Notes:
Here we go, the second chapter! The third one is already finished and will be up in a few days (if not tomorrow). Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter! It truly means a lot and I'm glad that you like the story so far!
I would like to thank Effie, who is joining me as co-author from this chapter on, and Niamh, our beta reader and one of the best writers I know. Without these two this fanfiction wouldn't be the same. In fact, it probably wouldn't exist in the first place.
Now please enjoy! Constructive feedback is always appreciated!
Chapter 2 – The Play
PJ stuffed his books into his backpack. While leaving the lecture hall, he waved Sophie and Louis goodbye. Just a few minutes later, he met Jamie in the hallway. They left the university building together, neither of them feeling like talking much, a blanket of contentment in the air.
PJ appreciated that about his friend. They didn't always need words to communicate.
Eventually, it was Jamie breaking the comfortable silence between them.
'Are you okay? I'm sensing something's going on.'
Of course Jamie would always notice when something was off about him.
'Nah, it's alright,' PJ said. 'It's just my flatmate, he's acting a bit weird.'
'He's being weird? You do know that it was you who literally inhaled a banana in a video last week, right?'
PJ smiled at Jamie's consequential laugh, but signalled him to continue.
'You've got to give me more- I mean, what did he do?'
PJ shrugged his shoulders.
'Nothing, it's-It's just hard to get him sometimes.'
'Not doing the dishes, huh?' Jamie asked with a grin, trying to cheer him up.
'Ah, no.' PJ laughed. 'He's never really done them in the first place.' He took a pause. 'I don't want to bother you. It'll probably sort itself out anyway.'
There was a moment of silence before Jamie replied: 'I can tell you don't really want to talk about it right now, but you know you can talk to me about anything. Anytime.'
PJ smiled at his friend, warm eyes looking into his own. 'Yeah, I know. Thanks, Jamie.'
Soon, at their usual spot in front of a bakery, they went their separate ways, a few blocks away from PJ's.
As he came closer to his flat he felt a particularly bothersome headache coming on. No doubt Chris wasn't helping his attempt at living a healthier life. Sadly quite the opposite was the case.
The more PJ thought about it the more he was convinced that Chris was even more detrimental to his health than sugar.
As soon as he opened the front door he could smell coffee and hear various voices coming from the kitchen. Apparently Chris had some people over.
Well, this is a completely new scenario , PJ thought sarcastically to himself. He quickly put his shoes next to the front door and then poked his head into the kitchen to say hello to whoever was with him this time.
'Hi, do you, by any chance whatsoever, have any coffee left?' PJ asked with as much enthusiasm as he could muster within himself at that exact moment.
Five pairs of eyes looked over at him. PJ's smile wavered slightly, but he tried to keep it cool. Chris sat on the window sill facing the room, one leg brought up with his chin rested on his knee while the other dangled, nearly touching the floor.
His visitors, three guys and one girl, sat around the table and looked at PJ in surprise. They all, including Chris, had sheets of paper in their hands, littered with rough handwriting.
'Hiya-I suppose you're PJ?' one of the guys asked and just a second later added: 'and yeah - Chris made enough coffee for the british army on a one-week camping trip!'
Murmurs of laughter were heard around the table.
'Um, that's me' PJ replied, then greeted his flatmate who hadn't said anything when he had entered the room: 'Hi, Chris."
Like most days they hadn't seen each other all day and even now Chris hadn't paid him any attention. Sometimes it made PJ sad how rarely they talked nowadays.
It hadn't always been like this. Almost a year ago, when they had just moved in together, they played video games sometimes in the evening. PJ wasn't sure when it had changed, or even why. Despite having lived with each other for a year they only barely knew each other, it seemed.
Chris looked at PJ and cracked a small smile. 'Hi, Peej. Y'alright?'
Before PJ could reply, another guy popped his head out the bathroom door, a few steps away from the kitchen.
'Oh my god, you are PJ, Chris' famous flatmate?'
In what felt like the blink of an eye, the man switched off the light in the bathroom, closed the door and came over to PJ, who was still standing in the kitchen door, now even more confused. That, by far , had been the most enthusiastic greeting he'd heard in awhile.
And he didn't even know the guy.
'Uh, I guess so,' was all PJ could think to reply.
'Just, wow.'
PJ raised an eyebrow at the stranger in front of him.
'Chris has told us a lot about you.'
'Shut up , Logan.' Chris hissed.
PJ turned his head back to Chris, who was still looking up from the piece of paper in his hand, but wasn't looking at anyone in particular. His face was slowly turning a light shade of scarlet.
PJ had never seen him lose his cool like this.
In the corner of his eye PJ saw the others looking at each other with looks filled with a secret meaning.
Something weird is going on here, PJ thought to himself, but he couldn't quite figure out what .
'Heh, don't worry about it," Logan said. "If I was into guys and had a - well quite frankly, handsome flatmate like you, I'd probably be talking about him all the time too!"
'I said, shut up !' Chris said through clenched teeth, to whom PJ supposed to be Logan.
'You really shouldn't be talking like this in the presence of a future filmmaker , Chris. You know that, right?' the only girl in the room said with a grin on her face, her expression showing awe and warmth.
'She's right,' one of the other guys at the table said. 'He's a potential employer to all of us.'
'You're actors too?' PJ asked, and finally stepped into the kitchen. Logan followed this move.
'Hell yes we are! We're in the same program as Chris,' another guy said.
'You should hire us all', added the girl. PJ saw her subsequent blush at her outburst.
'That depends.' PJ said with a grin, seemingly oozing calm- well, attempting to- 'Are you good?'
'We could give you a little show, so you can judge for yourself' Chris said, unimpressed as usual. His sudden full attention still made PJ jump a little.
Looking at Chris PJ was surprised when he didn't see the usual smug smirk on the other man's face, but instead, an unknown look of determination glazed in his eyes. Briefly lifting the sheet of paper in his hand, Chris added, almost making up for any sign of weakness: 'I mean, why not? We have to practise this shit anyway'.
'Yes, PJ - pretty please?' the girl begged, with what he would describe as puppy eyes . 'Maybe you could give us some feedback on our writing, too?'
'Sure, I'd love to!' PJ said and smiled at everyone in the room before a sudden frown appeared on his forehead just a second later.
'Wait - you wrote it yourselves?'
'Yeah! It's a group project. We're supposed to write a play and bring it on stage', Logan said.
'But we're actors, honest!' the girl blurted. 'Kind of. Well, to be honest, we've been kinda struggling with the writing part'.
She was about to continue when Chris jumped off the sill, interrupting her.
'Can we practice the scene now or would you rather braid each others hair instead and tell PJ all your secrets?' He was obviously getting antsy.
PJ didn't know if it was because of his presence or if he was in some kind of mood because of the project.
'Everyone, get in position. PJ, sit down.'
The energy in the room shifted immediately from a state of calm to excitement, when everyone got up from where they were sitting and started to move the table and chairs to the side.
Well - everyone but Logan. He just stood and snorted, but didn't move an inch.
Chris looked at him as though he was about to kill him at any given moment.
'You really got this, Chris. Amazing, truly.' Logan drawled and slowly clapped his hands a few times.
'He's so rude, isn't he, PJ?' Logan walked over to him and offered him a chair in his own kitchen. 'But believe me, he's not really . What he actuallywants to say is that he hopes you enjoy the show and just how much he'd appreciate your professional opinion.' He grabbed a cup from the kitchen counter and winked, adding - 'And he also wants to give you some of this-' while pouring PJ coffee from the coffee pot. '-He's made it with lots of love.' Logan smirked at him.
PJ finally got to sit down, grinning back at him, but feeling he wasn't in on something.
'Thanks. I'm sure that's exactly what was on his mind.' PJ looked at Chris from the corner of his eye and smirked, expecting the other to smirk back, with an air of all too familiar self-assurance.
But instead he caught Chris looking at him and Logan with wide eyes, which he quickly lowered to his feet once he met PJ's gaze and then, suddenly seeming to be deep in thought.
PJ blinked in confusion, his brow furrowing. The others pretended not to notice.
But then a second later, their eyes met again and the corner of Chris's lips turned into a lurid smirk. Now, that was what PJ had expected.
But he absolutely didn't think he'd experience what happened next, when Chris took a long stride and came over to him, gently but firmly pushing Logan out of sight.
"Alas, of course, that's exactly what I wanted to say. But, please dear," Chris whispered, his voice dripping with suggestion which would have anyone burning red-
" Enjoy the show , Peej."
Chris smiled at him, bordering what one would count as leering; a mockery of Chris' own opinion on his frigidness. He dropped comically to a deep curtsy.
It would have been a pretty damn convincing smile, if only it had fully reached his eyes.
Now if that was what Chris could do, PJ really was keen on seeing him act for real.
Here we go , he thought to himself when Chris turned his back to him and joined the others.
The show could begin.
If only PJ knew which one.
The play itself was about a hotel on the verge of bankruptcy because of an invasion of cockroaches. Now all the staff members, including the twenty two year old nephew of the owner, were trying to get rid of the insects.
Things went from bad to worse when the owner had to leave for an unexpected trial in court, leaving his inexperienced nephew in charge of the hotel for a week.
As far as PJ could see, they had combined comedy and dramatic elements.
The atmosphere had changed completely and it wasn't just because they had changed into characters. PJ could feel how serious it was to them. Their eyes were focussed and he physically felt somewhat alone in the kitchen, as if they had vanished into their own little world without him.
PJ caught himself laughing a lot - especially at Chris, who played the role of the hotel owner's nephew, who tried his best at different methods of exterminating the roaches, but to very little success.
Suddenly, the girl moved to the front of the room in a very dramatic way and said: 'These nasty little things ruined all of my clothes! Couldn't they have killed me instead?'
And that was when PJ could see Chris lighten up and say: 'Hold on! What if we make you sound less like Scarlett O'Hara on crack and we do it a bit more like this.'
Having said this, Chris stepped into the middle of the scene, moving in a surprisingly realistic albeit slightly exaggerated feminine way and with eyes that left no doubt about how immersed he was in what he was doing.
'Now it's personal, those little monsters have ruined my favourite gown, I will step on them until my last pair of good shoes gives in. This is a fight to the death!'
PJ tried to focus equally on everyone, but he noticed his attention slipping onto Chris more than he would have thought he would. He just couldn't help it. He knew talent when he saw it. Especially Chris' awkward, sarcastic, yet charismatic acting as the nephew was just so - spot-on.
In the twenty minutes of their play they all were either completely merged into their roles, changing lines when they didn't work, or snickering whenever one of them broke character. The dramatic atmosphere, punctuated with playful silliness, was quite the enticing mixture and it convinced PJ that being an actor wasn't so much a profession, but more like a diagnosis.
(And that was saying something, considering all the wacky -but, amazingly creative- people he knew from his study program, and the weird stuff they came up with everyday, unique oddities being part of their daily routine.)
But still, the colourful group in front of him now painted out everything.
And PJ couldn't help but scribble someone in highlight .
PJ had never seen Chris so taken up with anything. There was a spark in his eyes when he fell into giggles. It instantly made him look younger…and sort of cute, PJ had to admit. And that certainly wasn't an attribute PJ would have used before to describe the other. Attractive? Unfortunately, yes, he was, and even more so at this very moment. But cute? Not that PJ had been aware of until now.
All of a sudden PJ felt really warm. He had to conceal a smile.
'Ok, that's all we got so far,' one of the actors PJ hadn't been introduced to said.
Then Logan beamed at PJ from across the room. 'So, what do you think?'
Everyone's attention turned to PJ.
The whole group and PJ spent the next twenty minutes exchanging ideas about the play and altering the script accordingly. After being careful about giving too much negative feedback for the first couple of minutes, he quickly realised that they did actually want his honest opinion.
'What do you guys think of monsters?', he suddenly heard himself ask.
'Did you just say monsters, dude?', one of the guys replied incredulously.
'Yeah, I just had this thought - what about a hotel catering to monsters?'
'That sounds absolutely insane.', Chris said dryly. '-You're insane.'
'Thank you, I appreciate it.', PJ replied with obvious pride. When their gazes met for a moment, he grinned at Chris. Chris just rolled his eyes, shaking his head at him, but this time he was smiling slightly, yet again making PJ feel strangely warm inside.
The rest of them were so keen on his idea that PJ actually had to get a few of his monster sketches from his room to show them what the creatures could look like.
'Does that mean I might get to play a hermit crab? I guess that's all my dreams coming true right there', the girl said. 'To hell with the Scarlett O'Hara on crack!'
While they had been playing PJ had found out her name was Anna.
PJ was surprised how well they perceived his (admittedly sometimes rather weird) suggestions. Chris was writing everything down, crossing out lines and adding whole passages as everyone agreed on the changes.
They were so deeply engrossed in working on the play that they completely lost track of time.
'Shit, it's almost ten, I really gotta go' Anna said. 'Or else my boyfriend is gonna think I'm cheating on him with Chris." She winked at him playfully.
Chris smirked. 'Stay. Sounds like fun. I'm in.'
Anna smacked his arm playfully before smiling at him warmly. 'Of course you are.' She took her notebook and stuffed it into her bag, now somewhat lost in thoughts.
'As if I would ever cheat on him. He's so sweet and we've only been together for a week.' she said more to herself than anyone else, her smile growing.
Still smiling, she turned to PJ.
'You know what?', she started. 'It's been a real joy to have you around. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say we would be absolutely honoured to have you join us again if you have some time.'
'She's right, and we could never have come up with this stuff on our own,' another one of the actors added.
PJ was about to reply when Logan cut in: 'I totally agree. But our next meeting can't wait. I need to see more of PJ's drawings like, yesterday . So I'd say this calls for a huge party tomorrow!'
'You do realise, that this doesn't even make sense, right?' Chris asked Logan matter-of-factly. 'And everything calls for a party with you.'
Logan shrugged at him. 'Life is short.' Then he grinned at his friends. 'So, you in or not?'
'Of course, I would never want to miss out on a party with you jokers,' Anna said.
'Me neither,' one of the guys chimed in.
'Sure thing,' the third agreed.
PJ took a glance at Chris, who was still gaping at Logan in disbelief, then back at Logan.
'Yeah, okay, I mean, why not?'
'Great.' Logan said, his grin widening.
PJ was starting to like this guy. He was so chirpy, it made for a nice change. The fact that he seemed to be good friends with Chris was actually kind of interesting, considering the fact they seemed to be quite different in nature.
Or maybe , PJ thought, he just didn't know Chris very well after all .
'So, then would you mind if we all came over here again?' Logan asked. He was looking up at PJ and Chris with large, pleading eyes.
PJ chuckled at his enthusiasm.
Chris sighed. 'Ok, whatever. If PJ is fine with it.'
'Yeah, sure.' PJ nodded and took his phone in order to open the chat to Jamie. 'I'm gonna text some more friends and tell them to be here at seven if that's alright with you lot.'
