"Oh, yeah, I do. You just ain't interesting enough to listen to. Me, however? I'm fascinating." Leonard leaned forward and pointed at Mick with his thumb. "See, Barry, I'll let you in on a little secret no one's ever gonna believe you anyway. This king of pie there? That's my boyfriend."
"Huh?" Mick said about a mouthful of pie, unsure why they were being outted to some nerd? Great. Now he had blackmail material on them. He gulped down his pie and glared at Leonard. "He says that but things change so swiftly." Especially now Leonard was cool with outting him!
Barry just stared at them... this made zero sense. Why would they blackmail Hartley if they're gay? "You guys are nuts!"
"Nah. Just teaching you a life lesson. Money talks. Get going, Barry. Tell your friend he's off the hook. I'll tell him myself, but you can go first. Get the glory." Besides, he'd have an angry boyfriend to deal with. Leonard slipped his phone into his pocket and caught Mick's eyes. "I have ideas." Maybe that'd be enough to reassure him.
"I still don't believe you." Barry admitted, as much as he wanted to hope it was this simple, Barry just didn't. Mick was impressed, he suddenly seemed smarter than he'd ever seemed before. As Barry took off out of the door, Mick turned and looked at Leonard, not at all impressed. They just lost their blackmail material and outed themselves to a strange kid.
"I always have damn good ideas," Leonard assured him, turning to look at Mick. "Come on. Nobody would believe him anyway, it's not as if he took a picture of us holding hands and skipping through a meadow." Also wasn't as if they had ever done anything like that, but still. "Feels right to you, blackmailing someone with that?"
"Yeah." No. but Mick was stubborn and he wasn't feeling much like relenting. He crossed his arms and gave Leonard a stern look... that lasted only like five minutes before he started eating Barry's left over pie. "I guess not but we coulda made a lot out of the bastard and he's gotta be out some day." They could have gotten a lot of mileage out of that ten thousand.
"Think so?" Leonard watched Mick and finally moved his leg again, bumping his foot very lightly against Mick's shin. "Do we gotta be out some day too?" Not really what this was about, but in a way it was. They weren't in this together, but life wasn't easy for people like them. Not even when they had a lot of money, evidently. A very sobering reality.
"Yeah but when we're away from our parents. We can do that, we don't gotta be near them for long. As soon as I'm eighteen, I'm moving our and you're not sticking with that asshole either. That Rathaway kid will always be with his family." And that was why he was going to have to be out before it got messy. Mick was hoping to be out as soon as he left home. But, like, lowkey out.
"Yeah. I've no idea how to get away from my father." Leonard had ideas, but Lewis, Lewis was where he always reached his limits. He looked down at the pie and just used his fork to scoop up some whipped cream, shaking his head. "I got a copy of the picture. I just don't want to use it."
"He's an idiot. He'll get himself arrested or shot in the face. You'll be fine." Mick didn't doubt for a second that Leonard would get away. Like he'd be an adult and still under his dad's thumb? Yeah right. "What are you gonna do? Jack off to it?"
"...yeah, sure." Leonard looked up at Mick just to show him how ridiculous that suggestion was, then he rolled his eyes and leaned back. "I'm not gonna do anything with it, probably. Just never know what it might be good for. But I'm thinking about scouting out the Rathaway's place. Least we know we could keep the son from telling on us if he's the only one home."
"Good plan. See, once we score Rathaway money, we can buy a place. Take Lis with us. It'll be great." Mick didn't think for a second they'd ever be held down by anyone else. Their only real fear was the cops. And if Lewis did get in the way of anything he wanted to have with Leonard, he'd set him on fire. "It'll all work out."
"Yanno I can't exactly steal my sister, right?" But Mick was being cute - in a uniquely Mick way - and Leonard found himself charmed in the way only Mick could. He smiled and shook his head, shrugging lightly. "We'll figure things out. I just don't like blackmailing someone for having the same shit deal we have going."
"We'd find a way. Like I said, sixty bucks says he ends up in jail by the time you can legally take her in. It'll work out. You watch." To be fair, Mick wasn't making a wild bet here. Lewis was in and out of prison, most because he was a complete dumbass who couldn't pull a heist to save his life. "Fine, well find another way. Just saying, we'll regret it one day when we're poor."
"Oh, come on. We ain't ever gonna be poor." That he felt very comfortable promising. Leonard pulled out his phone and sent a message to the Rathaway kid. "Anyway. I gotta get going, Lis is almost done at the playgroup. Are you coming?"
"Nah, I gotta go home and make sure my mom is okay." Mick got to his feet and shrugged his shoulders. He was a good son when he needed to be and sometimes he liked to make sure his mom was doing fine. "Tell her I said hey."
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"Huh?" Mick said about a mouthful of pie, unsure why they were being outted to some nerd? Great. Now he had blackmail material on them. He gulped down his pie and glared at Leonard. "He says that but things change so swiftly." Especially now Leonard was cool with outting him!
Barry just stared at them... this made zero sense. Why would they blackmail Hartley if they're gay? "You guys are nuts!"
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"You better have some damn good ideas."
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