When Ethan peeked into the restroom, his entire body froze.

He found Josh but in an unexpected position.

Josh was making out with Simon.

"J-Josh?" he uttered.

Simon's eyes opened wide and he immediately pushed Josh off of him. He backed up against the wall and then he dashed out of there in the blink of an eye. Ethan could swear he saw tears stained on Simon's cheeks.

"Oh fuck." Josh hissed under his breath.

"What the hell?!" Ethan wailed. "Why the fuck were you getting it on with him?!" his voice cracked.

"I-I..." was all Josh could stutter out. He ran his fingers through his dark hair.

"Have you been talking to, Simon?" Ethan inquired. There was no response. "Have you? That was a pretty passionate kiss, I don't think it just blossomed out of nowhere."

Josh slowly nodded his head that hung low.

"For how long?!" Ethan couldn't believe this was happening. "How long, Josh?! Two weeks ago when I walked up to you in the morning and I saw Simon with you, he wasn't 'harassing' you was he?"

Josh stood there, silent.

"You were just having a nice ol' conversation?" No answer. "That little talk wouldn't happen to be why Simon suddenly learned my schedule and followed me everywhere, would it?" Ethan kept barraging him with questions. And each time Josh sheepishly shyed away. "Answer me dammit!" Josh flinched at Ethan's raised voice. "Did you tell Simon my classes?!"

Josh nodded. Ethan's heart dropped.

"You were selling me out to get in some boy's pants?!" he screamed. Josh stared at the floor. "Fag."

Ethan slammed the door behind him, leaving Josh to fall to his knees.

There are only two more classes Ethan has to get through before he can run away from this hellish day. Then, he can enjoy a nice, quiet car- Oh wait. Josh's car was fixed yesterday so they drove here together today which means Josh is Ethan's ride home. Ethan cursed himself out in the hallway.

And he kept cursing all the way until the end of the day. He jogged down the front stairs of the building and trudged over to the school parking lot.

The walk there was like walking through quicksand. His heart raced and his brain shouted at Ethan to turn back around. They need time to cool down before they should speak to each other again. Ethan felt betrayed that Josh would just ignore all of Ethan's feelings to do that yet, Ethan felt guilty that maybe this wouldn't have happened if he didn't let Emily push them apart. And the event with Simon even earlier still swirled in his head. This whole time Simon bullied Ethan about him "being gay" but it was really Simon the whole time who was. It left Ethan baffled.

Screeech!

Ethan's head snapped up and his eyes locked with Simon's. The nose of a red convertible was only two inches from Ethan's body. The boy remained completely frozen. He was still lost in his head, endless thoughts running around in his mind.

"Move or I'll run you over bitch." Simon revved the engine scaring the reality back into Ethan. The ginger stumbled over his feet to move out of the way. Simon began to drive away but stopped mid turn to say, "Thanks for outing me to the whole school." His voice was cold.

"You outed yourself."

Simon's eyes darted away, feeling shameful of who he was and what he had done. Having defeated himself, he had no choice but to drive away. He sped off filled with nerves, unsure of what awaited him at home. Ethan replayed this exchange he just had over once before continuing to Josh's car. He waited in the blistering sun anxiously for five minutes until Josh showed up.

"What are you doing here?" Josh asked emotionless.

"You're my ride home." Ethan answered simply. He played with the bottom button if his shirt.

"Goddammit." Josh hissed under his breath. "Get in."

They sat in the car awkwardly. Josh kept his eyes glued on the road, his body slumped in the chair. Meanwhile, Ethan leaned on his window and watched the outside rush past him in a blurry image.

"Hey, um," Josh spoke up. "When you were in the parking lot," he kept pausing and stammering. "You didn't happen to see Simon... did you?"

Ethan hesitated to answer. He waited for the time slot to reply to pass.

"Okay..." Josh's face fell.

The radio awkwardly played quietly in the background. The station was playing pop hits from years ago. Obnoxiously upbeat songs that used to play at their middle school dances. They were halfway home, yet Ethan was still contemplating on whether or not he should answer, Josh. It was a simple question. However, does Josh deserve to be answered to? Should Ethan acknowledge him, giving him the satisfaction of hearing about, Simon? Josh covered Ethan's back so many times before. Yet he was keeping secrets from Ethan too.

"I saw him." Ethan confessed. 

"Huh?" Josh's eyes broke their solid gaze from the road.

"I saw Simon. He almost ran me over but that was my fault for not paying attention."

"And how did he seem?" Ethan glanced at Josh's face. It held genuine concern.

"Conflicted." Ethan answered. Silence reigned over once more while Josh tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry. I let my insecurities get the best of me." Josh apologized. Ethan stared at him hard. "I don't know where they came from but they showed up and I let them make my decisions. I'm just as confused as Simon but at least I was able to hold it in and not let it get to me the way it did him. Although I did just make out with him in front of you so..."

"Which I'm still pissed off about." Ethan muttered.

"I'm sorry." Josh repeated, more desperation in his tone this time. "I'm not trying to betray our friendship. There was just something about Simon that drew me to him. Besides the fact that he's hot." Glancing at Ethan, Josh saw him glaring. "Uhh, that's not the point. Look. It was almost like I've felt it before, this situation. I'm not sure why it's so familiar but, but I'll try my best to make it up to you and fix my insecurities so they don't take control of my actions again. Okay?"

Ethan stared at his feet, pondering for a moment on whether or not he should forgive his best friend. He felt empathetic about Josh's relationship with his insecurities; Ethan has made plenty of stupid, unhealthy decisions because his own. And was Josh's mistake really so bad that it's going to matter five years down the line?

"Will you stay away from, Simon?"

"I promise. I swear."

"...I guess I can forgive you." Ethan gave a cheeky smile.

"Oh thank god." Josh sighed out in relief, happy that their friendship is still the strongest.

"And I'm sorry for calling you a fag. I really regret that." Ethan apologized too.

"Oh thanks. It's okay though, don't worry about it." Together they laughed but one question still wandered inside Ethan's mind.

"So then tell me Josh, what happened in the bathroom before I walked in?"

~End~