#connor.james

[callieforniawrites]

@mcrlinn​ \\ Connor Mazzali-Stigler & James Mullen

Connor drove silently, taking him and James back to their place from one of their friend’s wedding. They were truly the last of their group now to remain uncommitted with some small metal bands on their ring fingers. The questions of when they would tie the knot were endless. He and James had been together for five years now, and friends for much much longer than that. Their friends had gotten married to their significant others knowing them for a far less amount of time. Of course anytime someone brought up the fact that Connor needs to ask James to be his wife, he would just laugh it off and come up with some lame excuse as to why it hasn’t happened yet.

There are two main reasons he has yet to ask James for her hand in marriage. One, her parents absolutely hate the idea of her marrying someone of a lower class. Two, and this is the main reason, he didn’t want to feel even more trapped. Did Connor want to get married, yes. Did he want to start a family of his own one day, again yes. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted that with James. He gives, and gives, and gives to James and all she does is take, and take, and take. That wasn’t a relationship dynamic he wanted as an example for his children and yet he can’t seem to break away from her. 

"That was a fun wedding.” Connor said softly, breaking the silence, wondering what was going through James’ mind but also too afraid to ask.

[callieforniawrites]

@mcrlinn​ 

Parties were never Connor’s scene, but they were James’ so he often obliged when she asked for him to go with her. It was hard to say no to her, even before they started dating. That’s how he got here, sitting on a couch at some mansion while everyone else around him seemed to mingle effortlessly. Feeling so out of place he eventually made his way outside to get some air. It was suffocating being there, his girlfriend disappeared in the crowds to get another drink. The feeling of not belonging became too much to bare. For a moment he took his phone out with a plan to text James to let her know he was leaving but instead he stared at the screen with their conversation pulled up.

He wondered if she would even notice if he had left, if she cared that he didn’t even want to go in the first place. Everything seemed to be what she wanted, or at least that’s what it felt like in this very moment. Connor slipped his phone back into his pocket, no text sent, and went back inside to find her. He would feel too bad leaving and not telling her in person. “James.” He said once he found her, “James, i think I’m gonna head out.”

[callieforniawrites]

@diianarpc

It was date night, his first official date with James and it had been weeks in the making. Since he confessed his feelings to her they had been mostly just hanging out at her place, like they used to except now they made out every once in a while. This was a lot of planning on Connor’s part, it wasn’t that he had never dated before but he had never dated someone of James’ status. He wanted to make a good impression. He enlisted his parents help in finding a driver that was willing to be hired at a discounted rate. His parents worked for the wealthy, they had to know some people. 

The night was planned out, he’d pick up James in a town car with a chauffeur, and they’d go to a new fancy four star restaurant on the beach in Malibu that he recently did some marketing for. After dinner was more unplanned, he left it open to see how she felt after food. Everything was going to be a surprise to her though, all he told her was to dress nice. 

The car pulled up the long driveway to her home, Connor left the car and walked up to the front door where he rang the doorbell and waited. When she answered the door he was taken a back, “Wow,” he mumbled under his breath. “You look amazing.” He held out her arm for her to take. “Are you ready for tonight’s surprise, I hope you’re hungry.”

[callieforniawrites]

@jamesxmullen

Five days, that’s how long it had been since Connor last spoke to James, when James showed up at his house that one evening. Five days of him wrapping his head around his feelings for James. Wondering if he had feelings or if this just stirred up an old crush. And if his feelings were real, did he want to risk their friendship because what if this didn’t work? They wouldn’t be able to go back to how things were, hell maybe they already passed a point of no return. One night after dinner when he was helping his mother do the dishes, she asked him what was wrong. When he said it was nothing, she didn’t believe him.

His mother always had a way of getting him to open up and he valued her advice. She helped him a lot and the next day he received another email from his potential employer at New York wanting to confirm everything. He replied politely declining the job offer, confident that they would find someone else to fill the position. When he hit send it became real, he realized what he had done and now there was really no turning back. 

Everything was kind of a blur but all of a sudden he was back at the Mullen residence. He rang the doorbell once and waited for someone to answer.

[callieforniawrites]

📲 JM 🍸

connor: *A few hours after james' text, connor finally calls her. He waits for her to answer, wondering if she's going to let it go to voicemail.*

[callieforniawrites]

College was a whirlwind for Connor. He managed to graduate early but in order to do that he couldn’t exactly come back home during every single break. He really only came home during winter break since campus kicked everyone out for those few weeks. Summer breaks were spent taking summer courses, and even spring break he stayed at school all because he didn’t want to waist money. Flying from New York to Los Angeles and back just wasn’t in his budget. His future was bright, or so he thought, moving back home after graduating was a little disheartening but he tried to remain positive. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything lined up, the timing just wasn’t right. He had this one internship the last year of college and while they loved him they just didn’t have the resources to bring him on as a paid position. It’s one of those up and coming companies. They promised him a job but their marketing team needed to grow before officially offering him a job.

It’d been a year now and he still kept in touch with the employers at his internship, but there hadn’t been any news about a job or not. Freelancing just wasn’t cutting it anymore and he needed to know if he had to look elsewhere for a more permanent solution. As if the universe was reading his mind, his phone alerted him of a new email. It was from the HR department, it was a job offer, one he definitely couldn’t refuse.

Heart racing from pure excitement and adrenaline, he rushed out of his room, “I’m borrowing the car. Be back later!” Connor grabbed the keys and practically slammed the door behind him, leaving his parents confused as to what was going on. Driving away from the worn down small house and into neighborhoods where he’d dare call the homes mansions, his car definitely stuck out like a sore thumb.

He pulled into one of the driveways leading to his best friend’s home that was practically his second home. After all half of his childhood was spent here. He rang the door bell, and paced as he waited. Another ring of the bell to try to get some urgency into whoever decided to answer the door. “James!” He shouted, maybe she wasn’t home. He probably should have called or texted first. “James, I have a surprise for you!”

@jamesxmullen