The more Colby got to know Katrina, the more he liked her. She was sweet and overly caring. She was gentle, purely genuine, and most of all, harbored no jealousy at all. It didn't bother her a bit that Sam was so close to Colby. She just commented dazedly about how she wished she had a friendship like that.

"What about other girls, though? Do you get jealous of him being around flirty ones who...stare too long or like, linger when they touch him?" Colby asked one day when him and Kat were lounging at her flat. Sam had no idea this friendship had blossomed between them, and was at their flat, editing videos, probably wondering where Colby had actually wandered off to.

"Sort of. Same goes for boys, too," She said quietly. Kat was fully aware of Sam's bisexuality, but felt no disgust whatsoever. It had made Sam giddy when he came out to her and she accepted him. "But I trust you, Colby. You're such a lovely boy."

Colby's stomach turned. She trusted him and he was going behind her back, getting her boyfriend off on a daily basis.

The agreement hadn't advanced much in the past two weeks. It continued to be messy handjobs or imprompt blowjobs. They always ended in a content Sam and a extremely hard, unsatisfied Colby. He thought this friends with benefits thing meant they both got each other off, but not once since their first encounter had Sam offered to return the favor.

It was pissing Colby off. He knew he was being used as some kind of human sex toy, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to Sam. To ask him to get him off or tell him he couldn't do this anymore. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the mug in his hand, and Kat's voice brought him back to reality.

"Colby, dude, are you ok?"

Colby snapped his eyes up from the liquid swirling about in his cup to catch Katrina's worried gaze. "Uh, yeah, I'm, um, fine." He knew that she wasn't going to believe him, not after he stuttered over a simple answer. He bit his lip at her knowing stare.

"C'mon, now. There's no need to hide it from me, I'll help you all I can."

Except there is a reason to hide it from you because it involves your boyfriend cheating on you with me, Colby thought. "Um," He coughed, trying to form some kind of bullshit excuse in his mind. He jumped, nearly smacking Kat as he felt her soft, delicate fingers brush over his neck. "W-What—"

"Colby, are you seeing someone?"

What the fuck.

For a moment, Colby's heart began to thud. He thought she was coming onto him, leaning close, hands gently dancing over his neck and collar bones. Then she clicked her tongue, "Haven't you looked in a mirror? You forgot to cover this crazy amount of hickeys, my dear." She smirked, covering her mouth as she sniggered. Colby's face turned scarlet and he looked down.

Okay, so there was no use in completely lying. "Y-Yeah..." He muttered, voice wavering. "I am. Sort of. But they—uh, but he's sort of...."

Katrina cut him off with a gasp. "Colby are you being abused? You need to tell me now. I will kick his ass—"

"Kat! No!" Colby rushed into an explanation, trying to calm her nerves. "He just makes me do all the, uh, work and I never get anything in return!" His face was absolutely burning and he looked down into his mug again.

"So..." She looked to the side, "I'm guessing you don't mean house work...and you mean a little more...um, bedroom work."

Colby only nodded.

Katrina giggled a bit, bringing the lip of her mug up to her mouth and sipping at the hot liquid it contained. “Well,” She sighs, “I think you should talk to him about it? It’s quite unfair for you to be, um, used like that.”

“I suppose...I didn’t want to say anything though because I just...didn’t want to be troublesome.”

“You’re not troublesome for wanting your relationship to go both ways! I would be quite disappointed if Sam was using me in any way, shape, or form.”

The color drained from Colby’s face and he looked down, fingers working at a loose string on his jumper.

Katrina continued, not noticing his expression. “If you truly think that your boyfriend would find it annoying that you wanted him to, erm, return the pleasure then maybe he’s not so great of a boyfriend, yeah?”

“Um, yeah. I’ll talk to him about it, okay? I think I should...go home. Sam is probably worried about me.” His voice was shaking and so were his hands as he handed the mug over to the girl. “Thank you for hanging out with me and talking to me today. I always enjoy your presence.”

Katrina raised a brow at his sudden drop in mood and his scared composure, but brushed it off quickly, assuming it was because of his “boyfriend troubles” being brought up. She set the mugs down on the coffee table, “Of course, Colby. I always enjoy having you around.
Come back and see me soon, okay?”

She stood up and rounded the tall boy into her arms, tugging himdown to press a kiss to his cheek. She smiled, patting his shoulder. “Text me tonight and tell me how things Not in too much detail, though.” She winked.

Colby’s blushed up to his ears, and whispered, “Thank you.”

He jogged down the steps of her complex after saying anoher goodbye, and began making his way towards his shared flat once again. Colby pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking his many notifications. Three new messages from Sam?

Sammy - 3:37 p.m.

   Colby you left an hour ago.

Sammy - 4:06 p.m.

   Colby seriously! Where are you??

Sammy - 4:43 p.m.

   Colby pls. Im worried. :(

Colby bit his lip. He felt bad for not paying attention to his messages, but he was quite caught up in Katrinas’s many stories about the puppies she worked with at the shelter last weekend… He pocketed his phone, deciding he’d just explain to Sam about his blossoming friendship with Kat when he got home.

After a stop at the shop to gather a few necessary items needed at their flat, he found himself struggling to unlock the door. Once he was inside, he made his way into the kitchen, beginning to put things in their necessary spots.

“Colby?” He turned to look at the entryway where his flatmate soon appeared, looking flustered. “Oh my god, Colby! I was starting to seriously get worried!” He breathed.

“Oh, um, sorry.” He laughed drly, “I was hanging out with a friend.”

Sam pouted, his brows furrowing.

“Who?”

“Um...Katrina.”

Silence followed the answer.

“My girlfriend?”

Colby’s eye twitched, “Yes. Your girlfriend."

Sam was quiet again, and Colby couldn't read his emotion, "Why?"

"Because she's nice and cool. We get along nicely. She's become a friend of mine, is that okay with you?" Colby asked bitterly.

"What? Of course—I mean, you don't need my permission to be someone's friend anyways...it's just...you seemed to dislike her so I..."

"Oh no. Sorry that I don't hate your girlfriend and you can't have your two little pets separate from each other and all to yourself." Colby snapped, slamming the milk he'd purchased onto the counter. Sam jumped, looking taken aback.

"Pets? What does that mean?"

"Kat is for your affections. Your needy little self wanting to have fun and go on dates and kiss and hug and cuddle someone. I'm for your stupid sexual desires. You use me to get you off like a toy and then leave once you're done. I thought this stupid friends with benefits things was a two way sort of deal! If I knew I was gonna be jerking and sucking you off all the time for no sort of payback, I would have told you no and let you suffer from fucking blue balls!" Colby breathed in sharply, having lost his breath a bit in his rant that slowly raised in octave until he was yelling. He hoped the neighbors didn't understand his words.

"Colby, I- fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that. You're not a toy, you're my best friend and- and I really-"

"Appreciate what I'm doing? I know." He put the milk into the fridge after checking that he hadn't ruined the container in any way, and then retreated into the apartment, Sam following close behind him.

He dropped onto the sofa, eyes following Sam as he sat next to him.

"Let me make up for it."

"Not right now. I kind of just wanna be left alone, okay?" Colby crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at his lap. He heard Sam let out a quiet sigh before he stood up.

"Alright, I understand. I'm sorry I made you feel that way," He muttered, "But next time, I swear...I'll fix it." When Colby didn't respond, Sam trudged off to his room guiltily, leaving his friend to sulk.

__________________

The next time Colby saw Kat, she had come over to his and Sam’s flat for a game night and the promise of junk food. As soon as she was alone with Colby, though, she began prying with a smirk.

“So...did you two talk?”

Colby coughed a bit embarrassedly, “Um, yeah. We did.”

“And, and? Did it go over well? Did you get laid?” She pushed, voice to bubbly and excited for the topic at hand.

Colby spluttered, “Katrina! Come on.” He glanced around, as if checking for anyone secretly listening in, before he leaned closer to her, “No. But that’s because I asked him to leave me be for the time.”

“Ohh..” The girl pouted, patting Colby on the cheek. “I hope you resolve it completely real soon, then, hon.”

“Resolve what?” Sam’s voice cut in as he entered the room, sitting himself between Colby and Katrina as they parted to their respective sides of the sofa again.

“Nothing-” Colby tried before Kat was speaking over him.

“Colby’s having boyfriend trouble.” She said in a teasing voice, reaching over Sam to pat the brunette on the thigh.

Colby’s cheeks went red and he froze as Sam turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, “Boyfriend? Since when do you have a boyfriend?”

Kat’s eyes went wide and she placed both her hands over her mouth, giving Colby an apologetic look so genuine that he forgave her in that moment. “Um...since...a while.” He lied causing an angry look to flash over his friend’s face. It made a furious emotion of his own stir inside of him, wondering why Sam had a reason to be mad at him for dating someone when he had a girlfriend. That he was cheating on, nonetheless.

“Why do you care? Let’s just get back to our game, okay?” He reached to get the controllers from the floor, handing them back to their owners as he started the game again. There was an obvious tension in the air as they played through the levels of their game silently, and after another hour of the thick silence, Kat broke it with the clearing of her throat.

“Well,” She said as the level came to an end, “It’s really late. I should get going. I’ll stop by tomorrow, though, okay?” She smiled softly, standing and leaving a chaste kiss on Sam’s lips before moving over to gently hug Colby.

When she was gone, Sam's glare returned and it was immediately placed upon Colby.

“What?” He snapped.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were with somebody? I mean, I kind of thought we sh-”

“For fuck’s sake! You’re the person I’m seeing, you idiot!” Sam went quiet, “She saw the stupid marks you left on me and started asking me questions, so I lied and said I had a boyfriend.” You know, so your girlfriend wouldn’t know you were cheating on her with your best mate, He added mentally. “So, chill out, I haven’t been secretly dating someone. Okay?”

Sam nodded, face pink with shame, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten worked up, anyway.”

Colby smiled sheepishly, “Um, it’s okay. I can see why you’d be a little miffed.” He glanced down at the controller in his hand, moving to wave it around a bit, “So, do you wanna continue this, or what?”

Sam’s expression changed almost instantly, a smug grin on his face, “You’re on.”

Colby laughed, feeling happier than he had been as the game started.

Unknown to him, things were only about to go downhill from this moment of bliss.