The sound of the pile of paper as it hit Evan's nightstand almost scared the boy half to death.

"Hey, sweetie, look what I heard on NPR this morning," Heidi looked down at her son, who had quickly shut his laptop. "What were you doing? I could come back later..."

"No, no, it's fine it was just...Connor. I was talking to Connor." Evan smiled up at her. He was grateful for having a mother who cared so much about him, but sometimes it was a little too much.

"Yeah, I'm so glad you found him, he's such a great friend," Heidi playfully shoved her son's shoulder. Evan blushed furiously, quickly avoiding the subject. He hadn't exactly told his mother about the...growing bond between him and Connor. It'd been on his mind for weeks now, but every time he tried to tell her, he always doubted himself. He knew deep down that she would accept him for being bi, but Evan was still aware that something could always go wrong.

After a brief awkward silence, Evan took the pile of papers from his nightstand, trying to change the subject. "What are...these?" He flipped through them hesitantly, skimming pages.

"Yeah, I spent my lunch break printing these out. They're college scholarship essay contests. There are like a million different topics you can choose from. Look: the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Scholarship— three thousand dollars, college of you choice. Henry David Thoreau Society, five thousand..."

"Woah."

Heidi sat down next to Evan on his bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "College is going to be so great for you, honey. I wish I could go with you but..." Heidi chuckled, and Evan just smiled at her awkwardly. Heidi smiled. "It just...I thought this seemed like a cool idea. You've always been a great writer, and you know we'll need all the help we can get..."

"For sure, yeah um..." Evan's phone dinged, and he picked it up. "It's Connor. Can I..."

"Yep, of course. Tell him I said hi, okay?" Heidi kissed his forehead, fixing his hair. "I love you."

"Yeah. Love you, too," Evan smiled, putting the phone to his ear.

🔹🔶🔹

"Aw, c'mon Ev. Ya gotta tell her at least before we graduate," Connor whined and sat at their usual lunch table, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's waist. Evan relaxed into his touch, it was always warm and welcoming.

"Yeah, dude. You two can't keep going like this. Secret gay love is fun, but you've been dating for 6 months," Jared shrugged, fixing his glasses.

"It'd be worse if she found out on her own," Alana added. "Ms. Hansen would be heartbroken if someone else told her."

Evan looked up at his boyfriend, raising his eyebrows questioningly. It was true, practically everyone knew they were together except his mom. "I know I have to...I should tell her. But I just...I don't know how. Every time I try to say something I just—"

"Freeze up?" Jared finished his thought. "Well let's not make it like that time in English, when you had to do that speech on Daisy Buchanan and..." Evan's face flushed deep red and Connor sent Jared a look to stop talking.

"Why don't you just write her a letter? Its easy, and you don't have to worry about saying anything," Connor said.

Jared scoffed. "Naw, that's a terrible idea, what's gonna happen after she reads it? Just face it, you're going to end up saying something to her no matter what you do."

Evan thought for a moment. Jared was right, no matter what, sooner or later they would end up having a real conversation. He really wanted to come out, it felt like he was holding his breath when he was around his mother, and the longer he didn't say anything, the bigger the breath he was holding grew. He knew she should have been the first to hear it, not the whole school, and he felt the extra guilt for not saying anything. This should have been solved months ago.

Finally, Connor had an idea. "I've got it! Why don't I come over for dinner, and we can tell her together?"

Evan thought for a moment, and smiled up at his boyfriend. "That's...that would be...perfect."

Connor grinned and kissed Evan's nose. "It's a date then."

🔹🔶🔹

Evan straightened his shirt collar, looking at himself in the mirror nervously. The only thing he could think about was what could go wrong. What if his mother didn't accept him? What if she kicked him out? What if Connor broke up with him? What if he couldn't find a job? What if he had to live on a park bench? What if he started doing drugs?

In the midst of all of his "What if's" the sound of his doorbell echoed through the house. It pulled him out of his trance, and he looked at himself one last time in the mirror before running down the stairs.

Heidi had already opened the door when he made it down, revealing a very nice dressed Connor Murphy. Evan noticed he had taken time and actual effort to make himself look good, he'd washed his hair, and ironed his flannel. He'd even stole Zoe's black nail polish to repaint his chipped nails.

"These are for you," Connor handed Heidi a bouquet of deep, dark red roses. Heidi brought them up to her nose to smell them and gave him a warm thank you.

"Isn't red the symbol for love?" She inquired, and Evan sent Connor a nervous glance.

"Well actually...Evan do you wanna tell her?" Connor said, raising an eyebrow.

Evan took a deep breath. This was it. This was a life changing moment. It could make him or break him.

"Mom..." Evan said. "Me and Connor...we're kinda sorta...d-dating?" Evan blurted out and Connor moved to put his arm around Evan protectively. Heidi said nothing, just looked between the two of them for a moment, and Evan felt his anxiety rising.

"Oh God, mom please don't hate me," Evan started to ramble. "I'm really sorry, I can I can take it back if you want we can pretend it never happened and I just I love you and I don't want to hurt you please don't kick me out and make me sleep on a park bench and waste all my money smoking drugs," Evan squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for some sort of screaming or yelling.

"Aw, Ev," Heidi smiled warmly. "Why would I make you do that?"

Evan opened one eye cautiously. "You don't...hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?" Heidi almost laughed. "Sure, I guess it's a shock, but I'll fully support you no matter what. I love you, Ev." Evan finally allowed himself to relax and open both of his eyes. He welcomed her into a hug, and Heidi squeezed him tight as if he might disappear at any moment.

Connor awkwardly moved away, letting the two have their moment. He stuck his hands in his pockets trying not to make himself noticeable, but before he knew it, Heidi was grabbing him and he was hugging them too.

"Welcome to the family," Heidi whispered in Connor's ear. Connor smiled in relief. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been a little worried too.

After a few moments, Heidi finally let go of the two, and Evan regulated his breathing. "I should get dinner ready, you two can wait for a few moments, yes?" Heidi smiled, and brought the flowers into the kitchen.

Once they were out of earshot, Connor turned to Evan. "See?" He whispered, taking Evan's hands in his. "It went fine."

"Fine?" Evan laughs, pecking his lips. "It went perfectly."

Connor smiled at Evan's geeky grin, leaning down to give him one last kiss before they ate.

Okay, that wasn't half bad.

Any oneshot requests?