Sam looked over at her boyfriend as her niece announced that the small present in her hands was from Danny. Sam was admittedly a bit puzzled about why her three year old niece was delivering it, rather than Danny, but she tried to ignore it. She crouched down to her the toddler’s eye level, thanking her for the present and then standing back up. Her best guess was that he had bought her some earrings or some sort of prank ring, probably after being encouraged by her brothers. The present wasn’t exactly big enough to hold anything else. “Should I be worried?” she joked as she shook the box in her hand, hesitating before she opened anything, especially in front of her mother’s video camera.
With the way things were going between them in recent weeks, Lucas figured he could probably try his luck and convince Avery to let him throw a small party in their apartment for New Years. A lot of bugging Avery, then eventually settling and resorting to bribing him with weed finally made him come around. The apartment was the fullest it had been since Avery had put a stop to parties nearly two years ago, but in the fairly small crowd of people, Lucas found himself constantly checking in on his roommate; trying to make sure he was still having a good time.
He didn’t even realise the time until he heard someone else shouting out that there was thirty seconds left of 2016; desperately reminding everyone to find someone to kiss as the clock struck midnight. Lucas chuckled a little as he looked over at his roommate. “You should probably find someone to kiss,” he joked.
never did maeum think she would attend any type of speed dating type event, even one that was inteded only to make friends. her co-worker had begged her to join her after work though in attending the event, and when maeum tried to decline, the female guilted her by reminding her that all she was going to do was go home, sit on the couch and order takeout because she didn't have any friends. sighing, maeum took a sip of her glass of wine, looking around the bar. the speed dating part hadn't even started yet, but her anxiety was already skyrocketing. suddenly, with the bump of someone's arm, her red wine had spilled all down the front of her dress. "oh, great."
Lucas had probably only been out of his apartment for a few hours, but the way that time dragged on, it might as well have been days. He'd finally grown impatient with himself, constantly feeling like he had to conceal parts of his identity. He'd left the note for his roommate, without any sort of explanation. He figured that the six words scrawled on the back of an envelope were clear and concise enough to make his point. However, as soon as he left, he found it difficult to fathom going back. What if things became awkward between them? What if Avery started to put together just how many times he had thought about him? What if Avery realised why Lucas felt the need to write that note?
In an effort to distract his thoughts, he had taken it upon himself to go for a hike. He could get far enough away from civilisation so that his phone signal would run out, and people wouldn't be able to find him and interrogate him about his feelings. The cold air and the silence only made it so much easier for him to concentrate on what he had done, what he had to deal with and how things were going to change for him once things got out in the open.
'I think I might be gay' was all he wrote, and it was all he could write. He couldn't find the words to write some sort of explanation as to why he was writing this down, or how long he'd known or anything like that. All he knew was that he wanted Avery, and in a way that he hadn't wanted someone else before. It wasn't love, he knew that much, as he'd tested the word out in his head a few times. That word didn't sit right with him. But the chemistry, that was enough to knock the wind out of him. It was enough to wake him up in the middle of the night, frustrated and confused, trying to figure out why he was thinking of his roommate climbing on top of him, and trying to decipher why he didn't want him to stop.
Lucas waited until his phone hit twenty percent before he started to head back to his bike. As the signal reached his phone, he found a number of messages from the day. Mainly friends and casual acquaintances wanting to know if he was busy. Lucas didn't mind much for the others. He just wanted to know that Avery had read his note and that it hadn't made things uncomfortable between them. After all, Lucas never really cared much about his family's disapproval. He just knew that it would change things for him. Getting changed in a locker room with a team of guys he'd known for years would be different. Playing a sport where the aim is to tackle other men to the ground would be different. He just wanted things to stay the same as they always were, and he couldn't do that if people knew how he felt.
As he got home, his key trembled in front of the lock. Despite his will and the voices in his mind telling him to just rip it off like a bandaid, he couldn't get past the barrier he'd created. He didn't know what was waiting inside, and a small part of him didn't want to know. Other parts of him wanted to go back in time and forget that he had ever written the note in the first place. Lucas didn't say much until a neighbour approached him, asking if he was alright. He must have looked three shades paler than he normally did, because the neighbour sounded concerned. Lucas just laughed it off and said that he had been out in the cold. As he spoke, he realised that if his roommate was inside, he definitely would have heard their conversation then.
He took a breath, opened the door and walked inside, avoiding eye contact with the brunet. He headed straight for the note, scrunching it into a ball and throwing it into the wastebasket. He reached inside the fridge, grabbing a beer and knocking the cap off on the edge of the counter. He took a sip, still having been silent the whole time, then he turned his attention to his roommate. "That uh... that note was just..." he took another sip of his beer. "I was joking." Lucas practically had to choke the last word out, and it was impossible to look at him.
Jasmine typically avoided spending a great deal of time around her relatives. She had applied for colleges on the other side of the country as a means of assuring that she wouldn’t have to. As the holidays rolled around, however, she found herself stuck between spending time at home with her parents, catching up with old friends from high school, or spending time with her brother. Generally, she would have just avoided his apartment, but after growing fed up with her parents constant derision of her, she left, knocking on the door of her brother and his roommate.
“Well,” she began, “you’re a sight for sore eyes. Long time no speak.”
@comfortablynumbs
{ based off Outskirts of Paradise by Bads Suns }
Winter weather means nothing to her. The freezing winds wont stop her from walking outside and enjoying the holiday season this evening. Though they haven’t done anything in years there was always something special to the girl about the holidays. A festive display caught her eye, prompting her to walk into the store. She wasn’t the only one and the small store was packed. It was almost inevitable she would knock into somebody. Delaney instinctually put her hands out to make sure the person didn’t fall. “I am so sorry,” she apologized profusely. “I should have been watching where I was going.” It took her another second to realize she knew who it was. “Hey, i didn’t expect to see you here!”
