Chapter Text
Fredag 21:15
Isak giggles as Magnus passes him the gravity bong, just on the edge of being high. Jonas, to his left, pushes his sunglasses from his hair to covering his heavy-lidded eyes. His dazed expression is enough to make Isak giggle again.
“Ow, stop it,” Mahdi complains for the third time, sitting to Jonas’ left. Magnus is perched just next to and above him, sitting on the edge of the tub, and the higher he gets the more he keeps accidentally kicking Mahdi.
“Sorry,” Magnus laughs, adjusting so his feet are pointing away from Mahdi’s knees. Isak briefly considers asking Magnus to switch spots with him so he can spare Mahdi the irritation, but his brain is hazy with his high and he’s comfortable slumped against the back of the tub where he is. Moving… does not sound as nice.
Flicking the lighter, he inhales from the opening and exhales smoke towards the opposite edge of the tub. He holds his hand out to pass Jonas the water bottle, but Jonas is too busy frowning at his phone.
“Eva?” Isak asks, narrows his eyes.
“She only texts me when she’s wasted, bro, it’s fucked up,” Jonas groans, locking his phone. “I don’t want to hook up with her like that. I want her to be actually into it.”
Isak hums as sympathetically as he can, quiet and lazy with how stoned he is. It’s not like he doesn’t care— he does, of course. He loves Jonas. But the more they talk and think about it, the guiltier he feels for still not wanting them together. It’s some weird form of jealousy lingering from his stupid crush last year.
“So fucking noble,” Magnus says, “I’d take her offer now.”
Isak snorts out an ungraceful laugh. Eva is one of his close friends, he’d never think about her like that. She’s like his sister. It’s weird.
“That’s why you don’t have a girlfriend,” Jonas says, and Mahdi reaches over to fistbump him. “Nice burn. Bonus points for sad truth.”
After a moment, Isak realizes his hand is still outstretched with the water bottle, and so he hands it to Mahdi instead, tossing him the lighter.
“Hey!” Jonas cheers, and when Isak looks up again, there’s someone else shaking Jonas’ hand, and climbing into the bathtub, squeezing right next to him.
When their eyes meet, the stranger’s eyes widen in surprise.
Isak feels like he’s locked in place, like he couldn’t move from this spot or look away from the stranger’s face if he wanted to. He’s blonde, hair perfectly coiffed up, and so tall, all long skinny legs, and Isak feels instantly drawn to him— like a magnet, like they’ve met before, like there’s a weird force drawing them together, fate or the universe or something else. One of his knees bumps Isak’s as he sits down, and it sends a rush through Isak’s entire body.
“This is Even,” he can vaguely hear Jonas saying, smiling stupidly, “He’s new, and he’s so fucking cool, and he’s our friend.”
Even. Isak’s mouth is suddenly very dry. He licks his lips and watches as Even laughs, his eyes crinkling up at the corners, reaching over to shake Madhi’s hand, to sloppily fistbump Magnus. He watches Even speaks to them, lips full and perfect, eyes so blue that Isak’s stomach does a weird flip. He can’t hear a word anyone is saying. The only sound in his ears is the beating of his heart, loud and quick.
Even’s head turns, and their eyes meet, and Isak’s breath stills in his chest. Time slows to a stop, and nothing matters except the two of them. Nothing exists except the two of them.
Isak stares, until Even raises an eyebrow at him, questioning. He realizes what he’s doing and looks down, overcome with shyness.
“Halla,” Even says, soft and deep, just for him, the first syllable longer than the last, “I didn’t know you were friends with Jonas.”
Isak swallows, trying to get rid of the uncomfortably dry feeling in his throat. It takes him a moment to realize what Even said, and his brow furrows in confusion, “Do I know you?”
Even laughs, and then shakes his head. “No.”
Jonas rolls his eyes at the stunned look on Isak’s face. “Don’t mind him,” he says, “Isak’s a lightweight on... every substance, so he’s really fucking high right now.”
“I’m not a lightweight, ” Isak groans. He clears his throat awkwardly, tentatively looking back up. Even is smiling, like he doesn’t even find it lame that Isak can’t function around him. Did he interpret that wrong or did Even imply he knows who Isak is? Why does Jonas pick the weirdest people to be friends with?
“I didn’t know you have friends other than us,” he mutters, and Jonas rolls his eyes. Mahdi laughs, at least, so some of the tension is broken.
“We’re branching out, dude, it’s cool. You’re new? What class are you in?” Magnus asks, because he’s always been a little too friendly for Isak’s taste, who would prefer to be quiet and stick with the few people he likes.
“3STB,” Even nods, and pulls a joint from behind his ear. Isak hadn’t even noticed it past the rest of Even’s face. “Better than a geeb, right?”
“So much,” Mahdi groans, “Thanks, bro.” He passes the lighter over, passing the gravity bong to Magnus, who sets it precariously on the corner of the tub. Isak pockets the ziplock bag of extra weed.
“It’s going to fall,” Isak mumbles. Even chuckles, placing the joint in his mouth to light it. Almost unconsciously, Isak’s eyes slowly slide to his right until he’s looking at Even. When Even looks back, he instantly looks down.
“No!” Magnus squawks, as there’s a thump and a wet noise, and both of their eyes lift to see the fallen geeb.
Even giggles, and the noise makes Isak’s stomach feel weird and gross and fluttery. He swallows, and purposefully keeps his eyes on his feet, too uncomfortable to look Even in the eyes. What is wrong with him? He feels so weird around Even, his chest gets tight and his stomach does flips. And he kind of wants to throw up. It’s horrible. Maybe he’s getting sick. The flu is a thing, right? It’s probably going around.
He looks up when Even nudges his shoulder and extends the joint towards him.
Of course, more weed. The perfect solution to make him feel better.
“Thanks,” he mutters. Without looking Even in the eyes, he takes the joint, bringing it to his lips to inhale. It’s better weed than Mahdi’s, and he exhales, hums appreciatively in Even’s direction.
Outstretching his hand, he passes it to Jonas, who is still looking Even like he’s the coolest person alive. Apparently Isak is the only one with the weird feeling in his stomach.
“Alright,” Magnus says, “Did you guys see that blonde girl Eva hangs with now? Isn’t she so hot?”
“Noora?” Isak mutters, without thinking. He definitely shouldn’t know that, but there’s certain things you learn after living in a basement.
“No, that’s definitely not her name,” Magnus waves his hand. “The other blonde one.”
“Dude, no,” Jonas groans, “She’s too loud. One time she yelled at me because I said russ is stupid.”
Isak shakes his head, “I don’t think she’s hot.”
Magnus rolls his eyes. “She’s fucking hot, you’re both stupid. Okay, what about that little brunette? With the short hair?”
“True,” Jonas agrees, “She’s cute.”
“No,” Isak shakes his head, “I don’t think she’s hot either, you guys have bad taste.”
Mahdi exhales smoke, and laughs from his spot next to Jonas. “Yeah, man, but you don’t think anyone’s hot. You’re really picky considering how ugly you are.”
Even raises his eyebrows into his hairline.
“Ouch,” Jonas mutters, and Isak rolls his eyes so far back it almost hurts. “There’s gotta be someone you think is hot, right Issy?”
“Cute nickname,” Even grins, wide and bright, his eyes even more crinkly now that he’s slowly getting more stoned. Isak’s entire face flushes red, and he looks straight at the ground, despite how much he wants to keep looking.
“It’s not,” he mutters, and then clears his throat, “The, uh… Short hair girl is cute”.
“Knew it,” Magnus cheers, passing the joint back to Isak, who takes it gratefully as an excuse to not talk any longer. His friends don’t seem to get the hint, and try to edge him on, asking what he likes about her, if he’s going to hook up with her.
Throughout the conversation, Isak can feel Even’s eyes on him, almost staring at his face. It makes him uncomfortable, and he squirms a little in his seat. It’s not like he’s doing anything weird— why is Even like that? Jonas just had to pick the weirdest people to be friends with.
Isak swallows anxiously as his friends continue, and Even, seeming to notice how uncomfortable he is, turns his head to look at the rest of the group. “Who’s Eva?” He says.
Isak groans quietly. He knows Even is trying to help, to get the attention off of him, but asking about Eva doesn’t help. “Jonas’ ex-girlfriend,” Magnus pipes in, “He's still stupid in love with her, but she only likes him when she’s wasted.”
“Hey,” Jonas complains, but it’s halfhearted.
“It’s true,” Mahdi mutters.
Isak nudges Even just slightly to pass him back his joint. Before he can speak again, maybe to save Jonas, maybe to try and explain, two girls are bursting into the bathroom— a little blonde, and the brunette they were talking about earlier.
Isak looks around, ducking his head. Please don’t let his friends point it out. Please don’t let them push him towards her.
“Isak, it’s your girl,” Magnus hisses.
Of course.
If there’s a higher power out there, Isak is pretty sure they hate him. He exhales, long and sad, casts his eyes down, letting his expression fall for just a split second, before he turns it back on. He waggles his eyebrows at Magnus, and tilts his chin up the tiniest bit, looking through his lashes at the brunette.
Even shoots him a weird look, but Isak can’t meet his eyes. Of course, it had to happen while he was here. No one else seems to notice his slight falter except Even.
Or, maybe that’s good, Isak can prove himself. There’s no way he can get out of it now, right?
“Can you guys leave?” The blonde one asks, “I have to pee.”
“Go ahead,” Mahdi says, and Jonas snickers, blowing the smoke in rings from his lips.
“Oh my god,” the blonde groans, “Can’t you guys just leave for like, one minute?”
Magnus shrugs uselessly. While they’re talking, Isak’s eyes have stayed on the girl. She gets the hint, and her lips are curling into the smallest smile as she looks back at him.
“There’s another bathroom upstairs,” Even says, polite but short. It’s Isak’s turn to give him a weird look. His other friends are stupid, but they’re always excited to be around hot girls, and Even seems to want the two of them to leave.
Even smiles. The blonde looks at him for a moment, and her face looks as intrigued by Even as Isak feels. “Thanks,” she says, “Come on, Emma, let’s go.”
She turns towards the door. Isak forces half a smile towards Emma, more smirky than fond. He reaches over, takes the joint from Magnus’ hand.
“Hey!” Magnus squawks.
“Do you want a hit?” Isak asks, and the other four are instantly quiet.
“Really?” Emma says. She’s cute, Isak can admit that. She has nice teeth, and a pretty face, and her haircut suits her, giving her a petite look similar to Natalie Portman. And she seems nice enough, shy in a cute way but forward enough to smile back at him. As much as he tries to justify the logic of it in his head by mentally listing all of the reasons he should be attracted to her, he’s just not.
Isak nods, the same small smile on his lips. He climbs out of the bathtub before he can think about it, and walks towards Emma. “Do you smoke?” He asks.
She shakes her head. “Can you show me?”
Oh, perfect. Easy.
He doesn’t dare look back at his friends, but he knows they’re watching, because they’re all deadly silent.
Isak nods, trying to ignore everything except for the girl in front of him and the end goal. “Okay,” he agrees.
His eyes still on Emma’s, he brings the joint to his lips and inhales. He steps closer, until one of his arms slides around her back, and he presses his mouth to hers, the smoke flowing between them. He can feel her inhale, and then they’re kissing.
She’s a good enough kisser, with soft lips and gentle hands, but Isak pulls back after a minute or two. “Okay,” he says, and steps back. She steps closer to him, and he takes another step backwards. “I’m going to smoke with my friends now, but I’ll see you around.”
“Okay. See you soon,” she grins at him, wide and pretty, and leans forward to kiss him on the cheek before exiting through the door.
As soon as it shuts, Magnus whoops loudly from behind him. “Isak!” He cheers, “You’re my god!”
Isak rolls his eyes, and takes another longer hit from the joint before climbing back in the tub.
“Seriously, bro,” Jonas leans over to fistbump him, “Insane game. Nice.”
He shrugs, and fistbump Jonas, but then settles back against the back of the tub.
“Yeah, that was cool,” Mahdi agrees, “I gotta give it to you.”
They’re still talking, but Isak turns his head so that he can look at Even, who is weirdly quiet. When he looks at Even, Even won’t meet his eyes, instead picking at a string on his jeans. Isak gets the weirdest feeling that he’s done something wrong.
He nudges Even, outstretches his hand to pass him the joint again, even offering half a smile. But Even still won’t look at him, instead just nodding and taking the joint without touching Isak’s fingers, which has to be purposeful, based on how small the joint is by this point.
Even inhales once, and passes it over to Jonas.
Furrowing his brow, Isak feels like a guilty child, unsure of what he did wrong but knowing that he definitely doesn’t want to do it again, not if it puts that look on Even’s face.
Weirdly enough, no one else seems to notice.