"Honey, I'm home!"

I pulled away from Mom's embrace. You've got to be kidding me.

"Where's my babygirl- oh, there you are Britney!"

Mom gave me a smirk, walking back towards the kitchen while I followed right behind. "Benjamin, this is Theo."

A small man, five foot five, six, at a push stood before me, with the red cat in his arms. His dark hair was held back in a way-too-tight man bun, and his short beard was neatly trimmed. His outfit was nothing shy of extravagant- a purple scarf wrapped around his neck, covering his blue trench coat that reached down to his knees.

"Oh my, darling, you never told me he was so..."

So what, Benjamin?

"Tall. Handsome. So like you!"

"He's still my baby boy." Mom smiled. "Theo, this is Benjamin, my roommate."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled a genuine smile. Mom doesn't have a boyfriend.

God I need to stop presuming everyone is straight.

I stood before him awkwardly, unsure if I should shake his hand or not. Rebecca returned from the bathroom and quickly read the situation. "Oh, hi. I'm Rebecca."

"Lovely to meet you! I've heard so much about both of you. Should I make drinks?"

"That would be great."

We sat around the sofa's in the sitting room and after a minute or two Benjamin returned with a tray full of glasses.

"Ben is an artist and designer." Mom explained, "It's his work on the walls." She gestured to the blobs of paint on the canvases around the room.

"They're really cool." I lied through a smile.

"Thank you very much."

*

We must have spent at least an hour, if not two, talking about Becca and I. I enjoyed watching Benjamin pretend to understand what I was saying while I talked about basketball. He's actually a nice guy.

"When's your next game?"

"First one of the season is this week, I think. I'll find out tomorrow at training."

"Can I come watch?" Becca asked.

"How long are you staying for?"

"Until this weekend."

"Sure."

"I've got to get back to work soon, anyone know the time?"

I pulled out my phone to check, seeing a notification from Cam.

*Hey, how's everything going? Tell your mom I said hi.*

"It's five forty-five... excuse me for a second."

I headed into 'my' bedroom, closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed.

My phone rang two and a half times before she picked up. "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, actually. Her place is cool, so is her roommate. I'm currently in the spare room that's apparently mine."

"That's great, Theo."

I held off on the Becca news, wanting to keep it a surprise because I know they're kind of friends. "I said I'd come back after school tomorrow- I might even stay the night, just to see how it is, you know?"

"You definitely should. How is she doing?"

"I think she's okay. She seems happy anyways."

"Good."

I was about to ask about her day when I interrupted by a knock at the door. "Hey, can I call you back?"

"Sure."

"Bye." I ended the call. "Come in."

The handle turned and the door opened, leaving Rebecca stood in the doorway. "Hey."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just wanted to talk to you." She shrugged, slumping down on the bed beside me. "Was that Camila you were talking to?"

"Yeah."

"How is she?"

"She's good. I didn't mention you yet, I didn't know if you wanted to be a surprise or not."

"I might swing round to see her soon. Are you going home tonight?"

"Yeah, I've got school tomorrow so..."

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure. I don't know if you'll bump into Dad or not, he's not really around much."

"Don't really want to see him." She giggled. "Just want to go back to my old room."

"Why did you really come? Is it because of the divorce or something else?"

"Well, to be honest, a little birdie told me someone needed their big sister."

"Camila." I sighed, of course she was behind this.

"I was going to come back soon anyway, but the divorce was an easy excuse to ditch for a few days."

"Have you got any plans then?"

"Just see a few friends, but mainly to spend time with you and Mom."

"Yeah, sure."

*

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye, love you."

Mom waved us off while Becca climbed into the passenger seat of the car, almost knocking me out as she attempted to throw her gear bag into the back seats because she's too stubborn to open the trunk. I texted Camila to see if she wanted to come over tonight, even though I know she won't stay.

"So. Any girlfriend?" She asked as we made our way down town.

"Nope."

"Still? It's your last year of high school, Theo."

"So? I'm not really bothered."

"You do you, man."

One thing I like about Becca is that she never questioned mine and Camila's friendship like most people do. She does still get suspicious about the fact that I've never had a girlfriend but it's easy to shut her down and change topic.

"How about you. Any boyfriend?"

She took a second to reply, making me snap my neck. "You do not have a boyfriend. Seriously?"

"He's not my boyfriend exactly, but I'm talking to someone."

"Who?"

"His name is Lincoln, he-"

"Nope."

"What?"

"You are not dating a guy called Lincoln."

"You'd love him if you met him-"

"Nope."

"You're just saying that because I'm your sister."

"Precisely. I'm your brother and I know best."

"Ugh, okay, boss."

I sighed before pretending to be interested for her sake. "Is he in your class?"

"Yeah, he's in a few, I met him during this boring-ass lecture and we left early to get boba. We've been talking and hanging out together since."

I tried to act serious but I couldn't hold it any longer, and ended up laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lincoln? Really?"

"Shut up!" She started laughing too.

"Hey I'm Lincoln." I put on a stupid voice, "Wanna go get boba?"

"He's not like that."

"Is he like fifty years old or what? He definitely has a Justin Bieber comb over."

"Ugh shut up!" She whined, trying to hide her giggles. "I swear he's nothing like that."

"Why didn't you tell Mom about him then?"

"Because we're not dating... yet."

We pulled up outside to an empty driveway. "Just us tonight."

"Good." She groaned, trying to pull her bag from the back seat.

"Why couldn't you have used the trunk- it's not that hard."

"It's a small bag!" She insisted.

"Fine." I handed her the keys, "I'm gonna text Cam back, I'll be in in a second."

She accidentally slammed the door behind her, like always. I pulled out my phone, twiddling my thumbs, unsure of what to say.

I've finally come to terms with the 'just friends' thing. She is my best friend and I will always feel something for her, yeah. But right now I want to thank for her texting Rebecca, and for being there for me, as a friend.

* Home now if you wanna call over...? *