grabbed some of his favorite fairytale remakes in movie form, not excluding some recordings of plays, hoping to debate them with Vivian. Vivian’s surprise knowledge on the Grimm Brothers had reinforced Philip’s belief that Vivian was the one. He was going to pull out all the stops to try to woo him.

So here he was wagging his foot with excitement as he sat in Vivian’s car on his way to his future lover’s home to get to know his family. Philip was mostly excited about actually getting to know Vivian more though. He had wanted to join Vivian and chat during lunch all week, but hadn’t been able to find him. The only time Philip had gotten to see Vivian was during drama club, and Mr. Lawson made sure to keep everyone focused. The moments right before and right after the meetings Vivian had been glued to his MP3 player. This dinner was going to be the ideal chance to talk and get to know Vivian.

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Vivian made sure that his car radio had been playing the whole ride home. He still wasn’t sure what to talk about with Philip and how much to let him into his life. In his hometown everyone knew every single detail about him just because of who his mother was. He never had to explain or share his family dynamics, everyone already knew. Vivian had grown up with a town’s eyes on him twenty-four seven. He never had the choice before to decide how much someone knew.

Vivian started to give into the voices again as he drove. If you share too much he’ll hate you. If you share too little though why would he even stick around? He is going to think you can’t trust him with any information about yourself. Why are you even so paranoid about this anyways? You’ve only been friends with this guy for about a week. You don’t even know if you guys are even friends. Friendship is built on mutual interests. What do you even have in common with a Prince? You are just a feminine high school student who has social anxiety and depression, and ruined your mother’s marriage with the best step-father anyone could ask for. Think Vivian, how could you be worthy of such a man as Philip?

Next thing Vivian knew, he was pulling into his driveway and parking. Vivian glanced at Philip as he turned off the car, still feeling a bit nervous. The overly excited and hyper Prince reminded Vivian of a puppy doing it’s best to sit still as its owner waves a treat in front of it. Following that metaphor meant that this dinner actually was a treat for Philip, and not just him being polite to Theodore. It would also imply that Vivian was Philip’s owner…

Vivian shook his head to get that last image out of his head. The thought before it though did calm his anxieties a little bit somehow. As he reached behind him for his bag before he got out he realized that Philip had already started talking.

“Do you have any recordings of plays that you have worked on before? It would be awesome to watch something while we wait for Theo to finish up his shift at the library.” Philip got out of the car and grabbed his bags as well. Vivian raised an eyebrow to Philip grabbing his gym bag as well, but like usual did his best not to question it.

Vivian did however nod slightly to Philip’s question and explained a little bit. “We own sixteen years worth of play recordings. I helped with about half of them. You can take your pick when we get in.” Vivian was glad Philip seemed to be easily swayed to participate in a non-talking activity.

The drama club meeting got out early so Mr. Lawson could review the script Vivian had brought in, and it turned out that Theodore had a late shift at the library. The coincidences piling up to Philip and Vivian having unexpected alone time. Vivian had been panicking about what to fill the time with. He had been avoiding being alone with any of the new people in his life so he wouldn't have to awkwardly try to find a topic to talk about.

He had even been spending his lunch hours in the art room working on his art projects. As soon as he decided on his projects he set his mind to finishing them as soon as he could. He always went all in on projects and the first one he was working on had several different art forms incorporated.

Vivian unlocked the door to the house and let Philip in, showing him where to put his shoes as he took them off. The house opened up directly into the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by only an island jutting out from the kitchen counter.

Vivian hung his messenger bag off a chair at the island as Philip immediately plopped himself on the couch in front of the TV. Philip seemed to have no problem making himself at home in Vivian's living room.

“Which play do you want to see first?” Vivian kneeled down in front of the entertainment center and started tracing his finger against the DVD cases that were marked and sorted by year. So much of his life went into supporting his stepfather with the making of each of these small CDs. Whether it was directly making props and working the tech, or just helping Theodore recite lines and be someone to bounce ideas off of. Some DVDs were even just mini skits the community put together for different events in the year.

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Philip could see how much love Vivian had for each of the plays just based on how soft Vivian's face had become the more recordings they watched. He had also seemed to be warming up to Philip a little bit more. Philip almost didn't want to peel Vivian away when it came time to pick up Theo, but he also didn't want to just leave Theo hanging at the library. Also Philip's stomach was starting to rumble.

Vivian regrettably got up at Philip's half-hearted nudging and pointing out the time. As he grabbed the car keys, Vivian offered to take Philip with him since they were also going to be stopping by the store on the way back to grab groceries. Philip turned down the offer so he could finish the recording they were in the middle of.

The play recording wrapped up sooner than Philip expected and he wasn't sure what else to do. Philip glanced through the collection Vivian had been flipping through, but wasn't sure what was what since they only had dates marked on the discs and cases.

With nothing else to do while Vivian was out, and wanting to respect Vivian's boundaries by not exploring the rest of the house, Philip decided to start and finish his homework before the home owners returned. He was just finishing when they got back, but was stuck on the last question on the reading assignment.

“Hey Vivian, did you finish the reading assignment for Chapter Six yet? I'm having trouble with what this quote is referring to…”

Vivian put down the groceries bags and came to the other side of the island to look over Philip's shoulder. “Oh, that's an easy one. It's referring to the complicated bonds the main characters are forming as they open up to each other. The book as a whole is a coming-of-age story for each character as they realize the way each of them were raised was in fact toxic in one way or another.”

As Vivian leaned closer Philip got a whiff of his shampoo. It was a really sweet smell. He looked up in time to see Theo's face flicker through some emotions that Philip couldn't place, but it settled on a hopeful smirk as their eyes locked. Philip quickly looked back down and wrote down the answer, thanking Vivian. Sometimes it felt like Theo could see right through him.

Philip had gone to the library without telling Vivian a few times throughout the week, hoping to gain any bit of knowledge about Vivian before the dinner. Theo had seemed to quickly catch on and didn't reveal anything about Vivian. He had however shared a little bit about himself, and Philip had been surprised about how exactly Theo had already known his aunt.

Philip wondered again if anyone else knew the particular secret Theo had shared with him. He figured Vivian probably didn't since Theo swore Philip to secretary when talking in front of Vivian, and Philip hadn't even made a connection until Theo himself told him.

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Theodore tried to mainly chat about small topics that he knew Vivian would be comfortable with during dinner. Whenever a sketchy topic came up he would glance at Vivian for tiny hints on how comfortable he was, then turn the conversation around if it seemed to be a bit hard on Vivian. Luckily Philip seemed to quickly pick up that anything having to do with Vivian's mother was off limits.

Theodore was surprised by how much Vivian seemed comfortable with during the conversation between Theodore and Philip. He almost even seemed relieved that Theodore was telling Philip more about himself so he wouldn't have to.

Theodore also took note of how surprised Philip was when it came to light that Vivian was actually his stepson. Philip then seemed to being putting pieces together with what he had probably heard from his aunt and birth mother. Theodore knew that Philip didn't have all the pieces yet since Theodore hadn't told his childhood friend why exactly he was looking for a place in the area.

Ann Lancelot had been the only person Theodore had kept in touch with throughout the years, but he never fully explained what was happening with Vivian's mother. Ann probably figured it out immediately, but knew not to pry and just be there for her childhood friend. She had quickly found Theodore both a job and a home to live in and promised not to bring up the past since Theodore wanted a new beginning.

Theodore started reminiscing as he cleaned up after dinner, the two teenagers already back on the couch looking through what to watch next.

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(TBC)