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IANVS
Butterflies and blue hair :)
crash and burn, baby. crash and burn [Chaters 1 - 4] It’s not a problem when your best mate finds a new crush and forgets about you. It’s the problem when his crush takes an interest in you and you don’t really mind. Or: Lucas Lallemant, a new guy in the school, attracts Eliott's best mate attention... and not just his.
Chapter 1 There're new students in the school and while Eliott isn't interested at all, his best friend Emile is absolutely sure that he found the love of his life.
"I think I fell in love."
Eliott heard this phrase so many time that he paid no attention to his best mate’s words. Emile was one of those guys who used to fell in love every week until he met a new crush. Sometimes it wasn’t even week but days. And when Eliott heard Sofiane and Idriss’ laugh he knew that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t take it seriously. And Emile was offended.
"I’m serious!" He exclaimed, running his hand through the hair.
"Mate, we’re in the school," Sofiane stated the fact. "We know all the people in here. You couldn’t have fallen in love with one of them otherwise it would have happened years ago. Well, if it’s true love, of course."
Eliott smiled at that. He liked how Sofiane was always trying to be reasonable and logical what was the opposite of Emile’s nature.
"Aren’t you listening to me at all?" Emile sounded outraged. Eliott knew that tone. That was a bad news.
"I guess it’s about new kids?" Idriss said, and Eliott and Sofiane looked at him surprised. "What? Imane and her friends are giving them school tour today." After that Idriss returned to his food like he’s done everything he could. And Sofiane began to smile dreamily. It was Imane’s effect.
"Yeah! And I’ve been telling you about them yesterday!" Now Emile was gazing at Eliott. Shit. Now he definitely had a problem. And he even started to remember something. "There was some boiler accident in their school, and that was so serious that all the students were transferred to other schools. And ours was a part of the program. So we finally have some new faces here!"
Emile looked excited. Like really excited and Eliott didn’t really understand it, but he didn’t judge. Eliot himself didn’t really care about the news. He was never close to his old classmates, and a couple of new kids hardly could change it. One look at Sofiane and Idriss made him realize that they were on the same page with him. But none of them stopped Emile from happy blabbering.
"I saw the group of four guys earlier. They’re a year younger than us, and they were with your Imane by the way," these words were addressed to Idriss, but it was Sofiane’s eyes which lightened up once again by the mention of the name. Eliott chuckled. If only Idriss knew… "And as I’m very polite I decided to go and introduce myself. And that was the moment I saw him. Guys, seriously those eyes…"
"Ok, ok, mate, we’ve got it. It was the man of your dreams." Idriss didn’t let Emile finish because he knew that it’s easy for him to be carried away.
Emile was an open gay. He never hid it and he never tried. That why Eliott admired him so much. Having lived through some hell times, he never changed himself, and he tried to teach other people to do the same. Emile was still trying to make Eliott fully accept himself, though this mission was bound to fail. But that was nice of him, he always was a fighter. He always fought for his life, for his rights, and for his friends.
"And what is the boy’s name?" Eliott asked as he knew how important it was for him to have support. Sometimes Idriss was a little bit rude with him (he always regretted it later), and that was one of those times. Probably the guy had some problems with parents again, but it shouldn’t have had an effect on Emile.
"That’s the saddest part. I don't know." Emile sounded a bit upset, but surely it couldn’t have been a big problem for him. And Eliott was right in his thinking as the guy continued. "But his next lesson is Biology with Imane and Alexia, so I’m going to fix this." Ok. He was really prepared.
"We’re coming with you!" Sofiane said too fast and was smiling too wide. Eliott tried his best to hide his own smile. But Sofiane got it and added: "I mean we all want to meet him, right?"
He looked at Eliott, and Eliott nodded his head. He couldn’t believe that he will go to watch how two lovesicks (one with less serious diagnosis) will make idiots out of themselves. Well, at least it would be fun.
[Emile]
the guy from last night keeps asking for your number tell him to fuck off
you know that I can’t
then ignore him I don’t give a fuck you can write it to him if you want
you sure? he’s quite hot and he’s deffo interested
you can take him if you want
nah, I’m alright thanks have my blue-eyed angel to think about so it’s 100% no from you?
101%
you’re cruel
tell me something new
Eliott had one rule in his life and it was not to get attached to the people. And though he one hundred percent failed it when he found his friends, he was still trying to stick to it in personal life. Serious relationships were a big «No» for him. He tried once, everything went to shit, and he gave up. There was no point. And it wasn’t about him being cruel or heartless, it was about him being a good person actually. A good person who was saving people from himself. And Emile usually called it bullshit, but he will never understand. And Eliott was happy about it. No one deserved the shit his life was made of.
There were times when Eliott just wanted to skip lessons and go home. That was one of these days. After the «Literature» he sneaked out of the school and went to the bus stop. He was careful as never as he really hadn’t any desire for his friends to catch him. There’d be definitely questions after, but as long as it wasn’t right now he was alright. He just wanted to be in peace for a while. There was no reason behind it, he just felt like that, and he did that.
When he came to the bus stop there was already a guy sitting there. He looked a little bit younger than Eliott, and he was looking for something in his bag, holding a joint between his lips. Probably, it was someone from his school, but he couldn’t figure out who as he didn’t see the face. Anyway, the thought of him not being the only one who was skipping the school in the middle of the day made him smile, and he sat beside him.
"Mate, don’t you have a lighter? Can’t find mine." The boy said as soon as he noticed that he wasn’t alone anymore.
"I don’t smoke, sorry," Eliott answered not looking at the stranger. The fact was that he really wanted to smoke, but he couldn’t. That was a rule he had no right to break. Not anymore.
"That sucks." There was a pure disappointed in the boy’s voice. Eliott chucked. "Oh, I think I know you. Saw you in the school earlier. With Imane’s brother."
And these were the words which made Eliott turn his head to him. And when he finally saw a guy, the face in front of him took his breath away. He definitely saw some beautiful people before. Some people even considered him quite handsome, but that boy was in absolutely another league. His face was a masterpiece Eliott couldn’t stop looking at. And his blue eyes were the ocean in which Eliott was ready to drown in.
"Wow, you really look like a model. Girls were right." The stranger smiled. And that was really ironic thing to say as Eliott couldn’t stop wallowing in the guy's beauty. That’s why it took him a couple of minutes to realize what he said.
"Sorry?" He asked, trying to look away because he didn’t really want to look creepy. Though he probably has already failed.
"We were on the school tour with the girls, and they told us about everyone we saw on our way. You included. Emma called you a model and Alexia said that you’re one of the hottest guys in the school. I didn’t pay to it attention then but I can see it now." The boy said shamelessly, and Eliott couldn’t have believed his ears. Did he just call him hot? Or was it just his imagination?
"So you’re one of the new kids?" Eliott decided not to pay attention to the boy’s words in case he's got something wrong. The boy nodded his head, putting the joint in his pocket. "And you’re skipping already? I know for a fact that your classes are not finished yet." He knew it because nobody finished at this time.
"Let's call it a family emergency."
"But it doesn’t look like you’re rushing!"
"Well, I’m waiting for a bus, aren’t I?" The boy looked at him again. And Eliott could swear that he saw real sparks in his eyes. Oh, his eyes. They were driving him mad. "And what’s your excuse? Why are you here? «I know for a fact that your classes are not finished yet.»" The boy imitated Elliot’s voice and tone and that made Elliott laugh. Sincerely.
"I'm just not in the mood." He said and the boy smirked.
"Sound like a good reason."
"Yeah, it is."
And then there was a silence. But that wasn’t anything awkward or something like that. Not at all. They were just smiling looking at each other. And Eliott had no idea what was that, but he wished this moment would never stopped. He really could feel like the world was good to him again. And the reason was this boy.
But the moment didn’t last as Eliott’s phone began to vibrate. So he was the first to break off their eye contact to check what that was about. He hoped that the boy wasn't too disappointed with his actions. Because he regretted doing this as soon as he took away his gaze.
[Sofiane]
mate, where are you? we’re meeting Emile’s new love here you forgot?!
"Fuck!" Eliott’s whispered. He really forgot. That was quite a shitty situation.
"What’s happened?" The boy asked. Eliott could feel that his eyes were still on him.
"Just forgot about something. Not a big deal." That was a big deal actually. But he didn’t need to know.
[Sofiane]
fuck, I forgot sorry how is it going?
you can relax the boy wasn’t there we left Emile stayed with his friends and the girls
that’s shit but he’d get over it
btw, where are you?
That was the question Eliott chose to ignore. That wasn’t the time for worrying Sofiane.
And as soon as he closed one chat another began. And Eliott didn’t want to look at it as he really wanted to spend a little bit more time with the boy, but that was Emile. He couldn’t ignore.
[Emile]
a blue-eyed angel wasn’t there but Imane told me the name Lucas isn’t it beautiful?
«Blue-eyed», «wasn’t there», «Imane». His messages struck him as he began to realize something he didn’t even consider before. The boy with ocean-blue eyes was sitting now with him and he was supposed to be at his classes right now. Earlier he had a school tour which was led by Imane and the boy Emile liked was then with her. And Eliott didn’t really want to think about the possibility, because there were a lot of new boys in the school, but, still, the worry settled in his gut.
"Sorry, I didn’t ask your name." Eliott looked at the boy, hoping that it would be Axel or Isak or David or anything else but not THAT name.
"Oh, yeah, I’m Lucas." The boy said still smiling, and Eliott felt like the earth began to slip under his foot.
The world was against him once again.
Chapter 2 Eliott decides to forget about the blue-eyes boy, shame the blue-eyed boy isn't ready to forget about him.
two missed calls from Idriss
three missed calls from Sofiane
five missed calls from Emile
Eliott was in trouble. Or more precisely he was in real shit. And he didn’t even see messages in the chat yet. But he knew that he would pay for it later. There were no doubts about it. But at this moment he didn’t care. He wanted some peace, and he got it. It wasn’t his house where he found it. But this place was close to being called «home». It was «La Petite Ceinture». His safe place. His shelter. His everything.
Eliott always loved to be dramatic, so he loved the idea of having a secret place. A place where he can hide and think. A place nobody knew about. And when he found it, he finally felt safe again. And when it was really hard for him to move on with his life he always came here to find some comfort. And that’s why he came here after the bus stop. After the meeting with the blue-eyed stranger. After meeting with Lucas. One message from Emile was enough for him to let the boy go.
Emile was a real friend. A real friend who sacrificed a lot for him. And he never asked anything in return. And if there was a tiny possibility of Emile’s sufferings from Eliott’s actions, Eliott had no other choice but to stop it straight away. Yeah, he liked the boy. And he would have been happy to give it a try and spend a little bit more time with him. But not if it would risk him his friendship with Emile. And maybe for Eliott, it wouldn’t have ended up as something serious at the end because he closed himself from relationships, but for Emile… yeah, sometimes he was really inconstant, but he was always trying to find something serious. And Eliott had no right to ruin his searching. Even if it won’t work out for his friend and the boy at the end. He had to let it go.
"You’re doing this disappearance act again, and I’m moving out of this fucking flat!"
These were the first and the only words Emile said when Eliott came back home. Then he rushed to his room. A loud slam of the door followed after that. That was the main problem of living together with your best friend. He cared too much. It wasn’t the first time when he said those words. And it definitely won’t be the last time. But it didn’t make Eliott’s guilt any lesser. He felt like a real shit at those moments. He really didn’t deserve Emile.
They decided to move in together a year ago. When Eliott couldn’t live with his parents and their over-protective mood anymore. But he couldn’t have been trusted anymore. And Emile suggested living together and that seemed like a great idea. Well, it was a great idea, and they enjoyed each others company most of the times. But there were moments like this. When Eliott acted like an asshole and Emile had to put up with it. It was unfair to him, but there was nothing Eliott could do to make him leave. So once again he had to fix the situation as soon as possible.
In five minutes he opened Emile’s door and stretched his hand through the crack holding two bottle ob beers. He didn’t show his face.
"I came in peace." He declared, hoping to get a reaction of his friend.
"Are you trying to buy me?" He’s heard Emile’s voice and smiled. That was a good start.
"Maybe?"
"Are these both for me?"
"Maybe," Eliott repeated his words, keep smiling. He didn’t feel anger in Emile’s voice anymore. It was a good sign.
"Ok. You can come in." Emile finally said, and Eliott let out the breath.
Emile was lying on his bed with the phone in his hands. He didn’t look at Eliott, but he accepted the bottle out of his hands when he lay next to him. Eliott saw that Emile was scrolling down Instagram pages of unknown to him people. But that wasn’t his interest now.
"I’m sorry." He said sincerely.
"I know," Emile answered, still keeping his eyes on the phone. Eliott knew what that meant. He wasn’t angry, but he wanted to show that it wasn’t alright at all. And he was right. Guilt consumed him again. "You can’t do this anymore. When we knew that you were out of school, and when you didn’t pick up your phone, we were scared as shit. Sofiane even wanted to call Lucille and your parents!"
"But he didn’t do it, didn’t it?" That was panic in Elliott's voice. There was no way he would want for them to interfere in his life now. He loved them, but recently they were not helping at all.
"Of course I didn’t let him!" Emile knew too well how bad it could have ended. Once again, he was a good friend. Sofiane and Idriss were close to Eliott too, but they never truly understood him. And that was totally fine, as long as Emile was there to back him up.
"Thanks."
"But you can't blame him for this. We all were worried that something had happened."
"Yeah. I get. And as I said I’m sorry. And I will call the guys later and tell them the same." He promised.
"Oh, you better do it!"
Emile finally looked at Eliott and made the first sip out of the bottle. Now that was it. The problem was solved. For now.
"But don’t you think that I’ll forget that you dumped me when I was going to introduce you to new guys today."
That has been said in a funny tone as if it was a joke. But Eliott didn’t want to laugh at all. He knew that now the conversation was leading to the boy. And no way he was ready to go there now. He needed some time but Emile didn’t give it to him.
"That’s so disappointing that a blue-eyed angel wasn’t there, but at least now I know his friends and his name. By the way, I’m looking through their pages right now." Emile showed Eliott a screen of his phone, and Eliott showed a little bit of interest before looking away just not to look too weird. He didn’t want to see it.
"I don’t want to kill the mood, but what if the boy is straight?" Eliott asked. And that was the question of which was on his mind a lot. If the boy was straight, then it would have solved a lot of problems. Both Emile and Eliott would have no chances, they both would have suffered from it a little and then moved on. That would be the perfect scenario for both of them.
"Then my heart would be crushed in pieces," Emile answered. Eliott smiled as his friend clearly exaggerated. How could he say it and be serious? He didn’t even know him.
"So are you going to ask him or what?" Eliott didn’t want to look like he was too invested in his friend’s new crush and their relationships because it could look suspicious. He never paid attention to Emile’s love life before. Well, there was one time, but the situation was really extreme back then. But now it was usual Emile’s crush, and Eliott shouldn’t have been interested in it. But he was interested. He just couldn’t help it.
"I’m thinking on my strategy yet, but I have a good feeling about it, you know? Let’s just keep our finger crossed, yeah?"
Emile smiled at Eliott and Eliott smiled back while there was a mini-Eliott inside him who wanted to scream.
Eliott had a tendency to draw some moments of his life which were making him smile. Two bottles of beer became such a moment. It wasn’t the first time he used such trick to get Emile’s forgiveness, but it was the first time he decided to capture it. So he drew two bottles with smiley faces leaning on each other. That took him 10 minutes to finish the sketch and upload it on Instagram. It was a habit. He didn’t post there anything but his sketches and drawings. He wasn’t a social media guy, but there was something special in sharing his works with the world. And actually quite a lot of people were following him, and he had no idea why, especially when he followed no one. Not even his friends. But when his pictures were getting some reaction he was always feeling a pleasure. As if the things he did had a point. He liked that feeling.
«There is no problem which couple bottles of beer couldn’t solve ;)»
He wrote a caption to the picture and completely forgot about this post by the evening.
He and Emile had dinner in front of the telly. Then Eliott called Idriss and Sofiane to apologize and listen to the lecture from both sides just to be forgiven at the end. And then he was just studying as he missed his last classes, and he knew that the teachers won't let him off the hook easily. He wanted to be ready. And by the end of the day, he was so exhausted, that he wanted just to go to bed. But that wasn’t meant to happen as he saw a notification under his last post which made his heart skip a beat.
lucallemant left a comment under your photo
«these are some wise words, man»
Logically Eliott knew that could be literally anyone. There were thousands of Lucases in this world and this one could be anyone. He had no reason to lose his shit over this. And just to prove he was right he decided to check the stranger page to calm himself down. On the main picture there was a photo of the boy with the ball which gave him absolutely no information about the person. But that wasn’t the only problem. He couldn't check his other photos as the page was private. And there was no way Eliott would have followed him, especially in the case he was wrong and that was that Lucas. And at the end he didn’t need to do anything to know the truth, as he saw:
followed by emile.elime
Emile was following the boy. And Eliott didn’t want to think about bad stuff, but the possibilities of the guy not being that Lucas were becoming lesser and lesser. And the fact that the boy found him and left his mark… well, it wasn’t good at all. And it would be wise of Elliott to delete the comment before Emile noticed it. But he couldn’t make himself do it. He just closed the app and went to bed hoping that the next morning the comment would disappear itself.
The bad news was that this comment didn’t disappear. The good news was that Emile didn’t see it. Eliott had no idea how it could have happened because Emile was the guy who notices everything. Especially on Instagram. But in the morning he didn’t say a word and that meant only one thing: he didn’t know. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given Eliott a break with his questions.
At school, Elliott was trying to forget about the whole thing and that was easier to say than done. Emile couldn’t stop looking for a boy. Being in the company of Eliott, Idriss and Sofiane his eyes were still wondering somewhere else. He was observing the whole school, and the guys were laughing at it without him even noticing. Eliott had to pretend that it seemed funny to him too. But in fact, he was dreading it. He was dreading to see the boy and lose himself in his eyes again.
But the boy didn’t appear before their eyes, and they all went to their classes and everything was calm. Before Sofiane decided to speak with him.
"Why is it Emile’s Lucas commenting your photos?" Sofiane asked and it would be an understatement to say that Eliott was surprised. He expected it from anyone but not from Sofiane. The guy was usually too busy with his life to notice such things. At least Eliott thought so.
"You know that I have no idea what you’re talking about?" Eliott asked, trying to sound neutral.
"The boy Emile has a crush on commented your photo yesterday, you didn’t see?" Eliott shook his head. Liar. «That’s strange, don’t you think?»
"Not at all." Eliott had to make him believe that it was an absolutely normal thing. And that was probably an absolutely normal thing. "Emile followed him on Instagram, and the boy probably decided to know his friends. It’s a good sign, right?"
"Well, he didn’t leave a comment to me or Idriss or Emile!"
When did Sofiane become so attentive to Instagram shit?
"It’s not my fault that my posts are cooler than yours." Eliott joked and Sofiane bumped him in the shoulder.
They laughed together, and that topic was closed for now. And Eliott hoped that all Sofiane’s suspicions went away. He didn’t need these troubles right now.
Eliott was the first who came at their table in the cafeteria. He had no idea where his band was, but he didn’t really mind sitting a little bit alone for a while. Without Idriss being moody again. Without Sofiane looking for Imane in the crowd. And without Emile looking for the boy around. He put his tray on the table and sat down. And as soon as it happened, somebody else took a seat in front of him. Eliott expected to see one of his friends, but he defiantly didn’t expect to see him.
"Hi!" The boy smiled. And, oh God, he had a beautiful smile.
"Hi," Eliott mumbled. The alarm was ringing in his head. «Did you want something?» Eliott took a sandwich in his hand trying to show that he had no interest in the conversation. What a lie!
"Yeah. I came to say that I’m deeply offended." The boy announced and Eliott looked at him confused. «At first you leave me at the bus station not even saying your name and then you pay no attention to my comment on your Instagram. That’s very rude of you.»
And that’s all was said in such a serious and childish tone that Eliott couldn’t hold his laugh. And judging by the satisfied smile on the boy’s face it was exactly what he was trying to achieve.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, sorry." Eliott smiled at him, having bitten his sandwich. The boy's eyes were following him. «Did you want anything else?»
"Nah, I’m just sitting here until my friends come." The boy said, looking around. "I’ve skipped a couple of lessons, and they already found some new friends."
"That sucks."
"I thought so too, but looking at my position now… " The boy leaned over the table and whispered. "I don’t really mind."
The boy winked at Eliott and Eliott's nearly choked with his sandwich. How could this angel-like boy so shamelessly flirt with him in the middle of the school? And how could Eliott enjoy it? How could he let himself enjoy it? He literally couldn’t stop smiling at the boy and take away his eyes of him. They were holding each other’s gaze and nobody was ready to finish this game. This stupid game in which their eyes were playing and which what the opposite of what Eliott was planning. He wanted to let the boy go, and definitely not to get attracted to him even more. And he failed. He failed and at that moment he had no regrets. There were no regrets at all until he heard the voice behind his back:
"Eliott, sorry, we held up. Do you remember those new guys we were talking about, right? We’ve just met them and…" Emile stopped the second he saw who was at the table with Eliott. "Hi." He whispered to the boy and smiled. And the way he looked at him made Eliott's heart squeeze. Because that wasn’t a look of «I have a crush» Emile. But that was the look of «I fall really, really hard» Emile. Eliott knew that Emile too well.
"Hi, I’m Lucas!" The boy introduced himself. And that was it. There was still a tiny hope in Eliott’s heart that it wasn’t that Lucas. That it was just a confusion. But as soon as Emile and the boy's hands touched in the handshake all the hopes have vanished. That was a lost battle now.
"I didn’t know you and Eliott knew each other!" Sofiane, who was standing right behind Emile, looked at Eliott. Fuck! He knew that something was off.
"Yeah!" Emile nodded his head. "How do you know each other?"
He looked straight at Eliott, expecting an answer, and Eliott knew that he had only one chance not to fuck it up. He needed to tell the truth.
Chapter 3 Sofiane's suspicious, Lucas's offended and maybe ELiott is a little bit lost.
“We met at the bus station yesterday,” Eliott wanted to tell the truth, and that was it. The truth.
“You didn’t mention anything,” Emile noted while they were settling in around the table.
Eliott knew that at least two pairs of eyes were looking at him now: Lucas and Sofiane’s. Shit.
“I forgot, didn’t I?” He shrugged his shoulders, trying to avoid Lucas’ gaze. Part of him hoped that the boy wasn’t offended by it. Another part of him was fuming that he really cared about it.
“That’s a real crime, isn’t it?” Emile said, but his words were meant only for Lucas.
The boy captured all of Emile’s attention. Eliott was sure if the bombing had started outside right at this moment, his friend wouldn’t have even noticed. And that thought was killing him. He seriously hoped that it was a simple crush, nothing too serious as usual, but by the look on Emile’s face, it was obviously not the case. If they had been in some cartoon right now, he would have had heart-eyes on his face.
“How are you finding our school?” Emile asked Lucas while Sofiane was eating Eliott with his eyes. Idriss was the only one who acted absolutely normal, eating his lunch. Eliott was staring at his sandwich. He knew that one glance in the wrong direction would be the end of his.
“Well, at first it seemed really strange to be here. But with every second I enjoy it more and more.”
Eliott didn’t see Lucas’ face, but he was sure that the boy glanced at him the second he said those words. What a fucker!
“That’s great to hear!” Emile exclaimed.
Luckily, being in love for him meant the same as living in the fool’s paradise. He was becoming blind to the most evident things. And that was the first time when Eliott was really grateful for it. Shame he couldn’t say the same about Sofiane. He could feel future problems with him with his bones.
“So are you going to tell me where did you bury bodies of my friends or I need to call the police? Cause you were the one with whom I saw them last time.” Lucas said playfully and Emile laughed. And he wasn’t the only one as Idriss smirked too. Sofiane was still too busy with glaring at Eliott. Shit!
But there was something that let a tiny smile appear on Eliott’s face for a split-second. Lucas’ friends didn’t dump him for his new friends, but he dumped them. He saw Eliott’s gang with his friends, and he decided not to join them but come here and sit with Eliott. And Eliott was 99% percent sure that it was his imagination playing with him, but, still, the idea was warming him inside. And that sucked.
“Don’t worry, they’re going to be here soon,” Emile said. And Eliott wasn’t sure if his eyes even left Lucas’ face during all this time.
“Yeah, the girls caught them, and your guys probably have some problems to run away from them now,» Idriss added, and Emile nodded his head in agreement.
“Was Daphne there?” Lucas asked. Idriss nodded while chewing his sandwich. “Then it’s probably girls can't run away from my boys and not another way around. Bazile lost his head over Daphne, and now she is the only thing he can talk about.»
Lucas tried to sound irritated, but his voice was really soft while he was talking about his friend. Eliott liked that.
“I better go and save them.”
Lucas stood up, grabbing his bag. Emile clearly wasn’t happy about it.
“You can always sit and eat with us,” he suggested, but Lucas shook his head. Thankfully.
“Maybe another time.” The boy winked to them and left. Finally, Eliott could breathe again.
“He’s so cool, right?” Emile was looking at his friends. He definitely expected them to support him in his thinking.
“He’s alright,” Idriss commented, but the tone of his voice didn’t show any interest in the boy at all.
Suddenly the phone vibrated in Eliott’s pocket, and he totally missed what Sofiane had to say about the new guy while pulling it out. When he saw a notification, his hands began to shake. And he didn’t want to think about the reason behind it.
lucallemant sent you a message
Never in his life had Eliott wanted to open and no to open the message at the same time. Still, Lucas’s gone just a few seconds ago, and Eliott was dying to know what he could have possibly sent to him. But the fact that Emile was sitting right next to him didn’t make anything easier. And his best friend was clearly under «Lucas’ effect». However, so as Eliott, so after a couple of moments of staring at the screen, he finally opened his message.
lucallemant forgot about me? seriously??!!! now i’m even more offended
It was a miracle how Eliott managed not to burst into laughter after reading this. That was really funny and even cute in a way. And he couldn’t stop smiling at his phone. He just couldn’t control his face. And he knew that it was stupid of him, and it wasn’t the place for this shit, but he hoped that nobody would notice it. How naïve.
It didn’t take long for Sofiane to catch Eliott after the lessons and took him «to talk». Eliott wasn’t stupid, and he knew that it was coming, especially after all the glares of the guy in the cafeteria. His friend surely suspected that something was off, and he wasn’t the person who was ready to let go of something easily. It was now Eliott’s task to persuade him that he saw things, which weren’t real. And that was a hell task to do.
“You can start talking,” Sofiane said while they were walking down the street.
Idriss and Emile were still in the school as they had one more lesson. And now Eliott really wished they were with them just to stop Sofiane from sniffing around.
“Can you at least explain what I have done wrong now?” Eliott said playfully, knowing pretty well that no way Sofiane would buy this.
“Eliott, can you not disrespect me like this, please?!” Sofiane said, being unimpressed.
“Ok, just ask what you want to know, and I’ll answer if I’ll have the answers you need,” Eliott gave up immediately. He didn’t want to fall out with Sofiane. Not because of something that wasn’t even a thing. And that was the point Eliott had intentions to prove.
“Why did you lie about not knowing the boy when I asked you about his comment?” Sofiane went straight to the questions. Actually, it was a pretty easy one.
“I didn’t know it was him. And as I’ve said, I totally forgot about this bus-station meeting.” That lie was easy to say. And that was a lie. Because this «bus-station meeting» was everything he could think about that day.
Sofiane was looking at him with suspicion. He didn't believe him or didn’t believe him fully. He clearly had his doubts, but he changed the course of his «interrogation». And his next question wasn’t so easy to answer.
“Why are you both were acting so strange when we came?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” That was the truth. Eliott tried to act as casual as possible, and he’s done nothing but stared at the tray on the table. And apparently, that was the wrong thing to do.
“Then why did you avoid looking at us and especially at Lucas and Emile while the boy was fucking you with his eyes right under our noses?”
Sofiane stood in front of Eliott, expecting to hear a good, reasonable explanation. But Eliott wasn’t rushing with his answer as his mate’s words gave him something to think about. Was Lucas’ staring really so obvious and bad? Eliott knew that the boy was looking at him from time to time, but «fucking him with his eyes»? No. Sofiane clearly overreacted.
“I didn’t notice such a thing,” Eliott said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Of course, you were too busy with your tray!” Sofiane exclaimed, and Eliott chuckled.
“Look, mate, till the moment the boy crashed at the table I even didn’t know his name!” Liar. “I have no idea why he left me that comment, and I don’t know what you saw at the table, but you clearly misread the situation. I don’t know the boy, and it looks like he’s just trying to be friendly with everyone. And I wasn’t in the mood for this bullshit, so that’s why I didn’t pay to him any attention at the lunch!” Eliott put all his soul into these words just to sound sincere and for Sofiane to believe him.
“Why? What happened? Was it connected with your disappearance yesterday?” Now Sofiane was worried about him. Great!
Eliott began to feel like he was doing everything only worse. Maybe, he really should have told the truth, called the boy some crazy stalker and maybe it would have taken Emile’s interest off him. But somehow Eliott couldn’t do such a thing to the boy. So the lie kept coming.
“No. I just studied till late and didn’t get much sleep,” he reassured his friend and put his hands on Sofiane’s shoulders. “My point is that there is nothing going between me and the boy. I swear. ”
“OK. I believe you,” Sofiane finally said, and it felt like he was serious. Eliott smiled at him while his conscience was eating him up inside. He hated lying to his friends. However, he had good intentions. “I just see how Emile looks at this boy, and it looks serious. And if there is something between you and Lucas, then you better tell the truth now. You and Emile are both my friends, and I love you, so I don’t want one of you to suffer at the end. And today I felt the vibe that it’s pretty much possible.”
Sofiane was always a very perceptive person. He knew when someone was feeling bad or hiding something. He noticed things which others didn’t. He asked questions which others were afraid to ask. And he was always there for you when you needed even if you didn’t ask him. And that was the moment when Eliott saw all of it in him and even thought about him being right. Maybe he should have told everything straight away. To him. To Idriss. To Emile. And not just about his meeting with Lucas, but also about the feelings which the boy made him feel. And maybe it would have saved him from a real misery in the future, but there was one problem: he saw the way Emile was looking at Lucas too. There was no going back now.
“If Lucas is into guys then Emile can take him, I don’t care. No man can stand between the best buddies, right?” Eliott was smiling at Sofiane until he started to smile back.
Eliott clapped him on the back, and they continued to walk not mentioning Lucas anymore. And Eliott hated himself for talking about the boy like he was some object which they could pass to each other, but he had to do it that way. Sofiane had to hear it like this. He knew that there was no way Eliott would have said something like that about the person he really cared about.
Eliott and Sofiane were chilling on their sofa, eating pasta and watching some crappy TV show. They were talking about school and the stuff they had to do but were too lazy for it. And that was a typical evening for them. They both were checking their phones times from time… well, Emile actually didn’t take his eyes off his, but Eliott wasn’t so addicted to that thing. Thank God. But one notification was enough for him to lose his shit over it.
lucallemant sent you a message
And for some reason, he didn’t hesitate this time and read it straight away.
lucallemant
still offended …
Once again that made Eliott smile, but not for long, as Emile was sitting in a couple of inches from him. And probably it was Lucas’ page he was obsessively looking through even if he already saw it a thousand times.
Looking at Lucas’ messages, Eliott began to think what under other circumstances he should have done. He should have clicked «follow» and that would have been the next move Lucas was clearly waiting from him. And in this reality, he was almost ready to do it, as they officially knew each other now. Emile and Sofiane have already followed him, and that wouldn’t have been weird if Eliott would’ve started to follow him too. But that could have given the boy the wrong idea, and Eliott didn’t want to do it. And he also didn’t want to get too close to the boy. He knew almost nothing about him, and his page could give him something, and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to get even more attached to him. He couldn’t let it happen.
“This is so interesting. He’s so open and so closed at the same time,” Emile said thoughtfully, having attracted Eliott’s attention.
“Who?”
“Lucas!” Emile answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “His page is full of photos of him and his friends, but still it says nothing about him as a person!”
That was ironic how just a couple seconds ago Eliott was thinking about not wanting to know anything from Lucas’ page, but Emile decided to give him something to cling to anyway. As if the universe was laughing at him. But Emile’s started it, and now Eliott was too intrigued to let it go.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“Well, if you look at your page you’ll see that you like drawing, your stupid dubstep music and that you have the “Polaris” project in which you put all your soul. Sofiane’s page is all about dances, charities and child-football. Mine is a fan-page of every hot dude on this planet and Agatha Christie. Idriss posts nothing because he doesn’t care about the shit. Lucas’ friend Bazile is a guy who loves stupid memes, jokes and girls. And looking at Lucas’ page, it’s all just him and his friend doing stupid things with dumbasses faces!”
“Maybe he’s just a dumbass?” Eliott suggested, wishing it would be the truth. If it were like that, it would have been so much easier for him and Emile to forget about his existence.
“Nah, you saw him. It’s obvious that he’s much more than that.”
Unfortunately, Eliott couldn’t but agree. And that was a funny thing. He and Emile didn’t know the boy at all, but they both felt his energy which was screaming about him being unique in some way.
“Well, not everybody loves to show the whole world his life. It’s a normal thing.”
“Yeah, I know. I just want to know something about him. If I even have a chance for starters. But I have no idea where to start.” Emile sounded desperate, and that didn’t look like him at all. Usually, he always knew how to make the first move and what to do next. But now he looked lost. He was afraid to fuck all up. That was too important.
“Just write to him,” Eliott suggested, thinking about their own chat which Lucas’s created earlier.
“Won’t it be too weird? Just to write to him out of nowhere?” Clearly, Emile wasn’t sure that it was a good idea.
“Well, just ask him if he managed to save Daphne or some shit like that. If he will answer, that’s great. If he won’t… well, his loss!”
Eliott clapped him on the shoulder and went to wash their dishes. He saw that Emile was thinking about his words for several moments, and then he started typing. A few minutes have passed when Eliott’s heard a happy squeal from him. There were no questions needed. It seemed like he’s got his answer. And despite the fact that Eliott was partly the one who helped it to happen, he still didn’t feel like sitting and witnessing the scene. He finished washing the dishes and went to his room. Emile was too busy to notice his absence anyway.
That night he went to sleep early. And right before it, he checked his phone one last time. There was one new message.
lucallemant
:((
Eliott’s heart sank, and he closed the chat immediately. He didn’t want to think about why the boy just couldn’t leave him alone. But Eliott was going to help him with it. If Eliott would ignore him then the boy would give up. Probably he’s already done that. And that was quite a painful thing for Eliott to think about. But that was the only way. He was doing the right thing. At least he wanted to believe it.
Chapter 4 Eliott's invited to the party and his tongue gets him in the troubles.
The day was calm. Actually, it was Friday, so everybody was just patiently waiting for it to pass to finally enjoy weekends. Idriss decided to give himself one extra day off, so he skipped school, having said that he didn’t feel well. Of course, it was a lie, and nobody knew where the guy really was. Because he definitely wasn’t at home. Imane said that. However, it didn’t really bother his friends that he lied. If he needed time, they were ready to give it to him.
“Do we have plans on these weekends?” Sofiane asked while they were chilling on the bench outside the school. That was a sunny day so most of the students were crawling back from the building just to enjoy a little bit of sun on their break.
“No, as far as I know,” Eliott said, having closed his eyes. He was facing the sun. Its tender rays were having a relaxing effect on him.
“Emile?” Sofiane turned to another friend.
“What?” Emile asked because he clearly didn’t hear the question.
The fact was that Emile wasn’t with Eliott and Sofiane that day. He was with his phone. More precisely, he was with Lucas. Since Eliott left him yesterday evening, he didn’t see his mate let his eyes off the thing. And that was irritating. For more than one reason. But he was smiling a lot, and that was enough for Eliott to put up with this. Though he desperately wanted to know what was so interesting in their conversation that couldn’t let Emile go. But Eliott didn’t ask. He wasn’t sure that he was ready to know the answer.
“I’m starting to get jealous here!” Sofiane resented, but the smile was giving him away. Eliott opened his eyes just to see it, and that made him smile. Emile rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything back. Emile’s phone vibrated again, and he turned his attention to it. “See? We’ve lost him!”
“Hi!” Eliott had no time to answer, as he heard a grating girl’s voice.
“Hi, Daphne!” Sofiane answered.
Daphne and Imane were standing in front of them, and it wasn’t the blond Sofiane was looking at. Of course. Once again Imane became the center of his universe. And it was clearly a mutual thing. How nobody noticed how these two were looking at each other yet was beyond Eliott. He’s been waiting for an invitation to their wedding since they met the first time. And they were just kids then!
“We came to invite you to our party tonight at Emma’s,” Daphne said excitedly.
“Tonight?” Eliott asked confused. Was she serious? “Who’s inviting people to the party on the day of the party?”
“Well…” The smile vanished of Daphne's face. She clearly didn’t have an answer.
“Every time we invite you, you turn us down, so what’s the difference? You just say “no”, and we’ll leave you alone,” Imane said, and that was a good point. They really were rare guests at the girls’ parties. It wasn’t that they didn’t like being there, but it didn’t feel right. Imane was always trying to look after Idriss for him not to get too drunk. Sofiane was running after her just in case she needed help. Emile was «too cool and old» to make out with his classmates and always ran away to the local gay bars. And Eliott was simply bored. So in the end, it wasn’t a pleasure for anyone, so they skipped what the girls were offering them quite a lot. Still, Daphne was always trying to get them in, Eliott gave her credit for that.
“And before you say “no” just hear us out!” The Daphne asked, and that was the least they could do. “This party is devoted to all the new students in our school. We want them to feel like home, and we want to welcome them properly. So it would be great to gather as many students as possible!»
“Well, that sounds nice, but…” Eliott began, but Emile woke up in time to stop him.
“That means all the new guys will be there?” He asked, and Daphne began to nod her head like a crazy energized bunny. That was scary as fuck. “We will be there!” Emile announced.
Daphne squealed with excitement and began to jump, clapping her hands. Imane smiled too, but Eliott knew that it wasn’t about them coming. It was about Sofiane coming.
“Great! That will be great!”
These were the last Daphne’s words before the girls went away. Eliott and Sofiane were looking at Emile with the question in their eyes.
“What?” He said. “There’s no better place to know the people than a party. So I think that’s a great idea.”
Of course, he wasn't fooling anyone. The only reason he dragged them in this was Lucas. He wanted to reach the boy, and he was clinging to every chance. Eliott could understand it, but it didn’t make him less frustrated. It was a real challenge to watch them texting to each other, but to watch them interact at the party where will be a lot of alcohol and no shame? That would be torture. He really needed to find a way to avoid this execution. And when he started to think about all the possibilities, the phone vibrated in his pocket.
lucallemant I guess i see you at the party then? ;)
This message made Eliott look around immediately to find what he was looking for. Lucas and his friends, Eliott still didn’t know them, were standing right in front of the entrance of the school. Lucas was lazily leaning on the wall, turning his phone in his hand, while his mates were actively discussing something. And suddenly Eliott wasn’t sure if he really wanted to miss this party.
“Are you alright?” Emile asked Eliott when he noticed that his friend was too quiet.
Eliott was sitting on Emile’s bed while his friend was running around in a panic, trying to find what to wear. Everything he chose he showed to Eliott and every time Eliott nodded his head as his approval his friend decided that it wasn’t that. So Eliott was nothing more than an accessory at this moment, and he didn’t mind. It was nice to see Emile so excited.
But there was something that was bothering him, and he knew that Emile would be the only one to understand.
“My mum and dad want to meet me tomorrow. They say they have some news,” Eliott shared with a friend with what he’s heard only an hour ago on the phone. Emile stopped with his fussing and sat on the bed facing Eliott. He looked concerned.
“And what did you say?”
“I said that I’ll let them know later.” Eliott sounded guilty. He knew he did because he was feeling it.
After everything his parents did for him, he was really shitty with them. And him not wanting to go to see them was a real example of it. He didn’t deserve them.
“Don’t feel bad just because you feel what you feel,” Emile said the same thing he was always telling him when they were talking about Eliott’s parents. He knew what emotions this topic was arising in him. “If you don’t want to go, tell them. They’ll understand. If you want to go, but if it’s still hard, I can go with you, it isn't a problem. But you don’t have to do anything that doesn’t sit right with you, OK?” As always, his tone was caring and reassuring. Emile always knew what buttons were needed to push.
“Yeah, I know.” Eliott smiled. “But this time I think I need to go. Alone. I owe them that. And I think it’d be right.”
“Only if you’re sure.” Emile reached Eliott’s hand and squeezed it. “But if you change your mind, you know where I am. Don’t you ever forget that you are not alone.”
Emile smiled at him once again and then returned to his wardrobe. Eliott looked at his phone.
[Mother]
write me a place and the time and I’ll be there
He pushed «send» and put away the phone. And as Eliott couldn't have thought any good reason to save himself from his future suffering, he and Emile still had a party to go to.
When they arrived the place was already filled with loud music, smoke, and drunk students. Emile had a habit to come to the parties later because it was when all fun was starting. So the fact that half of the people were already lost to this world didn’t surprise Eliott at all. He knew that Sofiane and Idriss have been already here, as they came together with Imane. Eliott and Emile were trying to break through sweat drunk bodies with Eliott trying to avoid all the unnecessary tactile contact with them. And it was a challenge to go past them without somebody pouring the content of his cups on them or something worse. Actually, there was already a pretty awful smell in the flat, but everybody was too out of their minds to notice it.
“Awww! You came!” A blonde fury rushed on them with a big hug. That was some awkward shit, but Emile and Eliott just accepted it, smiling.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Emile said to Daphne, giving her one of his charming smiles. Despite him being gay and everybody knowing about it, he still had an effect on the girls, and he knew how to use it. “So are all the new students here?”
“Yeah, we’ve read them a welcome speech and half of them probably have already fallen asleep somewhere.” Manon appeared next to Manon with the cup in her hand. With the cup of something non-alcoholic. Every time she drank, she was getting into troubles, so she decided to quit it. And when Eliott and his friends came to the girls' party after all, she was his non-drinking buddy. Actually, he liked her and enjoyed her company. Sometimes they even had a «non-drinking quartet» with Imane and Sofiane when they were kind enough to join them.
“And Sofiane and Idriss? Did you see them?” Eliott was trying to find his friends in the crowd. Emile was looking into it too, but Eliott was sure that it wasn’t his mates he was looking for.
“Oh. You better see it yourself!” Manon smiled at them mysteriously and led them to another room.
All the people gathered in the big circle there, focusing all the attention to the center, clapping their hands and cheering. It took the company some effort to squeeze through all the bodies to know what that was about. And when Eliott saw the action a huge grin lightened his face.
“Are these two having a dance battle?” He shouted to Manon, and she just pointed to them, what meant “and what do you think?”.
At the center, Sofiane and Imane were standing facing each other and giving one of their best moves at a time. And that was fascinating. They were rivals, but they acted like a duet. They wanted to defeat the other, but they obviously didn’t want it to stop. The way their bodies moved, the way they looked at each other, the way they smiled, that all was screaming about some great story between them, which just couldn’t get started.
“Fucking soulmates!” Eliott commented, and Manon smiled at him because she knew.
Somehow, in the crowd, he lost Emile, and in an attempt to find him, he bumped into some boy, who poured his beer on Eliott’s shirt.
“Fuck!” Eliott roared, but the boy didn’t even notice it.
Thankfully, Eliott has already been in Emma’s house, so he knew where to start looking for a bathroom. Probably it had no sense to go there because some loved up couple has already probably occupied it. But he couldn’t go around, smelling like a beer barrel, so he had to try. When he opened the door, he got an impression that it was empty there and he rushed to the sink. However, he really should have looked around.
“And here I thought that you’ve been avoiding me.” Lucas’ voice made Eliott jump. Lucas’ drunk voice.
The boy was sitting in the bath with a bottle of beer in one hand and a joint in another. He was wearing black jeans and a dark-blue skirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. His hair looked really wild, and Eliott thought that they were messy before, but that was something else. They were pointing in different directions, and a couple of locks were cascading over his face. And that was one of the hottest things Eliott ever saw. And that was scary what influence the boy’s look had on some of his organs.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Eliott turned to the sink and turned the water, trying to wash the smell of the beer of his hands and not to think about blue eyes, which were looking at him now.
“I’m waiting for my friends. They left to bring more booze, but I won’t be surprised if they have forgotten about me already. So do you want to join me?” Lucas extended his hand with a beer, and Eliott had no other choice but to look at him. Actually, he has had a choice, but who cared, right?
“Thanks, but I’m not drinking.” Eliott smiled at the way the boy’s face changed. He looked like he was trying to figure something out, but he couldn’t.
“You’re not smoking and you’re not drinking. Are you trying to be a perfect future son in law for your future girlfriend’s parents?” Lucas assumed, examining Eliott with his eyes. It made Eliott chuckle.
“Maybe,” he said with a smile. “Not necessary girlfriend’s though.” And that really slipped off his tongue, and that was too late when he understood what he’s done. He realized it only when he saw the way boys’ eyes brightened up, and he licked his lips. Fucking hell, Eliott really wasn’t handling it well. And it was definitely getting too hot in the room.
And luckily for Eliott, he was saved before he said something he could regret later as the door opened, and three boys rushed into the room, screaming and shouting something. Eliott caught a glimpse of disappointment on Lucas’s face before it was replaced with a wide smile. And here was the moment when Eliott decided that he needed to go. Well, he ran away from there actually.
The party was gaining momentum as the people were getting drunker and craziness around has become more surreal. There were couples making out at every corner of the flat. And it wasn’t possible to hide from the view of tongues and naked bodies anymore. Eliott felt like he was ready to go home any time soon, but still, he was staying, chatting with Sofiane and Manon. And part of him knew what didn’t let him go so easily. The boy who was passing him by with his mates a couple of times and glancing at him secretly. But those glances were enough for Eliott to start burning inside.
“When are you going to talk to her?” Eliott asked Sofiane, trying to distract himself. Imane came to them earlier and took Manon away because Emma needed their help. And when he saw once again a look of a loved-up puppy on his friend’s he couldn’t help himself. Sofiane looked at him questioning. Eliott rolled his eyes. “Come on, mate, you and Imane are soulmates, even the blind can see it. Just go and talk to her!”
“Like it’s so easy!” At least Sofiane wasn’t denying his feelings.
“You’ll never know if you won’t try,” Eliott said, and Sofiane clearly began to think about it.
“Hi, Eliott!” A brunette suddenly jumped out in front of him. Liana. He remembered her. A nice tiny girl with whom he was making out on some parties before but nothing more. She definitely had a crush on him, but he was always clear about not wanting anything serious. But she was too clingy, and he decided not to go there again.
“Hi,” he said, having zero interest in her.
Actually, there was something much more interesting in the background. Lucas and his friends were in the frame again, only this time Idriss and Emile joined them. He saw only Lucas, Idriss and the blond guy with the glasses on his face, but it was clear that all their attention was drugged by Emile. He was telling something waving his arms around. The company was constantly laughing. Lucas was laughing too. And probably it could have upset Eliott, but it wasn’t like that. Because he knew that the boy was glancing at him again from time to time, but he was doing it carefully. Nobody has noticed a thing. But Eliott did. And he saw how hard Emile was trying to attract the boy’s attention, and it wasn’t fair to take it away, from him, so Eliott needed to act. And he needed to act fast.
Liana was still standing there, talking some shit about «good old times» and «having fun», and Eliott saw an opportunity. He knew that it was the wrong thing to do, he knew that he would regret this in the morning. But that was an extreme measure. So he grabbed her by her jacket, pulled her closer, closed his eyes and kissed. That wasn’t even a kiss, but a weak attempt. But Liana didn’t notice it apparently, as she grabbed his face with hands and responded to the kiss. And Eliott felt nothing, absolutely nothing apart from a desire to finish it as soon as possible. And that «kiss» didn’t really last long, 10-15 seconds, but for Eliott, it seemed like an eternity. And when he opened his eyes, he saw that company disappeared once again and Lucas too, so he broke off the kiss immediately, said Liana something about calling her later and rushed to the door. The party was over for him now.
When he came back home, he didn’t fell asleep straight away. He decided to go through another torture and watch all the Instagram posts his friends and other students posted from the party. And there were many photos. Sofiane posted a photo with Imane, calling her the best dance-rival ever. Idriss posted a photo of the battle, describing Imane and Sofiane as «these talented fuckers». That was an achievement for him. Probably he was really impressed. Manon had a photo with Eliott, Sofiane and Imane, which had the caption «best non-drinking buddies in the world». Eliott smiled and liked it. And as for Emile… he posted a lot. Eliott wasn’t with him a lot at the party, but his friend was clearly enjoying it. His page was full of photos with different people, some of them Eliott knew, some of them he saw the first time. And there was a lot of Lucas there. Of course, it wasn’t only him, but the girls, his friends, and Emile, but, still, he was the one who attracted Eliott’s attention. And here he saw what Emile was talking about the other day. Lucas was a fan of dorky faces on photos and somehow it didn’t feel like him. And Eliott had to close all the photos before he went too far away with this in his thoughts. The reality was that he didn’t know the boy. They shared several strange moments but that was it. No information about him or his personality. Eliott still knew nothing. But still, he wasn’t surprised when he got the message.
lucallemant i had to leave too that’s all was just fake
And Eliott didn’t even think what the boy meant. It could be about this stupid party, or about people pretending as if they cared about them, or about Eliott’s kiss or about anything else for that matter. He just fell asleep, thinking about him not being a stranger to this feeling.
The location grew smaller and smaller in the rear mirror of her ride. For a little while longer she would dwell on this evening. Would relive the memories she made. Would think of that handsome stranger, the dancing, and the feeling of happiness. Before the reality would remember her of the sadness that kept her in its clutches. Not yet, though. She could dream a little longer.
Ship: May I have this dance? | Gwen x Talbot (Uncharted)
Back in 2021 I commissioned the amazing @delborovic for this piece: Gwen and Talbot dancing at the masquerade ball. Gwen's story was still only bits and pieces but the ball was already set. And look at that, it turned out so beautiful! 💕 Look how handsome Talbot is and Gwen turned out so pretty! The hair pins and her tattoo! I love it! 🥰 Thank you again, Del, you've been very kind and I'm still so very happy with this picture! 💕
Loved One Lost
Hey there, I’m posting the two chapters I have done like this for anybody who wishes to read it on tumblr instead of AO3. The basic gist is Mabel going through time loops in the underground, so... yeah. Also, they are relatively short so far. Hopefully in the future the chapters will be longer.
Next
Summer of 2013
Mabel and Dipper show up at the mansion, where Stan and Ford are staying with Fiddleford in between adventures. “Stan! Ford!” Mabel runs in and greets her great uncles with a hug, Dipper carrying their bags in close behind. “Oh, you two have grown so much!!” Stan exclaimed, smiling with nostalgia. Ford walked up to Dipper and gave a small smile. “Hey, Dipper. How have you been?” Dipper smiled and laughed, voice cracking. “G-Good. The puberty thing is taking some getting used to, but it could be worse.” Ford picked up Mabel's things, beckoning Stan to join the walk with their niece and nephew. “Dipper, Mabel, I know how you like to go and explore, but until further notice, I want you two to not go into the woods.” His tone had become serious, and the look on Stan's face emulated the unease in the air. “But, why?” Dipper asked, curiosity beginning to pique. Stan sighed and stepped in front of them. “Ford's been getting some weird readings on his and Fidds' tech. Because they haven't died down or been explained, we don't want you getting into any unnecessary trouble. Okay?” As the twins listened to his words, they could only look to each other, worry and curiosity clouding their minds.
It didn't take a genius to know that they'd disobey in the night. With Wendy's help, Dipper and Mabel descended from their window and fled into the woods. The air felt strange the moment they went into the cover of trees. Mabel felt uneasy and immediately wanted to turn back. But she knew Dipper wouldn't. So she pushed forward, traversing the starlit forest with a lingering fear, only for him. They soon come to Bill's frozen statue, where the feeling seems to be welling from. It was being taken by nature, vegetation nearly completely covering it. Dipper stepped forward to touch it, and slipped, falling into a sinkhole. “DIPPER!!” Mabel jumped to try and grab his hand, but was too late.
Mabel woke from her nightmare crying, seeing Ford and Stan beside her. It's been two years since that day. “Mabel, sweetie,” Ford started, pulling her into a soft hug, “It's okay. We're here for you.” Stan reached out and took her hand, causing her tears to slowly die off. She should have just told Dipper not to. She and Wendy ran to Stan and Ford for help, and despite the excavation teams they hired, Dipper was never found. And to make matters worse, about a year ago, after what Ford described as a skirmish with a deadly monster, tourists began to disappear in the forest, around the same area Dipper had fell. That area was put off limits. But there was always a curious soul. Six people had gone missing. And every time they do, Mabel wonders where they went.
She didn't know why her midday walk led her to the forest's edge. And every part of her screamed to turn back. But she once again found herself walking forward, eventually pushing past the police tape surrounding the area of interest. She followed her original footsteps, even more tentative than before. She came to Bill's statue once again, although it was completely covered now and hard to see among the foliage. “Dipper...” Mabel walked to the edge of the sinkhole where Dipper fell, looking into the abyss. Nothing but unending darkness. “I miss you, Dipper... I wish I could just-” before she could finish her thought, the ground crumbled beneath her, sending her head over heels into the dark. Nothing but her screams of terror filled the void as she tried to grab onto anything she could, trying to keep herself from falling and spinning. She felt her head smack against something and blacked out, succumbing to unconsciousness.




