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Wiping at the front of his shirt, Laurance cleaned up a bit of tomato sauce that was spilled onto him. Around the middle of summer, Hayden had asked if it would be fine for Laurance to come over to his parents and stay for a few weeks to babysit Caleb while they were off on a vacation. Due to the rest of his friends already away on their own vacation. it seemed rather fitting. He had better things to do than lay around the house all day, trying to find activities to interact his mind, so taking care of his younger brother would have to do for now.
So far, things were going just fine. It may have just been the first week of Laurance being back in Meteli. It had its ups and downs; like Caleb throwing a handful of spaghetti after throwing a tantrum at dinner time. Irene, he was never having children.
After pulling the shirt over the top of his head and changing it for a size too big of a hoodie, it was time to put Caleb to bed. After tucking in his little brother, he whispered a goodnight, laying all of the boy’s stuffed animals on his bed with him, including an old, worn out green frog that once belonged to Laurance. Leaving the room that even once belonged to him and Cadenza, he shut the door behind him.
“Thank Irene,” whispering under his breath, he collapsed back onto the couch. His hand found the remote that laid on the coffee table in front, fingertips searching through the buttons as noise filled the room while the television turned on. The previous channel that was on was set originally with a demographic for toddlers, letting Caleb watch it while Laurance cooked dinner for the both of them. Switching to a random news channel while he could idly scroll through his phone while the audio played in the background.
Pulling out his phone from the front of his jeans pocket, he found himself clearing all his notifications before unlocking his phone. Even though he had other apps to look through, social media he could endlessly read through until his tired mind made him pass out in the living room, he always found himself going back to the same application. He was a broken record on loop, disappointment foaming like a pit in his stomach whenever he opened his messages. The last contact in his most recent sent messages was Garroth, dragging his frown down along with his muscles as he read through the last conversation they had together.
We’re going down to the boardwalk right now, I’ll message you later. It was sent on Friday. Okay, have fun! Read. I’m heading to bed, night. Delivered. Did you lose your phone? Delivered. Garroth? Delivered. I hope you’re okay. Delivered. Have fun with everyone else. Delivered.
Laurance’s phone eventually turned off with the lack of activity over the period of time of him rereading the same messages he sent over and over again. Garroth never replied to them, let alone read them. But, even so, he never messaged anyone else at Starlight to ask if everything was okay. What if everything was fine and Garroth was just ignoring him. He was too anxious to reach out to anyone else, but yet his worries still always lead to his best friend. What in the name of Shad was wrong with his whole thought process?
His phone buzzing made him jump. Immediately sitting up straight, clothes bundling up in a rush as he shifted uncomfortably. Laurance’s eyes shut for longer than they should have, opening to stare straight at the new message. Oh, it’s just Cadenza. It was stupid of him to believe that out of the blue Garroth would text him back like that, just because he was thinking about him or going through their old conversations. He was so pathetic. Why did he have to act just like a pet? He could live life without Garroth in his life, without someone to hold him up. He already has done it for years, so what has changed now?
Not wanting to leave his sister without a reply for much longer, he went to read it. How’s babysitting Caleb going? I’m going to be visiting Meteli in a few days, maybe I can come over and help. Also want to see my little brothers. While he was in the middle of typing out his reply, telling his sister how much he would love to have her visit, it seemed his thoughts jumped over with the words playing on the television in front of him. He couldn’t even stop it or give his brain a chance to argue again listening, his eyes immediately jumped up.
“Due to unknown circumstances surrounding the uproar of rumors of the Ultima being spotted on the island, Starlight Island will now be closed upon further timing,” Laurance dropped his phone in his lap, the sting of the case hitting his thigh didn’t even bother him. He could feel his throat start to close up, his lungs begging to breathe as his ears started to ring. But the spill of words kept rolling into his brain, aching every muscle in his body. “Transportation to and from the island has been temporarily closed off for the time being. Guardian Forces have already been sent to check the scene and protect everyone on Starlight. If the Ultima is on the island, The Guardian Forces will make sure to detain and imprison. Though these are just rumors right now, Starlight will do anything in its power to secure all visitors.”
Laurance stumbled into the doorframe of the door as he took his turn off the corner too short. His shoulder hitting against the wood, making him only be pushed into the opposite direction, swinging his body in every direction as he fell onto his knees. His fingers clamped around the lid of the toilet seat, pushing it up over as it kept trying to fall back onto his hands, rushing to actually set it up. He felt like he had to throw up; he needed to throw up. It would make him feel better. It would get rid of all the anxiety that was held within him. Nothing was coming out of his stomach, but he felt the urge to throw up anyways. He wasn’t even burping, just dry hurling over the top of the toilet, strings of saliva occasionally falling into the water below, mixed with the saltiness of his tears as they swirled around the bowl.
Until there was no longer any spit to fall from his coated mouth, his eyes felt dry, his hair stuck to his redden neck. Laurance leaned his forehead against the back of his head over the toilet seat, dry sobs leaving his body as his chest racked harshly with each one that he managed to cough out.
Garroth, please be safe.
“Did you get an answer yet from Aphmau when she said they would be back?” Laurance was tidying up everything that had remained littered onto the countertops along the walls of the kitchen.
“They just entered Phoenix Drop just a little bit ago, so about an half an hour I’m assuming.” Dante was helping him clean up the home for the return of their friends. From three guys living together in the same house, it was usually gathering messes that stayed for a few days before being cleaned up. But, Laurance wanted the house to look at least somewhat decent for the arrival of the others, so Dante helped; especially after not seeing them for months. Not to mention, most of that time they spent in Starlight, Laurance and Dante didn’t get any messages from any of them or any news of what was going on. All they had was relying on the news of the holiday island of how safe their friends were in current time.
Even now, the two barely got any updates from them. The first update they got was from Aphmau herself. What was a simple message to explain the past events being quite complicated and she was sorry for the absences, only sparked more questions in the boy’s minds. She had explained with the whole chaos of the Guardian Forces storming the island, they had lost their phones in a hurry and only now were able to regain contact. They were supposed to go over to Laurance’s, Zane’s and Garroth’s place as a way to regroup everyone before all dispelling to different homes.
Laurance sat down on the edge of the kitchen counter, pushing a grocery bag out of the way. It was Dante’s idea at first, but the two of them also bought some food platters, champagne, and cake as a small ‘celebration’. Or more of a ‘welcome back home’ type of party. Though, it could have been also just an excuse to buy cake and to drink. He scratched as one part of his arm, fingernails picking slightly into his freckles as an irritated burn brushed over them, “So, is Gene coming over to? I can guess he probably missed Aphmau.”
Dante opened the fridge, turning so he was facing the inside of the door and its components. Pulling out a soda can from one of the shelves, he closed the door back. “Guess not,” he leaned his back onto the closed door, digging his finger under the pop tab to force it open, the drink sizzling under the pressure, “he already had plans with Sasha and Zenix today.”
“They’re literally all roommates though. They still need days to hangout?” Laurance asked while he rolled his thumb over a freckle of his cold undertone, tawny skin.
Dante took a sip of the Coke, bringing the top of the can up to his lips before swallowing. “Maybe it’s like shopping plans or something. I do know Gene works a lot, so I’m glad he’s getting time off and hanging out with the Shadow Knights,” he set down the soda can on the counter next to the fridge, “Laurance can I ask you a question? Do you have any ideas of what happened at Starlight?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Laurance replied, “I just hope it isn't, y’know. .” though he was cut off as soon as he heard the sound of a car door closing up front. He looked over at the other to show a glance of acknowledgment before he stretched his legs down from the counter and stood back up straight. Dante took another quick sip of his drink before the two went to the front door. By the time the Laurance opened the door, they were able to catch the first group of their friends getting out of the car while another one pulled up to park right behind them.
“Laurance! Dante!” Nana was the first one to hurry herself out of the car and run over the two, her voice pressed up pitches in excitement as she pulled both of them into a hug.
“Four, be careful,” Zane said after her, coming out of the backseats right after she did, shutting the door behind him.
Dante looked over to Aphmau after he went to hug her. He looked down at her after that comment was made, his eyebrows knitting down in confusion, “Four?”
“Zane has been struggling a bit with his memory, including names right now,” Aphmau said softly, holding onto Aaron’s sleeve after she went over to the passengers side of the car and waited for him to get out of the car. He held onto the edge of the fabric, seemingly leading him along. Laurance immediately noticed the bandana that was tied around his head, centered so it covered both of his eyes. But now wasn’t the time to ask questions about that when they had just come back. While Dante went straight to the group to say his hellos to everyone, Laurance started to scan the other car after being disappointed by the first one. Yet, it didn’t take him long before he started to walk over as well.
“Hey, bro.” Laurance was engulfed into a hug as soon as he spoke, Garroth burying his face into the others shoulder, the palms of his hands grasping the back of his shirt. Maybe something really bad did happen at Starlight . His face softened at the touch, taking Garroth back into his arms as he returned the offer. “Hey, I like your stupid, little hat.”
He could feel Garroth laugh into the cloth of his top before pulling away. He had this cat shaped beanie that rested on the top of his curly locks. The color of the baby blue matched the pools that made up his eyes, and the clothing he wore of his favorite color as well. “Thanks. I missed you, Laur.”
“I missed you too, Gar.”
The moment was cut short when Dante spoke to gain everyone’s attention, “So, Laurance and I got some shit from the store for everyone. Those little food plate things, chocolate and vanilla cake; since we know Aaron doesn’t like chocolate and I couldn’t remember if Nana could have it or not. Plus, we also got some champagne.”
Lucinda hummed in delight, walking over to brush up the blue hair of Dante’s while he soon went to hit her hand away in protest. “Thank fucking Irene, I need some champagne after that trip.” Dante only looked over at Laurance.
Laurance closed the opening to the automatic trash can after he put the last of the trash into such. He was spending the last few minutes making sure the house was fully clean and there wasn’t any trash, while Garroth was picking up dirty dishes and putting them into the sink to clean for later. Zane went over to the girl’s house to stay with Nana a bit longer, so the two were left alone for a few hours. “Hey Garroth, wanna watch some T.V. with me?”
Garroth looked up from the last dish he was carefully setting down, trying his best so it wouldn’t make too much noise in the kitchen. He smiled to himself a bit, turning on his heel to look back at Laurance, who was pouring himself another glass of champagne. “I would love to, Laur. I need to catch up on shows I missed when I was away. You didn’t watch any episodes without me, right?”
“I mean,” Laurance teased, laughing a bit to himself. In reality, he tried his best not to watch any show that Garroth and him had sat down to watch together. It was too sad to admit that he didn’t want to watch anything that made his mind relate and think of Garroth during the time. “Come on though, we’re really behind right now.”
Laurance grabbed the neck of his wine glass and started to lead the both of them over to the couch. While he took a sip of his bubbly, Garroth reached for the remote and went to turn on their television. “You kept the house really clean, surprisingly.”
He set down the glass onto the coffee table in front, “What do you mean? I’m the cleanest out of us. I even was back at the old house! Plus, I was at Hayden’s a lot to babysit Caleb, or visiting Cadenza when she was in town. The only times I was really home was at night and when Dante came over to hangout a bit.”
Garroth set down the remote after he set everything up. Luckily, Laurance made sure all the episodes of their show had been recorded, so they would be able to watch them whenever. He put the first episode missed on and leaned back into the couch. “I wish we weren’t gone for that long. Glad you didn’t change much, besides how damn long your hair is now.”
Laurance reached back to run his pointer and middle finger through the ponytail from the back of his head. “I usually have my hair pulled back. It just got longer.” Please don’t notice Garroth. Please just think I forgot to cut my hair, it wasn’t on purpose, I swear. He moved his hand away to lean his head back again, wacking the back of his palm on the blonde’s shoulder. “You’re one to talk; look at your hair now! It’s the longest I’ve ever seen!”
“Yeah, I guess I didn’t really have that much time to find a barber to cut it,” Garroth responded, shrugging while his head tilted a little bit, still watching the television, “do you want to cut it now?”
“You trust me to cut your hair?” Laurance asked, looking over from the other end of the couch at him. Garroth looked back and only nodded.
Garroth dug his fingernail into the edge of his pants, rolling it over a loose seam, collecting it underneath his nail as he only dug it out even more, “I trust you with basically everything.” Accent laced in his voice, harsher than it usually does, making Laurance question if there is something emotionally weighing him down. “In that case,” he stood up and started, heading to the stairs up to the second floor.
Laurance was quick to sit up and turn to look over the back of the couch, his breath quickening at the sight of Garroth starting to disappear along the stairs. “Where are you going?” He asked soon enough after Garroth had even stood up.
Garroth stopped, taking a few seconds before turning. He placed a hand on the railing of the stairwell and looked over at the other. He smiled lightly, “going to get some shears so you can cut my hair.”
“Oh.”
Oh.
When Garroth was back, he grabbed a stool pouf that usually sat at the edge of the couch, then moved it so it was set in between the sofa and the coffee table. This allowed him to sit down on top of it, criss-crossed and at a high enough seating where Laurance could reach his hair. He had also grabbed a hair brush just in case, though he knew that wasn’t going to end well with his blonde curls. As Laurance grabbed the shears from him and scooted forward, his knees on either side of Garroth, Garroth hesitantly reached for his head. “You okay?” Laurance asked as he could see the shake in his hands, to which Garroth nodded before pulling off his hat.
In the same shade and hue of his hair, a pair of fluffy ears sat right on the top of his head, previously hidden by the perfectly fitted hat. “Garroth,” Laurance let out slowly, shook, overwhelming him with the sight. “Why the Hell are you a werewolf?”
Garroth pulled the hat down at a snail's pace and let it rest in his lap. Where it now rested on the tops of his thighs, he folded his hands over that. “There’s a lot that happened at Starlight you have no idea about.”
Laurance tried his best to take this new information in, his breath even hitching slightly at the sentence before he was forced to swallow down his thoughts that were bubbling at the base of his throat. His best friend was a werewolf now. He could tell this was hard for Garroth too, and whatever actually did happen, it was bad enough to make him anxious even now when he was safely at home. Therefore, he would do his best to stay calm for the benefit of the both of them. “So that’s why you didn’t eat any of the chocolate cake. I know chocolates are your favorite flavor too.”
“Allergic now unfortunately.”
Laurance started to finger brush through Garroth’s back strands of hair, already measuring with his fingers and making sure he would get the perfect length to end up cutting. “Garroth,” he carefully kept his fingers straight, holding the hair up and bent at an angle while he went to trim the ends of the shears along the deadends. “Can you tell me what actually happened at Starlight?”
“Do you know what forever potions are, Laurance?” Garroth questioned from his spot on the floor, his right ear twitching with the question. At this point, he had felt a little bit more confidence about this new werewolf form he possessed and showing it off in front of the other. Laurance didn’t notice at first, being so focused on cutting the blonde’s hair, but reeling back to make sure it was even, he then noticed the curled up tail.
Laurance thought about it for a second, pulling down slightly on one of the other curls to get the length perfect, glancing down at the tail, “I think Lucinda may have mentioned something like that before, but I would barely remember if she’s ever said what they are.”
“Forever potions are a type of potion that when used on a potion, the effects are supposed to be everlasting. Me, Zane, Travis and Aphmau were all experimented on with forever potions when we were younger. Because of that, running into those types of potions could be absolutely dangerous. We were literally controlled what to do,
“I harmed Nana. I attempted to kill my baby brother,” His voice broke at the last sentence, Garroth’s eyes squeezing shut with just the memory of being forced to do something he wouldn’t even dare think about doing. Trying to stop the tears that just threaten to spill from his eyes, yet they managed to push past his eyelids and slid down his cheeks. In an instant, he could feel his nose start to fill with liquid and his throat feel dry. Sniffling to keep himself together. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone.” He whispered out, even his voice wavering then.
He completely broke when he felt Laurance’s arms wrap around his shoulders, his nose digging into his hair as well. From the awkward position they were already sitting in, Laurance made do as he did his best to pull Garroth into a hug, his fingers lightly grasping at the front of his shirt at his chest, pulling him closer to his stomach. “Garroth, you don’t have to talk about it.”
“No, no,” Garroth sniffled, lifting a hand up to rub the back of it onto his eyes. His ears fell back in what seemed to be loud body language with their reactions to certain themes. “I’m fine. And you deserve to know what happened.”
“Okay. I won’t talk or interrupt. Nothing. I’ll just be sitting here and listening, okay?” Laurance patted his hand onto Garroth’s chest, just letting him know he was there. While Garroth nodded in response, sniffling once more before he would begin to talk.
“The rumors about The Ultima being spotted at Starlight were correct. There was some sort of argument going on and I ended up being there, wrong time, right place moment. I got turned into a werewolf from The Ultima. Because of the spotting, they had to shut down the whole island and all the transportation to make sure he didn’t leave and no one else got hurt. By the way, the transformation hurt like hell. Growing ears and a tail, or however the fuck you explain it, was painful. Anyways, our whole group was caught up in the middle of it because Aaron is The Ultima.” Garroth was waiting for some sort of shocked interjection from Laurance, or even a noise of surprise. There was nothing, he was staying quiet like he said he would.
“Because of this, a lot of us were wanted by the Guardian Forces, so we had to leave the houses and find somewhere else to camp at the time. Because, Aaron wasn’t bad or anything like the stories say; he just has a bit of angry issues really. He didn’t want things ending up the way it did. It got to the point where the person in charge of the Guardian Forces was planning something really bad, and he had the power to use the potions on us again. We were all forced to harm each other and watch each other be on the border of death. It was all so terrifying.
“But, we managed to survive and he’s dead now. Because of the effects of the potions, Zane had his memory affected and that’s why he calls people by numbers now. Aaron also lost most of his memory and his vision. Lucinda can’t use her powers right now, either. Travis is still in the hospital. Irene, Aaron lost both his father and mother. I lost Blaze.”
“Oh Garroth,” Laurance let out softly. It wasn’t just sympathy that was laced in his voice, but he genuinely felt pain for Garroth. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was feeling, or even be close enough to experience it himself. “Come here, I’ll cut your hair later.” He gave the other a small tug on his shirt, giving him the signal to join him back on the couch. Garroth obeyed and moved so he sat next to Laurance, where he was immediately pulled into an embrace. “I’m so sorry.
“You didn’t deserve any of that.” Garroth wanted to sob, so he did. He pushed the end of his mouth onto Laurance’s shoulder, hiding away his voice and any attempt of sounds that wanted to escape him. He felt so pitiful, so weak and vulnerable to be showing off like this in front of something he respected so much. He would never be able to forgive himself for putting on such an act. Though to his surprise, Laurance just rubbed circles onto his back and held him even closer. Whispering whatever he thought would comfort Garroth in the moment, “It’s all over now, okay? You’re safe back here.”
“Mhm.” Garroth mumbled into his shoulder.
“On the bright side, I saw Aphmau’s engagement ring. I’m assuming Aaron finally popped the question to her?” Laurance asked. Maybe if he switched topics it would get Garroth’s mind off of everything that happened in the past. It would make him happy, just for the moment at least.
“Mhm. And Zane and Nana are dating now.” Garroth told him, leaning back so he didn’t lean up against him anymore, sitting himself up straight. He hid his hands over his reddened face with his sleeves, wiping at the mess of his cheeks and eyes to clear up his mistakes. “Lucinda also managed to ask out Melissa, so they will probably soon be together too.”
“Wow Zane got a girlfriend? The same Zane that followed around the Shadow Knights in his freshman year and got pissy when anyone else tried to talk to him? That Zane?” Laurance asked, his eyebrows raising slightly at the question. He always teased Zane, since high school, it was their mutual communication they had for each other. One Eye and Little Laurance. Can’t believe Zane is dating someone before me.
“Laurance,” Garroth whined, head tilting back slightly before readjusting to look at the shorter, “That’s my baby brother! I’m really happy for him, though. He looks really happy when he’s with her. I think he’s liked her for a long time though. Plus, if I remember correctly, you were a Shadow Knights fanboy too.”
Laurance rolled his eyes at that. He didn’t really like to think about freshman year. Short little Laurance finding himself getting caught up in troubles and messes. “I was a Shadow Knight for like a month, okay? Then I quit because I realized how much trouble they were.” And Gene being Dante’s older brother just made it a lot more awkward, especially now when Gene still likes to make fun of Laurance for his past.
“A year is not the same as a month, Laurance.”
“Okay, okay. I thought I was cool. Whatever.”
Laurance smiled when he heard Garroth laughing.
Laurance was in the process of getting ready for bed. After he was done changing, he set his dirty clothes in the pamper that was set underneath his desk in the corner. Pulling in his phone on the charger for the night, and setting it on the nightstand, he was interrupted before being able to climb into bed. A knock on his bedroom door was enough to make his head look up, tucking his legs in to instead sit on the top of the mattress, “Yeah?”
The door cracked open before it was fully opened, Garroth standing in the middle of the doorway. He looked at Laurance with a shy smile as he excused himself inside, shutting the door behind him for a bit more privacy. He doubted that Zane was eavesdropping on the two at this hour, especially with how exhausted he looked when he got back home. Garorth wouldn’t doubt if he immediately fell asleep back in the comfort of his own bed. “Can we talk?”
“Of course, dude. Sit with me for a little.” Laurance scooted, sitting in the middle of the bed where he rested his knees up to his chest. He patted in front of him, welcoming Garroth to join him before his hands went to wrap around his knees, his chin ending up on top of that as well. Garroth did sit in front of him, first getting on the end of the bed before he rotated his body so he could face Laurance. He tucked his feet underneath him while he sat. “What’s up?”
Garroth’s eyes wander around the room for a moment. He hadn’t seen Laurance’s room in months, and somehow it had stayed the exact same as how he remembered it to be. He already knew that Laurance was with his parents a lot or may have not been doing a lot of work in his room, but it was still a surprise to him to some sort of factor. Plus, his eyes wanted to avoid looking at Laurance's for as long as possible. If he couldn’t see him, then he couldn’t see the others disappointment when he started to talk. “I just wanted to thank you for earlier. It wasn’t a lot, but it meant a lot to me during that moment.”
“Definitely. You’ve been my best friend since the start of high school, Gar. I’ll always be here for you and to help you through tough times.” Laurance told him, giving him a small smile. His dimples pulled up on his lips, making them deeper boulders on his cheeks.
“That’s the other thing.” Garroth hated the way Laurance’s smile dropped in confusion. But, he had to get this off of his chest now or else he would never forgive himself for being so weak and bottling up all his feelings. He had to admit this now or he didn’t know when the next opportunity would be. “I was thinking about this earlier, but I was a lot at Starlight. At times, I genuinely had thoughts that I would never be able to return to Phoenix Drop or see my friends again. I thought I was going to be dead at the end of everything. I thought about how important my friends and family were too. Oh my Irene, Laurance you weren’t even there, but I was worried for you the most.
And I don’t know exactly why yet. Maybe I was worried about how you were reacting to the news back home. Or if I never did return, worried about what you would be doing in your life without me. Because, I just couldn’t lose my best friend like that. I talked to Zane about it a little bit after we had to go into hiding and I realized,” Garroth played with his necklace. If Garroth could remember correctly, it was a gift from his dad when he was younger and he’s worn it ever since. Due to how Garroth was raised in a very catholic household, the cross charm on the end of the chain was given to him. “My mind thinks you’re just more than a friend to me.”
Laurance watched his fingers slide over the charm again and again. He understood now. Garroth was terrified about losing Laurance, because he meant so much to him. But, he felt the same. He threw up over the idea that something awful was not just happening to his friends, but happening to Garroth . “Garroth, remember the night of the Romeo and Juliet play?”
Garroth’s eyebrows knitted down in confusion, “Yeah? Of course I remember that? It was so embarrassing and our friends constantly teased us about it. How could I just not forget?”
“Y’know I asked myself the same question.” Garroth’s eyes widened when Laurance said this, looking up to finally look him in the eyes, blue meeting blue, “How could I just not forget? We had just accidentally kissed in front of dozens of people and made complete fools of ourselves just because of a girl we were both crushing on. I couldn’t get the moment out of my mind. Not because it was a ‘holy shit, I kissed Garroth,’ but a ‘holy shit, I kissed Garroth’ .”
Garroth’s hands fell down into his lap from the change of tone Laurance used. He had his full attention now. He wasn’t even anxiously messing with his fingers or cracking them. He had to know what else Laurance needed to tell him now. From seeing the look Garroth gave him, Laurance swallowed down his saliva. Oh, but he was an anxious mess now.
“I just sat and sat to think about it. I had so many questions about my reaction to what happened that night. I knew I liked guys, so that was out of the question, yet still why was I feeling what I was feeling? There was no way I liked Garroth romantically. I've had such an elongated crush on Aphmau since high school, so why is this all happening now? I think my feelings are easier to explain now, though.”
“Laurance, I,” Garroth took in a deep breath, stabilizing his breathing as he took in all this new information. It was all a lot to take in at the moment, but he was glad he had Laurance with him to help him with his nerves. “I’m just scared.”
“Why? You know everyone will be fine with it and supportive as always. Your mom would be over the news excited for you as well. I’m not even saying we have to date or anything, I just wanted to tell you that I do like you. Unless I’m reading this whole thing wrong and you actually don’t feel the same way?”
“No, no!” Garroth quickly interrupted, shaking his hands in front of him before Laurance got any worries that Garroth didn’t share his emotions. “I do feel the same way. It’s hard to explain, I just find everything overwhelming. It’s just been a lot of penting up feelings and emotions, and having them all spill out like this makes me feel kind of vulnerable. When did you know you liked me?”
“When you guys went to Love~Love Paradise and I had to go to Meteli to help out my parents at the farm and with Caleb. I was really lonely without you and I soon figured it out.” Laurance said, shrugging his shoulders into his tank top. He carefully reached forward and grabbed Garroth’s hand that was closest to him, sliding their palms together and interlocking their fingers, setting it down in the bare middle between the two boys. “I meant what I said earlier. I like you. We don’t have to do anything right away, I’ll just be happy with taking baby steps if you want. All I know is I want you in my life. If that’s just continuing as a best friend, or even as a lover, I don’t care. I’ll be content either way.”
Garroth decided to take the first step. “Laurance, can I kiss you?”
Laurance took no time to answer, as that would just be a waste of time. He squeezed Garroth’s hand as he leaned forward and gently pushed his lips against the other, tilting his head as he initiated it. He could feel the muscles in Garroth’s fingers relax against his own and his shoulders slumped at the pure dopamine that was released in their kiss. Garroth was the one to pull away, Laurance chasing after to ghost his lips a little, which made them only end up inches away from kissing again.
“That was better of a kiss than during the play.” Garroth spoke softly, his breath at a husky whisper while he watched Laurance. Laurance snorted at the sentence, getting distracted again by the way the both of them couldn’t keep their eyes off each other's lips.
“You did a way better job than you did that night, I could tell you that much.” Laurance spoke with a large smile, the largest it’s may have been since he was last with Garroth before he left to go to Starlight. In the moment, Garroth lifted his free hand up and placed it on the other’s sandy-like complexion that made up his skin, rubbing his thumb over the rows of freckles that sprinkled along his face. “Though I don’t know, wanna do it again so I can actually see how good of a kisser you are?”
“You absolute idiot.”
The sentence ended with a grin and ended with Laurance falling backwards onto the bed, Garroth’s lips placed firmly on his.