Roman took a sip of his red wine while watching Estelle next to him. Her dirty blonde hair was put up to perfection. Something she only did when they visited her parents like now. Her grey eyes were sad. Her parents never caught on. They probably thought that was just how they looked. Roman knew better. He knew her better than her own parents did, and it broke his heart again and again that she had to pretend to be someone else than the person she was.

"When are you two going to get married?" Her mother asked.
"Who says we're ever going to?" Estelle asked.
"Nonsense," her mother waved her off. "I want grandchildren, and you better do it in the right order. Marriage first, then children. Imagine what people will think if you have a bastard baby."

Estelle looked up at Roman. She didn't need to say anything. He knew exactly what she was thinking. They were in it together. For years they had pretended to be a couple in front of her parents to keep them satisfied in their own fantasy world. They even lived together in his house. Only as room mates though. She had her own room. A room her parents thought was a guest room. Asking Roman to play her boyfriend was a way to keep them off her back and not try to push her on dates with sons of their friends.

"Roman?" Her mother looked at him. "When are you going to ask her to marry you?"
"I don't know," Roman answered. "I like how things are with us. We're good together as we are."
"Don't wait too long. She's not getting any younger," her father chimed in.
"Stop it," Estelle sighed. "Don't put pressure on him. It's not fair to put him on the spot like that."

Her parents smirked. Roman was done waiting for an apology. Years being their fake son in law had taught him that they never thought they were wrong so they never apologized for anything.

"We should get home," Estelle said. "You got that early meeting tomorrow."
"Yes, it's probably better I get some sleep," Roman said.

It was a lie though. There was no morning meeting. He had the day off actually. Her parents didn't know that. Since he bought and sold to people in countries with other time zones, he often had meetings at weird hours.

They stood up and said their goodbyes. None of them spoke as they left the house, entered the car and drove home. He knew she felt lost and broken all over again. For ten years she had to lie about who she was and hide it. Ever since they discovered the truth when she was 17 and living in England. They moved back home only days later and forced her into a crazy bible camp to turn her straight again.

Estelle was as gay as they came. She came out of that bible camp pretending to be straight. She met Roman not long after. He actually invited her out on a date. She blurted out that she was gay and then immediately looked around to see if anyone heard her. They became friends that day, and that friendship moved into this fake relationship to please her parents.

"Do you wanna go to a gay bar and pick up a hot chick?" He asked.
"You know you're gonna be hit on. You always do. They all find you gorgeous," she said.
"I don't mind," he smirked. "It feels good to be called beautiful sometimes. And I only flirt a little. I never lead them on."
"Alright, let me get out of these stiff clothes and put my hair down, and we can go party," she said.

He followed her into her room, threw himself on the bed and watched her change her clothes. It never felt like it was wrong to watch her change. After years of friendship, he never looked at her in a sexual way.

"You should tell them," he said.
"Don't!" She growled.
"They already know. For fuck's sake, they caught you with that Paige girl back then, and ten years later you're still not over her," he said.
"Shut up!" She hissed.
"Fine," he sighed. "But they're fucking stupid if they think those straight camps work."
"They are," she said. "Fucking stupid."