Let me be...

Your motivation

"I'm sorry for being late." Corey apologizes, happiness noticeable in his voice.

Jess rises an eyebrow at him before looking at her watch. "It's just been a minute." She informs with a chuckle.

"Really?" Corey asks innocently, causing his companion to roll her eyes and smile.

"Yes."

"What are we waiting for, then?" He adds while placing a binder on the large table in front of him.

The auditions begin with a kid doing a magic trick.

It all goes as it should until Jess' phone goes off.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes.

Corey shakes his head slowly. "Don't worry, I'll continue so we can finish as planned."

The woman gives him a grateful smile before walking out the auditorium to answer the call.

Once the Irish man is alone, he asks the next participants to go on the stage and start their performance.

It surprises him to see that one of the two children under the spotlight is dressed as a girl, but he doesn't question it at all.

"Could you tell me your names and grade of studies, please?"

"I'm John and he's my friend Evan." The taller says excitedly, pointing at his companion. "We're from third grade." He adds proudly.

"Alright." Corey whispers with a smile while writing down the information on the small notebook Jess left on the table. "What's your presentation about?" He asks, motioning to Evan's clothes.

"I-It's a small play my brother wrote a while ago." The raven-haired boy stutters, playing nervously with the edge of the skirt he's wearing over his jeans.

Corey scratches the back of his neck, leaning his head to the right in doubt.

He unintentionally looks back over his shoulder, only to conclude that his co-worker might take a while.

"Ok. . ." He says, turning around on his seat, finding a couple of innocent smiles waiting for his answer. "Sure." He says, "Let's see how it goes."

The expectations aren't even clear, yet they're destroyed easily by the end of their performance. Corey is speechless, the smile only leaving his face in the moment he takes into account all the consequences of him accepting this play in the show.

"Thank you, the results will be published tomorrow." The teacher says, watching the children leave cheerfully.

Once they're out of sight, he rests his elbows on the table and buries his face in the palms of his hands.

The play was about a transgender kid. And it showed the worst side of humanity; a side he knows very well.

Corey loved the performance though.

Even if the boys were awkward and the lines weren't the best. He loved every single thing about it. He loved how rebellious it would be from him to include it.

His heart starts beating faster as his thoughts land again on his not so secret lover, making him happy again. This small decision could change a million of prejudices.

It could change the world for everyone for the better. And he will take all the responsibility of whatever happens in the future.

The screeching of a door snaps him out of his thoughts and forces him to write down a small sum up of the last performance on the notebook.

He has skipped certain details, of course, which shows him a little anxious when his partner sits right beside him.

"I'm sorry it took so long." The woman apologizes, fixing her glasses. "Did I miss anything?"

Corey smiles back at her, a spark shining in his eyes while he says how good the play he just witnessed was.

In the end, Jessica is the one on charge to choose the final performances. Thus, Wallcox tries his best to emphasize the greatness of the third graders' play.

Once the auditions are over, Jess and Corey take all their stuff and exit the auditorium.

"Thank you so much or helping me out." She says while locking the door.

"No problem, it was fun." He chuckles as his phone goes off.

"Uh... I don't really feel like going through the files today. Would you like to go out somewhere?" The brown-haired woman asks, hope clear in her voice.

However, the text Corey has just read saves him from making up an excuse. "Sorry, Jess. A friend of mine is sick, and I'll go visit him."

"Oh. . . It's ok, no problem. Hope it's nothing too bad."

Even though her words are honest, there's something strange in her eyes. It frightens him, actually. Because he feels like she can see through the darkness that lies behind his blue irises, like she already knows every secret he's hiding.

"N-No..." He says, shaking his head and walking back. "Er-See you on Monday." He fakes a smile and turns on his heels before sprinting to the parking lot.

He locks himself in his car before thinking out loud.

"There's no way she could know."

"Has she seen us together?"

"We could fake just a friendship, right?"

"Will she tell anyone?"

The panic is stopped, nonetheless, by his phone. Corey hadn't noticed how tight the grip was on the device until it goes off again, a message immediately popping up on the screen.

"Hey, I won't be able to meet you tonight. I'm sick."

"

–Dark

A warm feeling in his chest replaces the frightening possibilities.

Corey, without wasting more time, tosses his phone to the passenger's seat and starts driving to the nearest flower shop.

After buying a bouquet of roses, he makes his way to the last place he found true love.

He parks the car, taking his phone again along with the small gift and exits the vehicle.

The fresh air makes his hair a mess as he walks to the sidewalk.

To his surprise, someone opens the door from the inside before he can even get to knock at it.

The blond wants to hide the flowers behind him, but it's too late for the two men in the doorway have already seen them.

While a man with hazel eyes looks at him with confusion, the other one smiles down at Corey.

"Let's go, Ohm." The bearded man says with a smile while patting softly the other's back.

They both exit the house and walk away, leaving Corey with tangled thoughts and an open door.

In the living room, Mark wonders why the front door hasn't closed yet. After thinking about it for what feels like forever, he finally clears his throat. "Is anyone there?" His weak, husky voice says, echoing in his empty house.

Corey looks down at the red roses and sighs heavily, looking over his shoulder.

In the moment the host decides to get up from the couch, he gets a couple of texts, which force him to stand still.

"Your boy is goddamn sweet

You better introduce him soon!! I'll say nothing though! XD Take care."

–Luke

Reads the first one, a door slamming right after.

He looks up from the device and takes a couple of steps forward.

No one has entered and he concludes that his friends stayed a little longer outside and forgot about the door until he spoke up.

However, his phone goes off one more time.

"I told you you were going to get sick! Haha hope you're not dying :P"

He tightens the grip on the device and frowns his eyebrows.

After reading the very last text, a wave of emotions attempts to break him down.

His eyes look desperately for the sender on the street with no success before landing on the bouquet of roses that has been carefully placed on the 'welcome' carpet right by the door.

"By the way, I got something for you outside your house

–Corey