“Hey, babe,” said Chris as he opened the door for his boyfriend, Ryan.
“Chris?” asked Ryan, peeking around the corner, “What took you so long to answer the door…? Is… someone in there with you?”
“What? said Chris, “No! Babe, it’s just me. Sorry, I – uh – fell asleep when I got home from the gym.”
“I swear I heard someone in here –” said Ryan, letting himself into the room and glancing things over.
“Babe!” said Chris, “Look at me. No one’s in here, okay?”
He leaned in to give Ryan a kiss. Ryan hesitantly kissed him back.
“It’s just… something’s been off lately, but I can’t figure out what it is,” he said, “It’s like you act completely different all the sudden and – oh my god! What’s wrong with your face!?”
“Shit!” said Chris, quickly covering his face with his hand and turning away.
“What’s wrong with your face!” Ryan repeated, “Who are you!”
“Damn it!” said Chris, helplessly trying to press the facemask up against his face, “Why is this happening!”
Ryan came up behind him and pulled the facemask back. Underneath, he instantly recognized the face of his best friend, Luke.
“Luke –?” he said, shocked.
“Yeah,” said Luke, his eyes filling with tears, “Ry – I’m so sorry. I don’t even know where to begin. I was so jealous of Chris. I thought if I wore this costume and made myself look like him, then I could be with you.”
“Holy shit,” said Ryan, “Are you kidding me? But dude, you’re straight.”
“That’s what I tell everybody,” said Luke, “And you know my family. There’s no way I could ever tell them that I… you know… like guys. I’ve wanted to be with you for so long, and I was always jealous of the guys who got to be with you. Especially Chris. He’s so hot, and I can just tell you really like him. I just thought –”
“Come here, man,” said Ryan, bringing his friend in for a hug, “Um – do you wanna put this back on?”
He cautiously tugged at the Chris facemask, which was crumpled up around Luke’s neck.
“Really?” said Luke, “You’re not mad at me?”
“No…” said Ryan, “Actually, the reason I came over here today was to break up with Chris… But now that I know it’s you inside of there, maybe things might just work out between the two of us.”
Ryan helped Luke pull up the facemask and Luke patted around the edges, this time making sure everything was perfectly secure and in place. He smiled with Chris’ smile.
“So, Chris,” said Ryan with a wink, “Where were we?”
“Well I think I was just about to let my boyfriend in and we were gonna hang out for the evening. Maybe watch the game, make out a little bit?”
“Mmm, I like that,” said Ryan, giving his costumed best friend a passionate kiss, “Especially the making out part!”