One second Harv was wondering if they'd have lasagna in the buffet today, the next some stranger was frantically shoving his number into Harv's hand. The starry-eyed blond got dragged away by his friends before the embarrassment set in, but not without shouting desperately that he wasn't dangerous.

"Man, that dude just won't give up." Trevor sighed. Harv looked up from the chicken scratch in shock.

"What do you mean?" He asked. The cafeteria was booming with activity as he followed his friends to the buffet line.

"After you left the party, he ran around asking everyone who you were." Cliff grimaced. "It was hard to watch. The team, kinda, we all got a bad vibe and didn't tell him anything." Finn had been a little overly enthusiastic, kind of like a puppy.

"Bad how?" Harv found a table for them in the corner where he'd be able to camp out without getting noticed by the kitchen staff. Trevor scrolled through his phone and showed Harv a tik tok. Harv was about to object, when a clip of Finn with some girl at a different party was playing. The commenter was cycling through clips in the background with beginning and end dates for each clip.

"It's like, totally a pattern." She said. "You're the sun and the moon; and then once the event is over it's on to the next. So fyi, no matter how much money is spent on you, you're not special. Be on the lookout."

"There's a bunch of angry ex-girlfriends in the comments too." Trevor said. "Apparently he keeps introducing people to his grandparents and then ghosting them."

"I mean, that's not great, but he just wanted to talk. Making new friends at school is hard." His two friends stared him down. "You just said there's a bunch of angry ex-girlfriends in the comments. How many ex-boyfriends are there? Zero, right?"

"Yeah, and he seems like the type to date a guy just to get a rise out of people." Cliff said. "If you want to talk to him, that's fine. It was just kind of alarming he was trying to chase you down right after you dumped Ambrosia." Harv buried his face in his hands. Right, everyone in class saw that fight. No wonder people were going out of their way to be so nice.

"I was this close to forgiving him, and then he just-" Harv cut himself off. There had to be a more tactful way to phrase it. "He basically called me a prude that wasn't ready for a relationship. I dented the wall throwing my stupid phone." He sighed. "I'm not making that mistake again, don't worry. But... thanks for looking out." He was not in a good place right now. He'd be better off focusing on work. Part of why he was so angry was Ambrosia was he was kind of right, he didn't have a lot of time to spare on a serious relationship.

But a not serious relationship sounded really appealing right now.

Finn wanted to crawl into a hole. All that fumbling was so not his style. He forgot to actually introduce himself, and he hadn't bothered to ask the person's name either. Enough people knew his family, they usually said yes on the spot when he approached him. After that whole mess in the quad, he wouldn't blame the guy for never wanting to see him again.

"I'm sure someone else would be your date to the gala." Shad said as they packed up their instruments. "There's still time."

"...he could still call." Finn mumbled. That faint glimmer of hope was what made him feel grounded. He needed to pull himself out of this weird spiral. Writing music hadn't been the same since whatsherface dunked on him and walked out. Pretty much anything he used to do in his free time wasn't making good art. All that was left was staring at the wall or talking to his family. "What are you doing after?"

"Nothing." Beatus kicked the dolly his drums were on and wheeled it out of the room. Shad grimaced, and looked anywhere but Finn.

"I have an exam tomorrow, so, yeah." Shad inched toward the door and bolted.

Finn trudged out of the theater. Fluorescent lights washed out the night sky. There was less activity, as the odd student made their way back to the dorm. The walk back was cold and silent, with no warm lights coming from the school buildings. He entered the parking garage, and flopped into the driver's seat. Cycling through his notifications, he couldn't shake the sinking pit in his stomach. There were no new texts from an unknown number. He queued up his music, and shifted into drive. Every so often, he found himself skipping a song, as if it would make the drive faster.

By the time he was back home, the sprinklers were watering the lawn for the night. He had to take the long way around to his room. Easier to mope in peace if he entered his room from the porch door, than risk running into someone inside. He stepped around the chaotic piles of clutter. The maids knew better than to go poking through his stuff when he wasn't there. Just as well, the space felt less empty with stuff all around him.

bring

Finn answered the phone and held his breath. If this was another robocall he was going to lose it.

"...Hello?" Finn heard crinkling on the other end of the phone. "Shoot, was that actually an eight instead of a three? I'm sorry, I must have-"

"Hi!" Finn collapsed onto his bed. "I wasn't sure you were going to call." Thank goodness he had though. "Uh, my name's Finn by the way."

"Harv." He should probably write that down somewhere. He was shit with names. "So, you a fan of rugby or something?"

"What's that?" Finn threw Harv on speaker phone as he found one of his many unlabeled notebooks. Wait, he could just add him as a contact, that would be easier.

"I'll take that as a no then." Harv snickered. "I was just trying to figure out why you wanted to talk to me?" Tiny denim shorts, treating someone like a rag doll.

"You just seemed interesting." Finn slapped his forehead. That didn't sound remotely convincing.

"Yeah, the guys said you were really determined to find me Saturday." Harv said with a laugh.

"No," Finn took him off speaker and whispered into the receiver, "what did they say?"

"Nothing much." Harv hummed. "I did hear you offered to eat a ball of wasabi if someone would give you my number." Those rats, Finn didn't need their help embarrassing himself in front of Harv. He had already done that enough today.

"They were the ones who brought up the wasabi." Finn grimaced. "It hurt like hell, I do not recommend it. You're friends with those heathens I take it?"

"Yeah, actually." Harv laughed. "Sorry about that, they've been a little over protective since the breakup." Right, that was why Harv had left the party in such a hurry. "You'd never date two people at the same time, right?"

"No." Finn wrinkled his nose. "Apparently I've yet to master dating one person, so... yeah, not for me."

"Cool, cool..." Harv sighed. "I'm kind of free tomorrow, if you don't mind bowling alleys."

"Oh?" Finn burrowed into the pillow.

"I work the mid-shift that day." Harv said. "We could hang out after though. I get an employee discount, and I know which games in the arcade put out the most tickets." Finn had band practice that day. "I get off at 4:30."

"Which bowling alley." Finn couldn't help himself. Harv sent him the address and he quickly told the group chat he was sick. "I'll be there."

Nowadays, the bowling alley was trying its best to pander to do everything at once. There was a small collection of arcade games right by the entrance, a roped off bar to the left with sparse seating and fourteen lanes across from a cluttered food stand. Finn had expected to get overstimulated the second he walked in, but Tuesday evenings seemed kind of slow.

Harv was washing up the last of the soda glasses when he saw Finn scan the faces in the room. He waved Finn over, almost dropping a glass when Finn sprinted up to the consessions counter.

"Hi!" Finn hopped onto a bar stool. The seat rotated him toward the alley from the momentum, so he swiveled back to face Harv. "Did I come too early?" He leaned forward, elbows on the counter, and jaw cradled in his hands. "You're still in a branded polo and cleaning things."

"A little." Harv grinned. "I'm almost done." He slid the empty drying rack next to the sink. "Sorry we had to meet up at my work. I'm in the middle of a six day stretch, so once I get to the dorms, I kind of pass out."

"It's fine." Finn flinched as a bowling ball crashed into pins. "I've never bowled before, usually more of a theater kind of guy."

"Your family never took you?" Harv tossed his apron to the side.

"My family's idea of a good time is large charity functions." Finn grimaced. "Lots of sitting and listening to other people talk." Harv slipped out from behind the counter and put his hands in his pockets. He nodded to a lane at the far end. "You're not going to change first?" Harv looked down at his red and khaki uniform and shrugged.

Theaters were dark, cramped and quiet; the perfect environment to snuggle up and whisper in each other's ear. Here, Finn had to shout over a chorus of other voices and crashes. There were too many places to sit, to the point he felt he was orbiting Harv more than he was sitting with him.

The purple ball he'd picked out was a few pounds too heavy for him, but he was really picky about color. It seemed simple enough, roll the giant marble down the aisle and hope to hit something. After his first few tries, he had to come to terms with the fact his ball was magnetized to the gutter.

"Aww, it's okay." Harv said as Finn stormed past.

"Oh, like you're so good?" Finn crossed his arms and plopped himself on the bench.

"No, I'm terrible." Harv picked up a ball with ease and managed to knock down one pin.

"But you work here." Finn marveled at how fast Harv was able to shoot for the gutter.

"Yeah, but I don't stay after, usually." He shyly sat back by the console.

"...You're not sucking just to make me feel better, are you?" Finn raised a brow. He edged over to where his ball was spat out, the whole while Harv watched with a bemused twinkle in his eye.

"No." He leaned back to look at the wall of trophies. "I'm kinda glad, it'd be really embarrassing to invite you out here just to get shown up." Finn narrowed his eyes, but chose to let it go. Instead lugging the ball to the line and heaving it with all his might. It thumped against the wood, rolling agonizingly slow down the aisle before tipping into the gutter.

What was the point of all this? Harv was watching him from behind the console with a dopey grin, but not in a mocking way. Well, as long as Harv was having a good time, he supposed that was all that mattered. As he picked up his ball, an older man marched toward him.

"You're going to break your fingers boy." He mimed the proper hold in the air. "You gotta hold it like this, and roll it underhand." Finn froze, this guy had to have been playing at least four lanes away from them, if not more.

"We're just having fun Phil." Harv rolled his eyes. The man kept rambling on, and demonstrating to Finn what he was doing wrong. Harv caught Finn's eye and mouthed 'regular' to him while tilting his head toward Phil. "Okay, we'll keep that in mind. I can show him." He joined Finn, gently rearranging his fingers as the old man went back to his own lane. "Sorry about that, the league guys can get kinda protective over 'the game'."

Finn wasn't put out at all. This was the closest he had gotten to Harv without making a fool of himself. Before he could come up with an excuse for Harv to stay close, Harv let go and returned to his seat. The ball effortlessly rolled into the gutter. Finn stalked back towards Harv.

"I can put the bumpers up." Harv sank into his chair. Finn came up behind him to lean on the back of Harv's chair. His arms pressed against Harv's shoulders. "If, uh, if you think it would help." Finn leaned forward to meet Harv's eyes.

"Don't patronize me." Finn said. "Let's make things more interesting. If you win, I have to treat you to dinner." Gift giving was usually Finn's preferred way of wooing people, but it was hard to tell if that would cross some sort of line.

"And if you win?" Harv grinned.

"You're just a glass half full kind of guy, aren't you?" Finn looked up at the ceiling as Harv laughed at him. "If I win, you have to get me one of those squishy things from the claw machine. A purple one." He highly doubted that would happen.

Finn tried not to seem disappointed by the purple penguin Harv gave him. Once he tried to aim for the gutters, suddenly he was able to hit the odd pin. He still wasn't fully convinced Harv hadn't been faking. It was a cute little thing, even if Harv cheated and grabbed it from the backstock.

"There's still places open, if you wanted a bite to eat." Finn said as they walked out into the parking lot. They had played a bunch of games, but he still felt he barely knew anything about Harv.

"No thanks, I can't really afford to go out to eat right now." Finn's designer shoes and branded jacket screamed he'd never set foot inside a McDonalds to Harv.

"What are you doing Saturday?" Finn led with his shoulder, bumping into Harv playfully.

"Why?"

"There's this charity dinner my grandparents are hosting. Normally I'd take my girlfriend, but... I don't have one of those at the moment." Finn winced. Not his subtlest strategy. "My bandmates are permabanned from events, but if you wanted to go, there'd be a free plate."

"Sure." Harv said. "Thanks for coming out tonight, all my other friends think bowling is lame." Finn paused in the middle of the driveway.

Friend.

Sure, he had told Harv they should be friends, but it was hard to ask him out with two goliaths hovering around him like bodyguards. He thought his flirting had been fairly obvious. It wasn't like he had been lying when he said he wanted to be friends, he just also wanted to act on the giddy feeling he got whenever he was around Harv. That would take a while to burn out.

"No problem." He could do this. He squeezed the penguin doll in his pocket. It was his own fault for not being clear from the start. Tonight, had been fun, but it definitely wasn't a date.

Harv threw his keys into the bowl. The door to his dorm clicked behind him. He had Cliff on the phone, absolutely frustrated.

"I think he's straight." Harv raided his cupboard for prepackaged ramen. "He wouldn't let me pay for anything, and when I suggested we were just friends he shrugged." Literally any sort of advance he made; Finn politely ignored. Which was better than getting scowled at or starting a fight, but it still sucked. His friends had been so certain he was after Harv's attention too. He really needed to be better about trusting his gut on these things.

"I thought you were taking a break from dating?" Cliff said. A kitten mewed to get his attention while he tried to console Harv. Trevor was usually better at these things, but he was at work.

"I was." Harv slammed the cabinet door shut. "I am." Cliff had been the most vocal about Harv taking a break. "I mean, he's cute and there, and available... Just not available to me." He was probably waiting for the benefit to be over before finding a new flavor of the week.

"It's a sign man," Cliff said, "you have to give it time. You remember Destiny?" Boy did Harv remember. He had to watch his friend get used for six months before she dumped him for her ex. It had been so hard to watch.

"I've been careful." Harv hovered around the boiling pot. "I'm not that disappointed." It would have been so perfect though.

"No man, you're the one acting like Destiny."

"This is completely different." Harv tried not to snap. This was a sensitive topic for Cliff, it wasn't something he'd bring up lightly. "I'm over Ambrosia. I dumped him, remember? I'm just... tired of overthinking everything and feeling like shit. I thought going out would be good for me, making me feel more like myself again."

"Dude... I can't tell you what to do." Cliff sighed. "What happened to you sucked. None of us expect you to be okay right away." Harv pulled his noodles off the stove before the pot boiled over. "At least you get free food."

"...that's true." Harv marked the day on his calendar. He had no idea how fancy benefit dinners were, just that they were formal events. His one suit jacket didn't really fit him anymore, but he was sure he could get by without it. "Ugh, I work all the way up to the event. Why did I agree to do this?"

"I'm telling you, give it more time."