20

Timothy paled at the sight of Lizzy standing at the door, too shocked to even push Archibald away from him so the latter was still intimately close to him.

She saw

She saw them while they were... oh god. He felt like throwing up.

There was no way to cover it up, what could he possibly say? that Archibald and him were very engrossed in practicing CPR?

He was obviously kissing a man and she obviously witnessed it and he expected himself to be more panicked but he wasn't.

Sure he was very stressed over the fact she caught him but the fact he wasn't hyperventilating or showing any signs of a start of a panic attack were pretty remarkable.

It was an awkward situation to be caught like that by your wife, she could go and tell his parents or take it to the media and make a big scandal out of it. And while he feared what the outcome would be, he also somehow felt relaxed and relieved.

She saw the real him for the first time since they met, no masks or pretense , his true self. It felt so good to finally be exposed by someone, to show this secret that weighed him.

The only thing he was scared of was how his father would react if she went and told him, the last thing he wanted was for his condition to get worse again.

But he wasn't going to force her not to tell, this was something he had to deal with a long time ago, he just needed time, he hoped she'd give him at least that.

"Lizzy..."

He broke the silence, trying to read her expression. Hate? disgust? betrayal?  it was really not clear.

He was shaking a bit, he really didn't want to hurt her like this. She really was important to him but he didn't love her, he never did.

He deserved to be hated by her, from the beginning it was all fake. She was his wife, she wasn't perfect but she was his wife and as her husband he was supposed to make her happy and be there for her. But it wasn't meant to be, and they both knew it from the beginning.

Even though she knew he didn't love her, she still agreed to marry him, not because of love for him, but because of love for his status and money.

He knew, they both knew , and still they tried to function as a normal couple. She was his wife, love or no love,  he had some level of commitment towards her but he didn't live up to it.

Timothy felt Arch squeeze his hand to encourage him and it was comforting, knowing he was there beside him.

"Lizzy, I'm truly sorry..."

He sighed, picking his words carefully, not wanting to upset her any further.

She just stood there, motionless and he was worried that she may be at severe shock,  but he still chose to continue.

"I didn't want you to find out like this, you deserve better. I disappointed you as a husband and--"

"So you two are together? " she tilted her head in confusion.

Timothy blinked at the odd question, he didn't expect that.

"W-what?" he stuttered.

"I mean, are you two lovers?" she looked at him expectantly.

Timothy was literally with his jaw open, speechless.

"Yes, we are . "

Timothy snapped his head to look at Archibald, at loss.

What was happening?

"Cool!" Lizzy chirped.

"What? I don't get it." Timothy was staring at her intently,  waiting for an explanation. Why was she so calm?

"I can't say I never knew you were gay,  it was pretty obvious when we first met. I mean we only got in bed after five months and I made the first move ." she chuckled as if she was telling a joke.

"Y-you knew?" he was stunned.

"Oh yeah, I knew it was more than just you not being attracted to me. We both got married for our own impure intentions.  I admit along the way I did try a few times to see if I could make you change, straight woman's wishful thinking. " she smiled at him knowingly .

Basically she knew he was gay and still had sex with him. Timothy felt the urge to laugh,  this whole situation was surprisingly extremely  twisted.

"And you're fine with all of this?" he asked skeptically.

"Mmhm . You got yourself a nice man over there, I would lay my hands on him myself if he was straight ." she winked.

"So you're not going to tell? I mean to my parents? "

"God no, they're really strong on the all 'hate gays' thing,  they belong to the previous generation,  today people are mostly accepting. "she huffed and shook her head. "Besides it's your business,  not mine."

It was like Timothy was seeing her for the first time, she was definitely not the Lizzy he was used to. But then again when did he really try to get to know her properly?

It made him happy,  after all he did marry the right woman, who would've thought. He was seeing her in a different light.

"Well at least I get half of the property after our divorce ."

And that was the Lizzy he knew and appreciated.

"Wait, divorce?"

"You don't expect us to keep with this marriage do you? I mean it was nice while it lasted but we obviously both need to move on ." she rolled her eyes.

"Uh, no... you're right " he frowned.

It was really happening?  he was getting divorced ? for real?

He had mixed feelings about this, he knew it was a step in the right direction for him but at the same time it meant he would have to come clear in front of his parents and tell them exactly why he and Lizzy were getting divorced.

"It will be alright "

Archibald murmured to his ear before he gently kissed his temple.  The affectionate gesture made Timothy blush.

Yeah, they really needed to talk.

"So I guess I'm gonna go now, seeing you're fine and have this hot man to take care of you ." She waved at them and disappeared just like that.

The whole thing was so bizarre that Timothy had a hard time believing it really happened.

"So the doctor said  you need a few days to rest at home " Archibald grinned at him and it made him warm.

"How do you know that?" Timothy raised an eyebrow.

"I need to know if I'm going to be the one to take care of you ."

"What do you mean? " Timothy asked in suspicion.

"You're coming home with me." Archibald  shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

____________________________________

The next day Timothy got released from the hospital and Arch picked him, driving him to his apartment.

Timothy still didn't know how to feel about the fact he was going to stay at Arch's place but the man really didn't leave him any choice when they argued about it.

Each point he'd bring up, Arch would counter with a solution. He didn't even allow him to stop at his house to take a change of clothes saying he had enough clothes for both of them and he could always buy more.

He sighed when they finally stepped into the apartment.  Oscar immediately ran to greet him, ready to jump on him.

"We don't jump on sick people Oscar " Arch stopped him and pushed him away.

"You can get in the shower,  I'll bring you a change of clothes,  there are towels in the cupboard."

Timothy nodded and made his way to the shower,  it was really what he needed right now.

He took off his clothes and got in, dragging his time under the warm water. He let the soap wash away properly before he exited. He dried off and put the towel around his waist.

"Arch?" he called and went towards the living room only to gasp as two hands reached out from behind to embrace him.

"You're going to catch a cold walking around like this ."

Arch whispered behind him and planted a kiss on his shoulder.

Timothy shivered.

"I was looking for you, for the clothes." he muttered.

Archibald kept brushing his lips against his skin and it drove Timothy crazy.

"Stop " he managed to let out.

"Why? you like it ." Arch whispered against his skin.

"We need to talk" Timothy said and spinned to face him, taking a few steps back to put some much needed distance.

Arch sighed.

"Okay,  the clothes are in my room, on the bed. I'm going to make some tea so come to the living room when you're dressed. "

Timothy walked to Arch's room and quickly dressed up, the clothes were actually brand new and suspiciously fit him perfectly.

He sat on the bed and took deep breaths to calm himself.

This was really happening,  he and Arch were going to talk about everything. He had so much to ask, so much on his mind.

Only yesterday he faced Lizzy and it went well, too well that he still refused to believe it actually happened.

He expected her to hate him, to loath his guts and curse him to the depths of hell. He was sure she would be disgusted with him and feel betrayed by him.

But she didn't.

She just shrugged it off like it was the most trivial matter and left.

He still had a hard time grasping it and he was still concerned and skeptic of this fortunate occurance.

To think that for a change something went well in his life was unbelievable.

And it really wasn't all that smooth, he'd need to have a serious conversation with his father soon,  something he dreaded.

But above all that, he could only focus on one thing at the moment and that was the man waiting for him in the living room.

He couldn't believe he was actually going to stay here for the next few days. He didn't know how he felt about it - sure he was happy,  but he also felt upset to some degree.

What was going on between him and Archibald exactly?

The man didn't blink when he said they were lovers to Lizzy and he treated Timothy so gently so far.

But what were his real intentions?

Did he want him back because that escort he brought to the party wasn't enough?

Just thinking of that blond made him grit his teeth.

There was a lot to clear out and Archibald would give him all the answers he needed even if he had to force it out of him.

Timothy walked to the living room, there were two cups of tea on the table and a plate of cookies.

Archibald sat there and stared at nothing in particular, his hands played with each other nervously.

"Thanks for the tea "

Timothy startled him as he sat down next to him, only a small gap between them.

"Uh, sure. How are you feeling? " he murmured in return.

"I'm good. Exhausted and a bit overwhelmed because of what went yesterday with Lizzy but good."

They both silently took their cups and sipped.  Timothy knew that Arch was waiting for him to start, but he had no idea what to say.

He placed his cup back and took a deep breath, deciding not to dely and just be as forward as he could.

"We have a few things we need to discuss , " he started and turned to look at Archibald .

"The last couple of days were really confusing for me, a lot happened . I foolishly ended up in the hospital and... you showed up there..."

Archibald gripped his cup and nodded.

"And it really surprised me, you were the last person I expected to see there. I thought whatever happened between us ended at the party the minute you walked in with that guy."

Timothy shook his head as if trying to forget that.

"So I really don't know what to think, I don't know where we're standing at all. Sure we had sex a few times so maybe it was a mistake on my part to think we were exclusive in that way.

We weren't really sex buddies or anything to be frank but I was still surprised to see that guy.

I thought it was over at that moment because you found someone new to entertain you , and you only confirmed that later with how you avoided me..."

"I didn't avoid you, I was just--"

"It felt like that to me. You asked Thomas to schedule a meeting with me, why? at the beginning you insisted to be the one involved . You wanted me to only approach you and now you suddenly don't?"

Timothy tried his best to keep his emotions from slipping to his voice,  he didn't want that Arch would know how much that little insignificant act truly hurt him.

"I had my reasons, I really did. At that time I felt like I wasn't prepared to see you again..."

Arch sighed and Timothy waited for him to continue but the man seemed reluctant.

" Look,  right now nothing is clear to me and I need you to start explaining exactly what's going on . "

Arch licked his lips and nodded,  taking a deep breath before he started.

"First of all I want you to know that I didn't do anything with that escort, he was just meant to show up with me for appearances. To every event I go I take someone with me for publicity purposes, it's just what everyone  expect of me.

I didn't think it would upset you , that guy was just there as an accessory for my big entrance. The media love that sort of stuff and I always provide them , but the only man I wanted that night was you. I even set up a room there just for us so we could... you know..."

Archibald scratched his head , looking uncharacteristically sheepish.

"If I had known it would upset you as much, I would have probably  shown up by myself.

You see when I went looking for you, I found you sitting there all by yourself and you had that expression on your face... you were crying and knowing now that it was because of me makes me feel like shit."

Timothy felt his face get hot with embarrassment, he felt relieved after Arch explained that he had nothing with the blond escort , he believed him, he looked sincere.  The fact he saw him crying made him want to disappear though .

"But it also gives me hope that my feelings will be reciprocated "

"F-feelings ?"

Timothy swallowed thickly as his heartbeats picked up.

Feelings? What kind of feelings?

He had a clue but he wasn't completely sure so he wanted to hear that from him, he wanted it to be confirmed,  to know it wasn't his wishful thinking .

"After I saw you I couldn't approach you, I was flooded with all kind of emotions that were new to me and I found myself running away from there, from you ."

Arch placed his cup next to Timothy's and took the man's hand in his, looking at him intently.

"It was overwhelming and I didn't know how to face it, fortunately Thomas was there to knock some sense into me ." he smiled and squeezed Timothy's hand gently.

" I realized that I feel for you something I've never experienced with anyone else. I don't know if it's a smart move on my part to address it but I'm new to all of this and I desperately need you to know. "

Timothy held his breath as he painfully waited to hear Arch's next words.

"I think I love you , I mean what else can describe what I'm feeling for you?

I care about you terribly,  you fill my mind all day long and I want you to be with me and only me..."

Arch took Timothy's hand and placed it on his chest.

"Can you feel it? it's because of you..."

Timothy gulped as he felt the persistent strong and fast heartbeats under his hand.

It was all he ever wanted and more. Was it reality or a dream?

If it's a dream, please don't wake me up.

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A/N:

so I'm not really sure about this chapter but whatever ~;-;~

Just wanted to say thank you for whoever reading this story for being patient with me.