Ronnie felt giddy. He was floating on air, his heart was all aflutter, and a bunch of other really shitty clichĆ©ās that he was sure Max would either love or hate him for. In this instance, he was sure sheād let it slide. Quite frankly, heād been a bag of nerves telling her the news. Heād hammered his fist against her apartment door, only to find Ollie on the other side. Heād look less than pleased to see Ronnie, who had merely grinned at his boss and invited himself inside without so much as a second thought. Max had been nestled on the couch looking exceptionally sleepy, her laptop settled onto her lap, when sheād glanced up and spotted him, greeting him with a warm smile of her own.
Heād blustered and mumbled his way through his explanation, telling her that somehow heād gotten lucky enough to be invited around to James Lynchās house. Him. Ronnie Winters was going to Jamesā house. He was going to the house of the boy heād been crushing on for so long. And okay, sure, it probably didnāt mean a whole lot. He was just helping him with school stuff, but he was crazy excited about it. Theyād never really spent time alone outside of school, the only times they ever hung out away from a classroom usually including Rhett, Taylor, Brooke, and ā ugh ā Darren. Now he was getting to hang out with James on his own.
Heād be lying if he said he hadnāt put a little too much weight on Jamesā text to him, the sheer notion that if he were gay then Ronnie would be the kind of guy heād date. He was grasping at straws, considering James was alarmingly heterosexual and clearly not interested in Ronnie in a romantic sense, but it still sent his heart soaring when heād read the words, and Max had been a little more enthusiastic about it than Levi, who he was certain thought he was a bit of a dummy.
Now, he was rocking back and forth on the spot as he waited outside of Jamesā house. Heād rung the doorbell, and found himself craning his neck to look around him at the land surrounding the building. I mean, how freaking cool? Most people, like he and Rhett, lived at home with their parents in, like, normal houses, or apartments like at Messina. Heād never been to a fucking vineyard. So. Fucking. Cool.
Clutching the straps of his backpack, that was currently clinging to his shoulders, his face split into a wild smile when the door opened. Who heād been expecting to see was James. Who he hadnāt expected to see was Darren. Ugh. Darren raised an eyebrow at the sight of him, his expression confused as he glanced back at James ā who was standing behind him, looking a little flushed ā and towards Ronnie once again. With a shrug, he waved a little hand at Ronnie, before giving James a quick hug goodbye, and a brief punch on the arm ā ugh, why was masculinity so fragile? Just hug your friend, man! Or Iāll do it for you, jeez, Ronnie thought ā and heading out the door to whereever it was he went when he wasnāt indirectly ruining Ronnieās life.
His shoulders tense, biting down the scowl that threatened to break through his features, Ronnie waited for Darren to disappear, before turning his attention to James and forcing a convincing smile onto his face. Okay, forcing might not have been the right choice of word. It wasnāt super difficult for him to smile when around the other boy, considering he held the strange ability to make Ronnie feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside without ever actually doing anything.
āHey, man,ā he greeted him, his hands still tightly clasped around hid the straps of his bag. That was the only way he could stop them from trembling, thatās for sure. Luckily, he could just put that down to the cold should James ask, and he wouldnāt actually have to explain how nervous, and excited, he was to be hanging out with the other boy.
His mind was still on Darren, however, and he couldnāt help but wonder if heād intruded. Darren looked confused, as though he hadnāt been expecting to see Ronnie, and he wondered if maybe James was embarrassed to be seen with him, or if he hadnāt told his friend. Or maybe Darren wasnāt as freaking cool as everyone kept trying to convince him (a fact that Ronnie was more than aware of). Hell, maybe Darren was just jealous that he was getting kicked out while Ronnie got to spend time with his best friend.
āSo, I wasnāt, likeā¦ uh, intruding or anything was I? I donāt think Iām earlyā¦ā He shrugged, his eyes darting towards a clock on the wall, he could just about see it over Jamesā shoulder (not that he was, like, snooping in on his house or anything). āIām actually usually sorta late, soā¦ā
Having Darren show up to his house to play music about an hour before Ronnie was due to arrive and help him rehearse, did funny things to Jamesā state of mind. By āfunnyā, he meant confusing, and by āconfusingā, it was more a mish mosh of hysterical screaming inside his head. Heād heard his doorbell ring and ran downstairs (as quickly as he would allow himself, all the while thinking about the dangers of tripping and falling to his death), frantically towel drying his hair and wondering why Ronnie was showing up so early, only to throw open the door and see Darren standing there. Suddenly, cartwheeling down the stairs and landing headfirst at the bottom didnāt seem so particularly unappealing.
When Darren mentioned something about writing a new song that he wanted to run by James first, the boy made a casual attempt to restart about fifty percent of his vital organs and ushered his best friend inside. He wasnāt going to turn down spending time with Darren and that guitar of his, although he did cast a guilty glance towards the hallway clock as the minute hand ticked closer to Ronnieās impending arrival.
Ever since heād found out that Ronnie supposedly liked Darren, before the rumour was shot down by Ronnie himself, James had been sceptical about what he should believe. Taylor seemed insistent that it was all a big misunderstanding, although James wasnāt sure why she was so invested in the first place ā he figured she was most probably trying to help James not feel quite so betrayed by his new friend. It wasnāt like Ronnie knew James liked Darren though, so he doubted the other boy knew what he was doing to James. Plus, itās not like he could be held at fault for liking Darren ā if he actually was crushing on him, as that was still very much up in the air.
The thing was, ever since heād talked things over with Rory ā coming out to his cousin in the process and feeling like the weight that had such a palpable and heavy presence on his shoulders had been marginally lifted ā he supposed that he saw Ronnie differently. Not fundamentally, pivotally, my-life-is-changed differently, but heād allowed himself to admit that he thought Ronnie wasā¦ kind of cute. The amount of dirt streaked across his face at any given time after practise made James sweat in ways he wasnāt proud of, but Ronnie was fun and friendly and didnāt treat James like some sort of freak when heād been close to tears after seeing the bruise on Ronnieās knee after a particularly nasty incident involving the other team playerās bootās apparent grudge against Ronnieās shin guard. James hadnāt even known those things could shatter.
Nevertheless, James had been encouraged by Rory to admit that he thought Ronnie was attractive, his guilt mildly satiated by the fact that Ronnie was actually gay instead of painfully heterosexual like Darren. But the realisation that he might sort of think that Ronnieās face was really freaking cute in a kissable sort of way had the tendency to leave him feel frazzled and mildly distressed. He hadnāt even told Taylor, and figured it was something he should keep to himself and hope Rory remained tight lipped about.
All he had to do to keep calm was just never be in the same place as Darren and Ronnie at the same time and he would probably be able to keep his emotions in check, so it felt like the doctor had informed him that the last tetanus shot in the world had been given to the patient before him when Darren opted to leave, opened the door and jumped a little to find Ronnie on the other side.
āOh. Ronnie. Hey!ā James squeaked, his voice breaking at once.
He watched Darren and Ronnie eye each other warily and the reminder that Ronnie might have been lying about not liking Darren lead to James battling the urge to call on his sister and politely ask her if she would take him out on her boat with her and then promptly drown him.
When Darren quickly pulled him into a goodbye hug, James instructed his nostrils to not pull at the familiar scent of Darrenās aftershave and deodorant combo that heād fretted about getting a rash from before, and simply hugged his friend back, arms loose around Darrenās torso. His hands fell away before Darrenās did and he hoped neither boy would ask him about how red his face was.
āSee you, Daz,ā he called to the other boy, closing the door and then turning to Ronnie. He shook his head frantically when his friend claimed that he was too early.
āNo, man! No, youāre right on time, actually. Darren was just over playing someā¦ billiards,ā he finished, remembering just in time that the knowledge of Darrenās musical talent wasnāt widely spread. He hoped Ronnie wouldnāt ask to play as well, because James didnāt know the first thing about billiards. Quickly, he jerked his head towards the kitchen, gesturing for Ronnie to follow.
āDo you uh, want something to eat, man? I was just about to make lunch. Like, I could make you a sandwich or something? Taylor left some chicken salad in the fridge from last night but that was nearly likeā¦ seventeen hours ago and itās probably already crawling with e-coli and shit,ā he said, opening the fridge and casting a dubious look at the cling-film wrapped bowl.
āActually, Iām just going toā¦ get rid of that. But help yourself to whatever, dude!ā he decided, pulling the bowl out and tearing the cling-film off. He emptied the contents into the bin, holding his breath all the while so he wouldnāt breathe in any sort of bacteria.
areudirty
izzy806
dailybridgerton
romaincrisis
titsay
pixelskylines
amandla
