"How are you still a lobster?" Evan laughed as Luke and a mildly red Jonathan approached.
"You mean, how even he is gettin' better," Luke corrected, annoyed. "The last time he got burnt like that, I was certain he had gotten a full body tattoo."
A few days had flown by since the beach outing. Jonathan had survived Luke's initial outburst at him the moment he saw the reddening skin on Jonathan's body, and he had survived the sting and the burn of the initial stages of sunburn. His skin had peeled and healed, but the redness was only beginning to fade.
"And you still don't have a tan. At least it doesn't seem like you're getting one," Evan said as he surveyed Jonathan's face and arms quickly.
"I never get one. Ever." Jonathan reminded him. He looked around as he and Luke both settled into the seats opposite Evan. "Smells good in here."
"You should try the steaks. They're great." Evan smiled, almost gleefully at him.
"Are you going to have them though?"
"Nah, I'm trying to keep up with the routine now. It's so good, I'll probably fall off the wagon once I have it."
"What rout-" Jonathan began, and soon realized what Evan meant. "Oh."
"Yeah. I've already ordered, so it's all your orders now," Evan replied as he stood, heading towards the bathrooms.
"You're staring." Luke's voice warned sharply, sending Jonathan's eyes driving straight back from Evan into the opposite direction.
"I wasn't." Jonathan bit back, flushing.
"You were. And you were staring that day at the beach, too. Even before we were there." The disapproval in Luke's voice was undeniable.
"So what? He's noticeable. Why the fuck are you so riled up, Luke?"
"Because I care, and I'm worried." Luke answered simply, and paused for a good long while before he began again. "Look, I brought you here to get away from thinkin' about Liselle. You've done well so far, I'll admit, but now you're thinkin' about Evan. I could care less who you think about, really, but this is Evan. He's our friend, and he has a Sarah."
"Get to the point, Luke."
"My point is, if you go on like this, someone's gonna to get hurt. And it's happened before, so you can't say I'm worried for nothing."
Jonathan's eyes widened as a memory that he had furiously suppressed clouded his mind momentarily. His breath caught itself in his throat, and a feeling of constriction wrapped around his chest. The discomfort quickly transformed into anger within him, boiling through every droplet of blood in his body.
"Jonathan." Luke called out darkly. "There's no use staring at me like that. You know I'm right."
He's right, a soft voice echoed about in his head, and he mentally willed the muscles that he had involuntarily tensed up to relax. He began to pace his breathing slowly and steadily, counting in his head.
"Would you gentlemen like to order?" A waitress asked, staring down at the two with a notepad and a pencil in her hands.
Almost instantly, Luke's demeanor changed. As he flashed her a brilliant smile, and replied in an overly amicable tone –
"Ah, yes. Our friend mentioned that the steaks here are fantastic."
"We have gotten some rave reviews on the ribeye, sir. Would you like those?"
"Sure, two of them, both medium."
"And sides?"
"Baked rice and onion rings." Luke gently nudged Jonathan, drawing him out of his stupor.
"Uh – mashed potatoes and salad."
"Okay. Anything else?"
"No, we're good for now. Thanks," Luke beamed once more, and received an equally brilliant, yet shy smile in return. As the waitress walked away to key in their orders, the overt friendliness slowly dissipated.
"You alright, or are you still angry?" He queried in a low voice.
"Hopping mad." Jonathan murmured as he turned back towards Luke, and cracked a warm, genuine smile. Luke quickly returned his smile with his own.
"What're you ladies up to?" Evan asked as he scooted back up into his seat.
"What the fuck were you doin', taking so long in the bathroom?" Luke asked incredulously. "Were you tugging on your –"
He broke off into a united giggle with Jonathan. Evan quickly caught on, and scowled. "Fuck you guys."
The two laughed even harder, and Evan rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Did you guys manage to order?"
"Two slabs for meat, just for you." Jonathan giggled.
"For you, you mean. You're eating those," Evan retorted, raising an eyebrow. "Bet you'd love that."
This time, it was Jonathan's turn to scowl. "Fuck you," he replied, and burst into a series of giggles again.
"No, listen." Evan began, the playful grit in his voice gone. "I called up a resort earlier, and I booked a small resort house nearby the coast for the next weekend. I thought it'd be nice to have a holiday of my own, and maybe you guys can join in."
"It's… gonna be really weird if it's supposed to be your holiday with Sarah, dude." Luke commented.
"Well, here's the thing. I gave her a call straight after that, and she's dead busy until a week or two before Christmas. So… I called Craig instead, and he's up for it."
Jonathan gulped, an uneasiness beginning to rise in his chest. He would have to meet Craig. Another friend. Another person from their little group of friends that would create even more attention than he ever needed. He grimaced slightly, and looked away towards a waiter that was approaching their table with three dishes.
The waiter gently placed the dishes in front of the three men, each steaming and emanating a delicious scent from them. Evan thanked the waiter, and turned his gaze towards Jonathan once more, and answered his unspoken thoughts -
"It's alright, you know. Craig knows you well enough to keep his mouth shut and his cameras turned away. Besides, all we'll probably be doing is having barbeques, swimming, watching movies and shit like that. Nobody's looking."
Jonathan nodded, his chest slowly easing. Evan's voice had an incredibly assuring tone and quality to it, gently soothing every nerve that tensed up in his body. At the very same time, however, the way Evan had spoken had involuntarily made a different of muscle in his chest tense up and begin to race.
"Well, I'm not going to wait for you guys. I'm tucking in!" Evan announced, and cut into his grilled chicken salad joyfully. Jonathan watched as Evan gingerly lifted the small piece of chicken that dangled from his fork to his lips, and as Evan parted his lips, revealing a set of straight, white teeth. Evan bit gently into the small piece of chicken, wetting his lips gently as he did, inflaming a small, burning desire to caress them within Jonathan. The sight of Evan eating would have been a casual event for any other person, but Jonathan was left immensely lost and mesmerized by the scene. I could watch him forever, he thought to himself.
It was only until Luke had taken a good couple of bites before he noticed Jonathan's distracted blankness, and he gently nudged Jonathan's leg with his own. "Food's gettin' cold, and you're gettin' obvious," he whispered as he shoved another bite of the steak into his mouth.
Jonathan blinked, and reluctantly tore his eyes away from Evan once more. He tore into the piece of steak in front of him, and perhaps it was his own wishful thinking – but for a small moment, as he began to eat, he thought he felt a pair of warm, appreciative eyes boring into his lowered head.
"Uh… so," Evan broke the silence. "We've got to record some stuff tonight. Are you guys up for some Dead Realm?"
"I don't know about that. I've got some playthroughs to catch up on," Luke answered, his mouth full. "I'll see if I can get it finished before I join you guys."
"Jonathan?"
"I'm good." Jonathan raised his head and looked directly at Evan, sending Evan straight into peals of laughter.
"What?"
Evan lifted a napkin from the side of the table and reached over to Jonathan, dabbing gently at the corner of his lips. Jonathan felt the heat begin to flood into his cheeks, and as Evan pulled away, he willed his eyes to dart down again, embarrassed.
"You're the messiest eater I've seen since Nogla. Well, given the state of you now… You are Nogla… Ow!"
Jonathan aimed a kick at Evan's shin from underneath the table, annoyed.
"Do you really think you can take it?" Luke asked as he poked his head out from behind the sliding door. "An entire weekend with Evan in close quarters?"
Jonathan shrugged. "It's just a weekend, isn't it? It should be fine. It's not like I'm hopelessly in love or something."
Luke shook his head and shrank back behind the sliding door. As he began to slide it shut, he warned once again, "Be careful, man. Tell Evan I refuse to be anywhere near you at night. And try to keep your screaming down."
Jonathan switched on his laptop and plugged in his headset, and waited patiently as the system fully started up. When it did, he saw the Skype icon on his taskbar flash, as messages were furiously being exchanged amongst the group.
"Am I late?" He asked as he joined in the call and started up the game.
"Yeah, get in the game now!" Brock replied.
"Wait. Delirious hasn't seen the grandma before, right?" Nogla caught up in excitement. "He wasn't there when we were playing as the saggy tits grandma."
"Nobody needs to see the saggy tits banshee, Nogla, it's just you." Craig deadpanned.
"Are you guys all connected?" Evan inquired, and everyone in the call replied with an affirmative.
The game soon began, with Tyler as the ghost.
"Come here, come here, come here," Evan's voice came echoing through Jonathan's headset. Jonathan complied, and followed after Evan's character into a small spot behind a stack of blocks. After a few short moments of their characters shuffling about, Jonathan cracked.
"Damn it, Vanoss, your hole is way too tight!" He smirked.
The participants of the call burst into a loud wave of laughter, and Tyler managed to choke out between laughs, "That is by far the weirdest thing I have ever heard you say to Evan!"
The laughter continued as Jonathan continued, "Evan, move – I can't – I can't shove myself in –"
"Delirious! Stop saying shit like that or the grandma's going to find us both!"
"Grandma's already found you both, bitch!" Tyler yelled triumphantly as a withered white old lady flashed in front of Jonathan's screen, causing Jonathan to jump in his seat and yell frightfully. Not long after, Evan's restrained scream filled his ears, indicating that he too had gotten caught.
"God damn it, Delirious, it's all your fault!" Evan mock-whined.
"How's it my fault, you picked the tightest spot on the whole map!"
"You spent so much time trying to squeeze yourself into a tiny-ass hole!" Evan groaned, piqued.
Uncontrolled sniggering came from the other four, and Jonathan soon caught up and began laughing as well. Evan groaned softly, "Oh god. That's your fault too, Delirious."
"What?!" Jonathan shouted.
"Was he squeezing into a tiny asshole or your tiny asshole?" Nogla joked.
A long pause followed, and Craig bemoaned, "Why do you have to be weird, Nogla?"
"Hey, Evan rarely does shit that lets us give him shit very often." Tyler reasoned, and proceeded to reap Nogla. "GOTCHA BITCH!"
"Yeah," Brock chuckled, his voice still calm amongst Nogla's angered gibberish. "Remember when Tyler's voice broke in that video and you guys called him out on it? Then Evan did it in another one but nobody noticed or said a thing."
"No it didn't," Evan answered, his voice rough from the strain. "You guys are just looking for stuff to throw in my direction now."
"Hey, you've made me an' Delirious the butt monkeys of the team for so long, we just want ta' change it a little bit, ya know?"
Jonathan giggled softly. It was definitely enjoyable teasing Evan for once, given how many times he had been the chew toy of the group. What made the experience an entire degree more enjoyable, however, was listening to the little flustered noises that Evan made as he lost his composure. It was like an interesting sort of music to his ears, and momentarily, Jonathan caught himself thinking - he's adorable.
"It's still Delirious's fault." Evan said, as though he was in a sulk.
"What the hell did I do?"
"You've infected me with your dirty talk!"
"Evan, the way you're saying it sounds like you've caught something from Delirious," Tyler snickered, and began to mimic – "You've infected me with your dirty talk!"
Evan groaned, and went silent. It was only some time later when he finally spoke again, this time as he caught Brock underneath a table, laughing maniacally as Brock half-screamed in terror.
"How did you see me?" Brock questioned. "I was so well hidden!"
"On my screen, your ass was poking out from the sides."
"Geez, Evan, what's it with you and asses today?" Craig scoffed.
"Hey, they're great, okay, Brock just had an extra nice one that I caught."
"Sounds like Evan really likes his ass." Jonathan ribbed.
"And who was it that was talking about squeezing inside an asshole?" Evan retorted.
"That was you!" Nogla deflected, sending everyone into wild laughter once again.
Evan sighed softly. "How does Delirious and Nogla manage to laugh this kind of stuff off again?"
"Simple." Jonathan responded. "Don't let it get to you, and know that everyone else is having fun because of you."
"Wow. That's actually something smart that came out of your mouth for once, Delirious." Tyler joked.
Jonathan smiled, falling right back into a routine of appreciation for Tyler despite him picking on Jonathan ever so often during gameplay.
Over the next few rounds, screams, shouts, yells and unrestrained laughter were but common occurrences. Evan and Jonathan would hide together in constricted areas, and laugh themselves silly whenever one of them got caught off guard.
The same was happening once again as Brock played the ghost. This time, Jonathan and Evan hid behind a painting, each flanking the sides of it. As Evan stood still, Jonathan decided to place a decoy where he once stood and positioned himself beside Evan instead.
"What're you doing, man? This is so obvious! Just watch – he'll catch us the moment he sees that." Evan grumbled in a low voice.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope," Jonathan tried to sound assuring. "Just do what I did, and then- and then come right through here with me."
Jonathan directed his character to open up a small hidden space not too far away from their original hiding spots, and he was followed closely by Evan. Once the two were in the area, Jonathan closed up the hidden space, leaving the two in the small area all alone, and their characters almost kissing in the darkness.
"Delirious and Evan are probably in like some closet together or something," Craig commented a short moment after he was reaped.
"I know, I'm looking through them all to find them." Brock replied. "You guys do know my whole video is going to be full of Evan and Delirious hiding together now, right?"
"Like literally every other video of ours they'll be hiding together anyway, so it doesn't matter." Nogla said in his regular murmur. All of a sudden, a stream of incomprehensible noises came from his end, and the call was soon drowned out by laughter.
"Well, Nogla got caught, Evan and Delirious are in a closet somewhere and I'm going to die now!" Tyler shouted. A loud wail soon came from Tyler, and another portrait flickered red on Jonathan's screen, leaving only one other portrait in its original colors.
"They're going to find us," Evan complained. "This idea is a terrible idea, they know where we are!"
"They're not going to find us!" Jonathan yelled, and clicked on his right mouse button momentarily, only to see the radar flashing red and contradicting him in every way.
"You bitches are in here!" Tyler shouted gleefully, and continued – "GOT YOU BITCHES!"
A silence followed his words, and Evan guffawed, "You got a decoy, bitch!"
"Nope, Tyler, I got 'em." Nogla replied, and Jonathan's screen was suddenly filled with the image of a large anthromorphic wolf clawing away at his character. He screamed, and broke into a maniacal laughter – one that sent Evan running in the opposite direction of Nogla, only to be tagged out by Brock within mere moments.
"You idiot, Delirious, that was a terrible idea!"
"I know, I know… but we got caught last, that says something."
"Yeah…" Evan sighed. "I think I've got enough footage for an entire video. What about you guys?"
"Yeah, sure. I've got even more footage of ya guys being intimate but whatever."
"Shut up," Evan growled.
"Well," Craig yawned, "I'll better get down to some sleep before I wake up and edit this mess."
"Hold on," Evan called out. "Craig, could you hang on for a little bit?"
"Sure thing, but make it quick. I feel like I haven't seen sleep in forever." Craig moaned as the rest slowly slipped in their exhausted farewells and left the call, leaving Evan, Craig and Jonathan in it.
"Well, here's the thing – remember I said something about spending next weekend at a resort house and stuff like that?"
"Yep."
"Well, do you want to meet Delirious?"
"Why not? Is he coming?"
"Well… I'm here with Luke in L.A. and we're both coming." Jonathan nodded to himself.
"What?! God damn, this is big, you haven't shown your face to anyone in forever. Jesus, I'm going to have to take a good long look at you when the time comes."
"One more thing, uh – I didn't say this earlier to you either, Jonathan, but the one that I booked only has two rooms, so uh," Evan began again sheepishly. "Luke and you will have to share –"
"Uh-uh. Not happening. Luke specifically said he doesn't want to be anywhere in a room near me."
"Damn. Craig?"
"If Luke's not doing that then I'm not doing that either, man. It was easier with Marcel since I know him, but Luke knows something about him and refuses to room with him."
"Then Luke can share with Mini, and I'll camp out elsewhere in the house." Jonathan offered.
"Sounds about right." Craig murmured, half asleep. "Then you and Evan can bunk up in the other one and catch up on life."
"Go to bed, Craig." Evan piped up again. "I'm ending the call right here, so all of you – go to bed!"
Jonathan listened as the Skype call dropped, and he slid the headset off his head. Sighing, he ensured that the footage was saved, and shut the laptop down, before proceeding to curl up on the couch with a thin blanket around his body. He stared at the ceiling and at the fan whizzing hypnotically up above his head, thinking about Luke's continued warnings. The alarms in his head have all been so quietly going off the whole time, and he was almost getting accustomed to the discomfort of it all. It was getting almost too easy to act normally most of the time around Evan, despite the continued staring. A wave of tenderness gently washed over him, as he realized – that he might be falling into something he wasn't yet ready for. I'm going to be in trouble at this rate.
His phone buzzed and blinked in the darkness. Jonathan frowned, and stumbled over to the coffee table, snatching the device up in his hands. Evan. Evan was calling him.
Jonathan proceeded back to the couch and curled back up, propping his head up with a small pillow and accepted the call. Evan's voice came drifting through the other end of the line, calm, soothing and smooth as it always was when he wasn't playing.
"Did I wake you?"
"Nah, I wasn't even asleep yet. Weren't you going to go to sleep?" Jonathan asked, his heart beating slowly and softly underneath the blanket.
"I was going to. I couldn't. I keep thinking about things."
"Go on."
"Look, I know you're not exactly comfortable talking about it, but…" Evan sighed. "Please tell me you're not involved in a gang or anything. That day, those marks… I've seen those before, on a buddy of mine. He got into a gang and everything, and he got one of those marks because he pissed off the big guys in the gang. I don't even know how he's doing now, but I've seen those before, and I'm telling you it's not good –"
"Damn it, Evan. I'm not in a gang, okay? And you saw nothing that day. Even if you did, it doesn't matter to you, so let's just leave it at that."
He heard Evan sigh again, this time tinged with relief. "That's slightly better, I suppose. I was worried – because gangs never really do let you go. Once you're in, you're in until you die, that sort of thing. It's good that you're not in one."
Jonathan felt the heat in his cheeks rising. He was worried, dead worried.
"Look, I – I'm not in one, and I've never been in one. So don't worry about me, and worry a little more about yourself."
"What for?" The curiosity in Evan's voice seeped through.
"Geez, even Mini saw it. Luke didn't refuse to room with me for no reason, you know."
"Oh. Oh. Do you like – uh – pull a knife on people when they sleep?"
"No, I don't."
"Then what shitty sleeping habits do you have that makes Luke so wary of you?" Evan teased.
Jonathan paused for a moment, recalling the events of the day of the flight.
"Apparently, I talk in my sleep. Or rather, make noises in my sleep. A lot."
"That doesn't sound particularly bad. Heck, it probably doesn't even matter. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. I think. I barely wake up when I do fall asleep."
"It'll start mattering once I get too loud and wake you. Luke smacked me on the way here because of that." Jonathan grimaced.
"Wow. Then I'll probably smother you and then apologize to Luke for the dead body." Evan joked. "Or maybe I don't even have to apologize, he'll be glad to have you around for a bit."
"Fuck you!" Jonathan's voice came out in a growl, however, he himself was amused.
A gentle silence followed, and Evan's voice began again.
"Man, I'm actually quite interested to see you swim again. From what I saw the other day, you're a relatively good swimmer."
"It's my pride. I'm H2O, remember?"
"Hah. I can't promise that I can match up to you, though." Evan murmured.
"Why not? You're a star athlete. Besides, if you've done fine on ice, you'll do fine in water. I should be the one that can't match up to you."
A soft hum. "I hope so. Ice and water are so different, though… which reminds me that I should probably bring you skating someday."
Jonathan listened as Evan stifled a soft, fatigued yawn that he had tried so hard to suppress. "Go to bed, Evan," he mumbled, and he bade his farewell as Evan bade his.
Jonathan gently placed his phone on the small table by his head and continued to stare at the ceiling, watching the fan whirl hypnotically above his head. He was unaware of how much time had passed or how long it had been since he hung up on the phone, but slowly, his eyes began to droop with each spin of the fan blades.
Liselle looked straight at him, her green eyes shimmering with hope. Her auburn hair shined in the light, and she smiled. "It's goodbye, then."
Jonathan peered at her, a warmth sweeping over his entire body. "Goodbye, Liselle. Seeya."
Her smile widened, and she gazed tenderly at him, an image reminiscent of a proud mother gazing at her son. Slowly, she shuffled into the distance, and she was consumed by a bright light that ate away at every inch of Jonathan's skin. He shielded his eyes with his arms from the intense light until a shadow was cast upon him once more.
Evan stood, his thick arms by his sides, looking almost perfectly relaxed. "Jonathan," he whispered, and walked towards him lazily.
"Evan…I – Please don't get close," Jonathan murmured, his throat dry.
"Why not? We're best friends." Evan took another step forward.
"We are…but if you come any closer, I'll fall."
He became suddenly aware that he was right on the edge of a cliff, with rocks crumbling beneath his feat, the thin edge threatening to give way at any moment, sending him to a gruesome and bloody death.
Evan halted in his tracks and gazed at him with forlorn eyes. "Don't fall. Please. I won't come closer… but aren't we friends? Why can't I come closer if we are?"
"It's too much…It's overflowing, spilling over the edge," Jonathan whispered. His words were senseless, and he was in a state of delirium.
Evan gently held a hand out, an invitation. "Come to me, Jonathan. I'll wait."
Gosh, I'm so sorry for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed, anyway! I've started on Chapter 6 already, I was brimming with ideas and I can say it's going to be rather cute. :)