Tuesday, late afternoon

     Even on Tuesday, Daniel didn't really seem all too eager to date Frey. He had sent him a couple of texts to try and set a date for their actual date, but Daniel kept replying in such a way that Frey had the idea he didn't even want an actual date; even though Daniel had agreed the day before.

Frey's mood was getting worse by the minute, and it was an annoying combination with all the energy he had. A part of him wanted to go and do things, be active, make fun with his friends.

But a bigger part of him felt too rejected by Daniel—he couldn't care about anything that else that day.

He went home right after school, and had taken a seat on the couch, wearing an oversized hoodie to hide in, staring at the TV.

He wasn't really watching TV—he had no idea what was on.

He was too busy staring at his phone, awaiting a reply from Daniel.

He badly wanted a date that week. He would be starting medication on Friday, which meant he wouldn't be the best company for a while. And he didn't want to ruin their date by falling asleep due to the medication or feeling sick because of it.

In the meantime, his dad was bustling around the apartment, packing stuff that they wouldn't miss if it would be in the new apartment long before they would actually move.

Books, movies, some of his clothes, little useless decorations. Anything that would only be in the way once they would start moving furniture.

But Frey didn't feel like helping him, or packing some of his own stuff. Not that he had much of his stuff here anyway. Most of it was still in his mother's house and he still hadn't felt bothered enough to go and pick up more.

If any, he suspected he would be locked in by his mother if he would ever dare to come over to tell her he was going to move more of his stuff to his dad's apartment.

So he remained seated, emerged in thoughts about Daniel, unaware of the fact he was sighing tiredly and annoyed every so often—more so, every time he checked his phone and he noticed Daniel hadn't replied to him.

He didn't want to push him or act needy. He knew how annoying it could be if someone acted needy or clingy.

He knew it would make him even less attracted to Daniel.

Maybe playing hard to get would help, but he didn't want to play games. He just wanted to date Daniel and see what was between them.

He silently cursed Mitchel for stepping back into Daniel's life before Frey had a chance to show Daniel how much he really liked him, but jumped in his spot a bit as soon as his dad sat down next to him.

"What's going on?" he asked, as he handed Frey a hot steaming cup of coffee.

"Who says something is going on?"

"The sighing, the whispered cursing..." His dad smirked while he made himself comfortable on the couch too. "Besides, you say you're getting hyperactive and have racing thoughts and everything that appears to be a hypomanic episode. But I'm not getting that vibe right now."

Frey shrugged, not having an answer. He didn't need sleep, he could probably run a marathon and still have energy to spare. His mindset simply wasn't matching with that level of energy. Once again, body and mind were in conflict, and Frey was getting more annoyed with it every time it happened.

He really needed to start taking medication to stabilise everything.

"Come on, you know I won't judge you."

"What could possibly be going on that could make someone judge me for being bothered by it?" Frey annoyingly refused to answer to his father's pleading to share what was going on.

"I don't know. A guy, maybe?"

"What?" Frey choked on a hot sip of coffee and burned his tongue and throat while coughing up the hot liquid.

"Ever since you and Daniel started to get closer, you're constantly taken by your own thoughts."

"So?"

"I'm not blind."

"I never said you are."

"So, than you'd know I too catch on to the fact you two have been circling around each other. Let's not mention the fact Daniel slept here last week."

Frey frowned, a little impressed by how observant his father was. Not that he had done much to hide it from anyone, but still.

He hadn't exactly showed it publicly either.

Besides, he was almost 100% positive Daniel had left early enough for his father not to notice, and they had made sure there were no traces of clothes left in the living room before they fell asleep in each other's arm.

So, how did his father know?

"I'm a light sleeper. I heard him leave."

"Aah."

"I'm not judging you, Frey. If you like a guy, he's just as welcome as a girl."

"I never thought you would judge me for it. Mom, on the other hand..." Frey laughed bitterly. "If I tell her I'm attracted to a guy she probably will finally believe I'm mentally unstable. But whatever..."

"Your mother isn't a bad person, Frey. She wouldn't mind either. As long as he would make you happy. But I don't think he is, is he?"

"He does, but... his ex got back in the picture and now I'm not sure if he still wants to date me or not." Frey admitted with a shrug. "And I hate how I finally like someone enough to want to be serious with them, but they don't like me enough."

"I'm pretty sure he likes you too. He's probably just trying to figure out what his feelings for you and his ex are." His dad was smiling in content, probably pleased with the fact Frey was talking about his feelings—which was something they both knew he didn't doo much.

"Or I scared him away because there was this girl that I like too, but I don't like her the way I like him but I only just figured that out..."

"Who, Jenna?"

"Yeah... was it that obvious?"

"Well, she was the first you ever invited home during the day." Frey's father moved in his seat to face Frey. "But I figured it was just a friend that I never saw before because you haven't lived with me for years."

"Why'd you think she was just a friend?" Frey frowned. He figured if his father was onto him being into someone, it would be Jenna, since he had publicly kissed her in the club, and even at home in the kitchen. To Frey, he figured any outsider would think he was more into Jenna.

"Because you two seemed friendly. I didn't get the feeling you liked her romantically." His father shrugged a bit. "I don't know why. I just thought so. While with Daniel... well... I've seen you two work together and there was just something I hadn't seen before with you."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you look at Daniel is enough for anyone to know you care more about him than you care about anyone. And that isn't something new. That's something I've seen in your eyes for a long time now."

"Really?"

"Why do you think I wasn't surprised when you admitted you like him? It's been there all along. You just didn't realise." His father patted his knee before he pushed himself up from the couch. "If you like him that much, I suggest you start showing it to him in any possible way. No hinting, no flirting, no beating around the bush. Tell him how you feel."

And with those words, his father went back to packing stuff into boxes, leaving Frey behind with a lot of things to think about.

Because if even his father said it had been noticeable before, than maybe Frey had been into Daniel longer than he had realised. And thinking about that, his father may have been right.

Besides, he really needed to let Daniel know about his feelings. And with that, he also needed to tell Jenna what he had came to realise in the past couple of days. He needed to stop beating around the bush, as his father had so kindly told him a minute ago.

     Telling Jenna he liked Daniel more was easier said than done. He didn't exactly know how to tell her without breaking her heart or hurting her feelings in the process.

There was also the fact he went to take a look in the new apartment with his father—bringing some boxes there while they were heading over there anyway—when Jenna had called, sounding upset over something.

At first, he wondered if she could possibly know he had decided he wanted to try and win Daniel over, be with him seriously.

She had asked if she could come over to talk with a voice that screamed she had just been crying. But Frey wasn't home, so he told her he couldn't meet with her right then.

She had remained silent for a while, and than hung up the phone without another word.

It was getting really annoying, and he wanted to end the whole misery as soon as possible. This wasn't doing any good to either of them.

Besides, why couldn't Jenna just go over to Lacy and talk to her about whatever was bothering? Why did it have to be him?

He didn't exactly tell her he didn't want to talk. He just couldn't in that moment because he was busy.

But he still couldn't help but wonder why she was as upset as she was, and it made his mood become even worse. He didn't care about the view that the new apartment offered over most of South Cedar. Or the fact two bedrooms had their own balconies and he could pick one of those himself. He didn't care the apartment offered a lot more luxury than he was used to.

He couldn't care less about the fact there was a small three-person sauna, or a whirlpool that offered space for two.

The floor heating didn't amaze him, the bar in the kitchen just seemed okay, the public swimming pool on the rooftop was average.

He simply didn't care, because his mind was both wondering if Jenna was in trouble, and if Daniel was with Mitchel in that exact moment.

He hated how even in during a hypomanic episode, he didn't feel happy at all; just energetic.

His dad noticed he was getting increasingly more annoyed over something but didn't push him to talk any more than he had already done that day. He had just silently carried the boxes to the apartment, placing them in an empty room to have them out of the way once they would move furniture, and took Frey home again.

As soon as they got home, Frey had crawled back into his safety corner of the couch—his phone out of his reach because he didn't want to talk to anyone. His father had left because he needed to talk to his mother so Frey ordered in a pizza and turned his phone off, wanting a quiet evening on his own.

Not that he could have it; Jenna was in front of his door about half an hour after his father left. She didn't seem like she had been crying, but she didn't seem all too happy either.

And Frey simply couldn't send her away, so he reluctantly let her in.

"What's going on?"

"I had a fight... at home. Samuel saw Robby hanging around me and he asked what was going on while my dad was within hearing range. Now they're blowing the whole thing up again."

"Well, isn't it a good thing they know he's still bothering you?" Frey asked without much emotions. He couldn't bring himself to sound caring or worried. He was too grumpy to do so.

"Why would that be a good thing, Frey?" Jenna asked annoyed, sittign down on the couch with an angry look in her eyes. "They don't want me to go out by myself so I had to sneak out to get here..."

"Why are you even here?"

"I—I," Jenna stuttered, staring at him in shock for the harsh tone he used. "I thought you could cheer me up..."

"I can't." Frey replied with a shrug. "I'm not in the right state of mind myself."

"Is it... the disorder?"

"Whatever it is, I don't want to talk about it." Frey grumbled, sitting back in the same spot he had spent most of his day.

"I thought we'd agreed to go back to how things were three weeks ago. And that we need to get to know each other. Not just you getting to know me?"

"You picked the wrong day to expect me to. I really just rather be alone right now."

"Is it because Daniel is hanging out with Mitchel again?"

"Jenna, stop fishing for answers. I don't want to talk about me." Frey started to feel angry, and he really felt like telling her he realised he was in love with Daniel, not her. But she didn't seem to be in the right state to be turned down by him. She was probably close to the same state he was in, only she was a person who wanted to talk about things, while Frey rather brooded in silence.

Thankfully, Jenna caught onto it quick, and they remained silent for the most part after that. They just picked a movie on Netflix and agreed to watch it in silence.

Even though Frey rather wanted to be alone in that moment, he felt like Jenna needed the company. And he wasn't that big of a jerk to tell her to leave. And as long as she wouldn't try to get him to talk, he didn't mind her being there in silence either.

Words: +/- 2274

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