The Lake House - Part 4 (Patreon)

A peaceful looking young man lay in the double bed. His eyes flickered beneath his soft lids and his brows lowered as he dreamt.

He was in a lake, a dark, terrifying body of murky water which was eager to pour into him. He couldn't breathe, he was slipping deeper and deeper, and then Theo Parker's eyes shot open and he inhaled deeply.

The room he was in was strangely familiar, he could picture it, but barely remember it. His head began to throb instantly as a pale wash of yellow morning light filled the bedroom.

Had it all been a dream? If it had, where had it started? The young man hoped it had been before the disastrous admission at the lake side, but the realisation that none of it was a dream, began to dawn on him.

The old door creaked open and Noah stood in the doorway. His eyes were red and puffy, with large dark circles below them.

"You're awake" he whispered croakily.

Theo nodded, feeling a gut wrenching punch of guilt.

He watched Noah step inside and close the door behind him. He wore the same white shirt from yesterday, though it had lost it's lustre and was stained with dried dirt. He didn't say a word as he walked to the window and looked back over the lake.

The sun was rising again, and it could have been doing so without Theo here to see it. Noah took a shaky breath and rubbed his tired, stinging eyes again. He hadn't slept. He'd been too worried to sleep, so he'd watched his best friend instead. He'd watched him all night, refusing to leave until he'd lost count of the young man's soft breaths.

Both of them were now trying to think of something to say, though neither could find words to address the gravity of what had happened.

"Why?" Noah asked simply, and it had been the only question on his mind for the last number of hours.

Theo knew it was coming, but he had no answer. The young man watched his hands which lay on his lap.

"I'm sorry" he replied, and he was.

Noah shook his head and rubbed his face again before turning back to Theo.

"I don't want you to be sorry" he told him, and the morning sun began to cast a golden hue on him.

"I want to know why".

"Because I've ruined everything" Theo said, and his voice became shaky "I've made you hate me, and everybody else will hate me when you tell them".

Noah raised a brow and sat on the bed beside Theo.

"That's what you think I'd do?" He asked, staring "you think I'd tell everyone?"

"Won't you?" Theo scoffed "I know what you think of people like me".

The words hurt him deeply.

"People like you?" He asked "what do I think of people like you, Theo?"

"You hate me" he shrugged "you made that clear yesterday".

Noah stared blankly at his friend and slowly shook his head.

"You think I hate you?" He asked, his mouth dry and his throat raw from crying through the night.

Theo shrugged, and his eyes became wet again.

"I told you yesterday" Noah said calmly "nothing you could ever tell me, would make me hate you".

"Then why did you act like that?!" He barked back "why did you get so angry and leave me there?!"

Noah didn't answer straight away. He allowed Theo to vent, watching as large tears trailed down his flawless cheeks, until finally he spoke.

"You remember when I was eleven?" Noah asked him, and Theo looked confused.

"I guess so"

"I didn't go to school for almost a week, and nobody knew why, not even the teachers"

Theo nodded. He remembered it well.

"But I told you why. I told you that my dad had beaten me up so bad that I couldn't walk for two days, do you remember that, Theo?"

He nodded again.

"And we came up with a plan, do you remember? You said you'd come and get me in the middle of the night and take me to your place, and I'd stay there forever".

Theo sobbed quietly.

"And you did!" Noah laughed, teary eyed "you did come, and I remember seeing you from my bedroom window and being so fucking happy"

"But I got caught" Theo half laughed

"Yeah, and you told my dad if he ever hit me again you'd tell your parents".

Theo had almost forgotten that part. He was so young, they both were.

"And you know what?" Noah sniffed "he never put another finger on me".

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Theo asked him, crying now because Noah was.

"Remember when you were thirteen?" He continued, trying to compose himself. "And you had that problem"

Theo felt a flash of embarrassment. He never knew that Noah had remembered it, but he nodded.

"You told me, but you wouldn't even tell your mom and dad!"

"Until you made me" he smiled.

"My point is, we've always told each other everything, Theo" Noah said, and reached for his hand.

Theo watched as his friend clasped his large, strong hand around his one and squeezed it warmly.

"I don't care that you're gay" he whispered "hell, I've known it since we were kids! Remember Oliver Mercer? Dude you didn't stop talking about him for months!" He laughed.

"I care that you didn't feel like you could tell me sooner".

The words hit Theo like a train. Noah didn't hate him. And he knew. He'd always known.

"I was scared" Theo admitted and Noah sighed.

"And for that" his older friend said, looking directly into Theo's bright blue, wet eyes "I am so sorry".

He leaned forward and pulled Theo into a hug that the young man wanted to last a lifetime. It wasn't because he was fantasising about his best friend, it was because the hug made everything right again.

"You're my best fucking friend" Noah whispered, holding Theo tightly "and just because you suck dick, it doesn't change a thing" he laughed.

Theo laughed too, and it was a real laugh. A laugh that his brain didn't force upon him, a laugh that came natural and felt normal.

"But your parents" Theo said as Noah sat back, his hand remaining in Noah's.

"What about them?"

"They don't like... People like me"

Noah scoffed.

"My parents don't like anybody" he shrugged "they don't even like me"

The two young men laughed until a silence fell again.

The room felt lighter as the sunlight beamed through the window and for the first time in as long as Theo could remember, the weight of the world, the burden of his dark secret, it was all gone and nothing remained but him and his best friend.

"Now get up" Noah yawned "I'm starving".

Theo grinned, everything was indeed, back to normal.

"You need to wait outside" Theo told him, wincing as he sat further up in the bed.

"Why?"

"I left my shorts down by the lake" he replied, his cheeks blushing.

"Oh, yeah" Noah smiled "but you know I did pull you from the lake and carry your naked ass all the way up here" he joked "so I've already seen your dick".

Theo's face burned redder.

"But it's cool" he continued "because I know you saw my one yesterday".

"Uh... Yeah" Theo nodded awkwardly "sorry".

"For what?" He beamed back "do you not think I knew you'd see it?"