"How was your day, sweetheart?" Robin's mum inquired as she served dinner, placing a steaming plate of lasagne in front of him.

     "It was alright." Robin responded, accepting the plate and setting it down. "Although two of the bandmates kept arguing, it was kind of awkward being there."

     Not the only reason it was awkward.

     "Oh, that's a shame," his mum sympathised. "Well, creatives are passionate, darling. Weren't you in a band in secondary school?" She turned her attention to Robin's dad.

     Kate nearly choked on her water. "DAD! You were in a band?"

     "Barely," he responded between mouthfuls. "It was just a stupid thing, nothing major," he added nonchalantly.

     "How did I not know this?" Robin exclaimed.

     "Ah, your father is still a bit of a closed book. There are plenty of things you don't know about him. He used to be quite fun when we first met," Robin's mum teased, earning a grumble from their dad.

     The dinner table conversation continued as usual, with Robin and Kate attempting to pry for more information about their father's band, but to no avail. Their dad remained elusive, offering only vague responses and deflecting their inquiries with a casual demeanour.

      "Right, Saturday night, I'm off duty now," Robin's mum declared, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "Robin, Kate, could you please tidy up the dinner stuff?"

     "Ugh, do we have to?" Kate groaned.

      "I made you a wonderful dinner, Kate, and you've barely touched it! The least you can do is help clear it away," Robin's mum insisted as she rose from the table. "I've got clothes to iron anyway. Oh, the life of a housewife is never-ending," she added with a touch of sarcasm, placing the back of her hand on her forehead dramatically.

     His mum was right; Kate, once again, had barely touched her food, seemingly pushing it around her plate for most of the meal. It was becoming quite a regular occurrence. Whenever it was brought up, Kate would simply push it to one side, claiming she had eaten earlier and wasn't that hungry.

     As Robin collected the plates and dishes and took them over to the kitchen, his parents both left the room, leaving him and Kate alone. Robin was on washing-up duty, while Kate was tasked with drying.

     "So... I feel like there was more to this band practice than you said at the dinner table," Kate remarked, drying off one of the plates with a tea towel and placing it on the side.

     "Yeah, it was weird," Robin replied, scrubbing one of the dishes in the soapy water.

     "It's about that guy, right?" Kate queried.

     "Yeah..."

     "Have you talked to Ashley about him?"

     Robin hadn't told Ashley about his current situation with Yohan, and it's not like he didn't want to. He desperately wanted to have someone to discuss the whole situation with so he wouldn't end up going completely crazy and spiralling in his mind as he often seemed to. However, he had avoided the topic. Knowing exactly what Ashley would say if he told her about his current situation.

     "No, not yet. I will eventually," Robin said.

     "Well, what happened then?"

     Robin sighed as he remembered what had happened at the band practice. After the conversation with Jemma, he'd snuck his way to the toilets while Jemma went inside to talk to Lizzy and Lucas. Entering the bathroom, there was Yohan, and without even a second thought, Robin practically lept on him, pushing himself deeply into a kiss. The risk of the situation adding some extra sparks that appeared to fly between the two of them. They enveloped themselves in their usual dance, which had almost become second nature at this point. Robin desperately tried to push down the guilt he felt by pressing himself even harder onto Yohan.

     "Well..." Robin hesitated, lowering the dish he was cleaning back into the sink. As it sank to the bottom, bubbles crackled and popped on the surface of the water as he searched for the right words. "We're kinda... yanno, doing stuff in secret."

     "Oooo stuff?" Kate teased him, nudging him lightly.

     "Just kissing!" Robin shot Kate a deadly glare. "But yeah, you know Jemma?"

     "Mmm, yeah, you've mentioned her; she's in the band, right?"

     "Yeah, so... She wants to ask Yohan out."

      "Yohan! Oooo, so that's his name?"

      "Yeah..."

      "So, let me get this straight, Jemma wants to ask Yohan out, but you and Yohan are currently canoodling in secret? What makes you think Yohan even wants to be with Jemma?" Kate said, using her fingers to create a mid-air triangle diagram.

      "Well, they've kind of been seeing each other for like... two months, and she wants it to be official."

     "Wait, wait, wait," Kate's eyes widened, her mouth slightly hung open.

      "I know, I know!" Robin said, lifting his hands from the soapy water quickly, causing specks of bubbles to land on Kate's t-shirt. "It's not a great situation."

      "Sounds like this Yohan guy is a bit of a player," Kate said with a sarcastic tone as she started to place the dried plates into the cupboard.

      Robin felt his heart sink slightly; he knew Kate was probably right, and the way that Yohan was currently being with both him and Jemma didn't sit right with him, but another part of him desperately wanted to defend his actions.

      "It's just because he's not out yet!" He blurted out, causing Kate to almost drop the glass she had started drying.

      "Oh, so he's told you he's gay?" She said.

      "Well, no, I just—I think he's just confused."

       "Hmm.." Kate grumbled as she took the last plate from Robin to dry up. "Sure sounds like it. I'm assuming Jemma doesn't know?"

      "No, she doesn't."

      "Look, Robin, I'm happy for you and all, but it's a bit fucked up, don't you think?"

      "Yeah, well..." Robin faltered. Feeling a sudden, intense pressure constricting his chest, regret at bringing up the topic washed over him. With a dry swallow, he glanced down at the soapy water. "It'll be fine."

♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡

     Robin was sitting at his desk, staring intently at the open book before him. With his pen in hand, he wiggled it anxiously, knowing that he had to buckle down and catch up on the schoolwork he'd been neglecting.

     His once strict schedule and incredible organisation had fallen by the wayside ever since he had started his secret relationship with Yohan. Now he was confronted with the reality of three essays, a mountain of reading, and two mock exams looming on the horizon that he hadn't even started to revise for.

      "How the hell am I supposed to answer then?" Robin mumbled to himself, staring at the psychology mock question on the page in front of him. Chewing on the tip of his pen, he started to rifle through his textbook to find the topic. He jumped slightly in his seat at a low, vibrating sound that seemed to be emanating through his desk. Looking up, his phone screen was lit up and edging ever so slightly to the corner of the table.

      Peering over, he saw Jemma was calling the group chat. He felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.

     Surely she didn't...

     He picked up his phone, and before he could think about it further, he answered the call. Jemma's wide smile immediately filled the screen, before Amber and Isha joined the call as well.

     "Guys! I'm sorry to call, but I just can't wait until Monday to tell you! And overtext didn't feel like it would have the right... impact, yanno?! But I have... Wait, where's Lucy? They need to be here too!"

      "I'm here!" Lucy's voice could be heard slightly muffled. Amber redirected her camera from her pink locks to Lucy, who was standing in the kitchen with a wooden spoon in hand and a mixing bowl.

      "Great, great, great!" Jemma continued, her eyes appearing to dart around the screen. "So... I have news."

      "Go on, spit it out already then!" Isha said a little impatiently; her face was slightly cast in the shadow of the room she was in, a hood over her head tied in a little bow under her chin.

      "So... I may finally be someone's girlfriend!" Jemma squealed slightly and shook the camera out of excitement. "Can you believe it? I'm Yohan's girlfriend!"

     The rest of the gang's voices radiated through his phone speaker, and they began to pelt Jemma with questions. Robin just stared at the screen as he felt his vision go blurry to the point where the faces on his phone screen were barely discernible. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing, and the words of his friends had no meaning.

     "Robin?" Jemma's voice snapped him out of his paralysis as he blinked to refocus his eyes, seeing Jemma's face with a slight look of concern on his screen.

     "Oh... Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! Sorry, this mock exam is just stressing me out; I was a little distracted," he said, trying to play it off and forcing a sense of enthusiasm in his voice as much as possible.

      "Uhhh, is that psychology? I know I feel like I'm definitely going to fail." Jemma rolled her eyes. "But... that doesn't matter right now! I am officially dating the hottest guy in school! Can you believe it? Omg, I need to plan something for his birthday! Maybe a birthday party?"

      "A party? For Yohan? My guy likes a drink but I don't think he's particularly the 'birthday party' type." Lucy's voice sounded slightly distant from behind Amber.

      "Hmmm, you're right. Something more intimate maybe?" Jemma responded, rubbing the side of her face slightly. "Oooo, maybe a cute picnic or something! Like super romantic vibes!"

      I can't listen to this anymore.

      "Uhhh guys, I've got to go; my mum wants me." Robin lied through his teeth, "But... congratulations again, Jem." He said, and before anyone could respond, he hung up the call.

      He let the phone drop from his hand and back onto his desk with a slight thud sound, unable to summon the strength to hold it any longer. The weight of the news he had just received felt heavy, almost suffocating.

      Crossing his arms on his desk, he let his face sink into his forearms, seeking solace in the cool surface beneath him. The room seemed to close in around him, with the walls becoming barriers that he couldn't break through.

     He couldn't cry; he couldn't even think. All he could feel was a deep ache, a gnawing pain that radiated from the depths of his heart. It was a pain that felt raw and consuming, as if every fibre of his being was being torn apart by an invisible force.

     Only earlier that day, he had been passionately making out with Yohan in the toilets, and now he and Jemma were in a relationship. He couldn't make any sense of it, any of it.

     What the fuck is he playing at?

     His conversation with Kate radiated through his mind. They couldn't keep doing what they were doing with him and Jemma officially together. The thought made his heart ache even harder, almost as if it were being split in two. But he knew they couldn't continue like this. He had to end it.

     Lifting his head, which took a significant amount of effort with the weight of it, he reached his hand to grab his phone, opened his contacts, and opened his messages with Yohan.

     Robin 21:03

     We need to talk.