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The first thing you notice when you wake up is that you’re tucked comfortably in your bed. The second thing you notice is how bad your head hurts.
The previous night comes back to you in brief flashes. A night spent with good friends and someone more. The sting of alcohol down your throat as the celebratory mood raged on in your little apartment. The joy you felt as some of your friends indulged in drinks with you. The noise complaint your RA so graciously banged on your door to give…
But enough reminiscing on yesterday's memories, says your headache as it returns with a painful thrum. You're tempted to try to go back to sleep and rest it off, but then you hear the sound of familiar voices from the room over and you know that, willingly or not, you won't be getting back to sleep. Maybe you can take something to help with your headache while you're out there.
You swing your legs off the bed and double check that you're wearing clothes, because you can never be too sure what you’ve done after a night of drinking. You stand up and almost collapse under your weight.
Another memory of last night. Your body was heavy and your mind felt weightless, telltale signs that you're getting to your limit. You called it quits before anyone else, joyously wishing everyone goodnight and then going straight to your room to sleep the alcohol off. You had changed into the closest set of clothes that looked like pajamas — because no matter how tipsy or sleepy you were, you were not sleeping in jeans — and put them on without checking what they were.
And frankly, you still can’t be bothered to check further. Your social battery is itching to be depleted.
You open your door and step into the hallway. Body still heavy with sleep, you lean against the wall for support as you walk down the hallway to the main room. As you expected, the boys are all here and if you had to guess, they probably have been all night. Your group hangouts sometimes stray too far into the night for them to get to their own apartment, so they’ve been crashing at your’s and Deja’s apartment more. It’s a familiar enough sight that nobody really comments on it anymore.
Percy cuts himself off mid-sentence the moment he sees you round the corner. He looks at you with unmistakable fondness. “Hey, you.”
You smile at him with matching warmth. You rub the sleep from your eyes to see him properly and attempt a greeting. “Hey you… yourself?”
He chuckles. You wave sluggishly at everyone else in the room — to Deja and Cameron first, of course — then to the other two boys. Deja, sitting at the island in the kitchen, smiles at you in silent greeting while Cameron leans out from behind her and gives you their usual cheerful “Good morning!”
Perched on one of the couch armrests, Elio mimics Cameron's greeting and Jamie chimes in about how he hopes you slept well after last night. You involuntarily clutch your head as another wave of pain washes over you.
Jamie smiles apologetically. “I promise I didn’t mean to induce that.”
“Do you want something for that? I can check what we have,” Deja asks but doesn't wait for your answer, already off to check the medicine cabinet. You murmur a weak thanks.
You manage to push yourself off the wall and you walk about halfway into the room before you realize something is wrong.
You expected the conversation to continue to flow when you came out, but everyone’s voices slowly died down until complete silence filled the room. You get a sudden sense of dread that you did something weird last night and they’re all trying to skirt around it instead of bringing it up. A feeling you can’t blame them all for, knowing how familiar you are with it yourself.
But that doesn’t make this situation any less scary.
Your head snaps to face the boys with newfound urgency. “I’m so sorry for whatever I said la—” you begin to shout, but stop mid-sentence once you see Percy and Elio struggling to contain their laughter. Jamie does a better job at it; he only has to stifle a few giggles. At your confused look, Elio has the decency to try and avoid your gaze, but he still barely holds it together.
It's Percy who cracks first. He covers his mouth as his shoulders shake with laughter and points at your shirt. Your eyes widen and all feelings of fear disappear as you rush to grip the ends of your shirt, pulling it outward to get a look at the print on it.
You hear Cameron swear from behind you and the sound of something shattering.
See, something you loved about Cameron was that they loved buying stupid things and loved giving people said stupid things as gifts. So one day maybe a month ago, when they came across a certain shirt online, it was like a lightbulb lit up in their head. They knew who it was for. If only because they knew their other choice wouldn't wear it.
And that shirt? Simple, short-sleeved and black with the saying ‘say hey if you're gay’ written in bright white lettering on the front, with the ‘gay’ being in rainbow for additional effect.
If you were to turn around, you’re sure you would see the beads of sweat forming at Cameron’s brow.
“Sage,” Cameron starts, sounding like they're holding back tears and laughter at the same time, “I am so, so sorry—”
A smooth, teasing voice speaks over Cameron’s frantic apologies. You know he has that almost-infuriating smile on his face and you're not even looking at him. You can hear it in his voice, the way it curls at the end.
"Hey."
All eyes in the room snap towards Percy. He’s leaned back into the couch and has an arm resting on the top. His lips have, sure enough, twisted into his usual grin, all too pleased with himself.
And with that, Elio bursts into laughter.
“Percy. Percy . You— you can’t keep doing this, man,” Elio chokes out in-between his laughter, “It's not good for anyone's heart.”
"I can blame it on the alcohol this time, at least."
"I don't remember you drinking," Jamie chimes in.
“Well I'm sure most of us don't remember a lot. And if your memory’s fine, maybe I just did some shots while you weren't looking. Did you think about that?”
“I would have smelt it on your breath last night.”
“Oh yeah? Why don’t you come and check again—”
You thank whatever god might be listening that your friends get distracted by Percy’s antics. Face warm with embarrassment, you curl into yourself and you hear some quick movement from behind you. The sound of her shoes on the kitchen tiles tells you it’s Deja, likely coming to check on you, but the sound slows once she hears the laughs you try to muffle through your hand.
Deja sighs, relieved. “Get a room, you two,” she says to Percy and Jamie, who are currently engaged in a fierce battle of over-the-top kissing noises and half-hearted ‘ get away from me! ’s.
She crouches down to your height. “You ok?” she asks with a smile, “I can kick them out if you want. Everyone, that is. Or just Percy and Cam.”
You two share a laugh. “This is embarrassing but not more embarrassing than saying something weird when I'm drunk,” you whisper back.
“Well, I stayed sober so I can confirm you didn’t say anything outside your usual weird,” she playfully nudges your side.
You smile at her. You take a deep breath and stand up straight. Percy stops mid-grab at Jamie and snaps his attention back to you, followed closely by everyone else. You point in their general direction and purse your lips to hide your embarrassed smile.
“I'm going to go change and then we should all pretend this didn't happen,” you tell them all with the best puppy-dog eyes you can muster up, “ please .”
You're treated with a round of everyone's affirmations. Elio and Jamie nod, Percy shoots you a ‘ yep ’ as Deja stands up and pats your shoulder and Cameron gives you another apology.
With that shitshow effectively diffused, you stagger back to your room and slam the door behind you.
“If you change your mind, let me know!” Deja shouts, voice muffled by the wall between you and tone laced with humor, but you know she actually would throw them out if you asked.
With your back to the door, you sink down to the floor and steady your breaths.
Your phone buzzes. Two new messages. You tap on Cam's icon.
Cam: I REALYL AM SORRY SAFE
Cam: ILL NEVER GET YOY A SHIRT LIKE THAT AGAIN
Cam: ALSO YOU DIDNT SAY ANYTHIGN WEIRD LAST NIGHT I PROMISE
You sigh fondly and quickly type out a reply.
sage: its ok cam!! i should've checked what i was wearing im not mad at you i promise
You send them a few hearts in a separate message before you check your other text.
perce: sorry i couldnt resist
perce: teasing you is so fun and that was a golden opportunity
sage: percy tozaki you are so much to handle sometimes
perce: are you speaking from experience by any chance
sage: 😭percyyy
perce: fr though im sorry ill make it up 2 u
sage: you dont have to do that really
sage: you know what i can and cant handle by now, i just wasnt expecting that so early in the morning
sage: which might be on me because i know how you are by now haha
perce: oh
perce: can i make it up 2 you anyway
perce: cause i just so happen to have 2 tickets for a concert for one of those bands you like
perce: which i also happen to like
perce: if you catch my drift
More warmth blooms in you. You hold your phone against your chest for only brief a moment before you bring it up again, excitedly tapping your thumbs against the little keypad.
sage: you really wont miss an opportunity will you haha
sage: ill take you up on that offer c:
His reply is instant.
perce: its a date then 💋