Sleeping peacefully on the sofa, Betelgeuse was laying on his stomach with his hands and feet stretched over the arms of the sofa. He groaned when the first beam of sunlight hit his face and the annoying ringing of his phone jerked him out of his waking up trance. Picking up his phone, he checked who was calling him. Lydia.

"H-hello?" He muttered, exhausted.

"Hey Beej. Where are you?" Lydia asked.

"I went out. You must've just missed me." Betelgeuse quickly made up a lie.

"Well, I've been in the living room for an hour now and haven't seen you." She responded, thinking she caught him.

"God. I've been out for that long?" He asked, going along with the lie.

"Where are you?" Lydia asked a second time.

"I decided to go for a walk. Just an excuse to get outside I guess." He answered.

"Ah okay. So long as you're safe that's all I can ask. See you later."

"Yeah, see you." He hung up and placed his phone back on the floor and slowly began to sit up. He put his hand to his head which was throbbing. He eventually brought himself to get off the sofa and got his shoes on. "Hey." He heard from behind him. "Oh, hey Adam. I was just thinking that maybe it's best if I go now. Thanks very much for letting me stay!" Betelgeuse smiled.

"Well, goodbye, Beej. Thanks very much for coming." Adam said in response before gipping.

"You feeling alright?" Betelgeuse asked, concerned.

"Hangovers are the worst. I was so drunk last night." Adam complained.

"You were a little. You had to go to bed."

"Apart from that I literally cannot remember a single thing that happened. It goes straight from sitting round the table eating, to puking this morning." Betelgeuse watched Adam's face grow from one of fatigue to concern.

"My God. Did we?" He asked.

"Well, sort of." Betelgeuse looked away, unsure what to say.

"Did we kiss?"

"Yes, but we were both drunk."

"My God! That is so funny. Isn't that funny?" Adam giggled.

"A bit." The youngest shrugged.

"God, I'm so bad when I'm drunk." Adam put his hand on his head.

"Bad?" Betelgeuse asked.

"No, no, not in that way. Not that you're not, like." Adam frantically tried to explain.

"My God, I'm digging myself a hole here. Change the subject, Adam. I'm gonna go and get some breakfast and I'll er. I'll catch up with you in a bit, okay?" Adam said.

"Yeah, see you later." Betelgeuse said before leaving the apartment and getting into his car. Once he got back home, he parked his car and locked it before sprinting up the stairs to his shared apartment.

"Well, well. Just what time do you call this, mister?" Barbara asked.

"Sorry. My phone died." Betelgeuse said as he sat on the sofa. As soon as he did, both Lydia and Barbara got up and stood over him, loving his terrified face. He looked very submissive.

"Well, it seemed to be alive when I called you 25 minutes ago." Lydia crossed her arms.

"Yeah, it died on the way home. Look." Betelgeuse pulled out his phone, which he secretly powered down, and pressed the power on button to demonstrate.

"So, where did you go for this walk?" Lydia asked.

"Just around town."

"For a full hour?" She asked.

"Yeah. Don't forget the car journey." Betelgeuse tried his best.

"Beej, it's a five-minute walk."

"Where were you last night?" Barbara asked.

"I told you. I went out to eat."

"Oh, yes? Where did you go? What was the food like?"

"The food was good. I had pasta." Betelgeuse said.

"Okay, Beej, we believe you!" Lydia said with a smirk.

"Right, thank you." Betelgeuse relaxed himself.

"Now!" Lydia yelled and Barbara snatched Betelgeuse's phone from his lap before running outside the apartment.

"Sorry, Beej." She shouted.

"Oi!" Betelgeuse shouted as he got up and started running towards her, making her scream. Lydia just stood there in a laughing fit, watching Betelgeuse chase Barbara. "Give it back, you buggers!" He exclaimed. Barbara sprinted back into the apartment and Lydia locked the door behind her so Betelgeuse couldn't get in. He pounded on the door and yelled "give me that phone!"

"Go away!" Barbara called back, opening his phone. They were stuck since they couldn't get his password.

"He needs locking up!" Lydia laughed.

"Right." They heard Betelgeuse say from the other side of the door.

"Oh, no, the fire exit." Barbara whispered before rushing over with Lydia. On their way, there was a loud crash followed by a whimpering

"Ow!"

"Huh?" Lydia questioned and went to the dining area to see Betelgeuse wriggling his way through the window, clinging to a chair so he wouldn't fall.

"Ah, of course." Barbara exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"Hello, Betelgeuse." Lydia sighed.

"Well, help me, then" he reached his arm out.

"Certainly, buddy. Let me just move this nice, soft chair out of the way." Lydia pulled it from under him, sending his face planting to the ground.

"Agh. I think I've broken my skull." Betelgeuse complained, massaging his temple.

"Can you tell us where you went last night?" Lydia asked, sounding calmer than Barbara.

"I told you. I went out."

"Yeah. We just want to know where. We won't give up."

"Look. If I'm honest, when I went out last night, I actually enjoyed myself and didn't want the night to end. It felt good to get out of the apartment, so I stayed out. But when I got back, you really were asleep Babs." Betelgeuse said, which surprisingly wasn't a lie, apart from that last sentence. "I'm gonna brush my teeth." Betelgeuse said and walked away. As soon as he entered his bathroom, he couldn't help but frown. He knew he wasn't supposed to like Adam, not at all. He decided that the best thing for him to do would be to distance himself from Adam, even if it made him feel terrible. He went into his room to try and gather his thoughts. Just as he laid down٫ his phone pinged. It was a message from Adam asking if he got home safe. Betelgeuse smiled at Adam's kindness before frowning and turning off his phone. He had a feeling Adam would catch on sometime and it scared him. He just laid there staring up at the ceiling before finding Adam's contact in his phone, about to block him but he couldn't for the life of him bring himself to press the blue button and end his troubles but only for a moment. he could feel the pressure of needing to sob build up practically suffocating him, sitting up quickly and taking in a shaky breath, feeling his breath hitch in his throat, choking on the sob in his throat. His vision grew blurry as he wrapped his arms around himself, beginning to pinch his arms to try and get himself to focus on breathing before standing up and pacing back and forth across his room the more he panicked the faster he walked across the flooring. He did this until his breathing only grew worse, his breath coming out in gasp and breathing in with a harsh wheeze. Suddenly he stopped, still breathing harshly, he finally let himself sob. He felt he wouldn't be in this situation if he was more courageous and less of a wimp. Suddenly, a knock echoed through the room cutting off his crying whilst he took a quick breath before hugging himself tighter and turning towards the door, choosing not to answer. Another firmer knock dragged him out of his thoughts as he went to answer it. It was Barbara. "Hey. What's up?" He asked.

"Heard you crying. Is everything okay?" She asked, sitting next to him and wrapping her arm around him, allowing Betelgeuse's body to curl into her own.

"I'm not sure. Something happened last night, and I just don't know what to do or think.

"Well, what happened last night. And I want the truth." Barbara asked him firmly.

"It's nothing. It's hard to explain." He wrapped himself around her.

"That's not nothing." Barbara giggled.

"It's just me being stupid and overthinking." Betelgeuse sighed and laid back down feeling sick, knowing he didn't want to keep doing this, but he also didn't want to slip up to Adam and admit his feelings. Two weeks had passed since they last saw each other and Adam would on occasion message Betelgeuse to check in on him and ask to hang out, which he declined too many times.

When he got home from work after another rejection, he was both scared and surprised to see Adam sitting on the sofa next to Barbara.

"Hey. You, okay?" Barbara asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey Adam." Betelgeuse smiled. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I'm gonna shower. I feel gross." He continued and walked away to his bedroom.

"Other room, Buster." Barbara shouted to him without looking away from the TV.

"Just getting some clothes." He called back and came out of his room, pouting and sulking, and holding some clothes. After 10 minutes, he came out in a white shirt, a navy-blue zip up and grey jogger bottoms, drying his hair with a towel.

"Want a drink anyone?" Barbara asked.

"Could I just have water please?" Adam asked.

"I'll get that." Betelgeuse got up himself, setting the towel on the back of a chair.

"Beej can I just talk to you without you acting like that? Please? It's important and you are purposely trying to avoid me." Adam gave a stern look and Barbara left the room to give the two some space.

"Sure. you, okay?" The green haired male asked, sitting back down.

"I don't know what I did to you, but can you be honest with me? Why don't you want to be friends, Betelgeuse?" Adam's voice trembled.

"What?" The youngest began feeling sick again.

"You stopped talking to me, you don't want to hang out. You hardly even check your messages to acknowledge me! So, what did I do? I want to fix it because I don't like what's been going on." Adam took a deep breath, even though it sounded sad.

"It's not like that. Look, it's complicated, okay?"

"Would you at least try to explain?" Adam asked, seeming much calmer.

"I don't know what to say, Adam. But I'm still your friend." Betelgeuse began to feel tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, okay." Adam scoffed and turned away. "What's so hard for you to say?" Adam raised his voice.

"I like you, but I'm not supposed to! You're my friend and a guy. I'm not supposed to like men in this heteronormative society. Is that what you wanted to hear? That I like you, but I don't like myself?! That my feelings made me drive you away? I never meant to make you mad." Betelgeuse felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders before sighing.

"I'm sorry Beej. I shouldn't have forced you to say that." Adam patted his back.

"No, you deserved a real answer. I understand that I shouldn't feel like that towards you." Betelgeuse sighed.

"That made me feel better. I fell for you the first time we met. I got scared you drove me away because you knew." Adam laughed through tears. Betelgeuse looked at Adam, shocked.

"You... you like me?"

"Yeah. I really like you. But I can tell we're both scared to confess that. And that's okay, right?" Adam smiled, watching his crush relax and smile as well.

"Do you think we should take this another step forward? You know, like, dating." Betelgeuse mumbled.

"Are you okay with that? I understand that you have a challenging time accepting everything." Adam smiled, rubbing Betelgeuse's shoulder.

"I think, with some pacing, I'd be more than happy to date you." Betelgeuse smiled, looking down happy.

"Can I ask you something?" Adam asked.

"Sure."

"When we made out that day, that wasn't the booze talking was it?"

"Keen observation Adam." Betelgeuse giggled before Adam punched him in the shoulder and pulled him to his chest, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his forehead. Betelgeuse instantly settled into his arms and nuzzled his head against his neck, his stubble gently pricked him, but he didn't mind. "Thank you." Betelgeuse mumbled.

"For what?" Adam questioned.

"Everything. You've helped me through so much." Betelgeuse smiled. Adam chuckled and pulled him even closer, pressing his forehead to his boyfriends, their lips almost touching.

"Is this too much?" Adam asked and Betelgeuse shook his head before he felt Adam kiss him, feeling loved and not scared to simply be himself or the pansexual male he had been since he was a teenager.