Chapter Text
Dates.
Not necessarily a topic Laurance was all too interested in, but it became the topic of conversation when Travis explained that Aphmau was wing-womanning for him by going on a double date, Travis with Katelyn and Aphmau with Aaron. That’s pretty normal, but it became a problem when Garroth started to ask questions.
“Does that mean we get to bring our dates?”
“Wh— Garroth, you’re not even invited.”
“Well,” Garroth began, using those puppy dog eyes that somehow worked on everyone. It was his charm, Laurance would remind himself. He actually just hated the fact that it worked on him the best. “Do you have any space for us?”
Travis glanced at Katelyn and Aphmau, who were sitting on the couch. Aphmau was flustered from all of this talk about Aaron, while Katelyn looked like she was about to pop Travis like a balloon. It wasn’t like Travis was complaining. If anything, Travis would probably be into that. Laurance wouldn’t put it past him.
“Sure, sure,” Travis said rather giddily. He seemed excited about the whole ordeal. But that became a problem when it dawned on Laurance; who exactly was he supposed to ask?
This was just for Travis and Katelyn. It wasn’t an actual date. So Laurance could ask any girl and it’d be fine. Right?
Why did that feel so wrong? He doesn’t want to play with these girl’s emotions, but—
“How about Lucinda?” Garroth asked, which pulled Laurance away from his daydream.
“Sorry?”
“Ask Lucinda if she’s free tomorrow,” Garroth said slyly and winked at Laurance. “There’s your date.”
Laurance blinked. Garroth knew Laurance wasn’t into girls— well, he was? He might be? Sexuality is weird— they literally had this conversation the other day. But then again, Garroth is pretty dense.
“Why do I get the sense that there’s something you're not telling me?” Laurance asked, and all Garroth could do was shrug Laurance’s question away, a little grin on his face.
“I dunno,” He said and pulled out his phone. “Do ya think Cadenza’d be free?”
—
Laurance soon understood why Garroth offered Lucinda.
“But it’s a–”
“A date to help out Travis and Katelyn, yeah, but you do know I'm a lesbian, right?”
The realization of why Garroth recommended Lucinda suddenly hit him. “Oh,” he muttered to himself, “That– that actually makes so much sense.”
The witch gave Laurance a smile, confused but still lighthearted. She crossed her legs and leaned back into her swinging chair. She stared at Laurance, an inquisitive look in her crimson eyes. Laurance couldn’t lie, he always found himself nervous around Lucinda. “What does?” She asked, voice much softer than before.
“Oh, right,” Laurance scratched the back of his head. “You can’t tell anyone, but, uh, I’m gay. Or bi? I’m still tryna figure it out.” It was beginning to get easier to say, the more people he told. He wasn’t forcing out his words anymore. Practice does make perfect, he presumed.
Lucinda raised an eyebrow. “Oh, congrats on coming out.”
“That’s the thing– I’m not necessarily… out. No one knows but Travis, Dante, and Garroth. And Aphmau, but she’s known since high school.”
The swinging chair Lucinda was sitting on moved back and forth as she stared at Laurance with doubt. “You are incredibly confident in Dante not accidentally spilling.”
“He can actually be really smart when he wants to be.”
Lucinda made a clicking noise with her tongue. “Huh, would ya look at that. Well, hon, you want me to be your date… to what, make Garroth jealous?”
Laurance’s eyes widened in surprise and he furiously shook his head. There was no way she was able to clock him that easily, right? Laurance did a great job at hiding his feelings. At least, he thought so, considering he’s had this bottled up since ninth grade. “Wh–what? No, no, I just–”
Lucinda broke into giggles, covering her mouth in the process. Laurance softened at the sight. She was actually really pretty. “I’m joking, I’m joking. But you really need to be better at hiding your feelings. I saw the way you kept staring at him after the play.”
With a deep sigh, Laurance slouched his shoulders. “That obvious?”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Lucinda said. “I’ll be your date, if it means we can help out Travis and Katelyn. I doubt she wouldn’t want me there. I need someone’s head to rip off in Mario Kart.”
–
Laurance shouldn’t be nervous. He truly should not be nervous. Why was he nervous?
Maybe it was because he was standing in Garroth’s room, staring at himself in the mirror. He pulled down on the lower lid of his eye, trying to jam in that damned contact that would not stick to his pupil. He would rather swim in a volcano than leave the house with his big, blocky glasses that made his eyes look bigger than they actually are. Lucinda would never let him live it down.
“Ew, do you really have to do that in my room?”
Laurance pressed the forbidden thing gently against his iris, let it sit for a moment, then pulled away and blinked. “Fuckin’ finally,” He muttered, wiping away the tear that ran down his cheek due to the irritation. “That took so long. What’d you say?”
Garroth was standing in the doorway from the bathroom. He had the only room in the house with a bathroom, which made sense considering he pays for the most rent out of the four. It would only be fair. He was leaned up against the doorframe, a half smile on his face. His curly fringe fell just past his blue eyes. They’re beautiful, Laurance would shamelessly admit. Not to Garroth, though.
He also wore a nice dark blazer with a blue tie that complimented his eye colour. His dress pants were a little long, so he cuffed them at the end and his sleeves were rolled up. Just like they were in high school. Some things never change.
“Did you really have to do that in my room?” He pointed at Laurance with a grimace.
“Uh, yeah, considering Travis shattered my only mirror and Dante is hoggin’ up the bathroom. He really wants to look good for Nicole. I keep tellin’ him that he looks great, but he thinks otherwise.” Laurance explained and blinked hard so that the contact didn’t feel as weird in his eye. “I spent a fortune on these things, I wanna use them.”
“We really need another mirror, huh?” Garroth said. Laurance pulled his attention back to the mirror, where he had some of his makeup sprawled out on the dresser. He first grabbed some of his moisture, squirting it on his fingers and gently rubbing it onto his skin.
“Definitely,” Laurance said absentmindedly. He then took the foundation and unscrewed the lid. He applied some beneath his eyes to get rid of those bags that have been fairly noticeable over these last couple of days, then applied a much thinner base around his cheeks and forehead. Anywhere he needed to. “I still don’t understand how a spell can destroy a mirror.”
“Some people say that mirrors are a portal to another dimension.”
Laurance snorted. “Where did you hear that from?” He put the foundation back in its original place then threw on some concealer to mellow out the tones beneath his eyes. Anything to get rid of those stubborn eye bags. ”Lucinda?”
“Maybe,” Garroth giggled and pushed himself off of the doorframe. “Speaking of, did you get a chance to speak to her?”
Using a brush (because Travis borrowed his packet of beauty blenders once and then Laurance never saw it again after that), he blended out the concealer. It was working just how he needed it to. Thank Irene. Travis really has a habit of losing things that don’t belong to him. Maybe Laurance shouldn’t let him borrow his stuff anymore.
“You are so obvious.” Laurance grinned and rolled his eyes. “Either way, thanks for that.”
“For what?”
“Making me ask a lesbian out on a fake date.”
That sentence somehow made Garroth laugh even harder. “Dude, don’t word it like that. Makes me feel like a bad guy. Everyone sorta assumed Lucinda liked both boys and girls, no one really questioned it.”
“And they shouldn’t,” Laurance stated firmly. “It’s her business. Not ours. I think going on a fake date with a guy would kill me. A fake date with a girl, much less someone who’s only into other girls? And she’s my friend? Works perfectly in my favour.”
“Then why’d you tell me you were gay?”
Laurance put the brush down and reached for the setting powder. That was a good question, wasn’t it? He didn’t know how to answer it.
Well, he did know how to answer it. It was just that there were many answers that were swarming around the brunette’s mind. He felt comfortable enough around Garroth. Or he didn’t want the guys to get confused if Laurance ever brought a guy back to the house. Or that Travis or Dante were going to spill before Laurance even got the chance.
“Uh, y’know.” Laurance took the blender from inside of the powder container and began applying it generously to his face. His cheeks, his forehead, his chin. “I feel like it is your business, considering I live with you. And hey, I’ve known you since high school. I feel comfortable telling you.”
From the corner of his eye, Laurance could see Garroth make his way to his bed, where he comfortably sat down and crossed his legs. He was wearing his lucky pair of socks, which were a pair of ankle–high yellow Garfield the Cat socks that had parts of thread hanging from them. He usually did get Cadenza’s help to fix them whenever Garroth would accidentally rip a hole in the delicate fabric. It was time to get a new pair, but Garroth has always been the sentimental type.
“Aw,” Garroth cooed with a smile. “That’s sweet, but don’t feel pressured to tell me things, dude.”
“A little too late to tell me that now, right?” Laurance attempted to joke, but it didn’t come off like how he wanted it to, and he could feel the air get heavier around them. A silence ensued, and Laurance knew he was just gently dabbing a sponge that had nothing on it against his forehead.
“Uh, can I ask you a question?” Garroth asked, and Laurance finally decided to put down the blender. He put the powder away and finally took his tie. He turned to face Garroth, who looked unsure. Should Laurance be nervous? That shouldn’t be a question, he’s nervous either way.
“Hit me,” Laurance said, and he slung the long fabric around the collar of his button up.
“How’d you know you were gay?”
You, Laurance wanted to say. There were so many indicators, but Laurance pushed them away until they all boiled to the surface. And now here he was, rooming with the man that he was absolutely obsessed with. Obsessed might be a reach– Laurance doesn’t want to say love, that’s also a reach. But calling it a crush made him feel like he was fourteen again.
“In high school,” Laurance lied through his teeth. Of course Garroth doesn’t need to know that. “I always tried to get with girls. At first, I confused romantic feelings for platonic. I just wanted to be friends with those girls, there was nothing… romantic. Aside from Aphmau.”
“Damn,” Garroth said softly. “Since high school? That’s—that’s kinda crazy.”
“I—I mean, in freshman year, I was in a relationship with Gene, but that—“
“Pause, pause.” Garroth blinked. “You— what? You were in a relationship with Gene?”
“We, uh, kept it secret. Broke it off four months later. After that fight,” Laurance said sheepishly and leaned against the dresser. He hasn’t talked about this in such a long time, the adrenaline rushing through him just thinking about it. His heart beats in his ears; he would rather talk about literally anything else.
“I—I knew you guys had something, but I had no clue you guys were dating. Makes me feel a little gross.”
“Yeah, then you had to go and shove the guy.”
“Hey, he grabbed you when you wanted to quit The Shadow Knights,” Garroth said, matter—of—factly and rolled his eyes. “Should’ve kept his hands to himself. He landed the first punch anyway.”
“It’s the past. I—I don’t really like thinkin’ about it too much,” Laurance admitted. “I haven’t spoken to the guy in years. I don’t know about Dante, though. They never seemed close.”
“Moving on,” Garroth said brightly. For once, he took the hint and Laurance was grateful. “So technically your first boyfriend was Gene?”
“Yeah,” Laurance said. “My first actual relationship. Before that was this girl I knew in sixth grade. We dated for a few weeks before I broke it off.”
“Laurance, breaker of hearts.” Garroth laughed.
“Shh,” Laurance jokingly hushed. The silk of his tie felt good between his fingers. It was a nice distraction.
“What about you and Michi? In junior year.”
Laurance slouched. “Dated her just to get the fan club off me. She was nice, a little manipulative, but, uh, you know how well that ended.”
“Speaking of, I’m pretty sure she’s coming tonight.”
Laurance practically snapped his head towards Garroth with a surprised look. “Ah, well, this is gonna be a fun reunion.”
“I’m sure it won’t be too bad. How about Aphmau?”
“…Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated?”
“No, no— I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t need to tell me—“
Laurance smiled. “I’m playing, Gar.” At least it would get Garroth off of his back. And as scary as it was, it was embarrassing to admit that the girl he’s been in love with for practically a decade now just fizzled away. Aphmau knew it. Laurance told Aphmau before he graduated, that he wasn’t in love with her anymore.
“Yeah, I think so,” Laurance said. It felt like he was drowning, just saying that. To be completely honest, he wasn’t thinking that much when he decided to lie, but it was just a little white lie. Something small. It wouldn’t fuck him over. Right?
Instead of looking further into it, Garroth giggled. “Do you need help with your tie?”
Laurance looked down and realized he had been fiddling with the fabric around his neck for the last few minutes. Garroth really does make him nervous, huh? But not in the way Lucinda did earlier— these nerves came from his heart practically wanting to jump out of his chest at the mere thought of Garroth. “No, no, I’ll be fine.”
The tie was pulled off of Laurance’s neck when he slipped it off, stared at it for a couple of seconds, and then slipped it back on around his neck. He stared at it for a little longer.
How the hell was he supposed to do this?
In all honesty, he hasn’t tied a tie since he graduated culinary school. Even then, it was his father that did his tie considering Cadenza was too busy trying to fix the rip in Laurance’s blazer. All of his job interviews have only had him wear nice dress pants and a white button up. Nothing too flashy.
“Here.” Garroth pushed himself from the bed and approached Laurance. He reached for the two straps and began knitting them together— or whatever he was doing. Laurance wasn’t quite paying attention.
He was too focused on the way Garroth gently bit the side of his mouth whenever he was focused. It was a habit he hadn’t broken since high school, and sometimes he would bite too hard without realizing it. But Garroth was so focused on tying the tie that he hadn’t noticed how intensely Laurance was staring at him.
Garroth was a little taller, by a couple of inches. That meant Laurance always had to look up in order to speak to Garroth, but he never had any problems with that. Garroth had always been a big guy, curly, usually messy blonde hair, and a bit of acne that he stopped caring about after university. His fringe fell further past his eyes, slightly red cheeks, thin lips and probably the most perfect nose Laurance has probably ever laid his eyes on. Light freckles spread across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, and Laurance wanted to count each and every one. It would give him another excuse to stare at Garroth longer.
“There ya go,” Garroth said and took a step back. He examined his hard work, satisfied with it.
“Thanks,” Laurance said, a gentle shade of red dusting his cheeks. He turned around to check out Garroth’s work in the mirror. “Whoa, dude, this looks so much better than all of my attempts.”
Garroth gave Laurance a toothy grin and met his eyes through the mirror. “Zane and Vylad always struggled at tying their ties. I just had a lot of practice.”
“Always playing big brother.”
Garroth’s grin widened. “Always.”
Laurance didn’t even know he was going to the mall until Dante mentioned it in passing on the way there.
“Yeah, it’s an arcade. Super big, Gene used to work there in high school.”
“…Then why are we dressed up in formal wear?” Laurance asked and reached to grab the arm of the car seat so that Dante’s insane driving wouldn’t accidentally concuss him.
“A nice dinner is next on the list!” Garroth cheered and leaned back into the seat to get more comfortable.
While Dante and Garroth were chatting, Laurance noticed Travis next to him, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He was fixing up his hair, white fluffy hair falling past his forehead that he was trying to move out of the way.
“Trav, you good?” Laurance asked, and Travis turned towards Laurance with a goofy yet nervous grin. Beads of sweat fell from his forehead and he gave Laurance a thumbs up.
“My hair has been absolutely fucked since this morning, and it’s not settling the way I want it to. Katelyn’s gonna totally think that I just don’t care, and—“
“Travis,” Laurance interrupted. Travis was speaking too quickly for Laurance to catch a single thing of what he was saying. “Breathe. Your hair looks great, I promise.”
“I know I look great, but what if Katelyn doesn’t think so?”
Oh, Irene. Now Laurance can really see himself in Travis. The panicking, the constant need for reassurance— Laurance could be looking into a mirror.
“I’m very sure Katelyn will enjoy her time with you either way. And you look handsome, stop panicking." He reached over and placed his hand on Travis’ with a small smile. “You’ll do great. You’ll have a good night with Katelyn, I’m sure of it.”
Travis gave Laurance these eyes that Laurance could only describe as ‘puppy dog’ eyes. The same ones Garroth gave him earlier. “You think so?”
Instead, Laurance smiled. “I know so. Don’t stress it.”
“Yeah, you’re right! You’re totally right. I’m gonna do great. Absolutely amazing,” Travis said, that doubt now being replaced with (maybe some misplaced) confidence. “Wait— did I forget to—“
“No, you took your meds this morning, Travis,” Dante said, keeping his eyes on the road. “You didn’t forget, don’t worry.”
Laurance hasn’t seen Travis this nervous about a date since high school. Maybe some things never change.
—
Seeing Lucinda in a pretty deep indigo dress with her sunset hair pulled up definitely left Laurance breathless. She looked absolutely beautiful. Laurance couldn’t even compare— a dark green blazer and a black tie practically drowned in all of the other outfits today.
But Laurance couldn’t lie, it was nice seeing Garroth in formal attire. It reminded him of their prom together, where they went to the movies after their supposed dates suddenly disappeared into the night. Laurance was just going with Teony as friends, and Katelyn didn’t want to miss out on Garroth’s absolutely terrible dancing. He had limbs, and he had no idea how to use them.
“So, date..."
Before Laurance could even clock it, everyone ran off in pairs to play whatever arcade game their heart desired. Laurance hadn’t even realized he was staring until Lucinda poked him on the shoulder. He looked over, surprised, before exhaling a breath of relief.
“Oh, Lucinda,” Laurance said and turned around to give her his full, undivided attention. “Hey.”
“You seem a little… in your head, as of late. Which isn’t the Laurance I usually know.” She placed a hand on her waist. The purple eyeshadow made her eyes pop, and they went nicely with the dress.
Laurance grinned in an attempt to brush away Lucinda’s concern for him. “Really? Then what is the Laurance you usually know?”
“Oh, I dunno.” Lucinda shrugged, deciding to play along. A menacing smile spread across her lips and Laurance held himself back from gulping. “Flirty, annoying, attached to Garroth at the hip. You just seem a lil’ distant right now.”
The confident demeanour that Laurance was trying so hard to keep up was now replaced with a frown. He couldn’t hide from Lucinda. “I guess I am.”
“You doing okay?” Lucinda’s voice dropped an octave and out came her inner older sister. He smiled at her and averted his gaze, somehow landing on Garroth, who was playing a first person shooter with Cadenza. They were bickering, shouting a little louder than the employees would’ve liked. Garroth always was too competitive for his own good.
“Great,” Laurance responded brightly. “Just… yeah. A little down, maybe a little confused?”
Garroth pulled away from the fake gun that was hooked up to the machine and began pumping his fist into the air with probably the goofiest smile on his face. Lucinda leaned in to look directly at what Laurance had been staring at. “Him? C’mon, Laurance, how bad can it really be?”
The best response was burying his head into his hands, and Lucinda giggled softly. “It’s pretty damn bad. Now he’s going on a date—“
“A date just to help wingman his friend, might I add,” Lucinda tagged along. “And his date is your sister. And I doubt she’d do that to you. Does she know?” Laurance shook his head. “Well, then that’s a perfect place to start.” Lucinda said. “Garroth has never had a thing for Cadenza anyway. You’ll be fine.”
“Problem is he’s still in love with Aphmau,”
“To be honest, I thought you were still in love with Aphmau.”
Laurance turned away. “That, uh, fizzled back in high school. When I was still trying to figure out my emotions. But I might have told him I still had feelings for Aphmau…?”
Lucinda, surprised, put a hand on Laurance’s shoulder. It gave him a sense of relief, to know that someone had his back, to know that someone cared.
“I see.” Laurance could tell that Lucinda was trying hard not judge him, but he could feel it from a mile away. “Why’d you do that?”
“I–I don’t know, I panicked.” Laurance sounded defeated.
A pit at the bottom of Laurance’s stomach was telling him that he lied because Garroth wouldn’t have any suspicions. Lucinda gave Laurance a look that resembled that of a pissed off cat, and Laurance felt the hairs on his arms stand still.
“Then why’d you move in with him after college? I sorta assumed it was ‘cause you wanted to get close to Aphmau.”
“I think I was trying to figure out if I liked Aphmau or Garroth?” Laurance shrugged. “It was so long ago, I don’t remember.” He hung his head low, that familiar feeling of shame crawling finding itself back in his chest.
“Well, here’s the fun thing about fake dates,” Lucinda began with a bright smile. “We get to hang out as friends.”
“See, KC already thinks there’s something going on between us.” Laurance was fighting back a smile.
Lucinda scoffed, though it wasn’t bitter. The opposite, actually. “Let her. She can have her fun, and we can have ours. Now c’mon, I can see Nicole and Katelyn ripping each other’s heads off in that punching bag game. A little spell would be fun to cast, wouldn’t it?”
Almost on cue, Laurance could hear the scream of none other than Katelyn, and then the sound of smashing glass. He looked over and saw Katelyn and Nicole bickering, with Travis and Dante laughing to themselves. The arcade machine was making a pinging sound and Laurance couldn’t help but smile at the sight. At least he had his friends to distract him from his thoughts.
“C’mon.” Lucinda gently took Laurance’s wrist and pulled him along with her as she walked towards the group that was beginning to cause chaos. Laurance always liked the chaos, especially if he could get involved.
The girls excused themselves to the bathroom, which also meant that Laurance’s lifeline (Lucinda) had also left. At least he was with his roommates, which could be worse. Aside from the fact that Laurance was quietly watching Dante and Travis attempt to beat each other in a zombie first person shooter game. Despite the whole point of the game being a collaborative effort.
“Fuck, fuck, Dante! Revive me!”
“Use your tokens.”
“Katelyn has the tokens. I swear, I’ll pay you ba—“
“No tokens, no revive.”
Travis practically threw the controller down and crossed his arms with a pout. Almost immediately after, Dante’s character was mauled to death by zombies, which left Travis giggling. “That’s what you get,” Travis said with a smug grin that Dante wanted to wipe clean off of his face.
“I beat’cha. That’s all I care about.”
“Move,”
Dante could feel himself lose balance as he quickly grabbed onto the closest thing he could get his hands on: Garroth. He was just catching him, it wasn’t anything big. Dante isn’t even into Garroth. He was just helping him get back on his feet after he was shoved.
Laurance needed to work on his jealous problem, huh?
“Dude!” Dante complained, as Zane approached the arcade machine with the toy gun on the mount. He pulled out a couple of tokens from his pocket and inserted them into both of the slots. One for him and one for the partner—in—crime that would be joining him for this game of survival.
“Travis,” Zane turned to Travis and motioned to the gun. “I don’t have all day.”
It was like a lightbulb went off in Travis’ eyes, because they shone as he jumped towards the gun controller. “Thanks, Zane! I never knew you had the heart to let me try again.”
Zane let out a small grumble of sorts. “You were just gonna complain about all of this on the way to dinner. I don’t want a perfectly good dinner to be wasted because someone couldn’t keep their damn mouth shut.”
“…I’m gonna pretend like you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart, because deep down, you know you love me.”
It didn’t take a lot for Laurance to notice the way Zane grimaced beneath his mask, but then the fabric on his mouth slightly twitched, and Lauranced realized that Zane was smiling. Which was definitely new, that was for sure. “Don’t make me throw up.”
Laurance hated staring at Garroth staring at Aphmau.
Dinner was fun as much as it was an argumentative mess, with everyone practically begging Michi to leave. But during the entire thing, Garroth just kept staring at Aphmau. It was obvious. He was head over heels in love with her, and he had to be content with that. He’s been in love with her since high school. It was a crush that never went away.
No one can blame him. Aphmau was beautiful; amber eyes that gleamed, a pretty smile, dark hair that she has spent a lot of time caring for, falling just past her shoulders. She had a mole beneath her right eye, and another under the corner of her mouth. Garroth used to talk about a dream he had where Aphmau was his, and he was able to kiss every little mark on her face. It sounded cute. Yet Garroth would never know the dream Laurance had of kissing each and every one of Garroth’s stupid little freckles, just barely noticeable. But as soon as you could see them, you could never miss them. They’d always be there.
But Garroth can’t have Aphmau, and Laurance can’t have Garroth.
“Aside from Michi,” Dante began with a grin. “How was that? Did y’all have fun?”
A little tipsy, Laurance leaned back in his seat, eyes glued to the pretty scenery that passed by. There were too many emotions swirling around in his head, and he was excited to just get home and fall asleep in his comfortable bed.
“I think Katelyn had fun!” Travis cheered.
“But did you also have fun, Travis?” Dante asked.
“Well, yeah,” Travis shrugged. “I got to drink with all my buddies. And Katelyn wasn’t bored.”
“Not all of them. Next time, you’re the designated driver.”
“Aww,” Travis slouched back into his seat and crossed his arms with a pout on his face. It was clear that he had the most to drink out of the group. “Fine, fine.”
It didn’t take an idiot to realize that Katelyn probably put in the least effort on this group—date. She wore casual clothes despite being told that it was semi—formal, and she practically spoke with only Nicole or Lucinda the entire time. She didn't even glance at Travis, and Laurance could assume that maybe that’s the reason Travis decided to drink a lot more than he usually does, but Laurance wasn’t a fan of assumptions.
Laurance can’t judge Travis, he did the same thing. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he hadn’t realized how many glasses of wine he downed until he realized he wasn’t staring at Garroth from across the table anymore.
“I had fun,” Garroth said with an exhausted smile. Out of everyone, he was able to handle his liquor the best. It’s not like they drank too much, they were still at a dinner. “Got to hang out with Cadenza. I missed hangin’ out with her.”
And Laurance was lucid enough to know that Garroth couldn’t stop staring at Aphmau across the table.
“And I got to hang with Nicole,” Dante said proudly, eyes still on the road.
Laurance rolled his eyes dramatically. “We get it, Dante."
“Hey, listen—! I’ve developed feelings for other girls and boys during college,” Dante admitted, in a matter—of—fact tone.
It was on command, and sort of bizarre, the way everyone turned to look at Dante as if he grew another head. The only one that didn’t look phased was Travis. When the silence was becoming too much, he decided to speak up. “…What? Did I say something wrong?”
“And boys?” Garroth repeated. “I didn’t— huh. I didn’t know.”
Laurance stared at Dante’s eyes through the rearview mirror, a shade of dark brown. He was pretty easy to read, but for once, he wasn’t. He looked like he was smiling, almost as if he was proud of himself for slipping that in. His eyes flickered over to Travis, and he began to snicker.
Huh. Weird night.
“But did you see Aph?” Garroth said, and this was where Laurance wanted to bury himself once again. “That sweater was cute on her.”
“And I thought I was painfully obvious,” Dante said with a little grin. He stared at Garroth in the rearview mirror.
Garroth laughed, maybe a little tipsy, but he hoped no one minded. “Can’t I say a girl’s cute without having a crush on her?”
“That’s the thing,” Laurance said, a lot more bitter than he meant to. “You do, though.”
The car went silent, and this was when Laurance realized that he fucked up. Dante's dark eyes flickered towards him through the rearview mirror with a concerned glance and Laurance bit his tongue.
“…And—and there isn’t anything wrong with that,” He attempted to correct himself, turning to Garroth with that same smile he used to give the girls during his junior year of high school. “Just say it as it is, dude.”
The aggressiveness seemed to fly right over Garroth’s head, because he let out a chuckle while covering his mouth. All Laurance could think of was, stop covering your mouth, Garroth. Your smile looks great.
“Okay, okay, I will. I do like her, and I think she’s amazing in every sense of the word. Showstopping, gorgeous, smart, witty…”
“Wow, Garroth,” Travis began, ready to curl up and fall asleep in the seat. “Didn’t know your caveman brain was able to think of a long word such as showstopping.”
Garroth kicked the back of Travis’ seat, who began complaining. This was going to be a long ride home, wasn’t it?
I do like her, and I think she’s amazing in every sense of the word.
Laurance wanted to throw up.
“You’re a good person, Garroth,” Travis said. “For telling Aaron the truth.”
Garroth gave Travis a toothy grin, not thinking much of it. “Thanks!”
By the time Dante parked in the driveway, Laurance was hopping out of the backseat and sprinting towards the front door. He just needed to get to his room before anyone else could see him. He could brush his teeth and do his facial routine tomorrow morning— missing one day wouldn’t mean much. Especially if it meant that he could avoid Garroth.
“Laur—“
Before Laurance could even clock who was speaking, he was pulling out his house keys from his pocket and inserting it into the keyhole, twisting it, and turning the knob.
“Dude, what’s for you in such a hurry?” Garroth caught up with Laurance on the porch. Irene, being around him made Laurance want to cry.
“Tired, is all,” Laurance responded, and finally pushed the door open. He left the door open for Dante, Travis, and the mosquitos to come in whenever they wanted. The first place he headed for was his room. His comfortable room, where he could scroll on Twitter for the next four hours without thinking about anything else. Without thinking about Garroth and his stupid face, and his stupid crush on Aphmau.
He felt like a child.