"It's just going to be us and some of our neighbours. They're new to town, they need a good first impression of the people here." His mom said as she handed him a section of pepper to cut. Spence knew what that meant. They needed to meet to few decent people in the neighborhood so they wouldn't turn and run in the other direction. Which meant the Lees, a small handful of their neighbours, and the newcomers. It was small, but that didn't mean Spence's anxiety wasn't through the roof. The peppers he had been chopping were cut into miniscule cubes at this point. It didn't escape his mom's attention. "Peppers are perfect, honey," she said, taking them from him and emptying them into the salad. "You doing okay?" She asked. When his mom asked that, she meant it. "Alright. Just... new people coming into town, into our house. Freaks me out a little," he replied, and she nodded. "They're probably lovely, Spence. And if they're not, well, we'll hide the dessert so they'll leave earlier," she said with a grin, one Spence managed to return.

"So, table set, salad done, enchiladas in the oven, and nibbles left in convenient places. Drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic chilling in the fridge, and cheesecake setting in the fridge. Anything else?" She asked. She'd been in the kitchen for the last two hours, and sure as hell didn't look it. Her hair was immaculate, her dress neat and tidy, and not even her lipstick was smudged. "Nope. Is Patrick going to be home in time?" He asked, and she glanced at her watch. On cue, Patrick, Spencer's step-dad, waltzed into the kitchen, in a pristine shirt and tie. "Aren't we a good looking lot?" He asked, resting a hand briefly on Spence's shoulder as he passed. The brief touch was reassuring, making Spence feel a little more grounded. Before any of them could say anything else, the doorbell rang. "Spencer, why don't you go answer that?" He swallowed as he nodded, brushing his hands briefly on his trousers before opening the door.

Spencer fixed a welcoming smile on his face as he opened the door. Their new neighbors stood on the other side. The woman reminded Spence a little of his own mother, if a little more glamorous. At first glance, he thought the boy was a few years younger than Spence, but he realized that he was actually closer to Spence’s age than first glances would indicate.

“Hi! You must be the Fosters, right? I’m Spencer,” he said, actually managing to sound cheery and upbeat. As he closed the door behind him, Spence’s mom and Patrick materialized, huge, genuine smiles on their faces. “It’s so nice to meet you!” Sarah Lee enthused, holding out her hand to shake. “Can I get you guys some drinks? Come on, come in, you’re early!”

As the adults gushed and began to engage in small talk, Spencer’s attention turned back to the boys. He was older than he looked at first glance for sure. Spence resisted the temptation to shove his hands into his pockets, folding them across his chest. Even though everyone else was equally dressed up, he couldn’t help but feel a tad overdressed as he looked at the hoodie-clad boy. Spence smiled a little. “What year are you in? I’m a junior, I’d love to fill you in on all the stuff they don’t tell you about the school,” he said with a smirk. He had to remind himself not to let himself get too attached or friendly. He didn’t want only to make a friend for him to fall into the mindset of this town and hurt him if he found out who Spence really was.

Patton saying he was a junior as well was a relief to Spence, and he wasn’t quite sure why. But the slight tone of disdain in the question made something in Spence want to turn and just leave the conversation, preferably followed by a few hours in a darkened room where he could overanalyse the whole situation. But instead he stayed put, tightening the folding of his arms. “Um, yeah, I think so. Think it’s kinda shit though,” he added, lowering his voice a bit. “In our freshman year they tried to get the whole freshman class involved in a musical and... yeah, it went spectacularly wrong. Every single night. On closing night the teacher was so drunk he passed out during the speeches, and that was one of the smaller things to go wrong. They stopped making us all do shows after that. I actually don’t think they’ve done a musical since because they have such a hard time getting guys involved,” he said. The small town attitude was that musical theatre was “gay” and that no straight guy would ever do it. Plays were somewhat acceptable, but even the more bigoted in the school viewed them with disdain.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his mom beckoning them towards the dining room. “Our football team likes to think they’re great, but I can’t remember the last time they won a game. Word of advice, steer clear of the jocks. A few of them are okay, but they’re hard to differentiate from the ones who still use the n word, think illegal immigrants should be fired back over the border with a slingshot, and think they’re god’s gift to humanity,” Spence continued as he led Patton over to the dining room.

”Ending with A usually, but pretty sure I heard one of them say it ending with -er when he was really pissed at someone. The exception rather than the rule, but still.” He said with an eye roll. He sat down at the dinner table beside Patton, the only seat left. He wondered how long it would take before the rumors about Spence reached Patton, and how he’d react. There was something, deep down, that screamed he didn’t want that to happen, that maybe he should just say it face to face and deal with the reaction there and then. He wasn’t sure he could deal with that though. For some reason, he wanted Patton to stick with him.

Sarah Lee raised an eyebrow at the explanation as to why Patton and his mom moved away, sipping her wine. “Oh, honey, trust me, you did the right thing. When I divorced my ex-husband, I considered leaving, moving across the country. But Spence’s whole life was here, and I thought that maybe he’d want to stay in contact with his biological father.” Spence made eye contact with her across the table, and she paused for a second, making eye contact with him. He held it. “There was one more incident that made me want to get myself and Spencer out of this small town. But... it didn’t work out.” Her perfect smile returned. “And then I met Patrick, and it was worth it,” she said with a small shrug. “Even if I am considered the witch of the town. Divorcing my poor, perfect husband and then remarrying? I may as well be the devil,” She said with false shock and a laugh. Her laugh was contagious, and never failed to make Spence smile, even just a little bit. He was doing his best not to think about Brian, about the last time he’d seen him. A scar on his side tingled at the memory, and he rubbed it without even thinking.

Seeing Patton’s reaction when Spencer agreed to help made it seem worth it. He didn’t know why, after all, he was practically a stranger to Spence, but it made something in him so happy. He raised an eyebrow at Patton’s plans. Sometimes he forgot that other people had dreams beyond “get the hell out of this hellhole.” He was considering psychology or social work, something that could help him help other people, especially kids like him. Beside Patton’s plans, they seemed so... tame. Unremarkable.

Patton’s question shocked him out of his thoughts. Spencer’s mom looked like she was about to answer, when Emily spoke and gave Patton a look that said it all. Spencer and his mom shared a brief look, and her smile widened, a bit of mischief in her eye. “If Spencer wants to go, then I see no reason why we should keep them here. They’re young, they should be allowed have a bit of fun! Spencer will keep him on the straight and narrow, and his curfew is ten-thirty anyway,” she said. “It’ll be nice to just have some grown-up time,” she added, presumably to lure the other woman back in. She didn’t need to know that Spence’s curfew was eleven, and was extendable up to midnight as long as he asked nicely and kept in contact throughout the night. As scared as Sarah was for her son, she also knew that the last thing she wanted to do was push him away.

With a grin, Spence slid back his chair, getting to his feet. He wasn’t going to deny the twisting of anxiety in his stomach, but there was excitement too, and he was never one to deny that. He felt so little of it at times.

Watching Patton sing and dance to himself put a smile on Spence’s face that he couldn’t quite erase. Instead he found himself laughing a little, even as Patton opened the door to their house to let him in. Patton seemed so much more graceful as he negotiated his way around them, while Spencer nearly tripped over one or two. The other boy’s comment about having to kick ass just made Spence’s smile widen. He didn’t know what Patton would actually be like in a fight, but he did know that those most likely to cause trouble were easily twice the other boy’s weight. But there was something about that charm that made Spencer smile, for a reason he couldn’t quite identify.

The smile was wiped off his face the moment he spotted the gigantic rainbow flag on Patton’s wall. He’d been wondering, but part of him had been hoping, praying that Patton wouldn’t have to go through what Spence had lived with for his entire life. Spence felt like he’d been plunged into cold water and was starting to inhale it, starting to drown in nothing.

Patton patting the bed beside him drew Spence out of his own head, and he sat down, suddenly realizing how light-headed he was. The scar on his side wasn’t just tingling, it felt like it was burning, and he rubbed it self-consciously. “Um, assholes, right. The football team for the most part, but in particular the quarterback, Don Franks. He, uh... he’s done some bad shit in his time, but his family is stupid rich. Any time he’s come close to being kicked out, the school has suddenly received a generous donation towards whatever department is struggling, and he’s strutted into school the next day. Just avoid anyone who looks like a jock and generally you’ll be fine.” He couldn’t look up, the sight of the rainbow flag made him feel like he was taking in more water, getting closer to drowning. He just stared at his hands for the most part, occasionally glancing up at Patton.

“Coach Rogers isn’t actually too bad. He goes along with the jock thing but I think he actually gives a shit about his students. He looks out for kids with asthma or who are injured or injury prone, and he always makes sure to tell the kids that are struggling that they’re doing good. Don’t fall for it, he’s actually nice. Miss Hayes can be a bit of a bitch if she decides she doesn’t like you.” He stopped abruptly, needing to slow down his thoughts and breathing before he embarrassed himself in front of Patton. If he hadn’t already.

Spence just raised an eyebrow at Patton's mumbled comment. God knows how many times he'd asked himself that. He was lucky, he supposed, that his mom and step-dad couldn't care less, that they would love him no matter that. But being gay in the hellish town he'd just had the luck to be born in? It seemed like he'd been a dick in one of his former lives and karma was coming back to bite him in the ass.

Patton didn't seem too happy about it, but he at least agreed to it. Spencer breathed a sigh of relief. He could only now hope that Patton meant it and wasn't saying it just to keep Spencer happy. He nodded as Patton demanded he didn't have to hide it around him. "No, that's fair. I'm sorry, I wish you didn't have to keep your true self a secret. But... I don't want you getting hurt. My mom already seems to like you and she's got high standards," he added, maybe a little too quickly, but smirked to cover it.

"So if we're being completely open and honest around each other, I guess I should tell you why I'm "way too fucking concerned" over it," he said. He wasn't totally sure why he was doing it, but he felt like it was fair. Like Patton deserved to know. He took a deep breath and swallowed. "I'm gay too. And trust me, be glad you didn't grow up here. It's... not fun, trying to figure out who you are while everyone tells you it's wrong. You're only the third person I've told." He said with a small smile and a shrug. Strictly speaking, the fourth, but he was counting his father as a monster, not a person.

The change in Patton's mood was visible and obvious, and it brought a smile to Spencer's face. There was something about Patton, something that made Spencer want the other boy to like him so bad. He'd been so annoyed and Spence had nearly let himself believe that Patton was annoyed at Spence personally. But as he watched the dark curls fall into Patton's face and as he laughed, Spencer knew it wasn't him. He could feel his own posture relaxing as he adjusted his position to sit cross-legged facing Patton. The suggestion of talking about themselves sparked a fresh flame of anxiety in Spence's stomach, but he ignored it. He wasn't going to let it ruin the moment. He had finally found someone he could be himself around.

"What do you want to know? My favourite colour, food, school subject? Or is this going to become a deep meaningful conversation?" He asked. Part of him wanted it to be just the shallow stuff, their favourite things, but he was also aching for the kind of honesty that came with a deep, meaningful conversation. It had been too long since he'd had one of them. And the last one had probably been with his mom. Not that he didn't appreciate that he had that kind of relationship with his mom, but it wasn't the same.