Things were not, in fact, automatically better with Leo as his boyfriend. Things were not worse but it quickly became apparent that being with Leo presented a whole knew set of problems Freddie was unprepared to deal with. The first problem appeared in his Tuesday tutorial. Nikki was sick so the seat beside Freddie was free and he couldn't stop Lauren Swan from sitting next to him.

"Hey Freddie," she said like they were old friends.

"Hey Lauren," he said opening his textbook as an avoidance tactic.

"I feel like we never chat anymore," Lauren said which was strange because Freddie was fairly sure they'd never chatted. Still he smiled politely and let her keep talking.

"What's been happening with you?" she asked.

Freddie kept his eyes on his text book as he replied, "Not much, you?"

"Oh you know, been hanging out with Jade a lot."

Freddie stopped reading but he didn't looked up.

"You know Jade right?" Lauren asked with the subtly of an axe in a cooking class.

"Yeah, we didn't that group project together."

"Right right of course, group project."

With a sigh Freddie closed his book and looked at Lauren.

"Lauren can you just say what you gotta say cos I promised Nikki'd I'd take notes and she'll throttle me if I miss something," Freddie said.

"I don't want to get involved," she said.

"So don't," Freddie said.

"It's just you told Jacinda you're seeing someone and..."

"It's not Jade," Freddie said.

"Really?" Lauren questioned.

"I don't know what she did but I'm not dating her."

"Can I ask?"

"You can ask."

"Believe it or not I'm trying to help," she said noting the sharpness of Freddie's tone.

"How's that?" Freddie asked.

"The more you leave it open to interpretation the more people are gonna interpret."

"Not my problem," Freddie said.

"Sure yeah I just wouldn't want you're girlfriend to get the wrong idea," Lauren said.

Like that the conversation was over as the tutor demanded their attention. Freddie told himself not to listen to Lauren Swan, he knew better than anyone how little substance there was behind her words. Still the idea rolled around his head like a piece of rock in his sock he just couldn't get rid of. Most of the time Freddie could ignore it, but every so soften it hit at a bad angle and it hit back like a strike of pain.

It didn't help that Leo seemed to be keeping his distance in a strange way. On Tuesday evening, instead of meeting in the pool, they met in the main gym for a work out and when they finished Leo invited Sadie to join them for a meal. There wasn't enough for Freddie to feel confident Leo's actions were deliberate but when he kissed Freddie against his car it ended way too quickly. Freddie barely had a chance to lose his breath. He still did lost his breath, after a short sweet kiss, but that seemed like more of a reflection of Freddie's desire than the actual actions.

"It's probably nothing," Freddie said to Lydia that evening.

"Probably," Lydia agreed.

"What if it's not?" Freddie asked.

"Then it's not there's only one way to find out," Lydia replied.

"You always say I should talk to him," Freddie pouted.

"And I'm always right," Lydia replied.

"If it's not a thing then I make it a thing," Freddie said.

"It's a thing," Lydia said.

"I thought you said it wasn't."

"You said it wasn't."

"This is not at all helpful thank."

"I'm cool with it," she said.

Freddie decided Lydia was the wrong person to asked. She didn't understand men, it was different for them.

On Wednesday at lunch Freddie decided to ask Tim about it.

"Maybe he's not out?" Tim suggested.

"What? No, he talked about sucking dick in front of everyone. He came onto me in the middle of a hardware store. He's out," Freddie insisted.

"He's a footballer though," Tim said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means being out to us is very different to be out out," Tim said.

"I don't know he's seems pretty comfortable," Freddie insisted.

"Do you know how many out gay A League footballers there are in Australia?"

"Four?" Freddie suggested.

"Zero," Tim answered.

The thought continued to eat at him until he met with Dave for a drink that night.

"Is being gay a big deal?" Freddie asked.

"No," Dave replied.

"In football?" Freddie asked.

"Oh yeah I mean," Dave looked up at Freddie. "Do you want supportive or honest?"

"Honest?"

"It's a big deal," Dave said.

"Shit," Freddie said his face falling into his hands.

"It's as big as it used to be," Dave insisted. "I mean maybe it's even like a cool novelty?"

"Is this you being supportive?" Freddie asked.

"I'm gonna get you another drink," Dave said in answer.

That night Freddie went over every interaction he'd ever had with Leo. Sometimes he was so confident, other times he seemed anxious, but Freddie still wasn't sure. He remembered what Leo said about his best friend, and his step dad, but even when he reveal that he seemed determined. Freddie sighed to himself, in the dark in his bed, as he realized Lydia was tight again. He was going to have to talk to Leo.