Ahoy!

I know the world's a broken bone  But melt your headaches, call it home

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong​:

“Hey,” Was the single syllable word to leave Victor’s mouth. It was simple, unassuming in every possible way. It wrecked Gabby. At his core, he burned and burned and burned.

The moment their gazes met was gut wrenching for Gabby. He thought he’d passed this stage of his life. His past embarrassment had simmered to grief and the grief had spread until it made its way to his central being. While it no longer consumed him, it resided in him and it kept him always a bit cautious in love, always a bit hopeless. All the blame couldn’t fall onto Victor, though. Gabby was a romantic, a hopeless one at that. He imagined the best and he settled sometimes because he saw things that weren’t there.

Maybe he’d imagined Victor’s feelings… No, that wasn’t right.

Victor may have not written him, but he never lied to Gabby. He never lied to anyone. Maybe Gabby had imagined the depth. Maybe he missed the signs— it shouldn’t have mattered though. It shouldn’t matter that Victor didn’t run at the sight of him, that he didn’t think Gabby hadn’t ruined his night. None of it should’ve mattered. Gabriel knew what having it matter did to him.

Despite the turmoil growing within him, Gabby kept staring at Victor, waiting for him to speak. He waited and waited and then he heard Victor speak. He pressed his lips together, having a hard time finding the right emotions. When you’re asked by your ex not to leave, is it an indirect message to stay? Do you suddenly matter to them? Or is there a pitfall ahead? Gabby felt his unease grow as conflicting emotions surfaced. Suddenly, Victor was quiet and Gabby couldn’t find the words to ask him what he meant. The silence shadowed over them, only receding when Victor spoke again.

“I just want to know why.”

“Wh-what?” Gabriel uttered in disbelief. His heart stilled before picking up its pace and pounding his chest. He thought he could hear its attempt at escape. He thought he’d faint. But not really… Well, just a little.

Gabby stared in shock and he wondered what Victor meant because it couldn’t equate to what Gabby thought he meant. It couldn’t. But… Victor spoke again and threw Gabby a look of such complexity that he couldn’t fathom what Victor was thinking. It was unfair how Victor’s look alone could make all his words catch at his throat. He wasn’t sure how to think when Victor looked at him like that, like Gabby was at the center of his problems.

Like it’d been his fault. His decision.

“What are you asking of me? What didn’t I give you then that you didn’t take and decide you didn’t want anymore?” Gabby’s voice wavered, awkward pauses where his throat constricted.

“What happened between us wasn’t left up to me.”

“What happened between us wasn’t left up to me.”

It took all of Vic’s power to stay composed as much as possible. To not fly off the handles. He could never imagine blowing up at Gabby. He never had! But FUCK. What did Gabby mean by that? He was the fuckin’ one who didn’t respond! But maybe Vic shouldn’t have been quick to point fingers? Maybe there was something he missed? Maybe there was something he did that he wasn’t aware of that really hurt Gabby. 

Vic just really wanted to know what the hell happened. Gabby couldn’t have told him that much? He couldn’t have maybe called him on his house phone or something at the time? He couldn’t have spent 25 cents on a small text to at least give Vic some closure? But maybe Vic could have called him or sent him a text too. There were so many things Vic could have done, but he was just so afraid he’d intrude or come off desperate, especially because he hadn’t received a response in so long. He could have said “Hey! Got my letter?” or some shit like that, but he didn’t. Maybe Vic just wasn’t good at communication or relationships at all during that time. In fact, maybe he was never good at that kind of thing. 

It was always easy to tell how Vic felt in any given situation; he wore his emotions on his face. Vic was upset by Gabby’s comments. His cheeks became even more flushed, he had furrowed brows, and his eyes grew glossier and narrow. Gabby was being so accusatory! Like he didn’t do anything wrong? 

“And it was left up to me?” Vic said with a sharp tone. Vic let the awkward silence take over the room as he stared Gabby down. Once the silence became overwhelming, Vic continued, “I sent my fuckin’ letter.” The abundance of emotions simmering at his core started to make Vic feel sick enough that the water from his eyes slowly crept onto his cheeks. Did he let Gabby see this? Hell fucking no! The moment the tears wanted to reveal themselves, Vic looked to the floor again. Now avoiding any further eye contact with Gabby. 

“I’m not here to make you feel bad or whatever, I’m sorry. I just… I just spent so long being confused when I didn’t get anything back. That was our way of contacting,” Vic uttered. Before he continued, he brought his eyes to Gabby’s again, his voice faltering. “Maybe that’s none of my business, anyway… To know why.”

Vic sighed, wiping his cheeks dry, realizing it was nearly impossible to hide his tears from Gabby. When silence took over the room again, Vic released his eyes from Gabby’s. His eyes now had a soft focus on his ex’s hands. Maybe this was it? Vic didn’t fuckin’ know. He hoped Gabby would come into the bathroom, but he didn’t actually expect him to. Maybe Gabby did care? Or was it a lost cause? After speaking he surely didn’t expect much of a silence though.

Sometimes Vic felt stupid for lingering on this old shit, but it did still fuckin’ hurt.

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong​:

“Uhh, okay. TMI,” Abe fumbled to say when he heard Victor speak. He looked perplexed by Victor’s bluntness. An immediate sense of dread overwhelmed Gabby. Was the sight of him that revolting to Victor? Could he not tolerate an awkward dinner when it included Gabby? He stared at the table, unable to keep the embarrassment from coloring his face. 

When it had become evident that Victor no longer wanted contact with him, it wasn’t anger that almost tore Gabby apart. What had held him back was the disappointment. He felt it in all aspects of his life and in all depths. It’d been hard to pretend he wasn’t affected by Abe’s casual mentions of Victor then. At the time, Abe’s age played the biggest factor as he was young and he’d known Victor so long that was impossible to expect them not to see each other. It… hurt though. It hurt a lot. 

Victor couldn’t be with him, but he had still kept in contact with Gabby’s family, still played the part of the older brother in Gabby’s absence. All the hurt and fragmented pieces of Gabby could never hate Victor for that. That had always been one of Gabby’s favorite things about Victor. He cared for those around him and he never disappointed them. 

Until it came to Gabby and maybe Gabby had ignored all the signs then. Maybe Victor had wanted to end things beforehand. Maybe they were never meant to last. Maybe it shouldn’t have bothered Gabby anymore that Victor didn’t want him then.

Abe made a wounded noise in the back of his throat as Victor nudged him to move, giving him a strange look Gabby couldn’t immediately interpret. He moved aside for Victor to quickly stand and retrieve to the restrooms. Gabby finally looked up from the table when he could no longer see Victor in his peripheral vision. Abe’s look of concern stabbed at Gabby’s chest. Each second that passed felt like an eternity. 

“I’ll go talk to him,” Abe said, already giving in to the bad habit of chewing his nails. Gabby hated to see him affected by this. His shoulders drooped in resignation as he began to stand. Gabby grabbed Abe by the wrist, halting him from moving towards the restrooms. Despite the lack of consideration Abe had shown for his feelings, Gabby couldn’t stand to see him so dejected. He braced himself for what was about to come.

“I’ll go,” Gabby said. When Abe only looked at him, Gabby sighed before giving him a strained smile. “I think I need to do this.”

“Okay, but please don’t get in a fight in the bathrooms. That floor’s gotta be gross, dude.”

Gabby shook his head as he rose up. Slowly, he made his way to the restrooms. Each step he took was like a march to his execution. All he could think was, Victor’s in there. He was going to see Victor and he was going to speak to him after over twenty years of third-party mentions. He felt sick.

Once he entered the restroom, he spotted Victor standing in front of a sink. Gabby now stood in the same vicinity of his only regret, of his first heartbreak. He stood completely still for a moment and he just… stared. This was Victor, his Victor. This was a complete stranger. He was flooded with such a feeling of loss that he almost turned around and walked out of there.

“Victor?” Gabby waited for him to turn. The silence was the deafening sort. The years had been kind to Victor. He looked well and as handsome as Gabby had remembered. He looked upset, but Gabby guessed his own displeasure was evident in his stoic appearance. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to be caught in a scheme to mend a broken relationship, but neither was being in view of it. He knew Abe meant well. It just wasn’t his place to decide what warranted forgiveness and what was meant to stay buried.

“Don’t get upset with Abe. You know he means well,” Gabby said to put the silence to rest. He stepped closer, but never too close because he still remembered what that had always done to him. 

“I… didn’t mean to ruin your dinner,” And he meant it, even with the broken pieces of him that never stuck the same after Victor. He never wanted to be the cause of Victor’s distress. 

He knew he wasn’t wanted.

Victor never sent a letter back. That was as much of an answer as anything else. He didn’t need to see Victor’s look of discomfort or hear the stark resistance in his earlier excuse. Gabby had received his answer years ago. He was fine now.

He was as fine as he’d ever be.

What happened between Gabby and Victor shouldn’t affect any part of their relationship with Abe though. Gabby knew they stayed in contact and he took it in stride when Abe mentioned Victor. He’d never expect Abe to stop talking to Victor. Gabby knew how deeply Abe cared for Victor when he was younger. He couldn’t imagine it ever subsiding or disappearing the moment his relationship with Victor ended. It wasn’t logical. Nor would it have been fair. Still, that did little to ease each wave of pain he felt when he heard about Victor. It hurt worse to know that the feeling couldn’t compare to Victor’s intolerance of him though.

“I’ll leave if that’s the issue,” Gabriel spoke in chopped words, feeling the weight of each. “Don’t take it out on him, Victor.”

Gabby felt unsettled in his skin as he waited for Victor to respond, to acknowledge him the way he’d done before. He wanted to ask for answers, but all his questions would only show just how much he still cared and he couldn’t handle Victor’s outright rejection.

Gabby was definitely not going to come if Abe hadn’t arrived by now. Maybe Vic was being childish by storming off to the bathroom… But what else was he going to do? Sit on his ass as he took in the awkwardness at the table? Hold in his feelings? It was hard for Vic to hold in anything he was feeling. He was so bad at it. 

Vic didn’t storm off to get attention.. Or at least he thought it wasn’t for that. Vic wanted to talk to Gabby. He wanted to tell him how much of an asshole he was by not responding.. By letting Vic sit for a long ass time hoping he’d get a response from the dick. But he also felt stupid for holding onto this for so long. He spent half of his life just holding onto this damn grudge. Maybe it was time to let it go? Vic just couldn’t stand the thought of someone he cared about and knew for so long just cutting ties with him like it was nothing. How could someone do that? How could Gabby do that? If Gabby really came to the bathroom to meet him, would Vic have the guts to say all that though?

As Vic stood in front of the mirror, he wondered why he was trying so hard to clean off his stain. To look more presentable… He still cared about what Gabby thought. But why? Maybe those feelings for him still lingered over the years. Maybe they never left, he just shut them up because it hurt so much. It hurt to even think of Gabby, even more so seeing him. Was it possible or even rational to love someone so much you care this much 20 years after the break up? It definitely wasn’t healthy, that’s for sure.

As Vic continued to scrub at his stain, the door opened behind him, revealing Gabby in the mirror. Shit…

Vic’s eyes shifted toward Gabby’s reflection, watching his every move as he entered and walked closer to him. Vic was in such shock, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Gabby. It stung to stare at him, but Vic couldn’t bring himself to look away and he fucking hated it. Gabby looked so damn good. He always dressed nice too. And here Vic looked terrible. He was dressed all casual with some scruff. He even had some bags under his eyes after arguing with Gio for the past few days. 

In the past, here and there, Vic imagined a reunion with Gabby, but this was not the way he expected it to go. Definitely didn’t imagine it happening in a bathroom that smelled like ass, all while Vic looked terrible and gross… Definitely not how he imagined it.

When Gabby called Victor’s name he had no idea what to do or even say.. He cleared his throat as he dropped the soapy paper towel in the sink. Finally, he turned around to face Gabby, with both hands, grabbing onto and squeezing the sink behind him. He made eye contact with him and Vic just couldn’t look away. He hated that…

“Hey…” he said as he swallowed any further words. 

Vic knew it wasn’t Abe’s fault. After 20 years, he had to get answers somehow, especially since he was so close to the both of them. Vic probably wouldn’t have done the same thing, but he could understand it. Abe was always curious and eager to resolve things, especially when it came to him and Gabby, so it wasn’t anything new. I don’t think Vic would have ever been ready for this anyway, even if he was fuckin’ 80 years old.

Did Gabby ruin his night? No… it was already ruined in the first place… And even if Gio and him hadn’t gotten into an argument, Vic wouldn’t have thought his night was ruined by Gabby. He was just in shock… scared… speechless… and upset. He hated to admit it, but just seeing Gabby, talking to him, made him feel happy, but also super hurt. There were so many emotions racing throughout his mind, his body, even his entire cardiovascular system. He was conflicted.

“No, you didn’t,” Vic answered back rather quickly, it being obvious he was about to shit his pants. 

There was silence for a good minute as Vic stared Gabby down. 

Vic started going through what he wrote in his last letter to Gabby in his head. Did him bringing up all the stuff about Gio turn him off? Was Gabby just not into a guy that was probably going to end up becoming a dad to this kid? Did his lovey dovey messages to him mean anything? Vic thought he was the one that hated lovey dovey stuff… He never thought Gabby would be turned off by an “xoxo” or a “I fuckin’ love you”. Or even the weird and cheesy metaphors and references Vic added in there.. He thought Gabby loved that crap. Was Vic a damn fool for assuming Gabby would like that kind of thing? If Gabby hated it, Vic would have been the first to not write down any of that shit. If it weren’t for Gabby, he would never have been all gushy. Hell to the fuckin’ no. But he wanted Gabby to know how much he cared. How in love he was with him much he liked him. If Gabby liked boring ass letters, Vic could have written a boring ass letter, as long as he knew that’s what he wanted. Did Gabby want it in fuckin’ business format or some shit? Or a memo? Vic could have done that. He didn’t know the first thing about writing a business letter, but he would have fuckin’ learned for Gabby, if that’s what he wanted. Mostly, Vic was just embarrassed… He was just fuckin’ embarrassed. He never shared that side of himself with anyone before that.. And look what happened.

Before he knew it, Gabby was ready to leave. That’s definitely not what Vic wanted. He wanted him to stay. He wanted to say a bunch of shit. He wanted to share what he was thinking, but he didn’t know how! 

“No… I… I don’t want you to go,” Vic let out, his cheeks flushed and his eyes a little watery. “I wouldn’t blame Abe for this. He’s always doing this kind of shit. It’s fine. I mean.. Uh… I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to say it…”

Vic was super nervous. This was the first time he had talked to Gabby in years. What was he going to fuckin’ say? ‘Don’t go, I hate you’? No. ‘Don’t go, I love you’? NO. This wasn’t the fuckin’ movies. 

Silence took over the room, once again. 

Vic finally shifted his gaze at anything else but Gabby in the room. He settled with staring at his own feet. Fuck, his shoes looked gross too. What was he thinking wearing his dirtiest shoes? 

“I just want to know why,” he let out, knowing he was being vague. Would Gabby have known what he meant by that? He fuckin’ should’ve. He waited for a response, but once a prolonged silence swept over the room, Vic figured Gabby was either confused or a coward. Should he have clarified?

Vic’s eyes began to water a bit more. He was on the verge of tears, but he didn’t want to fuckin’ cry. Vic never fuckin’ cried. He tried to hold them back as much as he could. To prevent any tears from coming out, he threw his eyes to the ceiling. 

“Like… did I do something wrong or say some shit I wasn’t supposed to? If I did, I just want to fuckin’ know, Gab…. riel.”

Silence.

“Was it Gio that scared you or something?” Vic let out, finally meeting Gabby’s eyes again. 

Vic felt like he was drowning in his own thoughts and emotions. He couldn’t even breathe at the sight of Gabby, much less when he was speaking to him. It was very evident that he couldn’t breathe.. that he was holding back a whirlwind of emotions.

[jinxseong]

Surprise Guest | Victor, Gabby & Abe

Abe convinced himself it was for a good cause. He’d end the bad blood between two people he cared for. He’d forth a better arrangement or at least establish a stable bridge to walk through. After all these years, Abe could no longer stand the estrangement between Gabby and Vic. His return back home, as well as Gabby’s return to the States, was proof enough that this was meant to be. At least, he hoped it was.

It wasn’t a very structured plan, but Abe wasn’t trying to fight a case. He just wanted an opportunity to get them together. Somehow, Abe found a time and date they were both free. He proposed a dinner to which they both agreed to separately. Maybe things would work out. If they couldn’t be friends, they could at least be cordial for Abe’s sake. It’d been hard enough never bringing up the unspoken break-up. He really would be disappointed if neither of them could find a way to forgive and forget.

Abe met Vic inside of the restaurant they agreed to. Once they were seated at a booth, Abe quickly typed a message to Gabby, asking him where he was. Gabby replied instantly that he was on his way, stating in few words he’d be a bit late. Perfect. Abe looked at Vic as he opened the menu placed in front of him. He flipped through the pages, mind buzzing.

“Something going on? You look kinda tense, man,” Abe observed, appearing sincere in his concern. As they spoke, Abe realized that the timing for this meeting may be a bit off. Vic was still emotionally worked over his own family problems. Would that affect the surprise reunion Abe had planned? 

“Aww, geez, Vicky. I thought kids got better with age,” Abe joked lightly, sighing. “Give him some time. It’s probably something he’s gotta work out on his own.” As he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, Abe passed a fleeting glance at the message received. Gabby was here. Abe smiled softly at Vic. “Don’t hate me,” He said ambiguously before turning to see Gabby enter the restaurant. “Gabby! We’re here.”

No, this wasn’t happening. Gabby wasn’t seeing what he was, well, seeing. Abe waved him over, completely unfazed about the company he had with him. On rather shaky legs, Gabriel approached the table. His brother’s face was expectant and rather guiltless. “Abe,”  Gabby said in greeting, his heart dropping as the closer proximity confirmed just who sat beside his brother. Abe smiled as he sat down across from them. 

“Don’t mind the company,” Abe announced in a tone that could’ve been meant for either of them. Was this a setup? It had to be.

“I don’t,” Gabby replied in rapid words, pressing the rest of his thoughts back inside. He couldn’t look at Victor. He couldn’t. He cleared his throat, ignoring Abe’s long look of expectancy. What was Gabby supposed to do? Did Abe really expect him to forget what happened? What Victor’s absence carved out of him all those years ago? 

He couldn’t and he never would.

“I hope I didn’t keep you… both waiting too long,” Gabby kept his tone neutral and unprovoked because his hurt no longer gripped him the same way it had all those years ago. Sure, he’d healed from it, but just knowing he sat at the same table as Victor was a hard thought for him to grasp.

At that moment, the server thankfully appeared. “Hey, sorry about the wait. I’m Lisa and I’ll be taking care of you guys tonight,” The server said, her smile professional and fixed. “Wanna start off with any drinks?”

“Oh, we might need a minute, sweetie,” Abe replied before anyone else could. He waited for her to leave, putting his hands up in a placating manner. Gabby wasn’t fooled. “So, long story short, I kinda forgot I was supposed to have dinner with the both of you so I thought hey, why not just have a reunion of sorts?” Abe said, looking back and forth between them. Gabby couldn’t agree, but he kept silent. The silence didn’t deter Abe in the slightest bit.

“It’s been, geez, how long? Like twenty-something years right?” Abe looked to Victor to confirm before turning his puppy-like smile on Gabby. “Bet this is like a flashback for you, huh? You look pretty much the same, Vicky. Expect you, Gabby. You’ve gained a bit of weight.”

“It must’ve been all those fish and chips. Gabby’s been living in Liverpool the past two years,” Abe shared with the table. “I think I’m ready for a drink. How about you guys?”

Gabby prepared to endure an awkward evening of silent and Abe’s naive comments. The fact that this hadn’t happened sooner should’ve surprised Gabby. Of course, his brother would think forcing him to have a dinner with the guy that broke his heart would be acceptable. 

[captain-magikarp]

‘You’re not my dad…’

Vic couldn’t comprehend those words when they came from Gio’s mouth. The fuck did he mean, Vic’s not his dad? If he wasn’t Gio’s dad, then what the hell was he to him? A friend? Some random guy who just decided to take care of him? Their relationship to each other was always really hard to explain. Vic was so young when he started caring for Gio that he was a lot of things…  A friend… An uncle... Even like an older brother… and later, a dad. But did Gio ever see him as his dad? Did Vic fail and leave Gio feeling like he never had a parent? Did Gio feel alone? What was Vic doing wrong? 

Vic couldn’t help but feel relieved that Abe wanted to hang out. He hadn’t had a day off in a long ass time, so for the first time in a while, he took his dad up on his offer to manage the restaurant for the night. Lorenzo was always willing to take over here and there whenever Vic needed. To Renzo, it was like returning home after a long time. 

As much as Vic loved being around the restaurant and the boys, he needed to get out for a bit. He just needed a fucking break. He never had to deal with this situation with Gio. He always could tell that Gio bottled up a lot of his feelings, but he never expected things to explode in this way. They’d gotten into arguments before, but… just never like this. 

Vic met Abe at the restaurant they decided on. God knows why Abe didn’t just want to come over to Vic’s place so they didn’t have to spend money. Vic wasn’t about to complain about it though, at least this time. 

When they were seated, something seemed a little off. Not only was Abe weirdly sitting directly next to him, but Vic was a little surprised Abe even requested a booth. The guy usually always insisted on a table. He wasn’t about to question that either though. Maybe Abe was just really in the mood for a booth? He was being a weirdo, but what was new. 

Once they got settled in, Abe started acting odd. He kept looking at the menu, his phone, the menu. Maybe he suddenly invited Lin? God no… She always seemed to turn every conversation into a court case. Vic was always on trial and ALWAYS the guilty asshole. But after a while he was used to being blamed for shit… So, fine… If she was going to side eye him for every comment he made, so be it. She’d probably start judging his t-shirt, which, unbeknown to Vic, he had a tiny stain on the right corner of his collar. Vic wouldn’t have cared too much if he knew it was there, especially since he thought it would just be him and Abe. With Lin, well, nothing was new. If it wasn’t the stain, she'd probably find something else to side eye. 

“Yeah… I’m good,” Vic responded to Abe. “It’s just, Gio and I had a big argument, or something. That never happens, but it had to do with Remi. They hung out and I think something happened, so Gio was pretty upset. He said I wasn’t his dad. So that kinda fuckin’ hurt, you know?”

Vic hated to admit it, but he was conflicted about Gio wanting that closer connection with his mom. Maybe he was a little jealous of Remi. Vic never got to decide when to hang out with Gio and when not to. Vic always wanted to be there for Gio. Even when Vic was in school, he’d take the time to comfort Gio if he was crying. He’d read him stories about those three pigs and that rude ass wolf. He’d take him to the movies to watch “Stuart Little 3”. He never wanted to leave him feeling alone and unwanted. In Vic’s mind, Gio was always fucking wanted. Vic was ashamed to think this way, but he couldn’t help it. How could Gio want to retain more of a connection with someone who didn’t care instead of someone who was there since day one? He was jealous, but he also didn’t want Gio getting hurt over and over. He never wanted to get upset at Remi for something that was sometimes out of her control, but part of him did sometimes, and he hated feeling that way. 

“I know, you’d think, but I think it was easier when they were kids,” Vic let out, with an exhausted chuckle. Wanting to shift gears, Vic threw on a quick smile. He didn’t want to be a downer the whole time. “Hey-oh. We’re here though. I miss you, Abe.”

The more Vic saw that Abe kept peaking at his phone, the more annoyed he got. Usually Abe was a chatterbox who topic jumped all the time. Suddenly, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the phone. Maybe he had a client who kept sending him messages or something.

“Aye, lay off the phone, would you,” Vic let out as Abe interrupted him with his ‘Don’t hate me’. 

Vic furrowed his eyebrows, knowing Abe was up to something he probably wouldn’t like… But the suspense was killing him.. Who was it? Why would he hate him for inviting someone? Was there even someone he hated?………..

There he was. Vic’s eyes grew wide as he saw his ex, Gabby, enter the restaurant. Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. All air was immediately stolen from his lungs. His heart was pounding a million miles for every step Gabby took toward them. If Micah were there he’d be telling Vic his ‘palms were sweaty, mom’s spaghetti’. Everything was happening so fast, and yet everything seemed like it was going in slow motion. This was a fucking set up. Vic nudged Abe with his elbow, somewhat aggressive. Vic couldn’t believe what was happening. No wonder Abe locked him in the booth by weirdly sitting next to him and on the edge. Fuck. Fuck. Vic wanted out. HOW COULD ABE BE SMILING?

Fuck.

Once Gabby sat down across from them, Vic couldn’t help but stare in silence. All he could do was swallow any words that would attempt to come out. He stared for a good 2 minutes as Abe exchanged a few words with them.

‘Don’t mind the company’… DON’T MIND THE FUCKING COMPANY?? 

“No, I.. It’s fine,” Vic responded to Abe, his eyes still wide.

Abe forgot he was supposed to have dinner with both of them… He forgot… YEAH FUCKING RIGHT.

He hadn’t seen Gabby in 20 years? A long fucking time… 

Suddenly, Vic was aware of what he was wearing… A casual and plain white t-shirt with a tiny stain near its collar. A little scruff on his face. He wasn’t as presentable as he would have liked…. But why would he fuckin’ care? Gabby didn’t give a shit about him, so why would he give a shit about the way he looked around him? Right?..... But Vic still cared. Even after everything.

The moment Lisa, their server, arrived at the table, Vic’s gaze was taken away from Gabby for a quick second to acknowledge her. Suddenly, Gabby and Vic met eyes, causing Vic to quickly look down at the table as he twiddled his thumbs.

Abe was just being annoying about it, but Gabby never looked better. He was perfect looking. Fuck, he even went to Liverpool? There was just… so much he didn’t know about Gabby. He’d be lying if he never thought about asking Abe how Gabby was doing. But every time he thought about him, he also felt sad and heartbroken… and angry. How could Gabby not respond?

Vic wanted to ask Abe about it so many times, but he never wanted to involve him in something like that. Even if Gabby hurt Vic, he never wanted Abe to share something Gabby didn’t want to be shared. Even if he was upset, he still cared about Gabby’s feelings. Maybe he had a reason for all of this? Maybe Vic was just a fucking asshole and did something wrong? He’d never know, probably. Even though he desperately wanted closure. Vic knew that it wasn’t Gabby’s responsibility to tell him why he didn’t want to be with him anymore, but part of Vic really wanted to know. Did he do something wrong? Was it something he said? Was it Gio? Did he hear about Vic taking in Micah and Daniel? If that was the case, then maybe he was better off without Gabby. Anyone who couldn’t handle his kids was a no-go for Vic.

Vic would have liked to think he healed those past wounds with Gabby, but every time he still thought about him, he just got flustered, sad, and upset. It probably didn’t help that Micah found and brought the letters up to Vic about a month prior. Vic didn’t realize how long he could hold a grudge until this very moment. 

“No drinks, I’m ready to go,” Vic mumbled to Abe.

There was an awkward silence at the table for a good minute….

…..

“I gotta go take a dump,” Vic let out, nudging Abe to get out of his seat until he budged.

Once Vic was released from the booth, he quickly walked to the bathroom. If Gabby and Vic were going to talk about shit, he didn’t want it to be at the fucking table in front of Abe. If things were going to go badly, he didn’t want Abe feeling like he had to choose a side. Vic never expected that, but he didn’t want him to be hurt if things went bad… Mostly because Vic wanted to tell Gabby the fuck off. It wasn’t Abe’s fault… he didn’t know what happened…

Vic was hoping Gabby got the hint to head to the bathroom… but maybe Vic wasn’t clear.. Maybe he wasn’t clear about anything ever… And so, maybe that’s why Gabby broke up with him. Maybe Vic would just be waiting in the bathroom for eternity just like he was like waiting for that damn letter like a damn idiot.

Vic stood in the bathroom squeezing the sink and staring at himself in the mirror. His cheeks were flushed and he looked like he was about to pass out. After a few minutes passed, he grabbed some paper towels and smothered them with soap in order to clean the tiny stain off of his shirt. It wasn’t budging. It wasn’t fucking budging. 

Was Gabby even going to come? 

It had already been 5 minutes…..

[captain-magikarp]

Burnt Stuffing || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, Micah, Ryder, Gio, Charlie, & Daniel

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong‌:

Hearing Gio call Micah the charmer of the family brought a weird feeling to Ryder’s stomach. Ryder wasn’t sure that was the reaction he’d intended to bring out from Gio. After all, he’d been trying to heavily imply that the “cute thing” he saw in Micah was something that extended to Gio. From the few words they shared and Micah’s verbose commentary, Ryder had only noticed Micah’s good intentions. He wasn’t trying to deter his first real conversation with Gio to the guy’s brother. Ryder felt tempted to remark on that, but it would’ve felt fake and tactless by the time he mentioned it. Perhaps, he’d show Gio what he meant? He always had better results when he was purposeful with his actions. A touch here or there, a heated look, were all he usually needed to get the right attention. Maybe Gio wasn’t so different from other men in that regard. Maybe Ryder had to hit that level of physicality to get Gio to understand his interest.

Ryder laughed along with Gio when he nudged him, drawing away and quickly back. He was a bit closer than before, hoping it was noticed by his crush. With their laughter died down, Ryder found his attention grabbed by Gio’s tenseness. He frowned to himself before meeting Gio’s eyes with what he hoped was openness. Ryder felt his chest become tight. This was it. This was what he’d been waiting for. Gio was finally going to give it to him straight. Ryder almost held his breath as he waited for Gio to finish, but he never did. Instead, there was a sudden loud sound coming from the dining room.

The moment Gio went to investigate, Ryder watched with blatant bafflement. It seemed almost planned, but he knew it wasn’t like either of them knew anything would happen. He followed Gio a beat later, standing behind him as they looked at the aftermath of what happened. Well, that looked like a mess. Thankfully, it looked like no one was hurt. Ryder sighed from behind Gio, his hand coming to rest on his cheek as he closed his eyes. “I want a drink,” Ryder mumbled to himself. He couldn’t believe his luck. After all this time, he was back at square one.

Linette made for a damn good lawyer, but an awfully insensitive person. She needed control over many aspects of her life and sometimes that made people uncomfortable. She could understand that and wasn’t very bothered by Victor’s sudden lack of a smile. Although his words brought a mild sense of shock, she covered it well and took a drink before responding. He wasn’t particularly wrong, but to admit that wasn’t something she was used to. An apology wasn’t likely to appear, but she could try to placate him. “Oh, it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. He has good manners for asking, but rather terrible timing. Don’t fret about him. I’ll give him an extra piece of dessert for his service,” Lin promised, crossing her fingers over her heart. She poured herself another glass before looking back at Vic.

“You mentioned a good side.” She announced after a pause. “Is that a side I’d see or are you saving it for a rainy day? It seems like it’s hardly a side anyone sees. Perhaps, it’s as nonexistent as mine.”

Before she could really dig into him, there came a big crash from the dining room. Lin jumped from the counter and with her glass in hand made her way to see what happened. When she noticed the dishes broken on the floor, she sipped quietly at her wine and stared.

Gabriel grabbed the baby monitor from its place on the dresser, closing the door just enough so that the light didn’t bother Sophie’s rest. He focused on his slightly shaking hands for a moment before giving himself a moment to rest the back of his head against the doorframe. With closed eyes, Gabby sent a silent prayer that Lin hadn’t done anything too awful. She was one for theatrics, needing some sort of leverage on the people around her. It wasn’t usually so bothersome to Gabby as he learned his own way to handle it, but for many it never settled well over them. He wanted Victor to get along with her, though. They were two very important people in his life. To think Lin would drive Vic away or Vic wouldn’t try to know her, hurt something deep within Gabby. He didn’t know what he’d do if anything bad between them happened.

When he felt like he wouldn’t puke, Gabby walked back to the kitchen, noticing a gathering in the general area of the dining room. He walked over and spotted the broken dishes. He glanced around, seeing no one injured. When no one moved for a moment, he wondered how long they’d been there. At some point, even Lin just stood there. Lin finally stopped drinking, placing her glass on the table. “I’ll grab the broom and clean this. I wouldn’t want to be a bad host,” She joked but she seemed more serious than usual. Did something happen?

“I can grab it, Lin.” Gabriel offered, making his presence known. He turned to grab what he needed but paused when Lin called his name.

“Let me do it. Help pick up the larger pieces, please.” Lin moved in the direction of the closet she kept the cleaning supplies at.

He nodded, already grabbing them off the floor. He glanced up at the boys milling around. “No one’s hurt, right? I can grab the first aid in the bathroom.”

Quinn wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but there was a mini clusterfuck. A few plates were on the floor, broken and around Micah’s feet. He took a step back instinctively before glancing at Micah. His concern was written all over his face as he looked at him. It wouldn’t take a genius to see the look of guilt Micah had on his face. God, he felt for the guy. It wasn’t like they really knew how anyone would react to the accident, but Quinn knew it was just that— an accident and accidents happened. It wasn’t something Quinn wanted to overthink, but he could see Micah already worrying. “Dude, it’s not a big deal. It’s just plates. You’re good, right?”

While they stood in the mess made, people came around to investigate. It put Quinn on edge as he spied what he suspected was the owner of said plates by the way everyone quieted and stared. Geez, it was oversized sweater lady about to crack the whip. She drank and stared for a long moment. Quinn looked at Micah for a long time before he spoke. “My bad. I was screwing around with Micah and a few plates fell when I pushed him. I can pay for them,” Quinn said to the woman. She shrugged, not seeming to really see anything or care.

“It’s fine. I’m glad no one seems to be hurt,” She stated, continuing to drink and say nothing else.

Ugh, Quinn didn’t know what to do with that, so he shrugged back, still wondering what the fuck they were supposed to do. Was she going to move or were they expected to read her mind? When she finally placed her glass down and said she’d clean it, he felt an immediate sense of relief. He didn’t really listen as she and another guy started cleaning up after them. Quinn looked at Micah, sliding the plates in his hand to his own. “Here I got them. Come this way so they can get whatever’s around you,” Quinn quietly said, apologizing to the two cleaning. The woman hummed her acknowledge as she swept, but the guy quickly assured them that everything was fine.

Quinn tugged Micah to a corner away from them, giving him a worried look. “You know it was just an accident, right? She doesn’t even look like she gives a shit.”

It was finally dinner time. Victor was sour as he sat across from Lin. It felt like an interrogation. Not like she was asking him a billion questions but the subtle backhanded compliments and sarcasm throughout the night was really getting on his nerves. He was already worried enough about making a bad impression. Though, maybe he already messed up so it probably didn’t matter anymore. He wondered if Micah dropping her plates was a big deal to Lin or not. She was really hard to read, but she seemed like a person who’d become judgy even if she wasn’t upset. 

It’s not like he hadn’t dealt with people like Lin before. His restaurant brought in all kinds of customers, some just as sarcastic as Lin. Vic would admit that he didn’t really have a nice way of saying things either… Saying things nicely did take a lot of effort for him. Maybe the two were just too similar in that way. Her comment about him not having a good side though… He could only imagine her thinking that about his whole family. Vic wanted to try to be nice though… For Gabby. He didn’t want to make it weird for him at all. It’d probably break his heart if he knew how Vic severely disliked his sister-in-law already. 

“This stuffing’s really good, Lin,” Vic said after painfully swallowing the food. He even forced a smile.

The stuffing was shit. It was burnt and hardly had any flavor. Vic was pretty surprised that someone could mess up on stuffing. He couldn’t even believe that the turkey wasn’t burnt, but it was pretty dry. He definitely wasn’t going to say anything bad though, especially because he didn’t make it. He wasn’t one to outwardly insult other people’s food, unless they asked. Was he one to lie though? No… but would he lie to Lin to not ruffle some more feathers…? Yeah.

As Vic continued to eat with a forced smile, his eyes met Gabby’s. Vic suddenly found his forced grin turning into a relaxed and genuine one. The longer their eyes remained locked, Vic’s foot gravitated toward Gabby’s. Maybe it was immature to play footsies, but Vic didn’t give a shit. 

Micah sat next to Vic, which made him nervous already, but also because Quinn was sitting directly to his left. Jeez, Micah knew how to use fancy eating utensils, but he was also doubting himself. He set all the place settings at the restaurant, but it’s not like he was trained for this kind of thing. He knew the house wasn’t some kind of high class place, but Micah couldn’t help but worry about how he was going to come off. What if he used a salad fork instead of a dinner fork? What was the difference between the two anyway? A fork was a fork. Maybe they’d forgive him if he cut his turkey wrong with the knife? They’d definitely be jerks if they judged him on that because he had a cast. He dropped those plates though… so people were probably anticipating the next wrong thing Micah would do. Knowing Micah, he would have dropped the plates even if he didn’t have a cast. 

“You know it was just an accident, right? She doesn’t even look like she gives a shit.” 

Quinn was right… Lin didn’t seem like she cared but she was probably judging Micah pretty hard. He could imagine how much harder she was judging Vic after his accident. 

God, that moment kept playing in his head though… The way Quinn stood up for him. He even took the blame. He reassured him that things would be okay. Quinn was a really good guy… Perfect, even, at least to Micah. So why was Micah so afraid of actually asking him out? The guy was just so perfect and Micah really had a thing for guys with long hair. If Quinn ever ended up cutting his hair short, Micah would probably cry along with him. Maybe he was just afraid that Quinn didn’t feel that way about him. They were friends… Even though he just met the guy a few weeks prior, he could see them becoming good friends. He didn’t want to ruin that. Though, Micah would be lying if he said he hadn’t dreamt about him and Quinn kissing. 

Vic didn’t even know Micah had a thing for Quinn, which is why this whole thing was awkward...  In fact, he couldn’t remember telling anyone he had a thing for him, except for Justine, Daniel, and Gio’s mom. Even if Vic knew about Micah having a thing for Quinn, it’d still be awkward sitting next to his dad, basically. Even though Vic was probably the coolest dad someone could have, it was just weird talking about relationship stuff around him. It was awkward enough even talking to Vic about his own love life with Gabby. If anything, when it came to talking about love stuff, Micah went to Gio’s mom before he even considered going to Vic about it. 

Daniel interrupted Micah’s Quinn related daydream by signing to him from across the table. Daniel kept signing the word “hair” a few times. Micah expressed confusion in his face. Was Daniel trying to give Quinn a nickname? Suddenly Daniel continued to pat his palm, expressing to Micah that he should compliment Quinn. Micah’s cheeks grew pink again as he nervously blinked repeatedly. His breath also grew short as he prepared to listen to Daniel and compliment his crush... 

“Your hair looks really cool today, by the way,” Micah said quietly to Quinn. 

Oh god…. Ooooohhh god… that came out weird.

Micah quickly looked away, not knowing what else to do or say. Suddenly, he could see Charlie eavesdropping on his and Daniel’s conversion and his interaction with Quinn. Did Charlie know how to sign? If so, maybe Charlie wasn’t so bad… even though he was pretty nosey. 

“That went bad,” Micah subtly signed to both Daniel and Charlie. “‘Hair’ doesn’t like me.”

“No, compliment his shirt?” Daniel signed. 

Micah shrugged, looking at Quinn. “I like your shirt too. That color really looks good on you.”

Shit shit shit shit shit...THIS WAS NOT GOING WELL. Micah knew how to flirt… and sometimes he was good at it? Other times… Well, Quinn just made him forget how to socialize entirely. Around him, sometimes Micah couldn’t even tell if he was saying “hi” the right way. 

Gio was sitting next to Charlie’s and Ryder’s friend, Quinn. He didn’t really know the guy, but he managed to make some small talk with him, especially because their side of the table seemed pretty quiet. Normally, Gio was never the one to start up conversations, but the silence even made Gio feel uncomfortable. 

“The stuffing’s good, huh?” Gio let out to Quinn with his mouth a little full. “I’m Gio, by the way, sorry.” 

Gio’s shoulders tensed up a little bit once Ryder joined the table. They were now sitting directly across from each other and suddenly Gio just didn’t know what to say or how to be. He felt bad because he left the guy on edge… but he was nervous. Was he a chicken for not expressing how he felt mid sentence? Probably… 

Vic’s side of the table started getting louder for a moment, leaving Gio to take advantage.

“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier,” Gio quietly and quickly said to Ryder, hoping no one else could hear. “I just wanted to ask you how you--”

Gio was interrupted by another wave of sudden silence. Not knowing what else to do, Gio shoved a piece of turkey into his mouth and stood. Before he left the dining room, he squeezed Ryder’s shoulder, trying to tell him to follow him. Gio quickly escaped out of the sliding door at the back of the house and into the backyard.

Gio sat on the steps near the back door. As he waited for Ryder he was fidgety and his palms were a little sweaty. Whenever Gio got really nervous his hands did get clammy. God, he hoped Ryder wouldn’t notice if by chance he touched his hand or something. What if Ryder didn’t come to meet Gio in the backyard? What if he didn’t know what Gio meant by squeezing his shoulder? That could’ve meant anything. Shit.

Was Gio being dramatic by going into the backyard to talk? Maybe, but how else was he supposed to talk to Ryder at the table without everyone eavesdropping? The next thing Gio knew, he heard the backdoor slide open.

[captain-magikarp]

Burnt Stuffing || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, Micah, Ryder, Gio, Charlie, & Daniel

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong‌:

Ryder was a naturally collective person. He never went out of his way to seek confrontation or demand someone to acknowledge him. He had a little dignity and a lot of self-confidence. It never concerned him what people thought of him before; although, he did have the habit of covering his braces whenever he could. Yet, despite that one flaw, Ryder was happy with himself and his choices. It became unnerving to have someone like Gio completely undermine that. After Gio’s curt farewell the last time they saw each other, Ryder had sat out there and wondered what he’d done. Had he offended Gio with his talk about sex or had Gio left because the prospect of something more wasn’t what he had in mind? No matter how often Ryder thought about it, he came to no solid conclusions. He knew nothing about the thoughts that went on in Gio’s head. 

In an attempt to combat his feelings of rejection, Ryder attended any parties he thought he’d see Gio at, but he had no success. He began to wonder if he’d been the cause of Gio’s lack of attendance. It made him sick to think he was the bad guy in all this. Maybe he needed to apologize for something. The look that immediately took over Gio’s face made it clear that that may have not been the case though. As Gio began to speak, Ryder was surprised by how much relief his honesty brought. He hadn’t realized how scared he’d been until Gio’s apology was spoken. After all, Ryder still had feelings for the guy.

Ryder attempted to smile back, but he still felt a bit tense from the weeks of torture he’d gone through. “He’s your brother, huh? That explains the cute thing,” He tried teasing, softening as he took in Gio’s nervousness. Ryder listened to Gio speak, aware of every careful word that he spoke. It was strange to hear how affected Gio was by him. Ryder had been in the same position for a while now. They’d danced around each other for so long that the thought of actually speaking to each other compared to jumping a cliff. He completely understood Gio’s fear because it’d been his that first time they spoke, but it’d also been one he wanted to shed.

Instead of continuing to stand over Gio, Ryder took a seat beside him. He bumped his knee against Gio’s, keeping that place of contact to show the guy how interested he still was. Ryder kept a steady look on Gio, leaning back against the couch and wondering why cute guys were so hard to resist. “Stop saying sorry. I’m fine. I guess I just wanted to make sure I didn’t say anything gross that night. It really sucked when you left,” Ryder confessed, biting his lower lip. He wondered if he could be honest with Gio. Maybe, it was fair if he was. Gio had been honest with him. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that night.”

Ryder softly laughed after hearing Gio, nodding his head in understanding. “Nah, you’re good. Charlie got carried away with inviting people, I think. His dad, Lucas, is friends with Lin. I don’t know how she fits in the picture with your dad, though,” He explained, tilting his head in thought. Ryder smiled brazenly at Gio, giving him a warm look. “Don’t be. I promise not to attack you with my CPR techniques. I’m saving them for another drowning victim.”

Victor’s greeting brought the resurfacing of many memories and all of which were making it very difficult for Gabriel to contain his fond smile. He was immediately submerged in his feeling of infatuation for the man. Victor had a way about him, a way Gabby never knew how to interpret. He didn’t know how to act around Victor with Lin watching so closely. It wasn’t like he had many options anyway. He began to wonder how dinner would go. Would he have the chance to sit with Victor? Would they hold hands? Or would they kiss at the end of the night when Lin was too tipsy and tired to poke, and Vic’s kids were sharing their farewells with their friends and Sophie was sleeping soundly in her crib?

Since their kiss about a month back, Gabby imagined another chance to reenact it. He thought about it whenever Victor would stop by the library or whenever he’d stop by Vic’s to talk. Oh, he thought about it constantly, like he was studying for it. It felt like a flame that flickered without reason and without assistance. He wondered if Victor felt the need like he did or if it never crossed his mind. It burned him to think of it.

Gabriel blushed simply thinking about it. These were not the thoughts to have in mixed company. Specifically, the sort of company that ruined the possibility of any of them happening. With Sophie quieter now, Gabby listened more closely to Vic, confused when he heard Victor’s change of speech. That was certainly different than usual, but he didn’t point it out or give a look to Victor. Lin was still watching too closely. “I’m sure it’ll be perfect, Vic. It looks amazing.”

“Is this your Victor, Gabby?” Lin questioned abruptly, an odd expression on her face. Gabby gave her a look for her bold words.

“What are you talking about?” He didn’t know what she meant by that. Lin didn’t answer him, still frowning from Victor removing her hold on him.

Gabby moved Sophie to lie on her back, noticing how her head began to rest on his arm. This was his chance to save Vic and himself from Lin’s torture. “Lin, I think Sophie’s ready for a nap. Wanna grab her bottle?” He hoped she’d take her daughter from his hands and retreat to a quieter place to put her down. Perhaps by the time she came back from putting Sophie to sleep, Gabby would’ve had enough time to apologize to Vic and warn him that this was just the beginning.

Lin, for her part, retrieved a bottle from the fridge and warmed it to her daughter’s liking. “I suppose you could give Lucas a break. He needs to teach his son how to act around ‘normal’ people,” Lin finally said in response to Vic’s offer to help, purposely loud so Lucas could hear her joke.

Lucas flicked her off but stepped aside and happily welcomed the other man to the kitchen. “I gotta answer a few emails for work, but it’s all yours, man.”

As Lin tested the warmth of the formula on the back of her hand, Gabby prepared to hand Sophie off. However, instead of grabbing her daughter, Lin held out the bottle for him, giving a knowing smile. “It might be best to feed her in the room. You know how easily she wakes,” Lin kissed Sophie’s cheek. “I’ll keep our guest company.”

Before Gabby could retort, they were interrupted by Micah and a friend of his(?) asking if they needed help. Lin gave them a weighted look. “Hmm, I’m Lin, Gabby’s sister-in-law. This is Lucas, Charlie’s father.” She pointed out to Lucas who gave a quick wave and greeting, his eyes on his phone as he walked away from the kitchen. 

“Also, thank you for the offer, dear. Why don’t you both grab the plates and silverware for the dining room.” It wasn’t a question and to call it a request was a stretch. Lin gave them a big smile, pointing to one of the counters. “They’re all here.”

When Micah and his friend left with the task Lin gave them, she returned her heavy look to Gabby. He hesitated for a moment before giving in. “I guess you’re right. Uhh, I’ll be back in a few,” He promised, already feeding Sophie her bottle. “Vic?” He softly called, nervously looking at Lin before returning to his gaze to Victor.

“I’m really glad you’re here.” It wasn’t exactly what Gabby wanted to say, but with Lin watching he kept it at that and went to put Sophie to rest.

With Gabriel out of site, Lin sat herself on the edge of a counter, grabbing the wine she’d opened earlier and pouring a glass for herself and a new one for Victor. “This is for you, Vic. Hopefully, it’ll put some life into you,” She said drolly, already having down half of hers.

“Now that your protector’s gone, will you amuse me? Gabriel’s always been into the fun ones, but you’re drier than a judge in court.” Lin commented, giving him a narrowed look. “You better be kind to him.” 

Quinn felt them damn butterflies make their presence known when Micah waved at him. He’d blame it on his earlier meal with his mother if his face wasn’t heating up so quickly. Ugh, why did it always go this way with Micah? They were friends or starting to become friends. It was honestly all Quinn wanted after their rocky encounters. It felt like they were cursed to meet only under circumstances where the ground was never solid and everchanging. It made for terrible imbalances and awkward conversations. Quinn was sort of surprised they made it through the bathroom incident rather unscathed, but how things looked now Quinn wasn’t sure how long it’d last. He really hated Charlie right now.

Micah’s rambling on about affection was not what Quinn needed. He felt the instantaneous urge to cover Micah’s mouth, to quiet him before he said anything else. It wasn’t like it was necessarily a bad topic, but the feelings they brought up were not something Quinn wanted to examine. Besides that, Charlie was giving him such a weird look. It felt like he’d been caught doing something bad and it wasn’t like he had anything to feel guilty for! They. Were. Friends. And in case anyone needed that spelled out, Quinn was only too happy to so as friends comprised of the letters, F-R-I-E-N-D-S. See? He could spell.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Quinn quickly accepted, following Micah away from Charlie and his boyfriend or whatever Daniel was. Quinn didn’t think to ask and didn’t care to know. It was Charlie’s business. He didn’t need to know any of it. He walked beside Micah, looking around the place and shrugging in response to Micah. “I don’t know. Charlie invited me. He said something about his dad and him inviting people over?” Now that Quinn thought about the details, he realized Charlie never really went into any specifics. Charlie avoiding a simple question like whose house they’d be at should’ve warned Quinn what disaster he was becoming a part of.

Before Micah could finish, he suddenly stopped speaking. Quinn looked at the kitchen full of adults and immediately tensed. Geez, that lady in the oversized sweater was giving them such a dirty look. Was there a sign they’d missed on their way there? Quinn rolled his eyes when Micah introduced himself. He was too nice. Why did Quinn like guys like that? When the lady gave them something to do, Quinn directed a bland look at Micah. It was thanks to this guy they were now tasked to set up for dinner. He grabbed whatever she pointed at, walking in the direction of what he assumed would lead to the dining room. Once they made it there, he placed the plates down, setting them around.

“I can’t believe you asked them if we could help. You are such a good guy,” Quinn joked, smirking. “Thanks for saving my ass from Charlie, by the way. He’s getting a big fucking head lately. It’s annoying.”

Their knees were touching. They were fuckin’ touching. Normally, Gio would take his knee away, but in no way was he gonna move it this time. He felt kind of stupid freaking out over something so little. Was he reading into things? Was Ryder just being nice? Gio grew fidgety and his eyes kept shifting between Ryder and the floor as the guy kept his eyes on him. Was Gio reading into his comment about being cute? By the sound of it, Ryder could have had a thing for Micah instead. Micah had a way of hoarding all the charm in the family. No… Gio had a way of talking himself down when it came to actually liking someone. Not that he liked many people… but when he did… he couldn’t think of anything positive about himself. Why would Ryder be into him though? Why would he be into a guy like that?

“Yeah, my little brother. He’s the charmer in the family, unlike me,” Gio chuckled nervously.

Did Ryder really think about him all the time after their last encounter? Gio’s cheeks became pinker the more he thought about Ryder thinking about him constantly. He really wanted it to be true. He hoped it was.

Gio chuckled at Ryder’s reference to the CPR thing, nudging him again to play along. He realized how flirty his nudge came off though… He hoped Ryder didn’t mind. Oh jeez, was he really interested though? Gio probably was really stupid if he questioned things now. Ryder literally just said he couldn’t stop thinking about him. What other proof did he need? But… Gio still wasn’t sure. Maybe it was just all his insecurities creeping into his mind. It was weird because he usually never let that stuff get to him. Or maybe he just blocked it out for too long. With Ryder, it’s like he swallowed some kind of huge emotion potion and was left not knowing how to handle anything. Maybe it was the family curse to think too much about things. Daniel was the luckiest out of all of them. He was always least anxious when it came to things.

Gio’s laughter finally dissipated as his fidgety and nervous aura began to take over again. He then set his gaze on Ryder, clearly nervous. His breath was a little shaky and his heart was pounding against his chest. “I wanted to ask you something. It may sound stupid, though.” Gio knew that to anyone else, asking someone if they liked them back was something so easy. Something that most people didn’t say while almost pissing their pants...but for Gio, this was all nerve wrecking and he couldn’t figure out why. He never felt so strongly about someone before. “I thought about you too and I was just wondering…” Gio was stalling.. He knew this. But he didn’t know how else to say it. For a person that was raised to be blunt about shit, he really tiptoed around a lot of things. 

The two were interrupted by a big crash in the dining room. Like something broke. Gio quickly jumped up, rushing over to the dining room to see what it was. He’d be lying if he wasn’t grateful for the noise… he was kind of using it as an excuse.

Victor’s cheeks never turned pink over a compliment over a pie he made, but with Gabby, it was different. Gabby’s comment flushed his cheeks, but if anyone said anything he’d deny that fact completely. 

What did Lin mean by ‘Is this your Victor?’...?? Was he acting weird? Is that was she fuckin’ meant? Victor was a little agitated by Lin, but he couldn’t really pinpoint why. His thoughts and feelings were hard to hide. By just looking at his face, anyone could guess what he was thinking. He was usually shit at poker games. Vic tried his best to hide his true emotions around certain people though, like Lin. He didn’t want to make a bad impression, but he also just didn’t wanna be judged. When Vic or his family were judged, he couldn’t just take it. It was honestly hard to shut up when people got to him in that way. 

Vic rolled his eyes as Lin made Gabby take care of her baby’s necessities. He’d be lying if he didn’t think that Gabby was super sweet for taking care of the baby. He was definitely a hot dad… even though he wasn’t even a dad. But Vic really couldn’t stand when people made others take care of their own responsibilities. It seemed like Sophie was Gabby’s kid more than she was Lin’s. He hoped Lin didn’t see him rolling his eyes, but he also wished she kinda did. 

Suddenly they were interrupted by Micah and his friend. Micah was just trying to be helpful…  But to see the nasty look Lin gave Micah and his friend upset Victor. She had no right to look at her kid that way. Who in hell… and she was ordering them around. Sure, she said words like ‘dear’... but her tone said it all. Micah was already taking on an apologetic demeanor as he retrieved Lin’s requested items with his friend. Vic patted Micah’s back as he passed him, communicating with him that he didn’t do anything bad. He knew Micah and knowing him he’d think too much about everything. He’d keep apologizing on the way home about how he ruined things when he didn’t do anything bad. 

Once the two left, Vic was about to call Lin out when Gabby’s comment distracted him. Vic’s heart skipped a beat… Cheesy, but he felt like time stopped as the two locked eyes. Once Gabby left though, it was almost like his nice facade was wiped away a little bit. 

Vic hoped Lin cleaned her counters… It seemed like she sat on them all the time. Who’d want food that sat in the same spot where someone’s ass was sitting? He didn’t mind a glass of wine, but the comment that came along with her offer made him feel like he was about to drink poison. Put some life into him? What was that supposed to mean? Maybe Vic was being too critical and reading into too many things, but every word Lin said annoyed the heck out of him. She probably already hated him though. Vic accepted the glass of wine with a fake smile, but as she continued to talk, calling him dry, he dropped any smile entirely. Be kind to him? Like she knew what that meant. 

“And you know what being kind means?” Vic let out unexpectedly with an eye roll. He quickly bit his lip and avoided eye contact with Lin, hoping she wouldn’t kill him. “Sorry, I just think ordering my kid around isn’t a way to get on my good side.” 

Micah messed up… he definitely ruined things by interrupting whatever conversation Vic was having with everyone. Why’d he have to do that? Why couldn’t he have just gone off with Quinn somewhere else? Now everything was awkward and there was a weird silence. When he offered to help, he expected they’d say they were good. He was really just offering to be nice. To make Vic look good… like he raised his kids to be courteous… but that didn’t work at all. Quinn probably hated him for getting them stuck doing actual chores. This fact was confirmed when Quinn shot a bland look at Micah. Micah bit his lips and blinked crazily as he looked at Quinn and then around the room. He mouthed to Vic and then to Quinn, “Sorry.”

Since Micah had a cast on, it was his job to hold the plates while Quinn placed them on the table. Not only was he more likely to drop the plates because of the cast and because he was clumsy, but also because he was more accident prone around Quinn. Micah clenched the plates as he watched his crush set more of his plates down. Everytime Quinn came over to Micah to grab more plates, he shared a smile with him as they made quick eye contact. But as he watched him, it was like Micah was in a momentary daze. Micah chuckled at Quinn’s joke/compliment.. His comment definitely made Micah more clumsy though, even if he was standing in place. “Yeah, no prob,” he smiled, gulping his words. While he was too busy watching his crush set up, his grip began to loosen on some of the plates he was holding, causing about four of them to fall. Fuck...

“Oh my god,” Micah sighed, throwing a hand over his forehead. He looked at Quinn, blinking away. “I’m stupid.”

From the dining room, Micah saw Gio jump up in the living room. Was he talking to Ryder? Did Micah somehow create a diversion? An excuse for Gio to hide from confessing his feelings for a guy. No no no. If anything, that was Micah’s biggest screw up… Gio couldn’t hide his feelings forever! 

Suddenly Gio was in the dining room, looking at the mess Micah created. Fuck… Embarrassing. “I know, I know. I’m always dropping things…” 

Micah knew that Vic and Lin, or whoever else, would probably come to see what happened too. It was only a matter of time. 

Micah made eye contact with Quinn as more people came to see what happened. His eyes probably stayed locked with his for a little too long, but he didn’t mind..

[captain-magikarp]

Burnt Stuffing || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, Micah, Ryder, Gio, Charlie, & Daniel

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong‌:

Gabriel began to feel the slow surging of regret. His heart hammered against his chest as he watched his sister-in-law and her friend, Lucas, prepare for the arrival of their guests. Lin’s composure was too kept for Gabby’s liking. This was not the woman his brother married. The realization of how strange her behavior was not something Gabby could ignore.

“Linette,” Gabriel used his stern voice. The voice that came when he was faced with having to reprimand the rowdy children at the library or chastise the younger employees for throwing books in any spot they saw fit. What he received in response was a flippant noise of acknowledgment, which he doubted meant any good. He knew it meant trouble and he loved that about Lin, but why did she decide to do this now? Oh, what was he supposed to do?

“Are you going to say something soon? I think our guests will be arriving soon,” Lin retorted, crossing her arms in a rather lawyer way. He knew she was getting ready to strike him down. Behind her, Lucas’ muffled laughter was pure torture. Perhaps, it was best he texted Victor a warning. It was only fair.

“Give him a break, Lin. You know he’s nervous. His boyfriend is about to meet the Devil herself.”

“He’s not… really my boyfriend.” Gabby’s sudden rush of color brought another giggle from Lucas.

Lin remained unfazed, continuing to grab the toothpicks needed for the cheese platter she had out. He didn’t see how necessary that was as they already had enough food, but he refused to bring it up. It would only add to the torment she was preparing to put him through. As she settled it on the dining room table, she reached for Sophie who happily crawled towards her very mean mother. Lin settled her on her hip, giving a warm smile. Gabby slightly pouted in return before stepping closer to his sister-in-law.

“Please, be nice. I really want this to work. Don’t scare him,” Gabby didn’t know how to get her to be less… predatory. Under Lin’s very persuasive words, which were not words at all but rather lackluster questioning looks, Gabby had shared his history with Vic. He’d shared everything he could with their most recent date given excruciating detail. She knew about the kiss. Gabby knew this meant that a million things could go wrong. “He’s a good person and a really good dad.”

Lin gave Gabby an assessing look, huffing in displeasure. “I’m not gonna stab the guy. I just wanna see if he’s got the equipment you need.”

Gabriel let out a scoff, flushing deeply at the implication. At the sound of a doorbell, Gabby looked at her with wide eyes. One guest had already arrived. It was bound to be Victor and the boys. Lin grinned widely before placing Sophie in his arms. He wasn’t ready for this.

It didn’t take very long for Lin to find her target. She looked back to see Gabby watching her as she made her rounds and greeted her new guests. She pointed out to the cheese platter she had placed down, thanked and grabbed a pie from a young boy’s hands, and placed it in the kitchen where Lucas happily song to himself. When she returned, she still saw her target by the door. Before approaching him, she turned to Gabby and patted his cheek. “Cheer up, sweetheart. I’m only going to nibble,” She winked at Gabby.

“Excuse me, kiddos. This one is mine,” Linette grabbed Victor by the bicep, pulling him inside her home. She glanced at Gabby who drew nearer, his smile warming at the sight of Victor. “Hey, Vicky.”

“I feel like I’m meeting an enigma. You know me as Gabby’s sister-in-law, Lin. I’m so happy you’re here with the kiddos. Gabby almost made you out to be too good to be true,” She still had a hand on Victor’s arm, obviously trying to see how far she could go. “Although, you fit his ‘hot dad’ description very well.”

Gabby didn’t know how much more of this he could take. He wanted to escape somewhere safe and secluded with Vic. How hadn’t he anticipated this? Lin was always vicious with anyone he was interested in. She had a need to test limits. He glanced at Vic with remorseful eyes, bouncing his hip when Sophie started to fuss in his arms. He prayed something called Lin away.

Charlie hadn’t settled since his arrival at his dad’s friend’s house. He wasn’t about to help out in the kitchen where the old people conversed, but he couldn’t do anything else until other people arrived. To occupy his time, he played with the baby, Sophie, who cooed and babbled like any other baby he’d encountered. She even rolled around and let Charlie wrap her in her blanket like a burrito. The sound of the doorbell had Charlie shooting up from his place on the living room’s rug. He carried Sophie with him as he went to answer the door, practically jumping into the arms of the guest. “Hollywood! Look at my baby,” Charlie ushered Ryder inside, showing him the bundle of joy once the door was closed.

Ryder chuckled, cooing back at the baby in Charlie’s arms. “Who let you have their baby?” He asked once Charlie started to lead him to the living room. They sat on the rug, unwrapping Sophie so she could move about. Charlie shrugged as if the details weren’t important, leaning back on his hands. Sophie crawled away from them and into the arms of a woman Ryder didn’t know. She looked amusingly at them, waving Sophie’s little hand.

“Stop stealing my baby, Charlie. And Charlie’s friend, hi. I’m Lin,” She greeted Ryder. He greeted her back and thanked her for the invite. Lin shrugged before retreating back to her original place.

“It’s not stealing if you leave her around,” Charlie exclaimed, receiving no reply.

Once Lin was out of sight, they began to talk, waiting for whoever had yet to arrive. Charlie bounced as he spoke, which Ryder thought was a good indicator of trouble. Ryder had no idea if he’d recognize anyone, but he doubted there’d be any familiar faces. He was completely caught off guard when after coming from the bathroom he nearly bumped into Gio and another person. Ryder was suddenly unaware of how to speak. He tried reeling in his shock, but it only worsened when Gio gave a mere “hi” and nothing else. The silence was stifling until the person next to him spoke up and introduced themselves. Ryder maintained a friendly demeanor, feeling worse when Gio left. He looked back before giving Micah his attention again.

“Hey, I’m Ryder,” He said unsurely, his smile a bit timid. It took a great deal of effort to pretend he wasn’t bothered by what just happened.

Ryder listened halfhearted to Micah’s insistent chattering, charmed by how he tried to sweep the awkwardness of the situation away. It was cute.

“Hmm, so there’s just something about me that doesn’t do anything for him?” Ryder meant for it to sound teasing, but it was surely tinged with rejection. Great, now he looked needy.

Just as Ryder sighed, about to direct Micah to the kitchen, Lin came in, grabbing the pie from his hands. She beamed at Micah, thanking him and retreating back to the kitchen. Ryder lifted his hand to cover his mouth as he laughed, shaking his head. He gave Micah an amused look.

“I swear she pops up out of nowhere,” Ryder commented. “So, what other facts do you have sorted up there?”

Ryder couldn’t keep Gio out of his head as he listened to Micah continue on. He really just wanted to get to the bottom of what the hell happened the last time they’d met. It felt like he’d scared Gio away with his forwardness or said something too inappropriate. When Micah was called away by Charlie’s loud voice, Ryder took an opportunity to look for Gio. He found him alone, sitting on the couch. He returned Gio’s words with an apologetic smile.

“Micah was just telling me you’re the best socializer,” Ryder tilted his head in the direction of Micah. “Do I take the words out of your head? Are you… mad at me or something?”

Quinn took a deep breath, still feeling rushed. It took forever for him to find enough time to excuse himself from dinner. His mother persisted they watched movies together for the remainder of the night, but he escaped that with the excuse of feeling tired and wanting to sleep early. Of course, she was reluctant to believe that until Quinn assured her he just wanted to be up early the next day so they could spend more time together. Her brilliant smile after that made him regret mentioning it. Now he really would have to get up early to please her. Ugh. The things he did for Charlie.

He rang the doorbell of the address Charlie gave him, not recognizing it. All Quinn knew was that he was about to puke if he had to eat another heavy meal after two days of Thanksgiving meals. He may have carried some extra weight, but he wasn’t that ravenous. At the sight of Charlie, Quinn sighed. “Quinn! My beautiful, beautiful friend come in!” Charlie exclaimed, his arm around the shoulders of Daniel. Geez, this guy moved fast. “Dany remember Quinn? I think he knows a brother of yours?” Charlie teased with a wide smile.

Quinn kept a blank face as Charlie looked over his shoulder to call out a very familiar name. His heart pounded against his chest as he went to punch Charlie’s arm, ignoring the cry of fake pain that came from him. “You didn’t!” Quinn said in rushed words, quickly pulling away when Micah was near.

He smiled tightly at Micah, feeling more nervous than ever. He didn’t really understand it. It wasn’t something he should’ve felt. They’d hung out a few times since the bathroom incident. Why did he still feel butterflies in his stomach? They were friends.

“Hey, Micah.”

While Ryder and Sophie were the perfect company, Charlie was definitely thrilled when he heard another doorbell. By that time, Sophie was taken from him and Ryder had gone to the bathroom. He was just too excited to see Daniel. He went to answer the door, his unofficial duty of the night, and welcomed the group with much excitement. Charlie and Daniel were quick to get past pleasantries. Despite how often they hung out, Charlie was practically ready to jump Daniel the moment he saw his boo. He greeted the rest of Daniel’s family, continuing on some extra unnecessary commentary on how they all looked good. When Dany was in reach, Charlie grabbed his hand, surprised when Daniel introduced the older guy as his dad. The guy looked pretty young to be a dad. Charlie grinned widely, ready to show his best.

“Hey, I’m Charlie. Dany here is perfect. Honestly, I think my dad wants us to switch places,” He joked. “Although, to be honest with you, I’m perfect too. I’m like an acquired taste, right?”

Charlie looked at Daniel to confirm. Before he could get too carried away, Lin reached for Vic and took him away. He watched as they left, shrugging and closing the door. Quinn still hadn’t arrived, but it shouldn’t be any longer since he did receive a text that his friend was coming. When he finally arrived, Charlie was ready to fulfill his duties as a good friend and get Quinn laid. He deserved it so he wasn’t entirely sure why Quinn punched him when he called out Micah’s name. It was just such a dick move! Good deeds never went unpunished. He stuck his tongue out at Quinn, deciding that just maybe he wouldn’t be a good friend after all.

“Micah, be careful with him. He’s feeling very affectionate tonight. You might not wanna get too close,” Charlie warned him.

Did Micah actually say Gio was the best socializer? He was the worst of them all, and that’s saying something because none of them were good at socializing at all. Not even Vic. What was Micah going on about with Ryder? Were they talking about him and how he suddenly left the conversation? Gio would admit, what he did wasn’t the best move on his part, but he was just nervous. Love stuff made him nervous. Maybe he got that side of him from Vic or something. If Vic had a chance with someone, then maybe Gio would… cause Vic was really bad at love stuff. He even hated Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day. Or maybe he secretly loved those days and just didn’t want his kids to spend all their money on his gifts. Gio didn’t want to mess anything else up. But was he messing it all up by the way he was acting? Probably.

Concern took over Gio’s face as he looked at Ryder. He thought he was mad at him? How could he be mad at him? Ryder was nothing but good. Gio was just mad at himself.

“Micah’s just trying to make me look good. He could be a good brother sometimes,” Gio said, smirking. Wait, did Gio know Micah and him were brothers? Did he know that Daniel and him were brothers? Gio’s smile dropped quickly. “I’m sorry, I’m just being stupid. You make me kind of nervous.”

Gio’s eyes shifted away from Ryder and toward the floor again. Where else was he gonna look? He couldn’t look at Ryder the whole time. He might pee his pants or catch a boner if he did. “I know I kind of messed up things though. This is just all kind of new to me. Like… I kinda had a crush on you, even in high school, and I just panic around you.” Gio allowed his eyes to make their way back to Ryder. “I mean, you’re kinda scary,” he joked, gently nudging his crush. 

Gio couldn’t believe the way he was acting around Ryder. The guy saved his fuckin’ life… the least he could do was say more than just ‘Hi’. Or at least not make the guy think he was mad at him. “I didn’t think you’d actually like me like that once you’d realize I’m kind of an anti-social nerd guy,” Gio grinned, quickly wiping it off once he realized how the comment wouldn’t help his situation. Ryder probably thought he was just into football or something. That’s kind of what everyone assumed. Like being a quarterback was his life or some shit… when it wasn’t even his favorite hobby. He didn’t even wanna go to college and pursue a football dream. If anything he would’ve really wanted to major in computer science or something if he actually went to college. He could’ve become some famous hacker or some shit. Him or his family didn’t have the money for him to go to college though. They couldn’t even afford new clothes half the time.

Poor Micah had to borrow his shirt which didn’t really fit him too well. Gio didn’t really like the clothes he was wearing either. He was wearing Vic’s nice navy blue button up. There wasn’t really room to be picky, but if there was, Gio would not have chosen to wear navy blue. In his opinion, it kind of washed him out. Normally, Gio wouldn’t have thought about his appearance, but the fact that Ryder was right in front of him... Well, he definitely did. He also wouldn’t have chosen to wear a button up in the first place. Everyone, except for Vic, kind of knew that dressing casually was probably the way to go. Even Ryder was wearing something casual. Gio would have rather just worn his Call of Duty shirt or something.

“Still though, I shouldn’t be acting the way I did. I mean, you saved my fuckin’ life. I’m sorry.” 

Gio didn’t wanna be rude, but he was really wondering why Ryder was there… Or Charlie… Was he wrong in thinking that they came to Gabby’s sister-in-law’s house for Vic? He wasn’t expecting to dive into any of his own drama. “Aye, I’m kind of confused… uh.. my dad was invited here, but I didn’t know any of you guys would be here. Not that it’s bad… I - I’m kinda glad about that,” Gio said as his cheeks turned pink. “But also scared shitless.” He chuckled, hoping that Ryder would get that he was glad he was there.

Vic was pulled away by a woman. Gabby’s sister-in-law, maybe? She seemed eager to meet him. Did this mean that Gabby talked a lot about him? God, he hoped he talked a lot about him. Just the thought made his heartbeat triple its speed. 

Once the two arrived in the kitchen, Vic was left paralyzed in his position. He was convinced his soul left his body for a second, especially the moment Gabby called him ‘Vicky’… Any other person calling him Vicky would make him fuckin’ pissed, but Gabby calling him that nickname made him melt. Only Gabby could call him Vicky… Only Gabby had this effect on him. He started to blush. He never felt like this before. His heart was going a thousand beats per minute. God, he just missed his fuckin’ face. He missed him. “Howdy partner,” he joked in a bad cowboy accent, hoping Gabby would get the reference to his Halloween costume. 

Hearing Lin, Vic gathered that Gabby did talk about him... And what the hell was an ‘enigma’? Vic felt kind of stupid just hearing Lin talk. She was an attorney… so he figured he would. He was definitely not going to tell her he didn’t know what a simple word like ‘enigma’ meant. Did it mean that he was difficult or hard to understand? That sounded about right. At least according to Lin he was a ‘hot dad’. 

Vic didn’t mind Lin being overbearing like she was, but he could tell that Gabby was bothered by it. Vic kind of zoned her out after a while though. Watching Gabby hold a baby almost put Vic to shame. Maybe Gabby was the ‘hot dad’. Vic couldn’t help but think how Gabby would probably be a super supportive and good parent… Not that he’d expect him to take on being a parent to the boys. That’d be a big thing to take on. Definitely a lot to ask from someone. God, Vic’s thoughts were weird whenever he got all gushy… Thank god no one could read minds in the house… unless Lin could… If she could, well, he was in deep shit. 

As his eyes darted around the kitchen, he couldn’t help but be in awe. It was spacious… A dream kitchen, that was for sure. It even had a center countertop and a cool oven and microwave... It was kind of a normal kitchen in some ways, but still really nice. Vic was envious. As he admired the counters, he noticed the pumpkin pie he made sitting off to the side. He hoped it was good… God, if it was bad, he would probably hear all about how bad it was. He didn’t know Lin too well, but just by his first encounter with her, he could tell she’d be the first to say something if it tasted like shit. 

“I hope the pie’s good. All the old peopl-- folks…” Vic quickly corrected himself, not wanting to be judged by Lin for every word he said wrong. He cleared his throat before he continued to wiggle off his bad word choices. “All the older folks really like that pie at the restaurant. Not too sure why, I’m sure it ain’t.. isn’t the best.” Jeez, he was thinking about every word he said. “If you guys need help cooking, I’m here,” he said with a quick grin, subtly wiggling his bicep away from Lin’s grip. 

Micah felt really bad for Ryder. Gio was kind of being a jerk which was super weird because Micah knew very well that he really liked the guy. He was super hot and really nice. Micah wasn’t too sure why Gio was acting so weird. Did something happen at a party they went to? It wasn’t Micah’s place to tell Ryder the truth though. So, to ease the awkwardness, he was talking about so many things. There was a point where he even didn’t know what he was talking about or what his point was. 

Micah hoped the pie was in safe hands. He had no idea who the random lady who took the pie was. Was that the sister-in-law attorney? If she was, then Micah was terrified for Vic. “She’s kinda scary,” Micah whispered to Ryder. 

What other facts did he have to tell? Was he actually listening? Micah was sure he would have zoned out a billion years ago. “Uhm…”

Micah was saved by his name being called by the loudest guy ever, Charlie. Typically he’d wait a little before he started heading over to Charlie, but because he was in a very awkward situation with Ryder, he jumped on the chance to zoom off. “Well, looks like I’m being called. Nice meeting you, Ryder…” Micah smiled as he threw his hand on Ryder’s shoulder before he dashed off.

The moment Micah reached Charlie, his heart began to race. He wasn’t prepared for Quinn to be there. His outfit was shit. Jeez, he didn’t expect a “let’s go to Gabby’s sister-in-law’s house” to turn into a drama fest. Micah’s shoulders curled up as a smile smeared across his face with undertones of both excitement and fear. “Hey, Quinn,” Micah said as he shyly waved. 

Micah couldn’t really pinpoint why he was nervous. They had hung out before. They were friends… but every time they hung out, Micah was always super nervous and anxious. Was it bad that every time he saw him he wanted to kiss him? Friends kissed sometimes… right? Charlie kissed his friends, right? God, how could Micah even function around Quinn though? He could barely text him without almost becoming comatose.

Charlie was pulling Micah’s leg… Quinn probably didn’t want to be affectionate with Micah at all. Quinn was clearly embarrassed by what Charlie was saying.. So to ease the awkwardness, Micah began talking a lot again…

“I’m not afraid of a little affection. People are… affectionate all the time. People hug. They even compliment each other. Those are definitely forms of affection that a lot of people do,” Micah said, thinking that it’d help ease the weird conversation Charlie created. “Quinn and I are friendly… I mean, friends. We’re friends.” He looked at Quinn for clarification but received very little. Oh no, did Quinn not see him as a friend either? Micah continued with his nervous blinking, thinking he dug himself into a hole. What if Quinn thought that Micah wanted something more? Micah definitely wanted something more, but he didn’t want Quinn to think that if he wasn’t interested in Micah in that way. What if Quinn wasn’t interested in him? But… what if he was?

“Uh… Quinn,” Micah let out, trying to avoid eye contact with his crush. “Uhm, I was gonna go see if they needed help with food or something. Wanna come?”

Micah knew how awkward his suggestion came out. He didn’t even say it in a cool way. At least if he sounded cool saying a stupid suggestion, things would be better. But he did not sound suave at all. 

As Micah walked toward the kitchen with Quinn, he kept his arms tight against his sides. He couldn’t even breathe right. Every step he took, his throat consumed a heartbeat of his. “So, I didn’t know you’d be here… my dad was invited and we just kind of came along. I’m kind of confused why everyone’s here,” Micah said, his eyes widening once he realized what he said may have come out wrong. “Not that it’s a bad thing you guys are here. I’m happy about that… actually. It just feels like some weird fever dream though. Because, well, Vic, my dad, he’s kind of meet--”

Micah was interrupted by the presence of Vic, Gabby, the sister-in-law, and some other dude, once him and Quinn reached the kitchen. “Hiii,” Micah let out as he awkwardly waved to everyone in the room. Suddenly he felt like he was being assessed by the sister-in-law. Did this mean he had to act all proper or something? He was definitely gonna fail at that if that was the case. “I’m Micah,” he introduced himself, getting a little closer to Quinn as his nerves grew, their hands almost touching. 

“We were just wondering if you guys needed help?” Micah asked with a fake exaggerated smile.

[captain-magikarp]

Burnt Stuffing || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, Micah, Ryder, Gio, Charlie, & Daniel

It had been a minute since Vic and Gabby hung out. Sure, they texted and talked whenever Gabby came by the place. Heck, Vic even pretended to rent out books for the boys just so he could say hi to his librarian boyfriend… But was he Vic’s boyfriend? They never said anything about that. All they did was kiss on Halloween. That could have just been a one time thing, though. Maybe after that, they’d never kiss again. Maybe Vic was just getting ahead of himself too. They had kissed… They were talking… Taking it slow?  He wasn’t used to the whole love thing so it was hard to control his jitters. How did him and Gabby date in high school without Vic feeling as nervous as he did now? Maybe he took what they had for granted back then.

It was definitely a good sign that Gabby invited Vic and the boys to Thanksgiving at his sister-in-law’s place. It was so nerve-wrecking, but Vic was determined to not mess things up. He usually kept the restaurant open on Thanksgiving. Lonely guests would rely on his place on the day… But he closed it on the holiday for the first time ever. What would happen to old man Harry who loved his conversations with Micah on holidays? Micah and Daniel were always super welcoming to lonely guests that came to the place. The old folks would always gravitate toward Micah or Daniel to talk about their stories, especially because they listened and were super engaged in their conversations. Poor Harry...

Usually Vic would make a big deal about closing the restaurant, mostly because he cared for his guests, but this was one of the first times he actually thought about himself instead. He always worked to help others, but after reuniting with Gabby he began to realize that he never did anything for himself. It was finally time to do something that he wanted to do without having to worry about anyone else. When Gabby asked Vic to join, he instantly dropped everything.

As their rickety car pulled up to the house with Vic and the boys, Vic’s innards instantly collapsed. The house was one of those normal houses, but it was nice. If it was any other house, he wouldn’t give two shits, but because it was connected to Gabby somehow...Gabby’s sister-in-law’s house… an attorney’s house.. he was frightened. Did everyone look presentable? Did anyone have BO? Vic frowned, taking a look at all three boys individually. His eyes darted toward Micah. “You showered, right?” Vic asked like it was an interrogation. 

“Yes, I showered, jeez,” Micah let out, throwing his hands up in frustration. Because Vic was super jittery the entire day, Micah was pretty annoyed. “You really need a chill pill.” 

Micah couldn’t understand why he was being accused of smelling. Micah looked presentable too. Or so he thought. He was forced by Vic to wear a button up shirt lent to him by Gio. In his humble opinion, he looked worse than he would have if he wore a regular shirt. Gio’s shirt was kind of big on Micah. Gio had big arms! Kind of... It was like the shirt was insulting him every second saying that Micah had like zero muscle. Which wasn’t true… but also kind of true. It’s not like he played football like Gio. To make things look better, he rolled up the sleeves like some 1950s greaser… which probably looked a little silly, but whatever. They were just visiting Gabby’s family, right? They wouldn’t care.

Mich sighed as he unbuckled his seatbelt and attempted to get out of the car with a pumpkin pie in hand. As he waited outside of the car he subtly sniffed his armpits to see if he actually smelled. He didn’t… But thanks to Vic, that’s all he was going to think about. 

After everyone was out of the car, Vic walked up to Micah, spritzing him with some cologne before they started walking toward the house.

Micah rolled his eyes. “I find it funny how much you think I smell, when really you’re the big stinker.”

“Aye, watch your mouth..,” Vic said as he tossed the cologne back into the car.

Micah shook his head as they all began to approach the house in business casual fashion.

So many thoughts began to race through Vic’s head as they got closer to the house. Did they all look ridiculous? Were they overdressed? Micah’s shirt looked a little weird on him. Vic felt bad that they all had to share clothes sometimes. It wouldn’t have been that expensive to get all of them decent button ups… He thought Micah had one though? He could have sworn he got him one for his high school graduation.. Did he lose it? Vic was starting to think about everyone else again… It was those kinds of thoughts that made him more nervous. But was he wrong to worry? He didn’t want anyone thinking he was a bad parent. 

The butterflies in his stomach began to go crazy as he rang the doorbell and waited for the door to open up. In his mind, Gabby was going to be the one to open the door. He was prepared for it and even practiced how he would say hi to him in the mirror at home. He was more than prepared for this moment. 

As the door cracked open, Vic’s smile grew. He took a deep breath and was about to let out his greeting, until he was faced with some loud curly haired kid. A look of disappointment swept over Vic’s face as this kid began to talk. He seemed to know the boys though… but he also just really wished the kid would shut up so he could see Gabby. God, how could he be so selfish though? Daniel really lit up when he saw the kid. Was this the guy he was going on about? The one he was always hanging out with? Daniel’s happiness meant a lot to Vic… to the whole family, really. Vic let out a grin as he watched them chat up a storm together. 

“Okay, guys. This intro’s too long… I’m gonna go inside now,” Micah let out as he gently slid his way past Charlie and Daniel. Gio then followed behind. 

When Vic was about to move past them, Daniel threw his hand onto Vic’s shoulder to introduce him to the loud kid.

“This is my dad, Vic,” Daniel revealed with a big smile on his face.

As much as Vic wanted to get past them, he couldn’t help but take in the moment in front of him. He couldn’t remember a time where any of the boys introduced him as their dad to their friends. It was always awkward when they had to introduce him cause they never knew what to call him. Was he an uncle? A guardian person? A dad? Vic’s smile grew ten times bigger after being introduced as a dad. “Hey,” Vic said as he nodded toward the curly haired kid. 

Micah and Gio walked into the home together, only to run into Ryder who had just turned the corner and almost ran into them. Wasn’t this the guy that Gio had a thing for? A very rare occasion. What was he doing here though? What was Charlie doing here? Wasn’t this Gabby’s sister-in-law’s place? Embarrassing enough… everyone was dressed casually compared to them. Micah knew that they should have dressed in normal clothes. 

“Uh…” Micah let out, patting Gio on the back for support as he tightly held onto the pumpkin pie.

Gio’s stomach dropped to the floor as his crush stood right in front of him. Last thing Gio knew was that he kind of messed things up. What was he gonna say? Sorry? That would feel weird because it wasn’t something to really say sorry for, but at the same time it was. 

“Hi,” Gio swallowed his greeting as his eyes shifted to the floor.

Silence.

“I’m Micah,” Micah let out, trying to ease the awkwardness lingering in the situation.

Gio cleared his throat, walking away from the two. Gio wasn’t always the best at social interactions, especially with his crush… Especially when he kind of messed things up. 

Micah, not knowing what to do, started to panic and began talking about random stuff. He even started sharing random facts that Daniel told him, which he was sure was probably making things a lot worse. “... And well, legend has it, the pretzel was invented by some monk in Italy a billion years ago… At least, that’s what my brother says… NOT Gio. Gio’s the best socializer out of all of us…” LIES.

“My brother, Daniel.. He likes to share those kinds of things.” As Micah spoke, he rubbed the back of his neck and blinked excessively, making it obvious how nervous he was talking to his brother’s crush. Swimming in a sea of awkwardness, Micah strengthened his grip on the pumpkin pie. “Uh… do you know where I put this?”

As Micah and Ryder spoke, Gio introduced himself to new people. After, he went to sit alone on a couch, just watching whatever was already playing on the tv. Trying his best to distract himself with the show he was watching, he didn’t realize his brunette crush approaching. The moment Ryder was close enough to him, Gio jumped, not expecting anyone--especially Ryder--to be there.

“You scared me,” Gio smiled, but forcefully made his grin disappear. “Hi…”

[captain-magikarp]

Halloween Jitters || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, & Micah

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong‌:

Gabriel knew some battles were won while others were lost. He felt thrilled when Victor finally ended the distance, but his excitement quickly turned to nervousness when Vic fidgeted by his side. Was Gabby moving too fast? Was he pushing Victor to do something he didn’t want to? Was he being obvious enough with his own intentions? He didn’t want Victor to turn off the fan. He didn’t want Victor to move or doubt himself. He just wanted him. Gabby turned to look at his ex. “Oh, sure, I guess that would make sense. Fans are made to make places cold,” Gabby stuttered out, retreating to a safe place. Well, at least he had Rally…

Gabby didn’t expect Vic to reach for Rally and apparently neither did she. As immediate retaliation, she gave Victor a good swat for disturbing her, resulting in two scratches on his face. It happened so quickly that Gabby had barely any time to react. He gasped along with Vic, turning to evaluate the scratches Rally gave her owner. Gabby cradled Victor’s face in his hands, frowning at the wounds. “Not too bad, but we’ll go clean it before it gets infected.”

They crowded the bathroom as Gabby treated Victor’s wounds. Gabby dabbed disinfectant on Victor’s face, carefully using his hand to turn Victor’s face. Did Vic feel Gabriel’s quickening heart? To Gabby, they were in sync with one another. Gabby felt his breath catch and when he stared too long he lost it, suddenly forgetting he needed air. They were so close that it felt impossible to separate himself from Vic. He hardly heard the words leaving Vic’s mouth. “Hmm? Oh, it’s— I don’t mind. Does it sting?” Gabby absentmindedly stroked Victor’s cheek with his thumb, repeating the motion once more before he noticed. He cleared his throat, finding his makeshift nursing abilities more interesting.

Without a pause, Gabby laughed softly after hearing Victor’s comment. “I’m not really sure you have any competition,” Gabby confessed, blushing deeply at the sudden boldness he’d gotten. He would’ve never said that before, but he always found himself in these situations with Vic. It was impossible to keep his truths to himself, to ignore how often he thought of the other and how often he hoped Victor would eventually return the feeling. “I can’t imagine you ever did.”

Gabriel felt the heaviness of his words at the back of his throat, never wanting to escape but never wanting to be swallowed either. He glanced down, shyly leaning closer. His face felt hot. Gabby chewed his bottom lip, nervously examining Victor’s face. He was definitely handsome and kind, and, yes, it was all Gabby ever wanted. He wanted Vic. He wanted this. Why couldn’t he say the words? He nodded once before his doubts got the best of him. It’d been so long since he last kissed Vic. Would it be the same? Would it better? Gabby wanted him to end this sweet torture. He waited so long for Vic already.

Quinn pointed at Micah, giving him a playful glare. “Don’t say that because I’ll go out there and tell Charlie. He won’t leave you unscathed,” He threatened, chuckling lowly. He wouldn’t ever volunteer to have Charlie come near Micah. Who knows where he’d try to put his hands. Quinn never liked sharing and as awkward as their recent conversations had been, Quinn still imagined a time and place where he and Micah could work. It was the sort of romance for films, for teenagers with little experience in love, but it was also the sort that he always hoped to have. Quinn felt ridiculous thinking about it, giving it so much thought. He hoped Micah never figured how hopelessly infatuated he was. Quinn wouldn’t be able to live with the embarrassment of rejection. “I bet his dad has a bunch of these in a closet somewhere,” He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Micah’s confession along with the sniffle he tacked on at the end really dug into Quinn. He never really paid attention to rumors back in high school, but he heard a few things. Mostly, he heard of Micah and Steve being together, but he never imagined anything being bad enough to bother Micah. Quinn could visibly see the discomfort. He fucking hated high school himself, but never for the reasons Micah may have. He wished he knew Micah better back then, wished he could’ve made a difference. “Fuck those people, dude. Most of them are never gonna be happy with themselves or their lives,” Quinn shared, feeling his irritation rise at the thought of them.

He took a deep breath, not wanting to remain in a pissed mood. Quinn felt a bit of his mood lift when Micah shared that he did, in fact, have a picture of his makeup from tonight. Quinn curiously waited for Micah to show the image and stared intensely once it was displayed for him, trying to soak in every detail of the photo. He blinked several times when Micah quickly turned his phone away, hiding the art he had created. Quinn had never been good at reading people, but Micah looked torn. Did he think Quinn would insult him? “Whoa, that looked pretty cool. Not a real fan of makeup myself, but I know Charlie would wanna try it. You should practice on him or something,” Quinn suggested, hoping he wasn’t pushing Micah too much.

Quinn resisted Micah’s offer for a moment as if he hadn’t felt the burn in his thighs from his position. His thighs would probably hate him in the morning, but he allowed himself to tentatively take the place Micah offered. He moved slowly with the sort of caution people used when approaching easily spooked animals. Quinn was surprised when Micah wanted him to sign his cast. It wasn’t something he ever expected to happen, but he couldn’t deny a part of him felt flattered. After all, every time they’d met it’d been under pretty embarrassing circumstances. It wasn’t like Quinn expected Micah to really want to be around him at all. However, not being able to resist for much longer, he grabbed the marker from Micah’s hand, uncapping it and turning to find the right angle.

Quinn shrugged, realizing a bit later that that wasn’t entirely the right way to express himself. “I don’t mind. Let me just find a good spot,” Quinn mumbled, feeling nervous. He prepared to write his name in a more visible area where the two other names already on the cast didn’t blend in with his. He was claiming Micah in a sense. All it took was a swift stroke as Quinn fluently wrote the letters of his first name together and he was done. He stared at his name, remembering it wasn’t normal to stare after some thought.

Quinn smiled as he capped the marker, offering it back to Micah. “There, now you’re never getting rid of me,” Quinn joked, on the very verge of standing up and pretending he hadn’t said that, but he had and there was no way he’d take it back now.

In Victor’s mind, Gabby may have been implying that he had no competition because he never liked him in the first place. Of course, deep down, he knew what Gabby actually meant, but sometimes his anxious mind took over. 

His heart skipped a beat when Gabby nodded yes to his question...

It had been so long since their lips touched, but Victor remembered the feeling it gave him. Since, no other kiss had ever compared to kissing Gabby. The last time they had kissed, they were 17, right before Gabby hopped in a car that took him to his successful future. As Victor stood in front of Gabby in the bathroom, he remembered this moment. This vivid memory reappeared, illustrating itself in his mind. He remembered how his stomach felt as Gabby released himself from their kiss and gently slid his hand away from Victor’s grasp. Remembering this made Vic’s eyes water as he looked at Gabby, realizing how much he had missed him. He realized how much he had longed for another chance to kiss Gabriel. Victor’s younger self would have given anything to have this chance again, but his older self was now nervous.

Being older brought on new anxieties, especially when he hadn’t seen Gabby in so long. They had changed along with the cards that life dealt them. Victor had kids to worry about now, even though he was sure they’d be supportive of their relationship. But what if the dynamic was off? What if Gabby seemed like he liked Vic’s kids, but he actually didn’t? People were like that. And then when it’d be too late, the truth would come out. Vic knew this wouldn’t happen, but he couldn’t help but conjure up these illogical thoughts when he was nervous. For the first time in a long time, he was scared and confused.

Victor placed his hands on each side of Gabby’s face and delivered his lips to his. Getting a silly feeling in his stomach, he slowly pulled away, his cheeks turning pinker than they had ever been. But the desire to get his lips on Gabby’s again was so overwhelming that it overpowered his strong anxieties at the moment. Vic’s breath grew short as he reached for Gabby’s shoulders, pulling himself toward him to close any leftover space between them. Now, they were even closer than they already were. When their lips touched again, Vic attempted to lean into the kiss even more, leaving Gabby no choice but to slightly shuffle backwards. As their kissing grew more intense, he could feel their heartbeats going at a crazy pace. 

Unfortunately, Victor’s untied shoelace was their demise. Victor stepped onto his shoelace just as Gabby moved a little backwards, causing the two to stumble onto the floor. As the two laid side by side, Victor stayed quiet for a moment as he attempted to figure out what happened. After experiencing such overwhelming emotions, having tripped on his shoelace was the last thing he expected would happen. He looked at Gabby to his left, trying to gauge how he felt about the situation. Unable to hold in his laughter, he cackled, letting out a snort, which made him laugh even more. He reached over to rest his hand on Gabby’s chest. “Oh my god.. Why didn’t I tie my shoe before this? I’m sorry,” he apologized, trying to subdue any further laughter he had in him. “Are you okay?” 

Micah’s arm started to shake as Quinn began signing his cast. Trying not to make it obvious that he was nervous, he attempted to keep his arm as still as possible by supporting it with his other hand. Once Quinn pulled away, revealing his name was on it, Micah couldn’t keep himself from smiling. How could he not smile? His crush’s name was on his cast, in a spot where everyone could see it. 

Micah giggled a bit as Quinn joked. Even if he was playing around, Micah hoped he’d see him again, in fact, he’d be heartbroken if they didn’t. He wondered if Quinn felt the same way. Embarrassed of his giddiness, he covered his mouth as he brought his eyes to his cast. “You didn’t leave a message? Not even your number?” Micah joked, regretting it almost afterward. He was definitely flirting, and last time he revealed his feelings for Quinn it didn’t really go well. 

“I’m sorry if that was a little too forward,” Micah said, clearing his throat and letting his smile dissipate. What if Quinn thought Micah was being weird again and didn’t really want to hang with him after this? Well, Micah probably just ruined their nice little moment. After he said that, Quinn probably wanted to grab some white-out and paint his name off of Micah’s cast. “If you want, I could grab some white-out if you don’t want your name on here anymore,” he said, letting out a slightly dejected chuckle. 

Realizing all his comments were kind of stupid, he sighed, meeting eyes with Quinn. Micah really wondered if Quinn wanted to see him again. He hoped he did. Micah could settle for just being friends with Quinn. Even though he liked him a lot, he just really wanted him in his life, even if it meant they weren’t boyfriends or something. “I think you’re really cool, Quinn. Do you wanna hang sometime?” Micah asked. “Just as friends.” He emphasized the ‘friends’ part, so that Quinn didn’t think he was asking him out. Micah didn’t need another reason for his anxiety to go crazy. “If not, well, that’s okay too. I get it.”

[captain-magikarp]

Halloween Jitters || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, & Micah

[captain-magikarp]

j‌inxseong:

Gabriel felt the lurch of his heart as he recognized the flirtatious tone presenting itself in Victor’s straightforward comment. He’d always enjoyed the immediate lack of coyness that came with Vic. He was direct and never looming behind some meaning, some abstract way of announcing his feelings. What Gabby most enjoyed was Vic’s way of steadying his ever nervous state of mind. Here Gabby was, already overthinking what they were doing, what Vic wanted, and here Victor was, giving it the way it was and the way it’d always be. Gabby flushed, a little smitten. He really shouldn’t have been playing with his food, but he felt his stomach tighten with nervousness. It wouldn’t be great to end up ruining the night because he couldn’t keep his nervous stomach in check. “Hmm, well, I think they were just worried Keira wouldn’t read to their kids. She’s a volunteer we have working tonight. She dressed up as a mermaid and her tail keeps her from moving from the desk,” Gabby deflected, his smile as much tired as it was amused. It wasn’t the first time Keira found a way to get out of work.

“Sure, pizza sounds great,” Gabby said agreeably, not one to oppose much. It helped that he wanted to just relax with Victor. They were alone for who knows how long. It would give them time to completely relax and… explore their developing relationship. If it was a relationship that Victor wanted then Gabby wanted to take it as his pace. After all, their first real conversation since their reunion hadn’t been the most pleasant thing, but it’d definitely built a solid foundation for a possible future.

Gabby really wanted a future with Vic and his kids. He went upstairs with Victor, his stomach still tight with anxiety. They sat at opposite sides of the couch, both with a slice of pizza in their hands. “I don’t think it’s a mess,” Gabby chewed thoughtfully, trying to ease his stomach into accepting the greasy food when he found himself to be the resting place of Rally, Vic’s cat. Gabby took his role as Rally’s cuddle buddy seriously, immediately using his free hand to give her all the attention he could. He cooed softly, offering praise with the physical affection he shared.

“Aaw, you have a cat too? You’ve definitely gotten soft on me, Vicky,” Gabby lightly joked, blushing at the accidental use of a nickname for Victor. Were they really ready to go back to what they’d been? Were they prepared to work it out, speak about things they were scared to share and to admit? “She’s cuter than you for sure.”

Once he heard the message Micah had left behind, Gabby laughed warmly. He felt better about his date with Vic. It was nice to have Micah around. Gabriel got along with him easily, making him hope that everything could eventually work between Vic and him. He could have Vic and his own family. He could have a home to come to, an actual home, instead of bothering Lin and his niece and his worrying brother. “We definitely can’t disappoint him. Put it on already,” Gabby playfully demanded, feeling the shaky quality of his voice steady. “I’m ready for my initiation.”

Finished with his slice of pizza, Gabby focused on the film playing, keeping one hand on Rally as she purred in contentment. He wondered why he’d never gotten a cat. He would’ve loved some company back at his own place. He also would’ve loved if Vic didn’t keep so much space between them. How were they ever going to move away from their past mistakes and judgments? Gabriel adjusted himself, getting more comfortable and trying to keep Rally happy in her claimed spot on his lap. He glanced at Vic periodically, wondering what to do. He didn’t want to be obvious. “It’s kinda cold, huh,” Gabby lamely commented, adding a fake shiver. He didn’t have to fake for long as he did have the raising goosebumps on his arms, but they were not an effect from the cold. Gabby was just that excited at the idea that Victor would close the distance between them. “I guess there’s a draft in here.”

Quinn didn’t say a word. He knew how overwhelming the feeling of embarrassment could be. He felt it at the strangest of times when it wasn’t necessarily a welcoming experience. He couldn’t understand what embarrassed Micah so much that he resorted to hiding in the bathroom, but he didn’t want to overstep. This wasn’t their first time having to ignore the awkwardness of their unfamiliarity for the sake of keeping things between them safe. Quinn was starting to grow tired of being safe, though. “Yeah, I get that,” Quinn shared, making a shallow attempt to relate. He didn’t know what to do or say. It had never been easy talking to Micah but since the corn maze, it’d been awkward. Quinn stared at Micah, watching him grab wipes from his bag and smear his makeup everywhere.

The smudge work reminded him of paintings where the colors all blended together, which had always been weird when started but beautiful once finished. The result of Micah’s work brought the same thoughts to Quinn. He thought Micah’s makeup had looked pretty damn cool, but he did always sort of enjoy Micah’s open, bare face. He still had little smears of makeup and redness where he viciously rubbed it away, but Quinn thought he was beautiful. He didn’t like hearing what Micah thought of his makeup. “No, it wasn’t stupid,” Quinn argued, refraining from frowning at Micah. “Your makeup looked kinda cool, but I didn’t get to really see it in full detail so—” He shrugged. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”

Having the attention brought to his makeshift costume brought an unwanted flush to Quinn’s face. “Ugh, I didn’t dress up and Charlie brought out this shit and all. It’s his dad’s, but he said if anyone asked me I should say I’m a ‘naggy suburban mom’,” Quinn smiled tightly, rolling his eyes at the memory of Charlie. How they continued their friendship was unknown to Quinn. Maybe Dante really played a key role in their friendship because, at times like this, Quinn only wanted to strangle his friend. “Go ahead and laugh. This shit is ridiculous. I mean look—” Quinn pointed out the excessive bows, laughing a bit himself. “Why the hell did his dad keep this?”

Victor was glad Gabby got along with Rally, especially because some people were disgusted at how much lint they would receive after holding a furry cat. Also, the fact that he didn’t think that the place was a mess eased Victor’s anxiety. These two things combined reminded him why he liked Gabby in the first place. He was so easy going and not like other people who would probably cringe at the sight of Vic’s place if they saw it.

Vic remembered the day Micah first started giving Rally food outside the restaurant door. After some time Victor figured out she was a stray, so he took her in as his own. He couldn’t figure out why she didn’t have a home, especially because she was so fluffy and friendly. When he first took her in, Gio and Daniel were 14 and Micah was 13. The kids, especially Micah, were ecstatic because they had been begging to keep her for months. Rally had followed the three all the way home from school. She even ordered Micah to pick her up and hold her like a baby, mostly because he was the one who babied her the most. As far as they knew, Rally was the most pampered stray on the block. When Gabby joked about how much cuter Rally was then him, he chuckled, blushing at his backhanded compliment. He couldn’t disagree that Rally was in fact cuter, cause she was. She even had more courage than Vic to be all over Gabby. 

When Gabby laughed at Micah’s note, Victor received positive chills all across his body. He never thought anyone, especially Gabby, would be so accepting of one of his kids. Victor loved Micah, but sometimes he budded in a lot, which made him really nervous. People in the past didn’t always take too well to the extent in which Micah involved himself in their relationship, which made Victor not want to be with that person anyways if they were going to be an asshole. Micah was a good kid and if someone didn’t like him, then that would be a problem. “Okay, okay,” Vic grinned, putting the DVD in. 

He rushed over to the couch, only to sit at the same spot that left a big space between him and Gabby. As the film progressed, Victor subtly peeked at Gabby to study his body language, wondering how he felt about the space. Did he want it? Did he not? Maybe it was Victor who was the only one wanting the space between them because he felt anxious. The moment Gabby reinforced how cold he was, Victor took the opportunity to scooch his way closer to him. Was he saying these things because he was cold or was Gabby hinting at something? The moment Victor got there, the more he felt awkward and worried. What if Gabby thought him moving so close to him was weird? It probably was. “Uh.. sorry, you said you were cold and I thought.. Well I don’t know,” Victor swallowed any further words he had left as he held his gaze with Gabby’s eyes. Frightened that he’d make the rash decision to kiss him, he quickly whipped his head back to the tv screen. “Do you want me to turn off the fan?” Vic asked, regretting his suggestion as he said it. He knew that mentioning it would ruin the moment, if someone would even call it that. 

Trying to find something to ease his jitters, he decided to pull Rally from her comfortable position on Gabby’s lap. The moment he did, she twisted herself to swat at Victor’s face. Vic gasped as he placed Rally on the floor. He quickly touched his cheek, realizing she left a big scratch on it. When he released his hand from his cheek, a little blood was on it. “I think I might need a little help cleaning up... I mean it’s not bad right?” he asked, revealing his cheek to Gabby. Rally didn’t leave Vic in bad shape, but she certainly gave him two mean marks that called for some Neosporin. 

As the two stood in the bathroom, Victor stood embarrassed. The bathroom was so small that the toilet was ridiculously close to the sink. It made it a little hard for the two of them to maneuver around the area. “I’m sorry about this,” he timidly smiled allowing Gabby to rub the Neosporin on his small injury. Even though Victor was nervous about how close the two of them were standing, he admired how Gabby was willing to even help him with a few cat scratches. “I should’ve known better not to mess with Rally when she’s on your lap of all laps. She’s my competition now.”

Their two bodies were touching, and it was making Victor want to kiss Gabby more and more as the guy rubbed his cheek with medicine. Maybe this was life’s way of making them progress in this possible relationship. Victor didn’t openly believe in fate, but part of him kind of felt like he was always meant to land up with Gabby. “Can I kiss you or something?” Vic asked as his eyes slowly shifted toward Gabby.

As Micah looked at all the bows Quinn revealed to be on his apron, he chortled as he lifted his glasses and wiped his eyes of any remaining tears. “If that’s the costume you get for not dressing up, I shouldn’t have dressed up,” Micah joked. As he looked at all the used makeup wipes that he had scattered on the floor, his smile quickly disappeared. Was Quinn just being nice when he said he wished he saw his makeup? Maybe he wasn’t, but Micah couldn’t imagine Quinn liking it if he actually saw it. 

Micah felt bad for Quinn seeing him like such a mess. They hardly knew each other and yet, Quinn had seen every bad side of Micah before he saw every good side. He stayed quiet as he picked up the crumbled up wipes that sat around him on the floor. He looked at Quinn who had still been crouched in front of him. Micah wondered why the guy hadn’t come up with an excuse to leave the awkward situation yet. If it were anyone else, they would have been gone by now. Heck, they would have closed the door once they saw Micah like he was. “A lot of people made rumors about me back then when I wore makeup,” Micah revealed with a sniffle. “They were just really mean.”

When Micah went to the Halloween party in junior year, he dressed up as Wednesday Addams. He had gone all out with the dress and braided wig, he even wore cute black tights and some combat boots. That really wasn’t his style any other day, but on Halloween, he really liked going all out. It was during the time where he was exploring with makeup for the first time at home and he really just wanted to show it off. Of course, he’d gotten ready at Steve’s house because his mom wouldn’t have approved of that kind of costume and Vic’s bathroom was too small for comfort. Steve’s parents were so nice and reassuring about the outfit--even Steve, so Micah was expecting others to react the same way. But, some did… and others didn’t.

Micah was really afraid to admit he had ran to the bathroom so Quinn wouldn’t see. If he admitted that, he’d be admitting to him that he really cared what Quinn thought more than anyone else at the party. He wanted to avoid anymore awkward moments, especially after he had embarrassingly admitted his feelings for Quinn to him. He wasn’t sure why, but he pulled his phone out, scrolling through his gallery to show Quinn the best selfie of the makeup he had on. “I have a picture of it,” Micah said. His hand slightly shook as he flipped the phone screen to Quinn, revealing the picture. The selfie was of Micah with the Pikachu onesie hoodie over his head as he posed with one hand on his hip. Nervous, he snatched back his phone, pulling it to his chest. Micah wasn’t sure why the shorter time allowed for Quinn to look at the picture mattered, but at least it was less time for him to sit through the embarrassment the selfie evoked. Micah turned pink as his eyes slowly met Quinn’s. It was really hard to tell what Quinn was thinking. 

Realizing Quinn had been crouching for some time, Micah scooched over, patting the area next to him. Even though Micah had made the silent offer for Quinn to sit next to him, the two remained silent for about a minute as they sat adjacent to each other. Trying to break the silence, Micah grabbed a permanent marker from his bag, pointing it toward Quinn. “Do you wanna sign my cast?” he asked. He then switched his position by twisting himself more toward Quinn so that it’d be easier for him to sign his arm. Realizing he may have been acting too fast, he dropped his hand that held the marker to his lap. There were no signatures on the cast anyways, except for Justine’s and Daniel’s. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.. Sorry for being so bold, or whatever…” 

[captain-magikarp]

Halloween Jitters || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, & Micah

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong:

Gabriel didn’t know what to say, what’d be an acceptable way to excuse himself from his usual duties. He was already questioned by a few of the parents who noticed he wasn’t staying the entire night. The most persistent ones were the parents with their own costumes, having dedicated time and money to make sure their children had fun. They were also usually the ones that insisted he participated in every activity possible. Often, Gabby gave up his time willingly as he loved children and the joy the Halloween brought to them, but he had a date. Eventually, Gabby was able to pull himself away from the excitement and make his way to Victor’s. He glanced at his watch, shocked by how late it already was. He hoped Vic would be too busy to notice his late arrival.

Not having the time to change made Gabriel a little nervous. He wasn’t usually so conscious of his appearance because admittedly, he was easy on the eyes. Even someone as modest as he was could admit he had nothing to lose sleep over, but what impression was he making wearing this costume? He’d been so thorough with his cowboy costume he’d even gotten boots! Boots!! It had definitely been a detail the children loved, but would an ex— one he was still very interested in —see the humor in it? Or would Vic think he was an overgrown child? Gabby was now shaking in his boots.

When he arrived at Vic’s, he gave his best apologetic smile, greeting Victor with an awkward wave. He flushed with color at Victor’s humorous welcome. “Hey there,” Gabby tipped his hat forward, playing along. His heart had yet to stop pounding against his chest. It was just Vic and him alone. He didn’t know what to think of Victor’s invitation as they’d slowly been reacquainting with each other. As an attempt to move past their history and assumptions, Gabby still visited his usual days— sometimes with his niece and sometimes with no one but himself. It wasn’t so hard being around Vic, but they’d never been completely alone like this yet. Gabriel wondered what Vic thought of it, of him in his cowboy attire, of them.

Gabby stood just at the center of everything for a good minute, waiting for Victor to come out from the kitchen. Once he felt sure it wasn’t going to be any time soon, he sat on a stool near the kitchen and waited, busying his hands with the belt that carried his toy pistol. Gabriel glanced up when he heard movement and witnessed Vic carrying a plate of treats. He laughed warmly at the sight, admiring the clear detail and time Victor had taken with the plate. Gabby laughed again at Vic’s declaration, grabbing a cupcake himself. He swiped a finger at the icing and sucked on it, humming his approval. He continued to swipe his frosted finger into his mouth. “They sort of look too amazing to eat,” Gabby shared, blushing at his attempt to flirt. “I wish you came with me to the library. The kids would’ve loved you.”

While Quinn enjoyed horror movies (with the lights on and friends to watch), he didn’t really care about dressing up or anything. He thought it was the sort of dumb thing drunk people did, but here he was with an apron Charlie put on him. It wasn’t the apron alone that bothered Quinn, but the fact that the apron itself was a violet color with bows at his shoulders and hips. The actual straps to tie the apron had led to creating another bow, but this bow was special as it glittered an even brighter purple than the rest. Quinn couldn’t believe it was Charlie’s father’s apron. He’d seen the guy before and he wasn’t that soft, but Charlie was adamant that his father did, in fact, own a purple apron with an excessive amount of bows. Apparently, it’d been custom made for an event he had years ago and he’d just never toss it. Quinn wished he did.

Besides having to keep on the wretched apron, Quinn had to also face Micah. He wasn’t really sure if Charlie intended to torture him like this. Maybe he didn’t know Micah would come. It wasn’t like Quinn had shared anything about that night with anyone. Even Connor knew small details and he’d been there for part of it. Quinn didn’t know how to reveal the humiliation or embarrassment felt on both ends. He didn’t know how to voice his concern with Micah, for Micah. It wasn’t like they’d gotten closer because of it; although, they had shared a few awkward messages after. In Quinn’s terms, their interactions hadn’t amounted to anything substantial, anything he could work with. Of course, it only proved to be right to Quinn when Micah made his hasty exit to the bathroom at the sight of Quinn himself.

It made his stomach tense with worry, wondering what Micah was going through. Quinn hadn’t gotten the impression that Micah blamed him for anything that happened that night, but Micah had never shared his entire reasoning for reacting the way he had. Quinn couldn’t blame him. Who would want to talk to some guy they barely knew? Quinn, stuck in an endless cycle of misery, took another beer and drank it in one shot. He didn’t know how much time went by, but it felt like an eternity since Micah had gone to the bathroom. Quinn hadn’t meant to keep tabs on Micah, but every time he tried glancing around and looking for him, he was left empty-handed.

Instead of waiting for Micah to turn up, Quinn gained the courage to seek him out. If Micah questioned him, he could always attempt to cover up his stalker behavior with concern over Micah’s arm, which was still in a cast because of what happened. Quinn reached the bathroom and knocked, hearing Micah’s slightly muffled voice. He opened the door and stared. Micah was on the floor, clearly upset. Quinn clenched his fists, pushing the door closed behind him. He didn’t want anyone else to see Micah like this. “Shit, my bad,” Quinn apologized, darting his eyes so that his staring didn’t scare Micah.

He wanted to know what was bothering Micah so much, what made him remove his makeup, what made him not want to be around Quinn. Quinn shuffled in his place, watching Micah stumble and try to gather himself. When Micah spoke of leaving, Quinn tried to stop him. He placed a hand on Micah’s shoulder, crouching to get a decent look at him. “Hey, you don’t have to leave. Are you okay, though?” Quinn asked, his concern evident in his voice. “Did something happen?” He hesitated to ask but gestured at Micah’s face. “Your makeup is… kinda messed up right now.”

When Vic was making the cupcakes, he almost thought the decorations would be too excessive, but the hot cowboy sitting in front of him made him feel so much better about them. Vic couldn’t recall Gabby ever dressing up so much during past Halloweens--he had the cowboy boots and all. He always dressed up more than Vic had though; all Vic did was throw on a mask or some headband thing and that was that. He was curious if Gabby dressed this way just for the kids, or if he wanted to impress him. Gabby surely had time to change before he went to Vic’s, especially because he was already late. Either way, Vic was impressed, and a little turned on by the cowboy aesthetic. Were hot cowboys his thing now?

As Gabby sucked frosting off of his fingers, Vic couldn’t help but stare with his own mouth slightly ajar. Vic hated when people licked their fingers after they ate Hot Cheetos or Doritos, but when Gabby did it… How could something gross be so hot? 

“If you were anyone else, I’d say that’s gross, but you make it hot,” Vic joked, his cheeks growing even more pink. “I didn’t know that a cowboy could be so hot. All the parents at the library were probably all over you.” With a sheepish grin, Vic leaned on the counter and scooched himself forward to be closer to Gabby. Vic’s bold comment made him cringe inside, realizing it may have sounded stupid. Gabby’s flirting was so flawless; Vic on the other hand was awkward and had no witty comebacks, especially when he was nervous. He swallowed any further comments, worried about what Gabby would think of his awful flirting.

From what Vic had heard, parents at the library were always over Gabby, at least from what Micah saw when he went. Everytime Micah visited, he’d text Vic saying “Omg this mom is all over your boyfriend. You want me to tell her something?” Vic grew annoyed with how much Micah involved himself in his and Gabby’s possible “thing”, but receiving all these messages also made him a bit jealous of these moms and dads that were allegedly swooning over the hot librarian.

Realizing that the two couldn’t survive the whole night with only sweets, Vic thought of some food they could maybe order. He didn’t want to really cook on his day off, especially on his date with Gabby--he had already made cupcakes and cookies. It would have looked stupid if they ordered food though. A restaurant ordering food? Why not? 

“So… uh… I kinda just wanna chill and not cook?” Vic laughed. “I know it sounds stupid cause this is a restaurant, but I kinda wanna just order some shitty pizza?”

When the two decided to order a pizza, Vic realized it’d be best if they stuck the bowl of candy outside for kids to grab at. Even if it was a little early, Vic just wanted to really enjoy his time with Gabby, especially because it didn’t seem to be going too bad. In fact, watching some scary movie upstairs with Gabby seemed like a really good idea.

Once upstairs, Vic sat awkwardly on the far end of the couch away from the cowboy, not knowing if Gabby liked his space or not… but also was too nervous to be really close to him. Settled in his seat, but still on edge, he pulled a pizza slice up to his mouth, taking a quick bite. “This pizza’s kinda shit, I’m sorry,” he joked. 

As he analyzed his place’s set-up, he was a little nervous about what Gabby was thinking. He hadn’t offered any plates, mostly because he hadn’t thought about it. When it was him and the kids, they kind of just grabbed at it from the box or resulted to using paper plates for meals. Sometimes washing dishes in the house was a nightmare, especially because they always had to do it all day downstairs. He looked around his place, finally starting to notice every flaw that existed. It was clean, but it looked lived in, especially because there were four people that lived there, including an extremely fluffy cat. There was a small stain on the carpet where Micah spilled some kind of eyeshadow. The place was also really small; all three kids shared a room while Vic slept on the pull-out sofa bed in the living room. The couch had a bit of cat hair on the head of it, usually where Rally laid. “Sorry for the mess, too,” Vic apologized. Suddenly, his eyes grew wider as Rally jumped onto the arm of the couch next to Gabby and began to climb on him. Rally then sprawled herself on his lap, demanding belly rubs as her fluffy tail whipped back and forth.

“Rally,” Vic groaned. “I’m sorry. I have a lint remover.” Vic sighed as he leaned over to the side table to grab the lint remover. “I’m sorry about my place, Gabby. It’s not… well it’s not like nice or whatever.” Trying to ease the awkward moment that sat between them, Vic flicked on the television which stood on a dresser in front of them. Not knowing what else to do, he walked toward the dresser to grab at the dvds that Micah had set out for them to watch. The note on top of the movie stack read,

“Most of these are ‘just in case’ movies, but the one you need to watch with him is Carrie. If he doesn’t like it, dump him. That’s the family favorite. Ok. Good luck, Vic! Love your favorite kid, Micah -p.s. Don’t be a dick.”

Man, wasn’t Vic so lucky to have a smart ass for a kid? As silly as Micah was in these situations, Vic was secretly grateful. Micah’s antics truly did make things less awkward a lot of the time, especially with Gabby. And sometimes, Micah pushed him to actually pursue something with Gabby. 

“So, Micah really wants us to watch Carrie. He says if you don’t like it, you’re out,” Vic sighed jokingly. 

Micah tensed up as Quinn approached him with a hand on his shoulder. All that could go through Micah’s head was how awful he must have looked to the longhaired brunette. His makeup was running down his cheeks and his lipstick was smeared all over the bottom half of his face. He looked so horrible, that Quinn even referenced how messed up it looked. He wondered, if he wasn’t going through some ridiculous breakdown, would Quinn have actually liked his makeup--probably not.

“Nothing happened,” Micah mumbled as he shook his head, still hugging the backpack against his chest. “I just, I didn’t think---  I’m just embarrassed.”

As Micah sat, red-faced, he couldn’t help but recall the last time he wore makeup in public. Junior year was the last time he remembered having the confidence to do such a thing, but that was also the year his light, in regard to his gender expression, became dimmer than it had ever before. Over the years, his mom had judged him for liking certain things, but junior year was his year of rebellion. It was one thing for his mom to say shit about the things he liked or did, but it was another for peers to trash his appearance at a Halloween party--in fact, it’s where all the made-up rumors about him surfaced. The looks people gave Micah were embedded in his mind. 

Not wanting Quinn to continue to see his decorated face, Micah grabbed more wipes from his bag, attempting to rub off his makeup on his eyes. He remained quiet, peeking up at Quinn as he cleaned the rest of his face while tears continued to dampen his cheeks. “I looked stupid.. Like.. not the Pikachu thing, but, the makeup. It’s stupid.”

Micah couldn’t believe Quinn had even come to check on him though. Their conversations over messenger were really awkward, mostly because Micah made it that way. He didn’t know what to say, especially after the way the interaction went last. Micah cried.. He lost his glasses for a second time...He threw up… He even fractured his arm. Why would someone want to talk to him after that? Especially when he had embarrassed himself in front of Quinn, even more so, before that. Now, he was wearing makeup? Quinn must have been severely confused and weirded out by Micah. 

Micah remained silent as he continued to wipe at his face, but the more he took a good look at Quinn, the more he started to feel a little better. Once he was done wiping off his makeup, he put on his glasses that were now shamefully taped in the middle. At least he could actually see instead of being blind throughout the whole party. He hadn’t worn his glasses with the makeup, because he wanted people to see how good of a job he did, that was until he saw Quinn. He already embarrassed himself enough, so how could his geeky glasses make it any worse? Finally gaining his clear vision back, Micah could see that the apron Quinn wore was filled with bows, and it was pink or violet. But what was Quinn actually supposed to be? As the two sat in front of each other in silence, Micah failed at containing his bashful grin as he gently pinched at the apron. “What are you supposed to be?” 

[captain-magikarp]

Halloween Jitters || Gabby, Vic, Quinn, & Micah

It was 7:23, and Gabby was supposed to be there at 7. Was Vic being stood up? Probably. Who would say yes to something as boring as handing out candy to kids on Halloween, especially when both guys were grown men, very well into their 30s. No, Vic just had to be patient.. Gabby worked at a library where the annual special event happened there all the time. That kind of stuff took time and Vic knew that, they lived in a small, yet major, tourist Halloween town during the season. 

Vic had the whole restaurant closed on Halloween, so they had the place to themselves. No guests.. No kids… just them, which is why he was excited, but also fucking terrified. He didn’t have the kids to ease the situation this time. This time, it would just be the two of their thoughts and words, which was kind of scary the more Vic thought about it--he wasn’t amazing at socializing. 

Vic was sitting at the booth closest to the door, subtly taking a look outside to see if he could spot Gabby. As he sat with his elbows on the table and his hands to his forehead, he peeked through his fingers that slightly veiled over his eyes. Suddenly, he spotted a cowboy in the distance that looked a lot like Gabby, which made Vic’s innards quiver. Shit… he was even more hot as a cowboy… and all Vic was wearing was stupid devil ears. At least they had sequence on them. The moment they met eyes, Vic quickly dashed to the door to open it, almost tripping over himself.

“Hey,” Vic said as he took a deep breath. “I meant… Hey there, partner,” he joked, pulling together the worst cowboy accent he could give. 

Once Gabby walked in, Vic rushed over to the kitchen without saying anything. The cookies had probably cooled down enough, and he had to get them to Gabby before they started getting super cold. It was also an excuse so that he could collect himself before he started embarrassing himself. After he finished prepping the plate, he took a deep breath as he left the kitchen.

After being gone for about 4 minutes, he came back with Halloween cookies and cupcakes on a plate. Each cookie and cupcake had marble-like features which consisted of vanilla and chocolate flavors. The array of purple and orange frosting on the cupcakes was overwhelming, as well. He even sprinkled candy corns around the plate to make it look even more flamboyant and decorative. If he was gonna make something on Halloween, he had to male it look interesting right? At least so that Gabby thought he was interesting and not some boring asshole. He placed them on the counter in front of Gabby who sat on one of the diner stools. As Vic stood at the opposite end of the counter, he remained quiet with a tense demeanor. Vic then took a glance at the plate with deserts. Not knowing what to say or do, he quickly grabbed one of the of the cookies and shoved it in his mouth. 

“They’re not poisoned, I promise.”

Micah sat on the bathroom floor with his knees to his chest and his back against the tub. The more time he spent at this party, the more he wanted to wipe his makeup off as he sat away from everyone else. It made Micah sad how nervous he was about people seeing his face, especially because this was probably the best makeup he had done in a while--he was even working with an arm in a cast. Micah really only felt like wearing makeup sometimes, mostly when he practiced in his room and on occasions like Halloween. He generally liked his bare face, but sometimes, makeup was cool and fun to wear. Sadly, the last time he wore it in public, reactions from other people left Micah crying. 

Micah had no idea Quinn would be at this get together. In fact, he felt kind of stupid not realizing he’d be there, especially because he knew Charlie and him were friends. If it had only been Charlie at the party, he wouldn’t have felt so self-conscious about the makeup he put on for his costume--the guy always seemed accepting. 

As Micah sat alone, he let his tears express the overwhelming emotions he was feeling, knowing that no one else was around to see. Maybe if his makeup ran, it’d give him an excuse to wipe it off. As he pushed his hands against his wet eyes, he heard a knock at the door. Shit, how long had he been in there? Upon arrival, Micah dashed to the bathroom once him and Quinn made eye contact, so maybe he was in there for about 20 minutes? Maybe his excuse could be that he was constipated and trying to take a big shit. 

“Come in,” Micah sniveled.

Micah thought it’d be Gio or Daniel who came to check on him, but instead, as he looked up with tears in his eyes and his eye makeup running, he met eyes with Quinn--the one person he wanted to avoid at the moment. Not knowing what to say, Micah grabbed his black backpack in search for makeup wipes. Once he got a hold of them, he brought one to his lips, hastily rubbing his deep-red lipstick off. What could Micah say though? There seemed to be no words that could describe what was going on in Micah’s head, nor could he communicate them if there were. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll get out right now,” Micah said with his eyes still decorated with Pikachu themed eye makeup. He attempted to stand, but his foot slipped on the rug on his way up, leaving him in frustration as he plopped onto the floor again. Embarrassed, he pulled his backpack to his chest, holding onto it as he avoided eye contact with the long-haired brunette.

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong:

Ryder tried not blushing, but Gio made him so unlike himself. He felt his face get hot the moment Gio jokingly attempted to initiate a kiss between them. He laughed until Gio stopped laughing himself and looked away from Ryder. Ryder took the sudden silence with a nervous heart and sinking stomach. Was Gio alright? Ryder waited for him to come around, listening to his apology but not understanding where it came from. He didn’t want Gio to apologize for anything. He was having a great time and he thought his happiness had been obvious, but maybe they still needed to figure each other out. “Don’t apologize. I’m having a good time,” Ryder confessed, allowing his smile to display his own nervousness.

When Gio turned back to face him, they ended up closer than before. Ryder couldn’t deny how quickly they’d gravitated towards each other. Maybe a kiss was what they needed. Maybe it was a kiss that would end these feelings— such consuming feelings that Ryder felt. Gio’s statement did nothing to deter him. He reached to place his hand on the back of Gio’s neck, pulling him closer to end the distance. Ryder kissed him deeply, pulling away to only kiss each corner of Gio’s mouth and then to meet his lips again. He’d never felt so addicted to kissing, but every time he pulled away he wanted to take it further. Ryder finally drew some distance between them, covering Gio’s mouth with his hand. “I don’t wanna fuck you,” Ryder whispered so softly that the words almost felt like someone else’s. Maybe they were someone else’s because Ryder had never denied himself a good time or good sex, but he didn’t want just good sex— not with Gio, who made his heart skip beats. “Not tonight.”

“Bitch is a great sign. I love to be referred to as that bitch, though,” Charlie joked, sharing his laughter with Dany. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so sober on a weekend. It wasn’t like he depended on alcohol, but it’d always been nice to drink at parties. It was something everyone did, including his friends. Maybe he needed this break.

Charlie tried not getting too excited that Daniel caught his reference and enjoyed GOT as well. He was honestly a treasure, though. It wasn’t often that Charlie found someone that could tolerate him for long periods of time, especially someone who saw him completely wasted. It was embarrassing, but Charlie was used to being an embarrassment.

It caught Charlie off guard how much closer Daniel got. At this point, he wouldn’t have really blamed Daniel for scooting away. However, Dany was certainly pushing Charlie towards the edge of control. Without alcohol, Charlie was sober and while he’d been sober most of his life, he sort of relied on the way alcohol numbed his feelings. He needed to stop feeling like he was running a marathon he hadn’t prepared for. It was like the rug was being pulled from beneath his feet. Fuck, is this what liking someone felt like? Charlie stared directly at Daniel with such a serious look it was clear he was joking. “I’m down, but you know what might help instead? A kissing contest,” Charlie smirked, still wanting to see how far he could go. “If we kiss long enough, we won’t even have to talk at all.” He waited for Daniel to decide.

When Ryder started kissing him, Gio was almost sure he was about to die, because nothing as good as that happened without something bad taking its place. If Gio was going to die, he might as well give in to Ryder’s kisses, right? When their make-out session started to evoke more emotion from the two--some would say hot and heavy--Gio was open to anything Ryder wanted them to do with each other. 

Before Gio knew it, their kissing was abruptly stopped by Ryder’s hand over the dirty blonde’s mouth. Oh jeez, was he really bad at kissing or something? Gio looked to the brunette with confusion as a flush of embarrassment rushed to his cheeks. Shit. Suddenly, Ryder mentioned he didn’t wanna fuck him. Is that what immediately came after making out with someone? Like if people made out it would lead to a good fuck? He didn’t really know about these kinds of things, given his past non-existent relationship to being head over heels. Gio felt a little dumb because he wasn’t really thinking about the whole fucking situation, but the more Ryder brought it to his attention, the more he kind of wouldn’t have minded that. God damn. 

“Was I that bad?” Gio joked, crossing his arms, slightly abashed. 

Of course, Ryder had tacked on his “not yet” comment, which meant he probably did wanna fuck because he wanted to wait. Maybe he wanted to continue things with Gio and take their time? But Gio couldn’t help but feel like he had wishful thinking about him and Ryder. Maybe Ryder just didn’t know how to tell Gio he wasn’t interested. 

Gio was finally feeling something no one else made him feel. He wasn’t the one who felt self conscious when it came to liking someone. In fact, he never really cared for relationships or anything to do with love. Throughout high school, he could care less about having any partner and often ignored the drama that surrounded the place on a daily basis. And now, here he was with these new feelings. Insecurities began to surface in Gio’s mind; suddenly he wondered if he was funny looking or maybe he sounded weird? Gio did have a different accent than a lot of people in their town--a different type of humor too. Maybe he was awkward or said something wrong? Gio could be socially awkward sometimes, but he typically never cared, until now. Not sure what to think about the situation, especially because of his own insecurities around Ryder, Gio grabbed onto his bag, attempting to stand up. 

“Uh, I better go,” he said as he stood stiff with his hands on the back-straps of his bag. “Uh thanks for everything. The… the whole saving my life thing. Greatly appreciated. I owe ya one. Ok…” Gio took a deep breath, stopping any further words from spilling out of his mouth. Before Ryder could answer back, he quickly left the area, leaving Ryder alone on the blanket. 

It was gonna be fucking hard for Gio to drive home as tired as he was. Jesus, what was he thinking, having a full on makeout session with Ryder after he almost died? He wasn’t even thinking about sex.. But.. God.. Gio had no idea what he was thinking anymore. In fact, he never felt as confused and embarrassed as he was ever before. He just needed to get out of there… He needed to head home and contemplate his feelings alone. But where was Daniel?

Finally taking a look at his phone he found a text from Daniel saying he was at McDonald’s. Jesus, McDonald’s…? OK.

Was Charlie serious or joking? Even if Charlie was joking, Daniel kind of really wanted to kiss him. This all felt so new to Daniel, but the fact that they were so close to kissing, must have meant he was doing something right. Maybe he wasn’t so terrible at flirting as he thought he’d be. Charlie suggested that a kiss would have been better between them than a staring contest would have been, but what if he wasn’t being serious? They were flirting though… 

Before Daniel knew it, he brought his mouth to Charlie’s, holding the kiss for about 3 seconds. Realizing he may have overstepped, he quickly pulled away, looking at him with wide eyes, unsure if Charlie was okay with it. Daniel covered his own mouth, not knowing what to do or say. There was just silence… “Oh jesus, I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell if you were being serious or not,” Daniel let out, grabbing Charlie’s hand as he apologized. Realizing even that could have been read wrong, as well, he dropped it, letting out a light gasp as he did so. 

Suddenly, Daniel’s phone rang, breaking the awkwardness that sat between them. Daniel quickly answered the phone, not having to bring it to his ear since his hearing aids were connected to his phone--almost like airpods. “Hey-oh, Gio! Yeah I’m here…”

“Can you come out then? We gotta get home. A lot happened. I’m sorry,” Gio let out, sounding extremely frustrated as he waited near their car. 

“Uh.. um.. Yeah I can,” he said as he peaked out the window, spotting Gio. “You want me to get you anything?”

“No..”

“Okay… uh.. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Daniel looked to Charlie, expressing that he didn’t want to leave through his many facial expressions. “C-- can I get a raincheck? I-- I uh, had a lot of fun with you.”

When Daniel approached the exit, he waited for a little, prolonging his wave goodbye to Charlie. He slowly looked away, furrowing his brows as he pushed the door open. He really wanted to stay, but Gio cut his time short with Charlie, which made him frustrated. He could understand why he had to go. Maybe something was really wrong and Gio had to leave for some reason, but this was Daniel’s time to actually get to know someone he really liked. 

When Daniel got outside, he met eyes with Charlie, signing to him, “See you soon, bitch.”

[captain-magikarp]

jinxseong‌:

Ryder nodded his understanding, feeling ridiculous with how quickly McSteamy’s grin disarmed him. Maybe Ryder was just really horny. It’d certainly been a while since he slept with anyone. However, after seeing McSteamy at these parties and sometimes around town, he couldn’t find anyone else who gave him the same magnetic attraction. Maybe, as terrible as it sounded, they were meant to meet like this. “Yeah, you were there for a while. I feel kinda bad thinking about it now. I just watched you almost die?” Ryder shook his head, his embarrassment becoming a little apparent. It wasn’t like people often stayed underwater like that. McSteamy may have looked like he possessed supernatural qualities— at least in reference to his looks —but he wasn’t so super that he couldn’t drown like anyone else who didn’t know how to swim.

It wasn’t normal how quickly Ryder agreed to spend some more time with McSteamy after his drowning, but it was only fair. He clearly needed care and Ryder had the touch. He was well versed in the art of CPR and in the art of hooking up with someone very attractive. Perhaps, his CPR skills had earned him enough credit with McSteamy to allow Ryder an attempt to charm him. Perhaps, he just wanted some company. Ryder didn’t mind either way so he brought a blanket from inside and settled outside with McSteamy. They were still wet so it made sense to stay outdoors. He didn’t anticipate for McSteamy to place his head on his shoulder; however, he wasn’t against it. Not one bit. Ryder laughed when he saw the hand Gio brought towards him. He grabbed Gio’s hand, holding onto it.

“Uhh, I gave you CPR. We’ve kissed. I think we’re beyond a handshake,” Ryder teased, reluctantly letting go of Gio’s hand. “I’m Ryder.”

“I’m here for all your CPR needs. Kissing needs too. Actually, you know what? Just like any need you have, I’m here for it. Completely selfless in every aspect of the word,” Ryder felt himself shaking but knew that it may have been just the chill of the air. It wasn’t like he was really nervous or anything.

Charlie noticed the usual tense moment that came whenever he signed to someone who wasn’t necessarily used to hearing people sign, which unfortunately he encountered often. It wasn’t as if he believed he wouldn’t have been just as ignorant as other hearing folks if he didn’t have his cousin, but he tried educating himself and understanding what he and other hearing people did wrong. It wasn’t usually hard to understand what issues the deaf community had with hearing people. Who really thought it was fine to ask someone if they could read lips? If they spoke? If they could read? Some people were idiots and while Charlie was often an idiot himself, he tried being an idiot with common sense. At least, that’s what his cousin fondly referred to him as.

The coloring on his friendly stranger’s cheek was amusing as much as it was satisfying for Charlie. He loved getting a reaction. It was, however, a shock when instead of stammering or nervous gratitude, he received a flirtatious comment back. Charlie laughed joyfully, his heart picking up. Well, he was certainly impressed that behind all the kindness was someone with a little edge. He liked that a lot, sweet and nice with a hint of spice. Charlie wanted to dig further into this person and honestly wondered how he’d forgotten someone so exciting. It made his stomach twist in knots when he was reminded why he wasn’t really drinking anymore.

“I learned with my cousin. She was born hard of hearing and they said it’d only get worse as she grew up. I only keep with it so I can say fuck and not be thrown out of places for it,” Charlie joked, continuously signing ‘fuck’. He stopped after his point was apparent, chuckling.

When he was finally figured out, Charlie looked a bit clueless as if he didn’t know what Daniel was referring to when he shared his name. However, he quickly gave up the act, signing his apology.

“Can I call you Dany instead?” Charlie asked excitedly, already referring to his new companion as his favorite GOT character. He didn’t realize that when they’d originally met he had already addressed Daniel as Dany. “You’ve seen Games of Thornes, right?”

Charlie reached for his last nugget, offering it to Dany. He bowed his head a little before looking at him through his lashes. “I hope this offering will please the Khalessi.” He gently placed the nugget within Daniel’s reach, smirking. Charlie leaned against the table, but he felt the distance was comparable to an ocean. Now that Daniel had shared his name and his own flirtatious tease, it was only appropriate that Charlie make the next advancement. Charlie was all about equality.

He slid right out of his seat and into the one right beside Dany’s. Charlie leaned closer, allowing his smile to dazzle. It was simply what it did best. “You can hear me better when we’re close, right?” Charlie really wanted to take Daniel home, but involve less of his dad giving him muffins and more of them fooling around in his bedroom.

Ryder was right, before they could even introduce themselves properly, they had already swapped spit--they were definitely past the handshake phase. Even though it was just CPR, Gio couldn’t help but ponder the thought of Ryder’s lips touching his. It certainly didn’t help when he mentioned that he’d be there for him for all kissing needs. The dirty blonde wondered if Ryder actually meant it, but if he continued to flirt, Gio would too.

Gio grinned at the teasing, pulling his head up from the cute brunette’s shoulder, gazing at him for a second. God, this was so unlike Gio to do with anyone else, but he was super head-over-heels for this guy for the longest time. He had no idea what came over him; with any other person, he’d keep his distance, not wanting to invade someone’s space, but also not wanting anyone to invade his. There was something about Ryder that made him want to be close to him, almost as though Gio swallowed some kind of love potion. In the past, when Gio looked his way, it was almost impossible to contain himself. Now, because he was given CPR by the guy and was given permission to invade his space, any hope of suppressing his infatuation for him was lost. God, if his mom saw him act this way, she’d never leave him alone about it.

“Any kissing needs, huh? Then pucker up,” he teased and exaggeratedly puckered his lips, but he kind of meant it. Gio tittered at his own silliest, allowing his laughter to simmer when his anxiety took control of the situation. Not knowing what else to say, his nervousness grew apparent as he hesitantly looked away from the brunette and his eyes met the grass. Fuck, what if Ryder didn’t like the flirting? What if he was being sarcastic? Gio could be sarcastic sometimes. Vic was sarcastic a lot. Gio was sure that, through his experience in his household, he knew sarcasm when he heard it. It didn’t sound like Ryder seemed to mind the way Gio was acting, but maybe he really wasn’t interested in Gio in that way. Maybe he was just being nice. 

“Uh, sorry,” Gio chuckled anxiously, rubbing the back of his head to ease the non-existing tension he made up in his mind. As he internalized the silence between them, Gio finally looked toward Ryder, their faces almost too close, as if the brunette moved closer in the time Gio’s attention was on the grass. Was it unintentional and coincidental that when Gio turned around, their faces were just super close? Gio’s eyes slowly gravitated toward Ryder’s lips and allowed them to linger there longer than they should have. 

“Your lips are really nice,” Gio let out. He finally met eyes with Ryder’s again, leaving him to swallow his own heartbeat.

It felt really good to flirt and joke around with Charlie, especially because it had been a long time since Daniel really enjoyed his time with someone he had a crush on, at least to this extent. Sometimes, Daniel never knew how to ease the awkwardness with people, especially because they just didn’t know how to act around him, and it made him self conscious. But with Charlie, the conversation just picked up like nothing… and it kept going. 

It surprised Daniel that Charlie had a cousin who was born hard of hearing, and even more so when he learned he communicated with her, even if he used it to say things he couldn’t say aloud sometimes. It made him laugh, especially because Micah would do the same thing. Sometimes, people were reluctant to learn to sign though, like his mom. Daniel grew up signing with Micah, but they always did it when she wasn’t paying attention, in order to avoid her acting aggressive toward them. He never understood why she hated them using the language, but what he did know, was that his mom had a lot of personal demons she never addressed properly.

Daniel giggled, joining Charlie in signing the word fuck repeatedly. “My favorite sign is bitch. I sign it to my brother, Micah, all the time when we pass each other,” he said, going on to sign bitch repeatedly like Charlie did. 

Daniel didn’t mind that Charlie forgot, even if he forgot about calling him Dany. To him, it meant that he was genuine in a way, because drunk or sober, he was still super nice, friendly, and silly. 

“Nah, I haven’t seen it,” Daniel joked with a forced serious face. Eventually he cracked, cackling as he shook his head. “I’ve seen it. She’s awesome.” 

Playing along with Charlie’s reference, he gently nodded like any bad ass would, expressing his gratitude after being offered the last McNugget. He pretended to flip his nonexistent long platinum blonde hair and quickly shoved the McNugget in his mouth. 

Of course, Daniel could hear Charlie better when he was directly next to him, even more so when he leaned in closer, which made Daniel’s innards quiver with excitement. “Yeah, I can, but maybe if you come closer we can hear each other’s thoughts,” Daniel scooted a little closer to Charlie until their hips were almost touching. “Or… um… we could…” Daniel leaned in toward the curly-headed guy, unaware of how close he’d actually get to his face in doing so. It may have been accidental, but Daniel realized his actions may have appeared as though he was teasing, so he decided to go along with it as his eyes met Charlie’s. “..Or we could have a staring contest.”

[captain-magikarp]

Swimming Deep || Ryder, Gio, Charlie, & Daniel

Outside, there was only one other person, which was a surprise to Gio, to his knowledge, parties centered around pools. Maybe because it was a bit cold out, the pool area became the quiet zone for introverts. Gio had no idea why he agreed to go to these college parties, especially because he didn’t even go to college, nor did he like crowds. But, sometimes he just needed to do something that wasn’t at home. He could have done a lot of things, like going to the movies with Micah and Steven, and whichever friends they invited, but he figured he’d mess up their plans if he came along. In a small town, there really wasn’t that much to do; all of his friends were either his brothers, his brothers’ friends, or his table-top game friends online. So, why not go to the party?

After sitting at the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, for about 10 minutes, Gio couldn’t help but notice who the other person was, sitting at one of the tables. Awkwardly making eye contact with the brunette, Gio quickly looked away, trying to act like he wasn’t checking him out, even though he evidently was. Even though he also had been checking him out at past parties they both attended, or even at the local grocery store where they sometimes saw each other from a distance. Catching feelings like he was for this person was something really new to Gio; having a crush on anyone was something that just didn’t happen with him most of the time. He had flings in the past, but it was always something that didn’t last or he was pressured into it by acquaintances, or even his mom.

Gio’s mom always wanted the best for him, which is why she often played match-maker, but he never had the heart to tell her that being with someone just wasn’t his thing–at least at the time. If she knew he had feelings for a guy, she’d go crazy, insisting on giving him all the advice she had to offer. Vic’s only advice about love interests at home was, “Keep it PG 13, I don’t wanna see no R-rated shit.”

When Gio turned his head, once again, his eyes met the brunette’s, this time, offering a quick smile before he glanced back at his faint reflection in the pool. Gio never had the guts to talk to someone he liked, unless he was forced into it. This time, Gio genuinely couldn’t get the brunette, with the square jaw, out of his head. It was like the universe was telling him to talk to him, especially since they kept seeing each other almost everywhere they went, even outside of the parties. He knew it was a small town, but he never saw the same person almost everywhere–it wasn’t that small.

This had been going on for a few weeks, and throughout that time, Gio wondered how he’d approach the guy, or if he’d even approach him at all. He couldn’t believe he thought about these things–it all seemed so foreign. Finally gathering up the courage to talk to the brunette, he carefully tried to stand up, knowing very well that he could slip in because of his wet feet; however, the cautious steps Gio took were not effective. Once the dirty blonde stood, straightening out his body, he took one slippery step toward the brunette, leading him to fall flat on his face. Trying to get up wasn’t very easy, however, he managed to do so. Not thinking clearly, he stood up closer to the edge of the pool and lost control of his balance. Inevitably, he fell into the pool. 

Near the bottom floor of the deep end, Gio began to panic, especially because he never learned how to swim, not even how to float. People always said “When in doubt, just float. Release your body. No tension.” That shit never worked with Gio. After almost a minute, a rush of water began to fill his lungs as he continuously opened his mouth, not registering that that probably wasn’t the best thing to do underwater. 

Gio had no idea how much time had passed, but when he came to, he caught the brunette hovering over him as he laid on the pavement. He coughed up some more water as he tried to piece together what happened after he fell into the pool. Did the brunette save him? Did he perform CPR or some shit? Their lips touched? The thought of their lips touching allowed Gio’s cold body to grow warm, as he blinked away his half-dazed condition. 

“Did you kiss me?” Gio chuckled as his cheeks grew pink. 

Daniel, wanting to include himself in some of the fun, attempted to enter the living room, where everyone seemed to be congregating, however, he felt so out of place. He’d been to a few of these parties before, but mostly because Micah or Gio wanted to go. All Daniel knew was that people wanted to act crazy at parties. He didn’t really mind that though. He figured, maybe if he tried to involve himself in the party for once, he’d understand the appeal? 

Regardless of his countless attempts to assimilate, Daniel couldn’t seem to do it, especially because most people weren’t looking to have conversations. The party-goers were interested in playing games and roughhousing, which again, Daniel didn’t mind, but he just wasn’t the type of person people wanted to play games with, even if he tried. Feeling like he couldn’t fit in, Daniel walked over toward the stairs to take a seat, only to find Charlie sitting there.

“Charlie!” Daniel smiled, trying to speak over the music. “You okay? You need to go somewhere where it’s not so nuts?” Daniel again, probably shouted louder than he should have, not really aware of the volume of his voice because his hearing aids were turned off. “I just– I guess I feel out of place and I just wanna talk or something. Sorry if I’m being all awkward!”

Hoping he wasn’t scaring Charlie away, he avoided eye contact as he waited for a response. He was worried he was coming off too strong, or being too friendly. What if Charlie didn’t remember him? Or what if what he remembered reminded him that he didn’t like Daniel?

“Your dad’s muffins were really good!”

Thankfully Charlie didn’t seem to have too much booze in his system, because as much as Daniel didn’t mind helping Charlie, it would have been a little hard to walk to the local McDonald’s with someone hanging onto him. 

Daniel munched down on his mcnuggets, getting a 20 piece so him and Charlie could share. He giggled as the two attempted to dip their mcnugget in the bbq container at the same time. 

“Hey, I was first,” he joked, nudging Charlie’s hand away. 

For a moment, taking in the mutual silence between them, Daniel gazed out the window at people driving into the parking lot of the restaurant. Unbeknownst to Daniel, his new hearing aids were visible to Charlie.

The first time he met Charlie, he hadn’t had his hearing aids turned on, due to headaches he was receiving and the discomfort of still getting used to them, so it was even harder to tell what he was saying, or even what Charlie’s dad was saying. It was always hard to tell what anyone was saying for that matter without them. Hearing aids were so expensive, but Vic managed to figure out a way where Daniel could have them–Vic was such a good parent. Unfortunately, sometimes they came with side effects that Daniel wasn’t willing to bare in certain situations, especially at parties where everything seemed too loud, especially when he was still getting used to them–he’d only had them for a few weeks. 

When Daniel got out of the party setting, it was in his best interest to turn them on so he could hear Charlie better, especially because he just really wanted to get to know him. Daniel needed a friend outside of his brothers. His best friend Justine was always there for him, but Daniel was desperate to meet new people, especially because of his naturally extroverted personality, but due to the way people treated him because of his impairment, it was really hard to make friends. Daniel didn’t know why he wanted to be friends with Charlie so bad. Maybe it was because he was really nice to him and didn’t care about their imperfect communication?

[jinxseong]

Like every weekend since the start of the semester, Ryder went to a party, bringing along his friend Charlie to keep him company. He never liked going alone and despite his outgoing personality, he’d yet to completely make any real connections. Perhaps, it involved the fact that he hadn’t been living in the area very long. He lived there just a few years, and most of his classmates already knew each other from either high school or other friends. It wasn’t something Ryder really minded because he did like going to parties and sometimes hooking up with strangers, and sometimes just drinking as many shots as he could with Charlie. He was even enjoying his time now, especially after he noticed a certain stranger. Ryder felt his curiosity stir. He needed to meet this guy.

“Hey, do you know that guy?” Ryder nudged Charlie, trying to point out the guy without bringing any attention to them.

Charlie was sipping slowly on his vodka soda, which mostly contained soda. He was sort of bored and very sober, so he squinted long and hard at the guy Ryder pointed out. He looked hot and… perhaps, a bit familiar? 

“Oh, that’s my ex’s friend. I fucked him once,” He joked, sounding entirely serious and reminiscent as if he truly knew the guy. “Great in bed. Great dick. I know you’ll have fun.”

Ryder’s smile dropped for a moment before he gave Charlie a playfully dirty look, his laughter coming out just seconds after. “You asshole, that’s not funny! You can’t steal this one from me,” Ryder pouted, glancing once again at the stranger. He was absolutely captivating. “He really is hot.”

“McSteamy hot, huh?” Charlie wiggled his eyebrows suggestively to which Ryder had no option but to laugh at.

“Yeah, McSteamy hot for sure.”

Charlie, gathering Ryder would only continue to stare at the guy until he was given a push, began to move away from him. He raised his red solo cup to finish his drink before he began pushing Ryder in the direction of McSteamy.

“Alright, Hollywood, leave me here so I can flirt and find more La Croix to throw up later. Give McSteamy some tongue for me,” Charlie gave a mocking salute.

Although Ryder was amused and grateful for Charlie’s bold statement, he left rather reluctantly, sticking his tongue out at Charlie. Charlie’s playful kiss goodbye brought out more laughter before Ryder sort of gravitated closer and closer to McSteamy until they were both outside by the pool, only separated by several feet. Ryder sat at a table with his beer occupying his hands. He wanted to stand up and introduce himself. He wanted to ask if he could take a seat by the stranger and finally flirt. It wasn’t like Ryder to prolong any sort of contact with someone he was interested in knowing.

He thought of how tamed he was being and wondered if Charlie was watching him just stare at the guy. He must’ve looked a bit hopeless. Oh, alright, he was completely hopeless! Ryder took another glance at the stranger and noticed how his look was returned. He tried waving at him, but McSteamy looked away before Ryder could even lift his hand. Ryder took a long swig of his beer, feeling very tortured. The shy ones were always worth the extra effort, so he kept looking back and trying to make eye contact again. When it finally happened, Ryder felt his heart begin to thunder because now the guy was getting up.

Ryder looked back inside, not noticing Charlie’s usual watchful eye. His heart picked up its pace. It felt the only thing he heard and when he turned to look back to see if McSteamy was finally going to give him a chance, he caught the moment where McSteamy fell into the pool. Ryder flinched, feeling bad for the guy. He stood up and waited near the edge until it suddenly became clear that something wasn’t right. 

It’d been longer than a minute and he’d yet to come up. Had he injured himself when he’d fallen in? Ryder immediately jumped into the water once he realized McSteamy wouldn’t be coming up on his own. He swam down, grabbing what looked like a very unconscious McSteamy. Once Ryder brought him to the surface, he began to gently pat his cheek and examine his face. Shit. He wasn’t breathing. Ryder brought him out of the water with serious effort, immediately beginning to perform CPR. Thankfully, he’d been certified a few years back before he started babysitting back home. It’d made parents more comfortable knowing he could perform CPR; although, he’d never performed it more than once outside of his class. This would be considered his second time.

The moment McSteamy coughed up water, Ryder felt relieved. His heart still thundered in his chest but with less intensity than before as if understanding everything would be fine. Ryder blinked at the stranger once he heard the question, immediately laughing. Was it strange he felt flattered? Ryder grinned widely, for once forgetting how embarrassed he got when his braces showed.

“Uhh, did you hit your head on the way down? I think the only way to do CPR is with my lips on yours, but I’d be interested in learning another way,” Ryder teased. “But seriously, does your head hurt or anything?”

Charlie watched Ryder go to his crush, quickly turning away after he made sure his friend was making his move. Ryder didn’t need a babysitter. He was cute and approachable. Ryder could take the guy. They’d probably end up making out by the time Charlie decided they needed to go home. He found his La Croix and refused to add any vodka as he was trying this new thing called sobriety after his last blackout. It wasn’t really fun, but Charlie didn’t want to see his father’s look of resignation the next morning. He stuck to his bland, terrible tasting drink, finding himself a seat on the stairs. It was the least crowded place and he wasn’t surrounded by people offering him drinks so it became a sanctuary of sorts for him. 

He lifted his head at the very clear sound of his name, spying a cute twink-looking stranger. Charlie grinned, tilting his head in thought as the stranger shared with him such friendly concern and honesty. The cute guy continued to be sweet as he brought up Charlie’s father’s muffins, which wasn’t something commonly mentioned or known about. Shit, was this the guy that brought him home that last night he’d drank himself stupid or something? It had to be. His dad had mentioned how kind the guy was and that he’d repaid him with food. 

“Yeah, let’s get the fuck outta here,” Charlie placed his drink down and followed the stranger out, willing to go anywhere else. “Wait until you try his cookies. I gotta pretend they’re trash so he doesn’t keep baking them.”

Charlie groaned when his strange friend nudged his hand away, having to wait his turn to dunk his nugget into the BBQ sauce they shared. He chewed thoughtfully as he noticed the hearing aids on his friend. Well, that could explain his loud volume. In an effort to know more, Charlie tapped the guy’s hand with a nugget. He quickly shoved it in his mouth before using his hands to convey his message.

‘Do you know sign?’ Charlie made all the proper gestures as he’d been using ASL since his youth. He had a cousin who was hard of hearing and as they’d grown up together Charlie had learned ASL, often preferring to use ASL to gossip his cousin who laughed at his ridiculousness while also adding her own twist. Charlie regularly face-timed her when he felt lonely.

“We can speak or sign. I can seduce you in many ways,” Charlie teased, signing every word he spoke.

[captain-magikarp]

Gio didn’t remember hitting his head, but it surely was a possibility. He was panicking so much underwater, he couldn’t tell what was going on at the time. Heck, all he could really remember was squirming around in the water and not being able to make sense of things. 

Gio continued to smile as the brunette had some flirtatious undertones when he replied back to him. His grin was the best thing in the world though, he was glad Ryder hadn’t grown self-conscious about it in their conversation. Whenever the dirty blonde glanced over at the brunette in the past, he’d often be covering his mouth if it meant his teeth would show. Maybe it was weird to be attracted to a guy because of his braces, but Gio thought they gave the guy even more charm than he already had. Of course, Gio was attracted to the brunette because of other reasons as well, but the braces were cute, especially when a hot guy was wearing them. 

“Oh, I’m sure there’s a lot of ways to do CPR,” Gio snorted, grinning with his teeth as he tittered. “I think my head is good though. I just can’t swim and I just panicked, ya know? But I just kinda feel exhausted now.”

Gio slowly sat up as he coughed out anymore water that lingered in his lungs. “Thanks for saving my life though, jeez..” His throat felt a bit overexposed and sore, leaving his voice a little softer and slightly raspier than usual. 

Now feeling that he just needed to lay down, but not wanting to risk being able to continue conversing with his crush, he decided to suggest something the guy would probably say no to. “I think I just needa lay down. You think we could go sit somewhere together or something?” Gio knew suggesting such a thing sounded pretty outrageous--he didn’t even know the guy’s name--but he figured the worst that could happen was the guy would turn the situation down. Maybe it was a stupid thing to ask, but Gio was almost positive the guy was flirting back with him in small little ways.

Once the brunette and Gio were settled on a blanket, on top of the grass in the backyard, the dirty blonde almost immediately plopped his head onto his crush’s shoulder. Realizing this may have been a bit intrusive, Gio apologized, however continued to do so, due to his low energy. “Mmm. I’m sorry for all this. I’m Gio by the way,” he said, lazily sticking his hand out toward the brunette that sat off to his side. He chuckled lightly, knowing how silly he looked. 

Daniel felt a little embarrassed when Charlie started to sign to him, especially because he was always a little sensitive about his hearing loss. He was never sure how people would act around him. Sometimes, people treated him differently. Whether they were mean or condescending, a lot of hearing people didn’t seem to understand that deaf people are the same as them, expect they just can’t hear. Daniel never got mad at that because he figured some people just didn’t understand, but it caused him to be more reserved throughout his life, even though he really wanted to communicate with all kinds of people. 

It surprised Daniel that Charlie wasn’t like other people who distanced themselves from him once it got harder to communicate with him. No, Charlie treated him like he’d treat even a hearing person--he even flirted with him through ASL. It meant a lot to Daniel that someone he actually really wanted to get to know could communicate with him in more ways than a lot of people could. It all made Daniel’s cheeks very pink as he subtly bit his nails because of the nerves that came with someone putting him on the spot. As nervous as Daniel was about Charlie realizing he was deaf, he was almost glad he did. 

Suddenly the secret was out and for once, it finally felt okay and not awkward. He felt accepted by a really cool person and it felt really good. Daniel giggled at Charlie’s flirtatious comment, deciding to sign back. “I like hearing your voice, but your hands are just as arousing,” Daniel signed, raising one brow to hint to Charlie that he thought he’d be good with his hands in other ways too. Thinking he was being a little silly, he tittered, his cheeks turning even more pink. Flirting was foreign to Daniel, but he wasn’t completely clueless; after all, Steve, who was really good at flirting with people, was a family friend. 

“I like hearing your voice though,” Daniel said out loud, sharing a big smile. “These things are really new and so I’m tryin’ to get used to ‘em in calmer settings.”

He decided to shove a mcnugget in his mouth, grinning as he signed, “But it’s cool that I get to sign and eat at the same time….I really like that you know ASL. A lot of people don’t and it gets really hard.”

As they continued to converse, there was a certain look in Charlie’s eyes that told Daniel he was trying to figure out where he knew him from. Daniel wasn’t about to judge him though; it wasn’t easy to remember everyone, especially for someone like Charlie who probably met so many people all the time. Not to mention, he was pretty drunk at the party; being drunk made almost everyone forget something or another. But, Daniel never liked judging people at all, especially when it came to small things like that. 

“I’m Daniel, by the way,” he said aloud, continuing to share a big grin.

[captain-magikarp]

Swimming Deep || Ryder, Gio, Charlie, & Daniel

Outside, there was only one other person, which was a surprise to Gio, to his knowledge, parties centered around pools. Maybe because it was a bit cold out, the pool area became the quiet zone for introverts. Gio had no idea why he agreed to go to these college parties, especially because he didn’t even go to college, nor did he like crowds. But, sometimes he just needed to do something that wasn’t at home. He could have done a lot of things, like going to the movies with Micah and Steven, and whichever friends they invited, but he figured he’d mess up their plans if he came along. In a small town, there really wasn’t that much to do; all of his friends were either his brothers, his brothers’ friends, or his table-top game friends online. So, why not go to the party?

After sitting at the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, for about 10 minutes, Gio couldn’t help but notice who the other person was, sitting at one of the tables. Awkwardly making eye contact with the brunette, Gio quickly looked away, trying to act like he wasn’t checking him out, even though he evidently was. Even though he also had been checking him out at past parties they both attended, or even at the local grocery store where they sometimes saw each other from a distance. Catching feelings like he was for this person was something really new to Gio; having a crush on anyone was something that just didn’t happen with him most of the time. He had flings in the past, but it was always something that didn’t last or he was pressured into it by acquaintances, or even his mom.

Gio’s mom always wanted the best for him, which is why she often played match-maker, but he never had the heart to tell her that being with someone just wasn’t his thing--at least at the time. If she knew he had feelings for a guy, she’d go crazy, insisting on giving him all the advice she had to offer. Vic’s only advice about love interests at home was, “Keep it PG 13, I don’t wanna see no R-rated shit.”

When Gio turned his head, once again, his eyes met the brunette’s, this time, offering a quick smile before he glanced back at his faint reflection in the pool. Gio never had the guts to talk to someone he liked, unless he was forced into it. This time, Gio genuinely couldn’t get the brunette, with the square jaw, out of his head. It was like the universe was telling him to talk to him, especially since they kept seeing each other almost everywhere they went, even outside of the parties. He knew it was a small town, but he never saw the same person almost everywhere--it wasn’t that small.

This had been going on for a few weeks, and throughout that time, Gio wondered how he’d approach the guy, or if he’d even approach him at all. He couldn’t believe he thought about these things--it all seemed so foreign. Finally gathering up the courage to talk to the brunette, he carefully tried to stand up, knowing very well that he could slip in because of his wet feet; however, the cautious steps Gio took were not effective. Once the dirty blonde stood, straightening out his body, he took one slippery step toward the brunette, leading him to fall flat on his face. Trying to get up wasn’t very easy, however, he managed to do so. Not thinking clearly, he stood up closer to the edge of the pool and lost control of his balance. Inevitably, he fell into the pool. 

Near the bottom floor of the deep end, Gio began to panic, especially because he never learned how to swim, not even how to float. People always said “When in doubt, just float. Release your body. No tension.” That shit never worked with Gio. After almost a minute, a rush of water began to fill his lungs as he continuously opened his mouth, not registering that that probably wasn’t the best thing to do underwater. 

Gio had no idea how much time had passed, but when he came to, he caught the brunette hovering over him as he laid on the pavement. He coughed up some more water as he tried to piece together what happened after he fell into the pool. Did the brunette save him? Did he perform CPR or some shit? Their lips touched? The thought of their lips touching allowed Gio’s cold body to grow warm, as he blinked away his half-dazed condition. 

“Did you kiss me?” Gio chuckled as his cheeks grew pink. 

Daniel, wanting to include himself in some of the fun, attempted to enter the living room, where everyone seemed to be congregating, however, he felt so out of place. He’d been to a few of these parties before, but mostly because Micah or Gio wanted to go. All Daniel knew was that people wanted to act crazy at parties. He didn’t really mind that though. He figured, maybe if he tried to involve himself in the party for once, he’d understand the appeal? 

Regardless of his countless attempts to assimilate, Daniel couldn’t seem to do it, especially because most people weren’t looking to have conversations. The party-goers were interested in playing games and roughhousing, which again, Daniel didn’t mind, but he just wasn’t the type of person people wanted to play games with, even if he tried. Feeling like he couldn’t fit in, Daniel walked over toward the stairs to take a seat, only to find Charlie sitting there.

“Charlie!” Daniel smiled, trying to speak over the music. “You okay? You need to go somewhere where it’s not so nuts?” Daniel again, probably shouted louder than he should have, not really aware of the volume of his voice because his hearing aids were turned off. “I just-- I guess I feel out of place and I just wanna talk or something. Sorry if I’m being all awkward!”

Hoping he wasn’t scaring Charlie away, he avoided eye contact as he waited for a response. He was worried he was coming off too strong, or being too friendly. What if Charlie didn’t remember him? Or what if what he remembered reminded him that he didn’t like Daniel?

“Your dad’s muffins were really good!”

Thankfully Charlie didn’t seem to have too much booze in his system, because as much as Daniel didn’t mind helping Charlie, it would have been a little hard to walk to the local McDonald’s with someone hanging onto him. 

Daniel munched down on his mcnuggets, getting a 20 piece so him and Charlie could share. He giggled as the two attempted to dip their mcnugget in the bbq container at the same time. 

“Hey, I was first,” he joked, nudging Charlie’s hand away. 

For a moment, taking in the mutual silence between them, Daniel gazed out the window at people driving into the parking lot of the restaurant. Unbeknownst to Daniel, his new hearing aids were visible to Charlie.

The first time he met Charlie, he hadn’t had his hearing aids turned on, due to headaches he was receiving and the discomfort of still getting used to them, so it was even harder to tell what he was saying, or even what Charlie’s dad was saying. It was always hard to tell what anyone was saying for that matter without them. Hearing aids were so expensive, but Vic managed to figure out a way where Daniel could have them--Vic was such a good parent. Unfortunately, sometimes they came with side effects that Daniel wasn’t willing to bare in certain situations, especially at parties where everything seemed too loud, especially when he was still getting used to them--he’d only had them for a few weeks. 

When Daniel got out of the party setting, it was in his best interest to turn them on so he could hear Charlie better, especially because he just really wanted to get to know him. Daniel needed a friend outside of his brothers. His best friend Justine was always there for him, but Daniel was desperate to meet new people, especially because of his naturally extroverted personality, but due to the way people treated him because of his impairment, it was really hard to make friends. Daniel didn’t know why he wanted to be friends with Charlie so bad. Maybe it was because he was really nice to him and didn’t care about their imperfect communication?

[jinxseong]

North, West, or Death? | Quinn, Micah, Steven & Connor

[jinxseong]

captain-magikarp‌:

Micah couldn’t believe they had even sat through an entire movie together, especially after what happened to him and Quinn at the party. The thought of the party made Micah sick; all the confessions he gave to Quinn were so painstakingly embarrassing. The two had met briefly before their party encounter, but they surely didn’t know each other enough to admit their feelings for one another. Knowing he was stupid for pouring out his lovestruck guts to his crush, he sat in an overwrought state for days, at times, rewinding and replaying the humiliating moment in his head. The moment couldn’t have been too bad of a step to take, especially because him and Quinn had touched hands at some point during the film. Of course, it may not have counted because it happened after a jump scare. It was possible Quinn didn’t mean to touch his knee. Perhaps, Micah made the wrong step, again, by touching Quinn’s hand. In that case, Micah wondered if Quinn was deterred even more from pursuing at least a friendship with him after the hand touching and the party.

They made it to the corn maze, which wouldn’t have been Micah’s first choice if he was making the decisions for the group. It wasn’t his place to say no to the corn maze, especially because he was invited by Steve–this was Steve and Connor’s hang out, he was just a guest. It was a little painful to watch Steve and Connor flirting while he was forced to be third-wheeling with his crush–who probably didn’t like him very much. 

Every year, people in their town went to the fall carnival; it was pretty much the talk of the town during that time of year. As fun as the carnival was, especially when it came to the candy apples and the rigged games that Micah was actually good at, there was one attraction that made his stomach curl. His innards were in knots as he walked through the maze, not only because Quinn was walking right in front of him, but also because Micah never did well with getting lost. A particular panic glazed over Micah whenever he was misguided, much less, purposefully misguided. As a kid, Micah did the corn maze almost every year, that was until some mean-spirited kids decided to leave him alone as a joke. Of course, being a kid at the time, his imagination took over. Since that moment, Micah had this overwhelming anxiety of the maze. Every time he was asked about it, he’d come up with some lame excuse because he was too embarrassed to tell people he was afraid of a stupid corn maze. Not even Vic knew about his fear.

Micah attempted to remain calm as he followed behind Quinn, pointing his flashlight at every odd sound he heard–especially because they were already deep into the maze. When his phone dinged, notifying Micah he had a new text message, he stopped for a second to dig into his backpack. Once he pulled out his phone, he saw that the text was from Vic, asking where he was, especially because it was pretty late and he did have an early shift in the morning. Micah took a few seconds to respond to the text, stuffed the phone inside, and swung his bag onto his back again. Looking up, he saw that everyone was gone. Connor and Steve, he’d understand their disappearance, but Quinn was completely gone. Any internal organs currently existing in Micah’s body, paused in fear. “What the fuck?” he gasped lightly to himself. 

Micah began to speed walk down any logical path in the maze, but it seemed as though every path led to a dead end, a moment that was reminiscent of his time in the maze as a kid. At the peak of Micah’s panic attack, his flashlight started to flicker, causing Micah to whack it several times to get it working again, but it was no use. Micah’s breath grew short as he stood still. Now not being able to see much in the dark, Micah began to walk slowly, trying not to panic. He brought his broken flashlight to his chest for comfort. His panic-meter seemed to lose momentum as he continued to explore the maze, but sure enough, his broken glasses fell apart, slipping on each side of his face. “Damnit,” Micah let out under his breath in frustration. He quickly kneeled down to retrieve the pieces, almost having to feel for them in the dark.

“Hey Micah, can you hear me?”

Micah, poked his head in every direction, hearing Quinn’s voice, but not seeing a soul near by. “Quinn! Quinn! I hear you, please, come help me,” he yelled out, a quiver in his voice was certainly present. Micah wanted to cry and he honestly could care less if Quinn saw him get emotional at this point. He was frustrated; his glasses were broken again, his flashlight wasn’t working, and he was facing one of his fears. As Micah waited for Quinn to possibly come to help him, he actually began to shed a few tears, sniffling and wiping his eyes as he tried feeling for each piece of his glasses, like he did at the party. At least he wasn’t tipsy.

Connor was finally getting the hint that Steve was flirting with him. Before that, it hadn’t occurred to him that Steve wanted more than a friendship. Steven and the people he either dated or had sex with were definitely hot. Connor couldn’t pin point one thing that made him Steve’s type. It made Connor wonder if he was actually good looking. As he slowly came to the realization of Steven’s intentions throughout the night, Connor began to wonder if he misinterpreted other people’s signs of flirting–he certainly missed all the signs Steve threw their way before. If Connor was attractive, it was certainly news to him.

The movie was where Connor started to notice the difference between friendliness and flirting. The moment Steven put his arm around Connor was definitely a game changer, and Connor was there for it. Something inside Connor drove him to want to continue his flirtatious comments that he never understood was flirting before hand, until he noticed what suddenly seemed so obvious. The difference this time, was Connor wanted to flirt, and now, he suddenly wanted to pursue Steven, maybe even make out with him.

The whole way through the maze, up to the mid-way point, Connor had been playful with Steve, nudging and teasing him. Thankfully, Steven seemed to be really enjoying his time with Connor, at least he hoped. It was possible he only was sticking around because he had no other choice in a corn maze, but Connor doubted it. Steven was surely teasing Connor back, especially when he mentioned he was the “only light in his life”.

“Only light in your life? I don’t know about that,” Connor laughed. “Don’t you have a flashlight in your hand?” Connor smiled, as he teased Steve. He was a little flattered, especially because no one ever flirted with Connor so hard before. Thank god they were in the dark, because Connor could have sworn he was getting a little hard. 

When Steven reeled Connor in with his wrists, a flush of excitement rose to his cheeks. Connor laughed along with Steve. He also continued to blush, delighted by all the flirting. “Well, okay then, I mean, I don’t have to try doing that, I just do that on my own,” Connor teased. “If you weren’t here, I’d be lost near the entrance.”

Connor counted to three. “If you catch me, maybe I’ll shake your hand,” Connor joked, running past him, trying to see if he’d catch up. In reality, Connor knew that if Steve caught him, they’d make out in an instant. The idea of making out in the corn field was super fucking hot. 

Quinn went back the way they had entered the maze, using his flashlight to guide him. He took a few wrong turns, becoming more frustrated with each step that didn’t lead to Micah. He began to panic when he heard Micah’s cry for help. Quinn tried following the direction of the voice, easily caught up in his emotions. Once more, he was led to everywhere else around the maze. A sense of panic was beginning to reach him when he finally caught sight of Micah. He was kneeling on the ground, searching for something Quinn couldn’t immediately identify through his sense of relief.

Within seconds, Quinn dropped right in front of Micah, apologizing profusely. He hated how guilty he sounded. He wouldn’t have done this with anyone else, but then he hadn’t treated anyone else this poorly in a long time. Maybe he was just some asshole that needed to get his shit together.

When the apologies didn’t lessen his feelings of guilt, he brought his flashlight to the ground, searching for what Micah was missing. He caught the reflective surface of Micah’s once again broken glasses. Quinn took both pieces into his hands, gently giving them back to their owner. He didn’t want to point his flashlight directly as Micah’s face to make sure he was fine, so he flashed it around their surroundings. What little he could see wasn’t good. Micah looked entirely scared and miserable. It was Quinn’s fault. How could he miss Micah falling behind? How had he not noticed his missing footsteps? It wasn’t like he was involved in what Connor and Steven had going on. He was just as much as out of the loop as Micah had been. Micah must’ve hated him.

“I’m so sorry. I thought—you were right beh— let me help you up,” Quinn stumbled over himself, unsure of what to confess. It wasn’t like anything he said would make the situation better. Micah’s glasses would still be broken. They’d still be the forgotten friends. Quinn would still be guilty.

“Let’s just go back. Fuck this maze. It’s dumb.”

Quinn helped Micah get up, brushing off the dirt on Micah’s jeans before doing the same to his own. He grabbed Micah by the hand, making sure the flashlight was nowhere near their faces. “I don’t wanna lose you again. I’m really sorry, Micah.”

Oh, this was going to be a problem. Connor was perfect. Admittedly, that may have not been much when Steven often used that word towards someone he was interested in, but with Connor it felt like the words could be true. Steven really did like him. Connor was funny and he seemed so easygoing. It felt like Connor could understand him one day.

Steven wasn’t exactly the brightest out there. However, he had common sense and enough of it to understand that people didn’t always mean what they said. Sometimes they said something with the intentions of hoping the true meaning of their words was caught. Sometimes they wanted someone, a particular person, to challenge their words and bring out the right results. Steven always understood that. He knew when he was supposed to play coy and take action; although, sometimes he didn’t always give the right message back. However, that was what a leap of faith was about. He had to take action and hope that it was the right decision, hope his feelings were returned. He was prepared to take that leap with Connor, to interpret his promise of a handshake as something else, as something much more. “Alright, let’s do it.”

At the count fo three, Connor started running past Steven, obviously excited and wanting to put Steven to work. Steven didn’t take off right away, but he did keep a few paces behind Connor, chuckling. He was regularly active so keeping up was definitely not a problem. Steven enjoyed sports and the typical ‘guy’ thing. He played by the typical white guy routine— something he couldn’t deny. Why would he anyway? He was just that— a white guy. He stuck to his lane. “Aaaw, Con, that’s not fair. You gave yourself a headstart.” Steven called, pouting from just several feet behind Connor.

He picked up the pace and finally halted Connor by grabbing onto his shoulder. Steven shouted in victory as he drew Connor into a hug. He didn’t bring in Connor for a kiss until his laughter died down. By that point, Steven was drawing even closer, resting his forehead against Connor’s. “So, that handshake?” Steven teased, nearly pressing his lips against Connor’s. He stayed just barely out of reach, feeling every breath Connor took. Steven felt his heart stutter.

“I think this might be better,” Steven mumbled against Connor’s lips before pressing his own against them. He kissed Connor thoroughly as if trying to convince him how much better their kiss was compared to a measly handshake. He pulled away slowly, feeling a wave of nervousness. How strange.

[captain-magikarp]

Micah remained silent as he sat with Quinn on a bale of hay, facing the carnival game stands. Any other night, Micah would be the person game-hopping, winning all the prizes, even when it came to bobbing for apples, but this night in particular had him on edge and embarrassed to his core. If asked, Micah wouldn’t be able to admit exactly why he was on the verge of tears, but the longer the two waited for Steven and Connor, the more prominent his tears became to even an onlooker. There was probably nothing that could convince Quinn to want to be around Micah anymore, especially after what happened as they tried leaving the corn maze.

Micah hardly said a word when he and Quinn attempted to exit the maze, especially because of his emotional turmoil that he was strictly containing. After Quinn continuously apologized, the only words Micah said to ease his mind were, “You don’t have to apologize or feel bad. It’s ok. It’s my fault I wasn’t paying attention. I get lost easily.” It really wasn’t Quinn’s fault that Micah had underlying fears he wouldn’t tell anyone about. But the collection of his internal terror and the extra anxiety that packed on as he held it all inside, caused a scene that would doom any interaction Micah and Quinn would have in the future.

When they finally found the exit to the maze, Micah zoomed off, trying to find the nearest trashcan, however, to make matters even worse, he tripped, falling onto his left arm. The pain was so sharp and excruciating that Micah was almost positive that it was broken, or at least fractured, judging by the large yelp he let out as he stuck the landing. Before Quinn could see, he quickly stood up, holding his arm to his chest as he sprinted to the trashcan that stood about 10 feet away, puking out all his current internal struggles once he arrived. After throwing up in front of Quinn, there would be nothing that could redeem himself, even though sitting on a bale of hay in silence, after the whole ordeal, made Micah cringe even more, especially at how he allowed himself to act.

Still willing to take an attempt at hiding what seemed obvious, Micah hesitated when he looked over to Quinn, in a rush to wipe the tears that crept down his cheeks with his uninjured arm. Not wanting to ruin the night even further, he wasn’t about to tell Quinn about his possibly fractured arm, so he just continued to hold it in positions that looked like any arm would be in, even if it felt terrible. His tears were due to embarrassment and lingering fear, but were also caused by the sharp pain in his arm that continuously mocked him as he sat next to his crush. “I’m sorry if I ruined the fun. It’s just something that happened when I was a kid that kind of gets the best of me in there,” Micah let out, surprised that he admitted anything, but he didn’t want Quinn thinking that he was this person that cried too much. Micah didn’t make a habit of bawling his eyes out, but when he did cry, it was always due to something that dug deep; he hoped Quinn understood that.

As time passed, Steven and Connor still weren’t in sight, causing Micah to realize that the two would probably be in there for a while. Micah knew that the corn maze was a popular make out spot; he always heard all the stories from the maze, especially the stories Steve would tell him. Sometimes, the stories that came from the maze were so intense that Micah was left wondering if they were embellished, but maybe they weren’t. No one knew the truth when it came to stories from the corn maze, which made it appealing to some and a little creepy to others.

“I think I’m gonna have to get going,” Micah let out, after 20 minutes of waiting. “I have work in the morning.” Micah stood up, pointing at the sidewalk behind him, implying that he’d be walking home, especially because he wasn’t the one who drove. At this point, the pain in Micah’s arm became evident to anyone who even glanced in his direction, even though he was still trying to hide it. “I just, I really need to get cleaned up and…” Micah said as he glanced at his arm that started to look a bit swollen and slightly disfigured. “Do you think I can get a ride home, actually? I need to get this checked out,” he asked, wincing as he lifted his arm a little to finally admit to his injury.

Micah peeked at Quinn at different points in the car ride, to figure out what he was thinking. His overactive thoughts got the best of Micah, and he couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that he was annoyed, maybe he even thought he was the type of person that took advantage. It wasn’t an absurd thought to think that Quinn perhaps thought Micah wanted a really cool ride home, especially because they were driving in style. Micah didn’t care about that kind of thing and didn’t like making a big deal about nice things that people had. He truly didn’t judge people by the stuff they owned, but he was always conscious about what people thought about him in these situations. As a kid, a lot of people he knew were well off, and even though he never cared about their living circumstances or how much money they had, because him and his family were poor, it came with a sense of judgment from some people, especially parents. A moment that stuck with Micah for a while was when his first boyfriend’s mom blamed him when her mother’s necklace went missing during a sleepover.

When they arrived at Vic’s it remained apparent that he was nervous about Quinn finding out where he lived, but there was no way to hide that fact. “I live upstairs here… but my dad’s in the car already waiting… so uh thanks for the ride.. and everything,” Micah said, gulping as he sat in the car, silent. He then quickly got out of the car, closing the door, awkwardly, with his uninjured arm. He quickly walked to the car adjacent to Quinn’s Lexus that sat in the tiny parking lot. As they drove away, on their way to the ER, Micah gazed outside his window at Quinn in his car, realizing that may be the last time they’d ever speak.

Connor was so glad Steven got that he was joking, it would have been a nice foreplay though if Steven did follow through with the handshake. Connor loved to be teased the way he teased others, but there was a point where lovers just needed to cut to the chase and kiss… and this was that moment, especially when they both were severely turned on. It was weird to think that before this night, Connor had no definite clue that his feelings for Steven were mutual.

When their lips touched, Connor was sure that his heart stopped, at least through the duration of the kiss. When Steven pulled away, his eyes remained closed as he gently placed a hand on his broad shoulder, pulling him closer. “No… no. Don’t pull away, stupid,” he joked as he slightly puckered his lips. “Gimme more.” Connor leaned in for another kiss, hoping this time it’d be longer. Maybe there’d be tongue involved?

Soon enough, Connor and Steven were sitting in a corner of the maze. Wanting to prove to Steven he was as great of a kisser as he was, he straddled Steven, returning every kiss Steven leaned into with a small bite on his lips. When they pulled away from each other for a second, Connor teased, “I think we should’ve settled with a handshake.”

[jinxseong]

North, West, or Death? | Quinn, Micah, Steven & Connor

The corn maze wasn’t necessarily the most intricate thing made. However, after the movie and everything else, the group had settled here. Provided with a map and some flashlights before entering, which Quinn saw no use for either really, they went off into the maze. Steven and Connor were leading the way, flirting and playing around. Quinn and Micah were left at the back, awkward and barely speaking. Quinn didn’t watch any of them too closely, especially Micah. Why were Con and Steven showing their gross affection now? Couldn’t they wait until they were further into the maze, surrounded by the night and corn stalks, to act corny? Quinn glanced down at the map for a second, shining his flashlight on it. How hard could this be? He handed the map to Connor, knowing as long as it left his hands he couldn’t be to blame for getting them lost or harassed for it when they inevitably did get lost. 

Quinn was prepared to return to the entrance of the corn maze and walk around to the end of it, pretending he’d somehow finished it before his friends. It was sort of dumb anyway. Corn mazes were something horny teenagers did when they wanted the thrill of getting caught without the actual risk. Quinn may have graduated high school just a year ago, but he wasn’t entirely for the idea of fucking Micah in the corn maze. Anywhere else? Absolutely. Just not some corn maze. Never a corn maze. 

However, the idea seemed to have a particular attraction to Con and Steve. They kept a steady pace ahead, every so often realizing they hadn’t come alone. It wasn’t like they were purposely trying to lose Quinn and Micah. Quinn knew that much. They were obviously just getting along well. Very well. It made Quinn more conscious of his distance from Micah. Did they ever really have a chance? Quinn didn’t really want to think about it anymore. Thinking of his most recent disappointing encounter with Micah, Quinn hadn’t noticed Connor and Steven were no longer in sight until he couldn’t see the two beams of light ahead of him. He paused. 

The noises of the night were suddenly deafening. There was a breeze, so it was reasonable to assume the corn stalks would sway and even give the illusion of actual movement like the sort moving scary movies played in the background while the characters spoke to each other. It wasn’t Quinn’s overactive imagination making them look so sinister. Like, seriously, that shit was messing with him. There came some moderate relief that the only scarecrow that occupied the maze was the one posted at the entrance, its sardonic smile coming back to Quinn’s memory as he remained still. Ugh, those things were really uncool. Maybe they shouldn’t have done this so late. Maybe Connor shouldn’t have been so thirsty for Steven’s dick because now Quinn was going to die. He was going to die and it would be Connor’s fault and only his.

“I hope they trip and die,” Quinn mumbled to himself. He stopped moving then noticing he hadn’t heard Micah’s footsteps in awhile. Quinn pointed his flashlight around, not immediately seeing Micah. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. His stomach dipped as his concern spiked.

“Micah?” Quinn called after a moment, his heart beginning to pound. Why did this happen to him? Where the hell was Con and Steve? Didn’t they understand Quinn’s predicament? He was going to have a panic attack! He shut his eyes tightly, trying to remain calm. 

Alright, he’d just go back and look for Micah. It wasn’t like he could be far, right? Quinn really hoped he was alright. He sort of thought they were going make up or something. He didn’t really know what he expected to come out of tonight, but he wanted Micah to remember their last encounter. Quinn wanted clarification on what it all meant. 

If it had meant anything.

“Hey Micah, can you hear me?” Quinn called out loudly.

Steven was so glad Con hadn’t been going out with Quinn. It had been a genuine concern of his when he first started flirting with him. After all, Connor had never really responded in the way a person interested would’ve. It was as if every advancement Steven had tried making went over his head and, perhaps, that hadn’t been Connor’s fault. If Steven had been actually concerned with Connor being in a relationship, he wouldn’t have flirted with him in the first place but that wasn’t what Steven really wanted to get at now. 

What he really wanted now, what he felt like he needed, was some time to make out with Con. The movie would’ve been the perfect opportunity, but Steven hadn’t been trying to ruin Connor’s experience of the movie. Neither did he really want to be thrown a look of mild disgust by their friends. There was a time and there was a place, and there was a corn maze. Steven was really excited about the corn maze and maybe that showed when he went ahead of the group, laughing whenever Con shared a joke or flirted in return. It felt like they were in their own world.

Steven remembered all the times he’d come here before. He had always brought someone new and fun. It had never felt like this. Not even with Micah. It made Steven wonder what was so different about Connor. He was definitely attractive, but Micah was too. Con was funny, but Steven thought he was doing a decent job at keeping up with him. Connor was sweet. Steven had always turned soft for the sweet ones. Connor really made him work for it too. Maybe Steven enjoyed the chase. Maybe he wanted to feel like he could chase this feeling down and never grow tired of it, never wonder if he made the right choice. Maybe he really wanted to just grab Connor by the face and kiss him.

“I’m keeping an eye on you. Can’t lose the only light in my life,” Steven teased Con, chuckling lowly. He was walking backward with his flashlight on Connor. He stumbled for a moment, laughing at himself before taking a moment to gain his balance back. 

“Come here. I need you,” Steven laughed, a bit breathless as he drew Connor in by his wrists. He took a deep breath, still unable to contain his laughter. “What if we got lost for a little?”

[captain-magikarp]

Micah couldn’t believe they had even sat through an entire movie together, especially after what happened to him and Quinn at the party. The thought of the party made Micah sick; all the confessions he gave to Quinn were so painstakingly embarrassing. The two had met briefly before their party encounter, but they surely didn’t know each other enough to admit their feelings for one another. Knowing he was stupid for pouring out his lovestruck guts to his crush, he sat in an overwrought state for days, at times, rewinding and replaying the humiliating moment in his head. The moment couldn’t have been too bad of a step to take, especially because him and Quinn had touched hands at some point during the film. Of course, it may not have counted because it happened after a jump scare. It was possible Quinn didn’t mean to touch his knee. Perhaps, Micah made the wrong step, again, by touching Quinn’s hand. In that case, Micah wondered if Quinn was deterred even more from pursuing at least a friendship with him after the hand touching and the party.

They made it to the corn maze, which wouldn’t have been Micah’s first choice if he was making the decisions for the group. It wasn’t his place to say no to the corn maze, especially because he was invited by Steve--this was Steve and Connor’s hang out, he was just a guest. It was a little painful to watch Steve and Connor flirting while he was forced to be third-wheeling with his crush--who probably didn’t like him very much. 

Every year, people in their town went to the fall carnival; it was pretty much the talk of the town during that time of year. As fun as the carnival was, especially when it came to the candy apples and the rigged games that Micah was actually good at, there was one attraction that made his stomach curl. His innards were in knots as he walked through the maze, not only because Quinn was walking right in front of him, but also because Micah never did well with getting lost. A particular panic glazed over Micah whenever he was misguided, much less, purposefully misguided. As a kid, Micah did the corn maze almost every year, that was until some mean-spirited kids decided to leave him alone as a joke. Of course, being a kid at the time, his imagination took over. Since that moment, Micah had this overwhelming anxiety of the maze. Every time he was asked about it, he’d come up with some lame excuse because he was too embarrassed to tell people he was afraid of a stupid corn maze. Not even Vic knew about his fear.

Micah attempted to remain calm as he followed behind Quinn, pointing his flashlight at every odd sound he heard--especially because they were already deep into the maze. When his phone dinged, notifying Micah he had a new text message, he stopped for a second to dig into his backpack. Once he pulled out his phone, he saw that the text was from Vic, asking where he was, especially because it was pretty late and he did have an early shift in the morning. Micah took a few seconds to respond to the text, stuffed the phone inside, and swung his bag onto his back again. Looking up, he saw that everyone was gone. Connor and Steve, he’d understand their disappearance, but Quinn was completely gone. Any internal organs currently existing in Micah’s body, paused in fear. “What the fuck?” he gasped lightly to himself. 

Micah began to speed walk down any logical path in the maze, but it seemed as though every path led to a dead end, a moment that was reminiscent of his time in the maze as a kid. At the peak of Micah’s panic attack, his flashlight started to flicker, causing Micah to whack it several times to get it working again, but it was no use. Micah’s breath grew short as he stood still. Now not being able to see much in the dark, Micah began to walk slowly, trying not to panic. He brought his broken flashlight to his chest for comfort. His panic-meter seemed to lose momentum as he continued to explore the maze, but sure enough, his broken glasses fell apart, slipping on each side of his face. “Damnit,” Micah let out under his breath in frustration. He quickly kneeled down to retrieve the pieces, almost having to feel for them in the dark.

“Hey Micah, can you hear me?”

Micah, poked his head in every direction, hearing Quinn’s voice, but not seeing a soul near by. “Quinn! Quinn! I hear you, please, come help me,” he yelled out, a quiver in his voice was certainly present. Micah wanted to cry and he honestly could care less if Quinn saw him get emotional at this point. He was frustrated; his glasses were broken again, his flashlight wasn’t working, and he was facing one of his fears. As Micah waited for Quinn to possibly come to help him, he actually began to shed a few tears, sniffling and wiping his eyes as he tried feeling for each piece of his glasses, like he did at the party. At least he wasn’t tipsy.

Connor was finally getting the hint that Steve was flirting with him. Before that, it hadn’t occurred to him that Steve wanted more than a friendship. Steven and the people he either dated or had sex with were definitely hot. Connor couldn’t pin point one thing that made him Steve’s type. It made Connor wonder if he was actually good looking. As he slowly came to the realization of Steven’s intentions throughout the night, Connor began to wonder if he misinterpreted other people’s signs of flirting--he certainly missed all the signs Steve threw their way before. If Connor was attractive, it was certainly news to him.

The movie was where Connor started to notice the difference between friendliness and flirting. The moment Steven put his arm around Connor was definitely a game changer, and Connor was there for it. Something inside Connor drove him to want to continue his flirtatious comments that he never understood was flirting before hand, until he noticed what suddenly seemed so obvious. The difference this time, was Connor wanted to flirt, and now, he suddenly wanted to pursue Steven, maybe even make out with him.

The whole way through the maze, up to the mid-way point, Connor had been playful with Steve, nudging and teasing him. Thankfully, Steven seemed to be really enjoying his time with Connor, at least he hoped. It was possible he only was sticking around because he had no other choice in a corn maze, but Connor doubted it. Steven was surely teasing Connor back, especially when he mentioned he was the “only light in his life”.

“Only light in your life? I don’t know about that,” Connor laughed. “Don’t you have a flashlight in your hand?” Connor smiled, as he teased Steve. He was a little flattered, especially because no one ever flirted with Connor so hard before. Thank god they were in the dark, because Connor could have sworn he was getting a little hard. 

When Steven reeled Connor in with his wrists, a flush of excitement rose to his cheeks. Connor laughed along with Steve. He also continued to blush, delighted by all the flirting. “Well, okay then, I mean, I don’t have to try doing that, I just do that on my own,” Connor teased. “If you weren’t here, I’d be lost near the entrance.”

Connor counted to three. “If you catch me, maybe I’ll shake your hand,” Connor joked, running past him, trying to see if he’d catch up. In reality, Connor knew that if Steve caught him, they’d make out in an instant. The idea of making out in the corn field was super fucking hot.