The first few days of the school year were hectic for Peter, as always. The only difference was that he was a senior this time around. That fact didn't really comfort him much, it just reminded him that he had to work hard and finish even harder. In addition to the normal stress of keeping up with overflowing assignments and trying to maintain his sanity, Peter had to deal with his fairly new rise to fame. Not that he still considered himself famous.

The Asian was starting to grow accustomed to the eyes that followed him on campus. Most of them just stared from a distance, murmuring to each other about where they'd seen his face before. The ones who dared, however, approached him with questions about the viral video from Chase's party, which felt like a lifetime ago, or whether it really was him up on the websites of various magazines.

Peter would simply nod and hope they'd walk away. Sometimes they didn't, probing him with questions upon questions upon more goddamn questions. If he was lucky and Dakota happened to be at the scene, she'd handle turning them away with a sweet smile, a complimentary bat of eyelashes and a well meant 'please learn to mind your own business' all with a threatening glare.

That further fanned the flames of the supposed romance he had with Dakota. Peter and Dakota had a conversation regarding that issue, where he told Dakota he liked their friendship too much to risk it by pursuing something romantic with her. She took it well, so well that Peter was tempted to bring up his entanglement with Colin. But he couldn't.

Every single time he thought of mentioning it to Dakota, he chickened out. It felt strange that he was with a guy, it would feel stranger if he confirmed that fact to anyone else. It was quite a struggle coming to terms with himself that he had feelings for the brunet. He didn't know why he thought it would be any less difficult to tell Dakota.

Nonetheless, Peter felt he owed her that truth. They had agreed to get lunch tomorrow, he'd try again then.

As Peter walked out of his English class, tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat, his phone vibrated.

"Hello?" Peter put the iPhone to his ear, descending the stairs and making his way out of the hall. From a distance away, a dark-skinned girl in braids waved at him, making him stop. He knew her from Chase's infamous party, one of Dakota's friends, and he waved back with a small smile. The smile was wiped off his face with one word that burst through the device in his hand.

"Peter..."

He recognised the low, gravelly voice immediately. Even though he had been preparing himself for this for quite a while now, the sound of his father's voice took Peter off guard, tossing him into a state of panic. His heartbeat sped up, his palms started to sweat and he could feel his breathing labour.

Peter closed his eyes, willing his body to obey him, willing his clogged throat to open up so he could say the words that had been replaying in his mind ever since that call from Ivy. "I haven't dropped out of school for your information,"he started, voice wavering. "That's what you wanted to know, and you know that now. Bye--"

"Listen to yourself. Is this how you speak to me now? This isn't how I raised you, Peter." His father's tone was stern and it reminded Peter of all the times he had been scolded with that same voice.

"How you raised me..." Peter scoffed, a bitter laugh erupting from his throat. "And how did you raise me exactly? By spitting in my face when I couldn't live up to your standards."

"It was to challenge you to be better. To give you thick skin," his father defended as if that, in any way, sounded reasonable.

"You did a great job then, dad. I have enough 'thick skin' to give you a piece of my mind now. And-- and I'm going to say it." A pause. "Please, leave me alone. I am doing so much better and I-- I want things to stay the way they are."

"Do you think your mother would be proud of you, boy? Do you think this is appropriate behaviour to your parent?" His father's voice shook but it wasn't out of loss or grief. It was anger. "We need to talk about this, and other matters, in person. I saw those photos of you online. No son of mine is going half-naked for the entire world to see."

"Damn, we're only talking on the phone and you're already trying to guilt me inside out. And you think this would make me want to meet up with you?" Peter's eyes watered and he looked down at his shoes, wiping the tears before they had a chance to slide down his face.

"Because I'm your father. You can't ignore me forever."

"Let's bet on that. Want to make a wager?" He dared. He sounded scared-- he was, really-- but he was determined not to let his father know he had gotten the better of him. He was going to stand his ground.

His father breathed in deeply, letting out a heavy sigh like the ones he made whenever ge looked at Peter's report cards. "I just want to talk."

"We're talking, aren't we?"

"Face to face."

The boy didn't think he could handle seeing father. It had been over five years, and he didn't want to be reminded of his life pre-Ivy's house. "We don't need to see each other to talk."

"Son."

"Dad." He paused after the word, wondering why it suddenly felt so hard to talk to the same person he had looked up to in his early childhood. Maybe it was the reality that they would never see eye to eye, hitting Peter in the stomach, over and over till he felt raw pain. He had to sit.

He found a bench a couple of feet ahead and let himself sink onto the wood, bending over with the phone still pressed to my ear. Waiting. Just waiting.

Peter could hear his father's breathing on the other end, raspy and loud as he said, "Peter, don't push me."

"What are you gonna do, huh? Show up at my place? Take me back to yours so you can control me?"

"Ivy wouldn't tell me where she lives." His father's voice was even more intimidating.  "Otherwise, you could count on that happening."

From the way Mr. Chu spoke, Peter could tell he had no idea he had moved out of his sister's house. Ivy didn't seem to have mentioned that detail. Even better, he didn't know her address.

"Too bad then," the younger one taunted. "Because I'm not going to tell you either."

His father, however, couldn't be bothered by his son's indifference. "You have my number now. I suggest we meet up and settle this. Goodbye."

And that was the end of that. Peter stood from the bench, wiping frustrated tears from his face. Head bent, he pulled his coat closer to his slim body and headed for his dorm room.

Even though he could afford to live off campus, Colin's place was a three hour drive from UC Berkeley and it seemed more convenient to remain a resident in the dorms.

As soon as he got to his room, Peter led himself to his bed where he let the emotional torrent take over. He cried long and hard and loud, mad that the tears just wouldn't stop. He didn't care what his father thought about him, he didn't care about what he said. Yet, he was shedding tears that the man had no doubt summoned.

After a while-- when he finally got himself in a condition where his voice didn't crack and a salty river no longer flowed from his eyes-- he called Colin.

Hearing his voice was the highlight of Peter's day snd he was glad when the photographer picked up on the first try.

"What's up, baby?"

"My dad finally called..." he said slowly.

"And? What happened? Are you okay?" Colin asked in quick succession. "Did something happen?"

"He wants us to meet up. He still thinks I live with Ivy, but he doesn't know where her house is so he can't just go there." Peter paused to catch a breath. "He'd have known I moved out by now if he did."

"So what do you plan on doing then?" Colin asked. There was the sound of shuffling on his end, like he was moving stuff. The faint sound of the washing machine running started before Colin's footsteps moved away, the hum of the machine fading.

"I'm not sure, Colin. I really don't want to see him but I think it's important I do... I don't know," the Asian sighed. "But if I do, I want you to go with me, for like, support."

"Sure. Anything for you."

Silence fell between the two and Peter ran his fingers in his hair, occupying himself with something before he finally had the urge to speak up again.

"I miss you," he breathed.

"The place feels empty without you," Colin murmured at the same time.

For a millisecond, they both paused, waiting for their brains to comprehend what the other had said. Laughter followed, loud, free, genuine laughter, before a comfortable silence.

Peter took the initiative to break it this time around. "I'll be there this weekend, I'm not too busy."

"That's great," his roommate said with an obvious smile in his voice. "I miss you too, Pikachu. I have an appointment for an outdoor shoot on Saturday but I'll be home by 3. You can have me the whole of Sunday though."

Peter could picture the grin that followed Colin's word. Full-toothed, chipped, all-american boy smile. He missed seeing it; it was one of the things he had hated about Colin-- he wouldn't lie about that. His grin had annoyed Peter the first few times he had seen it. But he couldn't stop himself from smiling toon when he thought of it, cheekiness and all.

"Okay," Peter hummed, stomach churning in the most delicious way. "But you better have something ready for me, I'm starved."

"My dick?" Colin asked, tone laced with surprise and uncertainty.

"What?" Peter choked out. "No. I meant food. Like a gourmet meal or something." He covered his face with a hand, still smiling like some idiot. "I just realized I can't actually live off toaster pastries and pumpkin spice lattes."

"I'll have ramen noodles ready then."

Peter replied much too quickly with a "Fuck you."

The brunet was quiet for a beat. "Wish you'd actually take action instead of just saying it but alright. You do you, Pikachu."

"Thank you," Peter replied without knowing what he was thanking Colin for. It didn't matter though. As long Colin heard it, he was fine.

"You're welcome, honey."

"Are you referring to me or the food?" Peter asked. "Wait, is honey even considered food?"

"I really can't tell but... can it be both? Like you covered in honey so I can just eat you right up?" In a playful tone, Colin added, "Yeah, I'd definitely be down for that."

Face flooding with heat, Peter bit down on his lip. "Alright, I think we're done here. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Pikachu," Colin whispered.

Phone pressed to his chest, Peter stared at the low ceiling of his dorm room, wondering what Colin was now. He knew the brunet was doing laundry, yes. But was he also replaying their conversation in his head? Was he also clutching his phone and holding it over his heart? Was his heart even racing as much as Peter's was? Did he feel all fuzzy and light too?

Did he?

~~

Soooooo thoughts on this chapter?? And Peter's dad??

Special mentions:  eipad1203 and bear_wolf_88 for reading! And -BOKUTOO and Denki_With_Eyeliner for their comments!

"Straight as They Come, Kinda" got featured in the Diverse Literature reading list of FreeTheLGBT and I'm still in a state of shock!

NaNoWriMo is in full swing now so don't forget to check in on my project called 'Shades of Ecstasy'. It's up on my profile and all your support is be immensely appreciated!♡♡