Isaac's on his way to Maths, contemplating whether or not he could convince Jake to skip after lunch and go somewhere they could make out and maybe do a little bit more, when Caggie wordlessly slides up next to him. He barely would have noticed her, she's so small. Caggie just comes to the top of his shoulder. The complete opposite to Freddy, who's taller than him. Sometimes it's hard to remember that they are siblings. They couldn't be more different. She curls her arm around his, pulling him close. Her nails digging into his bicep, like she was afraid he was going to run away.

"Freddy's not going to sit with us at lunch anymore so you don't have to hide anymore." Caggie announces. Isaac's not sure why that upsets him so much. He should be thrilled that he's not having to sacrifice his friends while he and Freddy take some part away from each other. That Freddy knows he's in the wrong, but all it does is make Isaac feel weird. Just because they're going through something weird, doesn't mean that he wants Freddy to be alone. Isaac knows for a fact that Elliot isn't going to go out of his way to spend his time with Freddy.

He's too far in the closet, Elliot might as well be in Narnia.

"I wasn't hiding."

"Sure you weren't." Caggie grins up at him, all teeth. She suddenly becomes very serious, tugging them to a stop in the middle of the hallway. He's going to be late for Maths, she's going to be late for History, "Hey, just because he's my brother doesn't mean I'm on his side. Just come to lunch with us. Everyone wants to talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it." He means that. It's the last thing he actually wants to talk about.

Sadness flickers across Caggie's face for a brief second, "Just come to lunch please. We didn't banish him for you not to come back."

"You didn't banish him?" Isaac chokes out shocked. When they were younger they joked about banishing someone from their friend group if they ever did something so terrible that it was unforgivable. Yeah, Isaac was pissed, but banishing was a bit far.

"Not forever! Benji's probably more upset about it than you are to be honest. Just come to lunch, please."

Isaac nods, "I'm bringing Jake though."

Caggie grins, rolling her eyes, "Of course, I'd hate to separate you from your boyfriend for more than half an hour."

"Fuck off."

All Caggie did was cackle as she walked away down the hallway. Isaac smiled fondly. Caggie was five foot two of pure chaos and he loved her for it. Going to lunch with his friends would help. They too were just as upset about Freddy lying forever. Isaac hadn't even known Freddy had even told them. Perhaps, Freddy really was trying his hardest to do be honest with everyone. Freddy didn't belong to just Isaac. They had a whole group of friends he was dishonest to.

Jake is already standing outside his Maths classroom when the lunch bell rings. The way Isaac stomach flips when he sees Jake, leaning against the opposite wall scrolling on his phone, is a feeling he's still getting used to. It's still so odd to see Jake just opening flaunt his feelings for Isaac in public. It had never been that easy for Isaac. Far from it, but no one was giving Jake any shit for it. Which was more than good. Isaac would hate himself if someone where to make Jake upset just because he was fancied Isaac.

The grin Jake sends him as he looks up from his phone is gorgeous and Isaac is so whipped. He'd do anything to see Jake smile at him like that forever. Isaac steps in front of him, an equally blinding smile on his face. He just really loves Jake. He's never felt this way about anyone. The way Jake makes him feel is insane. Isaac would never be able to put it into words. Safe and loved are the words that come closest. The two words that Isaac probably felt least during his life, but Jake makes that all fall away.

"Hey." Jake smiles, pushing himself off the wall. He slides his fingers through Isaac's, "What we doing for lunch? I'm starving."

"We're gonna go sit with my mates, if that's ok?" Isaac asks, squeezing Jake's fingers as they walked towards the canteen.

Jake shoots him a concerned look, it makes Isaac's heart clench, "Are you sure? I mean I don't want you to get upset if Freddy's there."

God, Isaac loves him so much.

"Um, Caggie informed him that he has been banished from lunch until further notice."

Isaac watches Jake screw up his face in confusion. It's adorable, "Caggie? As in Caggie, Freddy's sister?"

"Yep, that's the one."

They walk in silence. Jake obviously confused about the whole situation, but all Isaac could focus on was how worried about him Jake was. This was what healthy love felt like. Isaac would like to keep feeling this forever. Especially with Jake. He never wanted anything more. It was silly. So silly. But it made Isaac ridiculously happy. He was never going to shut up about it, now that he tasted it, he was never going to let it get away from him.

The first person he caught sight of was Kaya, who beamed when she saw him walking towards the table all his friends were sitting at. All of them except Freddy. He hadn't seen Freddy at all during school. At first Isaac had thought it was him who was doing all the avoiding. He was the master at it after all. Isaac had asked for space and he was dead set on getting it, but he still actively looking for the sight of his best friend. He missed Freddy. He loved Freddy. They were brothers. He just couldn't Freddy anymore. Not at the moment. He needed time and he realised that Freddy was giving that to him.

His friends enthusiastically greet him and Jake. In that moment he notices how much he missed his friends. It had only been a couple weeks, but there was an ache in him that he hadn't paid any attention to, and now he was falling into a seat next to Kaya, it burned. Kaya beamed at him, greeting Jake too with a big smile. Isaac watched as Jake eased smiling shyly back at Kaya. He gripped Jake's thigh underneath the table, trying his hardest to convey all the love he had for him.

Unsurprisingly, Benji is not in the mood to greet. His outrage obvious on his face.

"Elliot! Fucking Elliot!" Benji hisses towards Isaac and he can't help but giggle. Objectively it's quite funny, "How much shit has Elliot gotten us in over the years and I'm supposed to believe that he's not actually Satan's spawn. No. I'm not having it."

Isaac spares an amused look at Jake. He probably should have mentioned his friends were definitely going to talk shit about his best friend. Benji especially. Jake grimaces. Isaac wants to feel bad. He really does. He just really doesn't like Elliot and it's nice not having to pretend he doesn't mind him around his friends. Jake's just going to have to suck it up, like Isaac does when Jake wants them to spend time with Elliot. He does that without even complaining.

"When did Freddy even tell you?" Isaac asks because he's genuinely confused. It was supposed to be a big secret. Elliot was still firmly wedged in the closet. If Jake and Isaac didn't know about it, their best friends, why the hell would Freddy tell everyone else about it?

Gabby leans forward, resting her head on her hand. She shoots Caggie a look, that was definitely secret girl code before speaking, "Elliot told us."

What?

That didn't make any sense at all. Isaac turned to look at Jake, shocked that Jake didn't tell him that. However, Jake looks just as surprised as Isaac felt. He obviously didn't know either. Elliot? Elliot willingly told them about his little gay secret? What the fuck was going on?

"When did Elliot tell you that?" Jake asks bewildered.

"Well, Isaac pulled a disappearing act and Freddy was being weird. So we knew something was up." Gabby starts only to be interrupted by Benji.

"Caggie heard Freddy crying. We had totally thought that Freddy confessed his undying love for you and you rejected him."

Kaya scoffs, "Benji thought that."

What the fuck?

Isaac, dumbfounded, watches as Gabby rolls her eyes, "Freddy told Caggie."

Caggie straightens in her seat, her face unreadable. The silent girl code happens again, Benji shifts uncomfortably. This has probably been happening a lot recently. Caggie confining in Gabby, she's the best at keeping secrets. Freddy probably told Caggie stuff that she would take to the grave. Out of everyone sitting at the table, Caggie probably knew the most about Freddy and Elliot's relationship.

Benji shifts a bit closer to Caggie. He wraps his arm around her, doing his best to comfort her. Freddy is her brother. She loves him more than any of them there. If Freddy is upset, then she's going to be upset as well. Knowing Caggie she most definitely thought she could fix whatever was upsetting her brother. This though, this was not something she could fix. Even she admitted she disagreed with what Freddy had done. But she was still hurting though.

Everything was a mess and it was making Isaac sad. Jake twirled his fingers around Isaac's under the table. Offering him the support and love he needed. Isaac was so grateful for him. He wants to run away and hide with him. Curl up next to him and confess everything. Isaac wants to tell him how he's scared he's lost Freddy forever, how he doesn't know what's going to happen and that thought terrifies him. He doesn't know if he can trust Freddy ever again. He's too messed up, Freddy knew that and still lied.

"Caggie told us Freddy had to explain it himself. She said that we probably wouldn't be seeing you around anymore, but you'd come back when you were ready." Kaya says sadly, "Then the next day Elliot corners us in the pub."

Benji frowns, interrupting again, "What a tosser. He walks in like he owns the place. Starts calling you a self entitled dick and all that. I really thought I was gonna have to punch him. Then he just blurts out that he's Freddy's boyfriend and we need to get over. Let me tell you, I almost threw up when he said that."

"Jesus Christ Benji! I told him, he didn't have to explain anything." Caggie says, turning slightly so she can talk to Isaac and Jake, "He didn't owe us anything. He didn't have to out himself if he didn't want to."

"Then he says, he loves Freddy," Benji says, disgust evident on his face and Isaac can't help but agree, "He says that he loves Freddy! Our Freddy! Can you believe that?"

No, Isaac can't. He's still having trouble putting the pair together. It just doesn't make sense in his head.

"Actually, it was bit more romantic than that." Kaya can't look at Isaac as she says that. Like she's personally offending him. She is, Isaac supposes, "He said that he loved Freddy and seeing him so upset wasn't worth it. He wanted to make sure he still had us because Freddy deserves to be loved."

It's Benji's turn to scoff, "Yeah then he called Isaac a cunt."

"Elliot left after that and Caggie filled in the rest." Gabby finishes.

The six of them sit there. Silence washes over them. Isaac doesn't know what to think. His emotions were all over the place. All he knew was that the only thing keeping him above water was Jake's warm hand in his.