A/N My motivation for schoolwork: -14 My motivation for posting way too many chapters: +330
Saturday, December 14th, 2019
“Do I have to come too?” Daniel whined, watching his friends put their coats and shoes on, gathering in the foyer.
“Yeah.” Aidan said, already tired of answering that question.
“And you’re going to be nice.” Corbyn added. “Just because you’re not best friends anymore doesn’t mean you can’t say, like, one sentence to each other every once in a while.”
“I mean last time they were around each other not much talking was going on.” Zach said. Corbyn elbowed him.
“I shouldn’t have told you guys.” Daniel frowned, hiding his face in his hands.
“No! Don’t listen to Zach, he’s stupid.” Jonah said quickly.
“Hey!” Zach glared at him.
“You’re our best friend so of course we’re here to listen to your dirty little secrets.” Jonah finished.
“Nice word choice.” Jack snorted. Corbyn smacked his arm before turning to Daniel and ushering him to get his shoes on.
Reluctantly, he did, not bothering to put on a coat as he trudged outside in a black denim jacket and t-shirt. The six of them all didn’t fit in one car, so they took the streetcar down to Emilio’s apartment on the other side of the university campus. Since their group adventure for Corbyn’s birthday, Emilio had been asking to hang out again. He didn’t have many friends in North America so he was grateful for the boys that Florence had brought into his life.
Once Florence received a text from Aidan that they had arrived, Emilio ran down to let them into the building. The Spanish boy could hardly hide his excitement of finally having guy friends over at his place.
Florence and Clementine were in the living room when they walked in, the baby falling asleep on her mother’s chest on the couch. She was quick to hush the boys’ loud chatter as they approached.
“Don’t tell me we have to be silent this whole time.” Zach frowned.
“No, I’ll put her down in a second.” Florence smiled, pulling him onto the couch next to her.
“What’s the plan for today?” Aidan asked.
“We’re chillin’.” Florence said, avoiding looking where Daniel stood behind his friends in the archway to the living room.
“‘Chillin’.” Aidan snorted.
Emilio grabbed a few video game boxes from the shelf, “I have FIFA and-“
“Sweet, I’ll kick your ass.” Jack smiled, grabbing the box from him.
“Doubt that.” Emilio snatched it back, “Ivan is a tough player and I don’t let him win.”
“Let me win?” Jack gaped.
“Don’t you know that the Spanish rule football?” Emilio tisked.
“Isn’t that the Portuguese?” Corbyn piped up. The room laughed at Emilio’s shocked and slightly offended expression.
The boys got seated around the living room, Florence leaving momentarily to put Clementine to bed down the hall for her nap. Emilio gathered snacks and drinks onto the coffee table, sitting on the floor with Florence between his legs. His arms were around her waist, holding the game controller in two hands. Jack was on the couch behind them with Jonah on his right and Zach on his left, the oldest two having controllers in hand too, Zach scrolling through his phone. Corbyn was in the chair in the corner with Aidan sitting on the arm and Daniel sitting at their feet, picking haphazardly at the carpet. Corbyn leaned forward with his forearms on his knees, his thumbs flicking quickly over the controller in his hands.
“You suck at this game, Jonah!” Jack yelled. “You’re going in the wrong direction!”
“No I’m not!” Jonah snapped.
“You two are wearing the red jerseys, you realize that right?” Corbyn chuckled as Emilio got a goal.
The silence that fell made the rest of the group chuckle.
“No. I didn’t know that.” Jonah mumbled.
“Fucking hell.” Jack facepalmed, slouching back on the couch. “Can I switch team members?”
Jonah threw a small handful of popcorn at him.
“There’s no coming back from that, guys.” Florence gestured to the screen. Emilio and Corbyn were winning 6-1.
“This is fucking stupid.” Jack shoved the controller into Zach’s hands.
“Someone’s a sore loser.” Corbyn chuckled. Jack sighed dramatically and took his phone out of his pocket. Time went on slowly, games after games being completed by various members of their group. Excitement was high, laughter filling the living room and playful banter thrown between them. Daniel didn’t play much, slightly hidden behind the arm chair, merely watching the action on the TV. Florence stayed comfortably wrapped in Emilio’s arms, her back to his chest, taking turns with him to play their games, making all the boys laugh at her inexperienced losses.
“You know what we need?” Aidan said after a while. They all looked to him. “Shots.”
“Truth or drink!” Florence threw her hand up, almost smacking Emilio in the face with the remote in her hand.
“What or drink? That sounds lame.” Jack booed.
“You’re mean today.” Florence frowned up at him.
“I could go for truth or drink. We need some good secrets out of the new guy here.” Zach nudged Emilio with his foot.
“I got lots to share.” Emilio shrugged.
The room ‘ooo’ed. Florence smiled up at him, gently pressing her hand to his cheek, the indent from his wide smile falling below her the trail of her fingertips. Daniel watched them from his spot a few feet away, his expressionless stare going unnoticed.
The bottle of Smirnoff Vodka was soon placed in the middle of their group, the TV being turned off and a messy circle being made.
“At least one of us can’t drink because the baby is here.” Florence said.
“I’ll pass then.” Daniel finally spoke. Everyone looked to him as if forgetting that he was even there.
“Alright. Thank you.” Florence tried to speak at a normal volume but it came out a lot quieter than intended.
“Do you want a Coke or something?” Emilio offered him.
Daniel shook his head, his attention discreetly focused on how Emilio’s hand rested on Florence’s thigh.
“Well that’s not fair if he doesn’t have to answer truths.” Aidan scoffed.
“Truth or strip!” Zach shouted.
“No!” A few of the boys replied quickly.
“Guess he’ll just have to answer truthfully no matter what the question.” Emilio shrugged. Daniel shifted nervously but agreed.
“Let’s get started.” Jack rubbed his hands together.
The game started off slow, the tiny questions being answered with ease. It all started when Aidan was asked to share the details of his first intimate relationship. Between said relationship’s twin sister and new boyfriend’s family sitting right in front of him, Aidan took a shot. Florence smirked at him, Aidan’s cheeks going pink and he looked away. Despite the almost year and a half it had been since he and Callum broke up, it still hurt.
The sensitive state Aidan was in was easily forgotten about when Jonah was forced into sharing who his first inappropriate dream was about. Everyone who was drinking drank at least once, some of the questions being way too personal. Jonah and Aidan were the most private, constantly tossing back shots of the clear drink. Surprisingly, though, Emilio was pretty good at answering everything. He shared about his roof jump in LA to streaking through the streets of suburban Barcelona. Being the only girl, Florence was asked a few questionable things, half of them she didn’t understand what they meant and those that she did she answered easily. Daniel was similar in that sense, telling the truth each time but not having very interesting responses. He felt very relieved that he didn’t have many experiences that the average teenage boy did - saved him from being embarrassed in front of everyone he knew. That all changed, however, when it was Emilio’s turn to ask a question.
“Daniel,” Emilio directed to him, “you have been pretty quiet in this game. You claim you’re not experienced. But I have to ask. Have you ever had a one night stand?”
The tension in the room between the six housemates shot through the roof, going unnoticed by Florence and Emilio.
“No.” Daniel answered as plainly as he could but his intense eye contact with Emilio made the Spanish boy doubt it.
“Are you sure, bro?” Emilio smirked.
Zach couldn’t help but laugh into his hand. Jack elbowed him hard in the stomach.
“Yes, he’s sure.” Jonah answered for him.
“Even after Corbyn’s birthday at the club?” Emilio pressed. “Didn’t look like that hickey came from no where.”
“Nothing happened at the club; that was after we got home.” Zach said.
“What the hell is going on?” Florence raised an eyebrow. “You guys are acting like you were stopped by the fricken Nazi police.”
Daniel stared intently at the ground, his heart beating hard in his chest. If he were to ever confess what happened to Florence, this was not how he wanted to go about it. He tugged at the end of his black beanie as if hiding would get him out of the situation.
“Who was it?” Emilio asked.
“Don’t make him answer, Emi. He clearly doesn’t want to.” Florence said, curled up in Emilio’s arms. Daniel glanced up at her, his blue eyes boring into her with an expression she couldn’t quite place. Thankfulness? Well she didn’t want to hear the answer anyway.
“It’s the rules though!” Emilio protested.
“He’s not wrong, Dan.” Aidan mumbled.
“It’s just a stupid game.” Daniel replied quietly, his voice shaking.
“Let’s just move on.” Jonah suggested. Emilio looked between the two, Florence’s confused expression and Daniel avoiding their gazes.
“Ok. Let’s end this and play something else instead.” Corbyn said, getting up from the floor. He grabbed the half empty bottle and took it to the kitchen. Emilio got up after him and helped take the glasses out too, setting them on the counter.
“It was Florence wasn’t it?” Emilio whispered.
Corbyn hesitated at his bluntness, debating whether or not to tell the concerned boy the truth. If he lied, things would be at peace but it would come back to him if it was ever revealed. If he told the truth, Emilio and Florence and Daniel would be hurt but it would be better than keeping them all in the dark. Corbyn looked over at Emilio and mumbled a, “Yeah. It was.”
“Holy shit.” Emilio breathed.
“It didn’t mean anything.” Corbyn said quickly once he saw Emilio’s hurt expression.
“How do you know?” Emilio jabbed.
“They were drunk!” Corbyn said. The two spoke in hushed voices, their friends in the next room. “They don’t even remember it.”
“Then how do we know for sure?” Emilio frowned.
“I...heard it.” Corbyn said slowly.
“Fuck.” Emilio sighed, running his hands over his face.
“He wasn’t going to tell her?” Emilio asked after a beat of silence.
“He was going to. Eventually.” Corbyn said quietly. “Just...not like this.”
Emilio looked to the ground and shook his head. “This is fucked.”
“I know.” Corbyn agreed, glancing across to the living room where the Florence and Jack were setting up the gaming system. Daniel was curled up in the armchair looking sad and bored out of his mind.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to tell her?” Corbyn asked.
“No. I don’t...I don’t know.” Emilio mumbled. “No. I won’t. He really hurt her and she doesn’t need that unnecessary connection.”
“I know.” Corbyn nodded once. “Their relationship is...weird. It always has been.”
“What do you mean?” Emilio asked.
Corbyn wanted nothing more than to tell Emilio everything, all of Daniel’s feelings and confessions, feeling sorry for the boy for just finding out the news about his girlfriend. If that’s what they even called it. But he couldn’t out his best friend like that so he merely said slowly, “From the day they met, Daniel always felt like he had to protect her and be there for her and...I guess knowing that she’s out there with guys and not needing protecting any more...he felt useless.”
“So he broke off their friendship.”
“I don’t know, dude. I would tell you what’s going on in Daniel’s head if I knew.” Corbyn lied. He did in fact know exactly what Daniel was thinking and what he had been thinking for over a year. How he fell so hard for her the first day they met, despite the little burden of her small pregnant belly. How he cried when he held Clementine for the first time, or every time he came home from an outing with Florence and Matt. How he couldn’t take it: watching her get over Matt with other guys who made her happy when he had been there for her through everything. Daniel needed time to forget about his silly little crush and all he could do was put that block of distance between them.
“She misses him so much.” Emilio said, both boys watching their friends in the next room.
“I know.” Corbyn nodded. “He hasn’t been the same.”
“Are you going to come get creamed, Corbs?” Jack shouted across the apartment.
“Yeah.” Corbyn laughed. He looked back to Emilio. “I’m sorry, man. About all of this shit.”
“It’s okay. Thank you for telling me all this.” Emilio nodded. Corbyn smiled and smacked his arm in a friendly action before heading back to the living room.
~~
Emilio wasn’t tired in the slightest by the time the boys’ left, and he and Florence had gotten into bed. The day was a long one, fun and emotional and generally draining nonetheless, but Emilio was wide awake. Florence was curled up next to him, fast asleep. Clementine was the same; sleeping peacefully across the room after evening playtime and dinner and a bath.
Emilio’s mind whirled a mile a minute, still trying to process the information he received from Corbyn earlier that day. It almost made him sick; the idea of Florence laying next to Daniel in his bed just like she was with him right now. He had this strong connection with Florence, or so he thought. The more he laid awake the more he questioned it. Corbyn was right, Daniel and Florence had this connection that was different than anyone else’s. Emilio knew the story well, how Daniel felt like the only one who was actively there for her through the pregnancy, kept his mouth shut to let her experience and learn who Matt really was for herself, and even when they argued, Daniel always rushed to her aide every time. Even though it was past midnight, Emilio rolled over and gently shook Florence awake.
“What’s wrong?” she asked tiredly, blinking her eyes open.
“Can we talk?”
“Can we talk tomorrow?” Florence whined, wrapping an arm around his middle and curled into his chest.
“No, I want to talk now.”
The waver in his voice made Florence sit back a little, frowning, concerned, “Alright. About what?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Florence whispered.
“How much?”
“Emilio.” Florence chuckled tiredly, pushing him playfully against his shoulder. “I’m too tired for this.”
“Please, mi amore.”
Florence could sense the seriousness of his voice and she propped herself up on her side a little, looking at him with worry. She could see the tears shimmering in his eyes.
“I love you so, so much, Emi. What’s wrong?” she ran her hand through his hair, pushing his messy fringe away from his face.
“I don’t want to lose you.” Emilio’s voice broke a little and he turned to bury his face in the pillow.
“Emi.” Florence sighed, rubbing a hand over his back in soothing circles. “You’re not losing me.”
Emilio knew things she didn’t, so her reassurance didn’t mean much. He forced himself to try and calm down. He wasn’t supposed to tell her anything and he didn’t want to.
“You mean so much to me.” Emilio breathed, his gaze rising to meet her own.
“I love you, Emilio. Only you.” Florence said strongly, running her hand through his hair before falling to rest on his cheek. “You’ve been with me through so much…you won’t be getting rid of my easily. I promise.”
Emilio took her honesty with a soft kiss, curling into her chest and she held him lovingly. His heart was broken in two and he let a few tears fall as she drifted to sleep beside him. Even if Florence didn’t truly know what he did, Emilio knew it would all work out in the end. It had to.
