Weekly phone calls with his mother had become a staple since he left for college. Being a single mother, she couldn't help but worry, always ensuring he ate well or asking how his friends were doing. Till pretends to be irked by the interrogation but secretly appreciates having a place to vent.

Which leads him to his current predicament...

"Winter break is coming up, dear. You're coming home, aren't you?" Io reminds him, the clattering of pans filling the line. The background noise is oddly calming as Till sketches, criss-cross on his sheets. He squints, erasing a faulty line on the thick bristol paper. "I'm planning on it. I should finish my final pieces a few days before leaving." Till hums.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," Io starts, Till only half listening as he presses his pencil down, adding detail as he shades.

"Is your boyfriend coming with you?"

SNAP

Till blinks, his eyes wide as he stares at his drawing, the lead scattered in tiny bits across the page. "W-What?" Till sputters, his eyes boring into his phone, which lays innocently beside him on the bed. "You know, Ivan? You said he didn't have anywhere to go for the break. I assumed he was coming?" She asks innocently as if her words weren't fucking insane? Ivan wasn't his boyfriend! Did he talk about the man so much that his mother had assumed something so drastic?

"Ivans not—we're not..." Till sputters over his words, too shocked to even reply properly. "Oh no, did you two fight?" Io mumbles, sounding devastated. He panics, not wanting to upset his mother, who works so hard for him. "N-No! We're fine! He's coming." Till blurts out before he can even think.

Shit.

—

That Olympic-level slip-up is why he's sat here now, foot tapping anxiously as he awaits Ivan's arrival. He had cryptically texted the man for an emergency meeting at their usual cafe on campus. Is he really about to beg Ivan, the man who gets on his nerves like it's a science, to be his fake boyfriend for the holidays?

Yes. Yes, he is.