alt_ernative"Hi Mrs. Kaplan, is Billy home?" He didn't care that it was like he was 16 all over again. He didn't care that she must be beyond shocked to see him standing at the door--did Billy ever tell her what happened, really, or had she been in the dark like Teddy? All he cared about was getting down the hall to Billy's room without running away or spontaneously combusting or turning into a duck.
Teddy opened Billy's door without knocking, shutting it again, locking it. They were old enough now that there were no longer rules against being alone together, they'd been alone together for years, it was too late to take any of that back. But even if they weren't, it wouldn't matter. He'd take any punishment or scolding they could throw at him if he could just get out what he needed to say.
"I don't care if it's real, okay? I believe that it's real, more than I've believed in anything else, but in the end it doesn't matter. I want it anyway. I want you anyway."