*Unrelated gif^ I just found it adorable/hot af*

D A R K O' S P. O. V.

I needed to tell him. I didn't care about what others had thought anymore.

Weighing out the pros and the cons, it suddenly dawned on me; I would rather hope and pray that Taylor felt the same way than live a depressing life that my parents and other people control. If he didn't return my feelings, I'd at least have that weight off of my shoulders.

I was going to tell Taylor about my feelings on his birthday, which was the week after Lyra's party, then come out to my parents. I wasn't going to say it to his face, oh jeez, definitely not to his face, but in a card. His birthday card. How poetic, eh?

Fate had other plans.

I had the gift, and I had the card; it had been prepared and ready to go. I even hid it in my car, so my family wouldn't find it. It was a small porcelain piano figurine with a slip of paper dotted with musical notes, and a 'Happy Birthday!' card with my feelings written in it.

Now it's gone. I hate this fucking neighbourhood.

"Robbed? What, how and when?!" Taylor said his voice prickling with concern through my phone's speaker. I had sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair. My hand clutched the phone firmly as I began to explain what had happened.

"I was taking out the trash from my room when I saw a figure lurking near my car. They were clutching a large box in one arm, and when they saw me, they pulled out a knife. A fucking knife! They... they threatened to stab if I tried to come near them. I couldn't recognise the voice, but it was feminine," I uttered through my panicked breaths. Taylor let out a gasp when I said the assailant whipped out a knife.

"Could you see what they looked like?" Taylor questioned.

I shrugged, then when I realised he couldn't see me, I answered, "no. Whoever they were thought this through; they were dressed head to toe in black. The thief was quite tiny, though."

"What did they steal?" He asked, hurriedly. I sighed, glancing towards my car from my front porch.

"My entire glovebox. Your birthday present was in there. Whoever it was got away."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. After a tense few seconds, Taylor asked, "you bought me something?"

Psh, yeah, and it's gone as well as my confession of love. Fuck my life.

"I'm sorry dude. Stupid robbers are so fucking inconsiderate. Like, is it even possible to steal an entire glovebox?" I spat rhetorically.

Taylor had snorted before saying, "Dude, forget about my present. The most important thing is if you're okay right now! If a robber waved a knife at me, I would have shat my pants!"

I let out a short giggle before I looked at my car again, the sight of the cracked passenger seat's window making me frown.

"You're right. I'm fine now that I called you," I began, "speaking of which, I'm sorry that I called you so late. I thought I'd let you know about it, bro."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe," Taylor said.

My mouth curved into a warm smile at the sound of his words. I could call him at 4am for no reason, and he wouldn't be mad at all. Such a sweetheart.

I just hope I can get the piano figurine again; the shop was nearly out of stock.

"Well," he said, "I'm gonna head back off to bed. Lemme know if anything else happens. Night Darko."

I smirked. "Sure thing. Goodnight, my good sir."

Hearing a loud groan, I quickly hung up the phone before he could protest. Mum poked her head out of the front door, a cup of tea in her wrinkly hands.

"Hey," she greeted, "I've just gotten off the phone from the police. They're going to look further into it, but they say that they can't do much right now. I'm sorry Darko; if you need cash to replace your glovebox-"

"Oh no, Ma, it's okay." I said, interrupting her, "I have the money, it's just the contents of it were hard to replace. It's okay."

Mum crept out of the doorway and wrapped me in a tight hug, her tea miraculously not spilling in the process. "I love you; you know that right? I'm sorry that this happened to you, dear. You were so brave."

I smiled, before saying I loved her too. She released me from her grip, a weak smile forming on her lips as she wrapped her beige cardigan tighter around her tiny body.

"After this tea, I'm gonna head back to bed. If you're gonna stay up, please get a coat or something," she said, her eyes darting to my torso, "it's way too cold to be wearing only a singlet."

I smiled at my mum, who had sipped more of her black tea. A strong gust of crispy night air swept past us, making both of us shiver. I turned to her.

"I'm surprised Stefan and Dad slept through that," I said suddenly, "Thank you for coming outside."

She half smiled at my words as I looked back at my car. After a few moments, I turned to her, gave her a quick peck on the cheek and announced that I was going to bed. I need to sleep this off.

Maybe this was the universe's way of telling me that I shouldn't tell Taylor or my parents. Maybe I was just being too selfish and just wanted what was best for me, instead of what was best for everyone. UGH.

Maybe it's best if I just didn't say anything to anyone. I need to re-think this all.

~~~~~~~

I fluttered my eyelids open, then immediately snapped them shut while I covered my face with my hand. Out of all of the annoying places the sun decided to peek through my curtain, it decided to shine directly in my eyes. Thanks, sun, you prick.

I sat up on my bed, groaning as I stretched. I went to check my clock when I heard unfamiliar voices coming from the downstairs kitchen. Quickly pulling on some shorts over my boxers and slipping on a shirt, I snuck out of my room, sitting on the staircase. I began to eavesdrop.

"Like I said, I'm sorry, but there's nothing else we can do," a police officer said to my parents, his deep voice invading the living room. Stefan was in the kitchen eating a toasted sandwich while the officer talked to my parents.

"Surely you can dust for fingerprints or something!" Mum said, turning to dad. The officer frowned as he let out a sigh.

"For the third time ma'am, we did already! The culprit must have been smart and wore gloves; there was no trace of any fingerprints anywhere. Apart from the wrench and the wire cutters we found, there was nothing else peculiar about this."

Dad groaned, and mum sighed. Out of options, they had no choice but to dismiss the officer, of which swiftly left the house. I crept down from the staircase, pretending not to have heard that exchange. A wrench and wire cutters? Did the robber plan this robbery?

I guess that figurine and my card are lost forever.

Stefan looked up at me from his phone. "Mornin'. I'm sorry about your car; I heard what had happened."

I casually said 'yeah, thanks' as I peeked into the fridge, grabbing the carton of OJ and pouring a glass. I sat next to him as mum and dad entered the kitchen.

"I'm sorry son," dad said, "for now, keep your car here. I'll see to a replacement of your window. For now, use your motorcycle."

I stuck my thumb up as I took a huge gulp of orange juice. Dad left the room and parked himself in front of the TV, his legs lifting up as the chair reclined. Mum groaned as she opened the fridge.

"Do you want some toast like your brother or something else?"

I looked at her, setting the orange juice down onto the coaster on the marble island in the kitchen.

"I'm not that hungry, but thanks. I'll just have some juice."

She nodded. "Don't forget, it's Sunday. We're gonna go to church after this, so get ready. We're leaving in twenty minutes." She said as she left the room, leaving Stefan and me alone. He munched on his peanut-butter-and-jam toastie while he scrolled through his phone.

"You're oddly calm about this. If someone robbed my car, I would be so pissed off about it. To you, it's just like... a mild inconvenience." Stefan uttered. I shrugged.

"There was nothing great in the glovebox anyway. Besides, I have cash. I'll replace it later." I said. Apart from the present, nothing else was in there except for a few elastic bands and paper scraps. It really was just a mild inconvenience. I had the money, and I had a second means of transport anyway; my motorbike. It just means that I'll need to leave my car at the repair shop for a day or so.

There was a comfortable silence after that. We both just sat there, Stefan reading something on his phone while he ate as I sipped my drink. If Stefan knew about the card, I wouldn't doubt he'd tell dad the first opportunity he got. I came to a conclusion last night that I'll come out to Taylor first, then my family last... once I get the present again.

"Are you going to Lyra's party next weekend?" He said suddenly, looking up at me. I nodded, which made him smirk. I furrowed my brows.

"Please tell me you're not going too," I said, groaning when he hummed in response. Why did he have to go? You think he'd get enough entertainment from when he backstabbed me and got me into heaps of trouble with dad after one of Lyra's previous wild parties.

I was at one of her parties, and I didn't know that Stefan was invited too. Before the party though, I had a fight with Taylor. I had hurt him; before you ask, no, not physically (I would never intentionally hurt him that way) but... emotionally. Saying that 'I said some crappy stuff' would be the understatement of the century - I'm not sure what point I was trying to make, but I began bringing up his dad in my angered state. He ended up crying and saying that I was just like his mum.

Anyway, at the party, I couldn't stop thinking about the fight, replaying all of the things that were said and the things I didn't say. Thanks to the 'wise' words of Lyra, I downed half a carton of beer and ate two pot-brownies, thinking that it was the best decision at the time.

It wasn't for obvious reasons.

On the bright side, the drinking did help make me stop thinking about the fight. On the downside, the drinks-and-drugs combo turned me into an embarrassment. I vomited at least twice, I was a drunken swaying mess, and I was very flirtatious to guys (people shrugged off my advances because I was drunk and high, thank God.)

That was when Stefan saw me; A dazed, drunken dumbass lying half-conscious on Lyra's front lawn, covered in vomit. Not my proudest moment. I think dad's still pissed off at me for that, even though it happened months ago.

"I won't snitch on you again," He said, a small smirk appearing on his lips, "If you try and help to get me in with Lyra."

I furrowed my brows, nearly choking on my juice. "What? You want to get in with her?"

Stefan glared at me. Sensing he'd probably hit me, I added, "I... didn't realise she was your type." I'm surprised that he'd be interested in her. Eh, to each his own I guess.

He snorted. "Yeah, Lyra's cute. Besides, I'm way better for her than the douche she's currently seeing. I mean, look at him!"

He showed me his phone, and to my surprise, he was on Lyra's Facebook profile. Her profile pic was her with a creepy looking guy named Steven; his eyes were bugging out, he had a raccoon-coloured Mohawk, and he had an unsettling, toothy smile. I frowned at the photo, which made Stefan laugh.

"Fine, fine, he's gross," I said, making him giggle louder. "I wonder what she sees in him."

Stefan grunted before rolling his eyes. "He's filthy rich, that's why."

"He's still disgusting," I said, "no money in the world can fix that."

"No shit bro. I, on the other hand, however, am a sexy beast, that even the likes of Lyra will have a hard time resisting."

I slid my finger around the rim of my cup. "Well, being physically attractive won't be a problem, Lyra would date anything with a pulse and a dick," I said, making him snort. "While I would say that her being in a relationship is a problem, I don't think that they're actually connecting."

Stefan lifted a brow. "What do you mean?"

I smiled, thinking back to biology yesterday. "They're dysfunctional, and Lyra has crazy expectations of him. If anything, I can see her dumping him at the party, grabbing as much attention as she can. You'd have to swoop in then."

"Sweeeeeeet," Stefan said, finishing the last of his breakfast. "I guess I won't snitch on you then. Again, I mean."

"I'm still salty about that by the way," I said, making him roll my eyes.

"Well then, next time don't drink and get high under age, you idiot. I'm just being a good big bro. Don't act sinfully."

With that statement, Stefan left the kitchen. I had drunk the last of my drink before I went back to my room, to get ready for church.