It had been days without seeing him, without speaking to him, even tho they texted, it wasn't the same. It wasn't the same as actually being able to touch the other, to hold him or to see his smile directed at him.

John was practically vibrating with excitement. He got pulled from his thoughts as Tyler's booming laugh sounded and he realised everyone was staring at him.

"What?"

An eyebrow rose as he stared back at the others, as they started laughing. "I asked if you were excited to see everybody again," Miniladd explained," But I guess only one person matters." A grin appeared on Mini's face, before a pillow, thrown by Scotty, replaced it. Mini threw it right back at the man. Chrissy expertly caught it out of the air, before slapping a smug looking Scotty with it.

"Hey!" the man yelled, feeling betrayed by his own girlfriend. "Leave him alone," she scolded them, before turning her attention to John," It's totally okay to be excited to see your best friend." John decided to ignore them all, he didn't have time to listen to them. Even tho he appreciated the support of Chrissy, she was nice.

He was busy waiting for his best friend, who had to be last to arrive as always. Why had he come so early again? He couldn't concentrate on anyone's conversations as Smitty's suggested arrival time drew near. He chose to play games on his phone and scroll through Twitter.

John was one of the first guests to arrive, which he didn't really mind. He helped Tyler with the finishing touches, setting out food. Then, when BigJigglyPanda arrived, he helped set out the fireworks. As more and more friends arrived, there was less work to do. The less work John could do, the more time he had to think. More time to think, meant more opportunities for his thoughts to lead him back to Smitty.

He was once again pulled from his thoughts as the doorbell rang. Tyler, who was still standing, went to the hallway. "I got it," he called. Out of the corner of his eyes, John could see Mini wiggling his eyebrows at him. He rolled his eyes. As the door opened, John's head practically shot up to see who it was.

His excitement diminished as he saw it was the other Canadian. He had nothing against Evan, nothing at all. He was an amazing guy, even if he was a bit of a trickster, especially in games. He was even worse when you paired the owl with the clown. It reminded him of himself and Smitty. Same kind of humour, favourite games to play, it just clicked together.

Vanoss and Delirious were both great on their own, but when they were together, oh boy, they were amazing. Joined at the hip, although worlds apart. John was happy that he at least had met his friend face-to-face, let alone he lived nearby. His thoughts were once again interrupted and he decided it was best not to space out anymore.

"I asked if you were alright," Evan said with a kind smile. John nodded his head, only now realising the Canadian said down beside him. "Yeah," he muttered," Just thinking." Evan gave him a smile and opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by Scotty yelling; "Thinking of Smitty, I bet!"

Evan looked from Scotty back to John, noticing the slight colour on the other's cheeks. "Riiiight," he drawled out," No wonder you looked so disappointed when I walked into the room." He laughed as he saw the guilty look appear on John's face. "It's okay," the Canadian said before John could apologize," I understand."

And somehow, in the well-knowing look on Evan's face, John realised that the other understood him completely. It brought a strange sense of relief. As if he wasn't the only one. He just didn't know of what. While he was busy with his inner turmoil, the doorbell rang again.

Tyler gave John a smirk as he said," I'll get it." And walked through the door to the hall. Evan gave John another smile before he leaned back, crossing his arms. The door opened and Tyler walked through, followed by a pretty tired looking Smitty.

As their eyes met, the tiredness on Smitty's face disappeared and got replaced by a blinding smile. Before John had gotten of the couch completely, his arms were full of Smitty, his vision obscured by a mop of brown hair. "I missed you, slut," John muttered. "I missed you too, fucktard."

They laughed and let go of each other. John sat back down as Smitty went to greet the rest, hugging the other Canadian. As he watched Smitty hug everyone in the room, John let his thoughts wander once more. Evan, much like himself, wasn't a touchy-feely kind of guy. Personal space much appreciated. In case of his friends, he didn't mind the hugs or arms and hands in his. With strangers, it was a whole different level.

Smitty on the other hand, liked warm hugs and friendly touches. It gave him a grounded feeling, to know they were really there beside him. He liked the attention and affection of others. It was hard not to hug the younger man back, or to reciprocate when he was showering them with affection.

Smitty had no trouble squeezing himself in between Evan and John on the two-seater. "Great," Tyler said, clapping his hands to gain everyone's attention," Now that we're all here, we get to discuss the sleeping arrangements." He paused for a moment. "I, of course, will be sleeping in my own king-sized bed in the master bedroom-" Anthony huffed a laugh. "- furthermore, there's a room with one one-person bed, 2 rooms with 2 person beds and there's the couch-" He pointed at the couch Scotty, Chrissy and Craig were sitting on. "-and a air-mattress you can blow up and place on the floor."

"I'd like to take the one person bed, if you all don't mind," Miniladd said," I get back problems easily." Scotty shrugged and said," I don't mind. But I'm claiming a 2 person bed for me and Chrissy." Tyler laughed. "Yeah, we figured," Anthony said. Scotty shrugged again, a smug grin on his face, earning him a soft slap from Chrissy on the shoulder.

Smitty turned to Evan with a stern look on his face. "You better not take the couch, young man." Evan looked slightly offended. "Nah, I'm taking the air-mattress," he said. "I claim the couch!" Panda yelled. Smitty frowned. "Who knows, maybe I'll cuddle up to the panda on the couch," Evan said, winking at the bearded man, who let out a wheezy laugh. "You better actually sleep, night owl," Smitty threatened. Both Evan and Anthony held up their hands in surrender. "Don't worry, I'll make him sleep," Panda said.

It was silent for a moment, before they started to laugh. "That sounded so oddly sexual," Tyler laughed. "Ohm would be proud of you sir Jigglesworth," Mini added as he tried to wipe away the tears of laughter. "Ohh yess," John started to moan obscenely," Take me to bed, make me sleep, daddy~" Smitty, who had managed to stop laughing, let out a startled laugh. John joined in the laughter. He didn't give two shits about whom he shared a bed with, it wasn't the first time he had and it certainly wouldn't be the last. However, it was new to him that he had a certain favourite to sleep besides.

As evening fell, they decided to play some games. After they stuffed their faces with hamburgers, it was time for some Mario Kart. And with Mario Kart came the usual rage. After a round of five, Smitty was expelled from playing. He had been trolling everybody, throwing red and blue shells, slowing down so other got hit and taking short cuts no one seem to know of. Tyler was on the verge of ripping his controller in half. With a pout and a huff, Smitty handed over his controller to John.

John, who was seated against Smitty's leg, stopped leaning backwards to concentrate on the game. He picked Shy-guy. He was less than Smitty on the trolling department, but he knew how to rile the others up. He too had a great understanding of the maps they were playing, except for Rainbow road. Nobody was good at Rainbow road.

After a round or three, John felt the hands that had previously lain lazily on his shoulders, move to his hair. He didn't need to look up to know Smitty was playing with his hair. And he wasn't going to comment on it, cause it actually felt pretty good.

At first the fingers slid through the strands, undoing the little knots here and there, then they started to tug and twist in a particular way. He could hear Smitty stifling a laugh and his curiosity peaked. He tried to look at what Smitty was doing, while still trying to keep his attention on the TV screen. Smitty chuckled softly and moved his head back to its original position, making John face the TV.

The final race finished, John ending up in 3th place, the Leaf Cup displayed on screen. "Yesss," Tyler hissed as his name was portrayed in first place, cheering for himself. As no one reacted, he looked around him. The others were occupied by looking at Smitty and John. The brunette still busy with platinum blonde hair, John had his eyes closed in bliss.

"Wait…is he braiding his hair?" Tyler blurted out. John could feel the fingers in his hair freeze as if Smitty suddenly realised that they were being watched. His eyes snapping open as he felt the finger retreat. "Tyler!" Chrissy hissed and hit the bigger man on the arm.

"What?!"

"You ruined the moment!"

As the two bickered, John turned around to look at his friend. He reached out, taking a hand in his own, stopping the nervous wringing they were doing. Smitty looked up at him and their eyes met. "Hey," John said softly," I didn't mind. You okay?" Smitty nodded and squeezed his hand.

"Sorry about that," he murmured. John frowned. "Don't apologize, you stupid Canadian," he said," I liked it." Smitty smiled at him. Then a clicking sound came out of nowhere, making them realise how quiet it had been. They both looked up to see Panda with his phone-camera aimed at them.

"What? You two are cute," he shrugged," This isn't the first or only photo I took. You should check out the group chat." Both men pulled out their phone to look. "Besides, now you know what you look like with small dreads," he said, laughing.

John let out a laugh as he saw the pictures Anthony had taken and posted. There were photos of a raging Tyler, a laughing Scotty, a weird selfie from Panda and Mini that only the Pandaman himself could've taken and one of Smitty braiding John's hair. Anthony was right, they did look cute.

John hoped Smitty wasn't watching as he changed his background to that particular photo. There were some messages from the friends that weren't at the party. He chuckled to himself as he read some of them. 'Wow, those photos are so funny' and 'What the hell is up with those chins, Panda?', even one that said 'Krii7y, I ship it!' from Nogla and of course a 'Happy you are enjoying yourselves' from Mama Moo. John sent an eggplant emoji back to Nogla and pocketed his phone. Smitty chuckled as he saw John's message, rolling his eyes at his friend, who simply shrugged.

John stood up, stretching his back, making something pop. "Ready to go to bed?" Smitty asked, getting up as well. "Only if you're ready to join me~" John purred back, wiggling his eyebrows. Smitty just shook his head, a smile on his face. "Let's go idiot," he said and dragged him along.

They said their goodnights to the others, Scotty and Chrissy following up the stairs, leaving Tyler to help Evan with blowing up the air mattress. "Tyler said it's the one's at the end of the hallway," Scotty said as they climbed the stairs. "And bathroom?" Chrissy asked. "Middle, on the right, or left depending on where you stand," John said, pointing at the bathroom door.

"You guys wanna go first?" Scotty asked. Smitty shrugged as he entered one of the bedrooms, affirming it was theirs when he saw their suitcases. "You go first," John said, walking in behind Smitty. Chrissy went through the opposite door. "Okay, good night," Scotty said. "Good night," John replied, before closing the door.

Smitty was already halfway through undressing himself. The platinum blonde sat down on the bed, staring at his friend. "Oh. Shit." Smitty suddenly muttered. Apparently, he had forgotten to unbutton his shirt and now had trouble pulling it over his head. He was kind of stuck. Only kind of.

John was about to ask what was wrong when Smitty turned towards him. There he stood, arms sticking out in front of him, halfway through the short sleeves, shirt up to his nose and partly over his head, pants down at his ankles. John couldn't help it. He began to laugh loudly.

"Some help please!" Smitty said aggravated as he tried helplessly to unbutton his shirt. John was on his back, rolling over the bed, laughing loudly. Tears were streaming down his face and his stomach began to hurt from laughing. Smitty tried pulling on his shirt, stumbling around towards the bed.

"Please."

The brunette sat down on the bed, almost falling over. John tried his best to stop laughing. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves as he chuckled. "C'mere," he said softly, pulling Smitty towards him. He swiftly unbuttoned his shirt, and then helped the other pull it over his head. Smitty let out a sigh of relief. Their eyes met and they shared a small smile. Smitty was about to say something, opening his mouth, before there was a knock on the door.

"Hey," Chrissy said, poking her head in the room," bathroom's free." Smitty nodded. "Thanks." She smiled and said; "No problem." She retreated back to her and Scotty's room. Scotty may have wondered why his girlfriend had such a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes, but he decided not to ask as she placed her lips against his. She was good at distracting him.

John and Smitty finished changing into their pyjamas, before walking to the bathroom. They met Mini in the hallway, bidding him goodnight. After brushing their teeth and finishing up their nightly routines, they went back to the room.

"Which side would you prefer- wait," Smitty said, interrupting himself," Why do I ask? Right side, cause somehow you have something against lying on the left side." He chuckled as he himself climbed in bed on the left side. "You know me too well," John said as he took to the right side. "Yeah… ever wonder if I know you too well?" Smitty said, arranging the pillows to his liking before lying down.

"Nah." John said, letting himself fall to the bed, not bothering with arranging pillows. Smitty gave him a side-eyed look as John wiggled around, rearranging himself, getting under the comforter he shared with the other. "Good." John turned his back to Smitty to turn off the lamp on the bedside table. "Hey John?" Smitty asked softly into the darkness.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything."

John just huffed in response as he made himself comfortable, lying on his side, his back towards Smitty. He felt the other move around as well, probably getting comfy himself. John hadn't realised how tired he actually was, until he felt his eyelids getting heavy and he let out a yawn. He was pulled slightly from falling asleep when he felt fingers in his hair, softly untangling the little braids that had survived all the moving around.

He wouldn't admit to anyone but Smitty that he had let out a very content sigh and fell asleep almost instantly. And he wouldn't admit to anyone how it felt to wake up in the morning, legs tangled together and Smitty's head on his chest, letting out small puffs of air that made his skin tingle. And he wouldn't tell anyone how Smitty snuggled closer to him as he tangled his fingers in the short brown curls.

Those memories were precious to him and he would keep them safe from prying eyes.