Boyfriend Material

Luc and Oliver discuss who knows the truth of their rouse and who to keep in the dark. Oliver offers to let Luc stay over for a while, and Luc watches television while Oliver works. Luc finds The Whole Package, a singing competition his dad is a judge for. In one of the episodes, Luc watches Jon have a tender moment discussing fatherhood with a complete stranger and learns that Jon never met his own father. Luc is deeply hurt by the revelation and the clear tenderness between Jon and the contestant. He falls asleep.

Oliver wakes Luc up. Luc apologizes and offers to let Oliver out of the deal, which Oliver rejects. The two debate Oliver’s ethical opinions, and Luc explains why people struggle with concepts like ethical vegetarianism, saying that it makes them look at the wrongness in the world when they would rather ignore it. Oliver invites Luc to spend the night. Luc teases Oliver about his pajamas as they get into bed. After some sleeplessness, Luc opens up about Jon’s cancer, and Oliver again advises him to try to build a relationship with his father. Luc asks Oliver to accompany him, and he agrees. They fall asleep with their hands touching.

Luc tells Alex another unsuccessful joke and then vents that his fake relationship is not winning donors. Alex invites Luc and Oliver to spend time with him and his girlfriend, Miffy. Miffy is the daughter of an earl and was wrapped up in a kidnapping scandal, so she has drawn the attention of a lot of press.

Oliver surprises Luc by calling him over lunch, wanting to talk about a case that went poorly. Luc cheers him up and invites him to drinks with Alex and Miffy. Luc tries to contact Jon through his manager, a man who doesn’t believe that Luc is who he says he is. Luc leaves a message anyway. He spends a moment grappling with his father’s mortality before checking his email, where he finds an email from an ex-donor saying he will not give money to their cause because of the organization’s association with Luc’s “lifestyle” (117).

Alex takes Luc to a very fancy club, where the atmosphere makes Luc uncomfortable. Oliver arrives, and Luc is surprised by how glad he is to see him. Alex bumbles through their initial encounter. They discuss Alex’s father and his political leanings, such as his desire to abolish jury trials. Luc admires Oliver’s passion and appearance, while Oliver debates in favor of maintaining juries. Miffy arrives and strikes Luc as very similar to Alex in her outlook and thought processes. The two couples enter the dining room.

The dinner consists entirely of meat products. Although Luc tries to advocate for Oliver, Miffy and Alex struggle with the concept of vegetarianism. This sparks a debate about vegetarianism and the economy. Alex forgets that Oliver is not Luc’s fake boyfriend; when Luc corrects him, Miffy emphasizes that Oliver and Alex make a good fake couple.

Luc feels out of place when the conversation turns to rich private schools and lashes out at Oliver as a result, earning rebukes from Alex and Miffy. Luc storms away from the table.

In the bathroom, Luc tries to reconcile his feelings of jealousy and discomfort. His musings are interrupted by a man who believes him to be a criminal. Luc returns to the dinner table and manages to integrate himself back into the conversation. Luc tries to tell the others about the altercation in the bathroom, but the man appears at their table and is recognized by the others as a prominent judge. After he leaves, the conversation turns to dessert.

As the two couples exit the restaurant, they are flocked by paparazzi. Luc is used to having his photograph sneakily taken and is stunned by the level of attention on them. Luc tries to escape the throng and is harassed with snide comments. Oliver intervenes, calmly but firmly talking to the paparazzi while escorting Luc to safety. Oliver flags a taxi, and he and Luc travel to Luc’s apartment. Although they initially argue about Luc’s behavior over dinner, Luc reveals how left out he felt, believing that Oliver sided with Alex instead of him. Oliver apologizes and confesses his confusion about how to act in public.

Oliver takes in Luc’s disaster of an apartment. He stays to discuss how they should behave in public. He and Luc struggle to find a comfortable way to touch casually. Luc suggests they have sex to help with their physical awkwardness. Oliver rejects this, believing emotional intimacy to be a precursor to sex; this discussion hurts Luc’s feelings because of his own casual outlook on physical intimacy. They decide that Oliver should spend the night to keep up appearances, but Oliver almost flees when he sees the state of Luc’s bedroom.

Together, they change his sheets, and Luc teasingly ogles Oliver while he undresses for bed. When Luc finds himself strongly attracted to Oliver, he puts on oversized clothes to hide himself from view. That night, they discuss whether people can be objectively good or bad. When Luc reveals he is attracted to Oliver, Oliver returns the sentiment. Luc thanks him for dealing with the reporters, and Oliver holds him until he falls asleep.

Luc tries to apologize to Alex for his behavior. Alex thinks that it’s a joke and misunderstands what Luc is apologizing for. Press coverage about their night out is light and does not contain much information about Luc.

Luc devotes his time to taking care of crises related to the Beetle Drive. He gets a text from Oliver that begins with “Bad news;” he avoids looking at the rest for fear Oliver is breaking up with him. Inspired by Oliver, Luc is kinder to his coworkers, surprising them with his helpfulness. He gets roped into making everyone coffee and finally returns to his desk to read Oliver’s messages. Oliver simply warns him of a big case that will require his attention for the next week. Luc is relieved but also ashamed of how worried he was to begin with.

Luc struggles with loneliness in Oliver’s absence, although the two text periodically throughout the following week.

Late Tuesday night, Luc tries to clean his apartment to feel better but becomes overwhelmed with the task and starts crying. Jon calls him and invites him to his farmhouse in Lancashire on an upcoming Sunday; Luc agrees on the condition that Oliver can come and is partially disappointed when his father immediately acquiesces. Luc hangs up and falls asleep.

The next morning, Luc finds texts from Oliver saying that he misses Luc and then subsequent messages worrying that he is coming across as clingy. Luc assures him otherwise and tells him about their plans for the next weekend. At work, Luc finds an email from a donor agreeing to come to the Beetle Drive and accepting his invitation to lunch. His coworker Rhys provides him with a surprisingly good vegan restaurant recommendation. He challenges Luc’s preconceptions about his coworkers by revealing his close friend is a lesbian.

Luc and Oliver text and make plans for lunch. Luc reaches out to his friends for help cleaning his apartment. They arrange a date to help that coming weekend. When Priya points out that he only texts when he needs help, Luc resolves to put in a larger effort.

Luc and Oliver have lunch twice the following week, with Luc increasingly enjoying their time together. Bridget cancels coming to the cleaning party because of a work catastrophe, but the rest of his friends arrive. Luc is deeply embarrassed. Although his friends tease him, they dive into helping him. Luc wonders whether Oliver will be impressed enough to kiss him.

As they do laundry, the friends have a picnic in Luc’s living room. Luc smiles at a text from Oliver. His friends immediately fill their friend-specific group chat with messages to Bridget, teasing Luc about his feelings for Oliver. They tease him for the rest of the afternoon, and Luc cannot defend himself.