Prompt 46 Ollie/Raphael @theaceofbrokenhearts
Ollie turned to Raphael with wide eyes.
“I don’t want to hear you talk down about yourself anymore. You are brilliant the way you are. You’re funny, and you’re kind and you make me feel included. Just because you don’t go to Rosewood doesn’t make you any less awesome. Uh, no homo.”
Ollie raised an eyebrow, “No homo? Not even a little?
Raphael grinned and Ollie felt butterflies fluttering inside him. He took a step closer to Raphael and grabbed his hand.
“Thank you, Raph. I just struggle sometimes with comparing myself to others, especially since Lottie seems to be doing so well.”
“Well clearly she’s not doing as well as you, because she’s so busy she misses out on quality Raph time; speaking of which, you’re helping me learn lines for my play, alright?”
Raphael pulled out his two copies of Twelfth Night and handed one to Ollie.
“I’m playing Orsino. You’re reading for Viola so basically you’ve got to pretend to be my homie but you’re actually in love with me.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard considering that’s the truth…”, Ollie muttered.
Raphael was too busy flipping to the right scene to hear what Ollie had just said.
“It’s Act 2, Scene 4. Starting from ‘Come hither’.”
Ollie flipped through the script until he came to the right page.
As they started to rehearse Ollie slowly realised he was in almost exactly the same position as Viola. He was in love with a man that couldn’t love him back. He was pretty sure Raphael was straight, and even if he wasn’t he’d never love someone like him.
“What kind of woman is’t?”, Raphael’s words pulled Ollie out of his thoughts.
“I- uh- of your complexion.”
Ollie could feel his face heat up, the panic almost visible. In that moment, he felt exactly Viola’s plight. But at least Ollie could hide his true intent behind the script.
Raphael put down his book and looked at Ollie for a moment with some indecipherable emotion written all over his face.
“Ollie, what happened? At first you were just reading words off the page, but something very real just happened there.”
Ollie tensed up and prayed if he played dumb it would all be okay.
“Ollie, I’m serious.”, Ollie’s heart was racing faster than it ever had before, “Were you just… acting? Because damn, I almost believed you were into me for a second.”
Ollie’s heart felt like it had stopped. Raphael was completely oblivious to his feelings. He lifted a shaky hand to the back of his neck, and looked up awkwardly at Raphael.
“Nah, man. Just rehearsing. I’ve- um- I’ve done Shakespeare with Lottie before.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you were into me though, I’m a catch.”, Raphael winked.
Ollie giggled and felt his nervousness dissipate. Why was he so worried? It was just Raphael, the most laidback guy he’d ever met. He felt a surge of warmth. He was alone with Raphael. Nobody else to judge him. Raphael always picked him up when he was down, he was the funniest guy he’d met, he was smarter and kinder than anyone gave him credit for. An invisible hand pushed him forward, and he almost fell, but a pair of warm arms caught him.
“Bro, you good? You’re acting kinda strange right now.”, Raphael helped Ollie back into a standing position and raised an eyebrow.
Ollie just grinned. He’d already made a fool of himself and Raphael was just worried; what harm could be caused by just telling him what was on his mind?
“You know what? I am good. Whenever I’m around you, I feel warm and happy. I don’t know how you haven’t figured it out yet but I like you, bro.”
“That’s gay.”, Raphaael smileed.
“Bi, actually. But the sentiment still applies.”
“Oh, shut up and just kiss me.”
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