“I thought you’d gone to bed.” He spoke without any real thought.
“Answer my question.”
Nick flipped on the light with shaking fingers, then flinched back at the fury in Hayden’s eyes.
“I can explain.” Nick raised his right hand. His left one was still in Oliver’s, and he was afraid to let go.
“Tell me what is going on!” Hayden’s voice cracked on the edge of hysteria.
“So you may have seen Oliver and—”
“You were kissing!” Hayden pointed a finger beyond Nick’s shoulder. “You were kissing him!”
“Yes.” Nick tried to keep his voice from shaking. “I was kissing him. He’s...He’s my boyfriend.”
Oliver’s hand squeezed his, but any relief Nick might have felt was wiped out by the twist of Hayden’s face. “Your boyfriend? You have a boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“You’re gay?” Hayden’s eyes narrowed.
“Bisexual. But Hayden—”
“Does Mom know?”
“Hayden.”
“Does she? Does she know you like dick?”
“Hey!” Nick’s shout was loud enough to echo off the narrow hallways. “Watch your language.”
“What? I can’t say dick? Because that’s what you are. A dick.”
Nick skipped over the next retort. “Your mother knows.”
“She does? If I called her right now, she’d know that you were screwing around with some long-haired wannabe hipster.”
“She knows.” Calling Anya would be about the worst thing Hayden could do. Not because Nick was worried about what she’d say, but because she deserved twenty-four hours without Hayden and his chaos crashing into her.
“You’re some—” Hayden bit the sentence off. “You both knew. You let us move back in here, you both knew about this, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Who I date has nothing to do with the two of you living here.”
“But you didn’t tell me!” Hayden’s voice was shrill and his posture stiff. Either he was about to run, or he would start breaking things soon.
“Did you think your mom and I were going to get back together?”
Hayden snorted. “Fuck no. She’s too good for you, you piece of shit—”
“That is enough!”
“Should I—” Oliver started to say, but Nick pulled him closer.
“Hayden, apologize.”
“Fuck that.” Hayden stared at them both like they were a disease.
“Apologize. You don’t get to criticize anyone else’s behavior in this house.”
