Poor timing.

So here’s the thing. I love my boys, I really do. Thomas, Kevin, Ben and Mark are very special to me, if in a very different way to the girls. I love hanging out with them and being able to be… someone else. Not in the sense that the way I act with them is fake or real, but in the sense that we all are different people depending on who we’re with. You don’t act the same way at your job than you do at home, and you don’t talk to your friends and your girlfriend the same way. Mileage may vary, but I know I can tell Thomas he’s a fucking idiot and we’ll all have a laugh. If I were to tell Grace she’s a fucking idiot I’d be at a constant risk of having my dick chopped off from then on. It’s not even that I WANT to call Grace that, it's just that it isn’t natural, that’s not how our relationship works. So yeah, hanging out with the boys is great because it’s very refreshing. That said, these guys were the last people I wanted to see right now.

“You all have awful timing, you know that?” I told them to their faces after I answered the door.

Thomas, Kevin, Ben and Mark all looked me up and down, no doubt checking my clothes. I was wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt with a short-sleeve shirt over it. Casual but flashier than usual.

“What? We were told you were sick and we came to check on you!” Thomas said. “But you look like you’re ready for a date.”

“I was sick for two days,” I told them. “I’m feeling better since this morning. And yeah, I do have a date.”

“Told you we should’ve texted him,” Mark said.

The guys all grumbled and I started to feel bad. I let out a sigh. “Look, I have something to do before my date. Do you guys want to check out how the house is going?”

“Oh, shit! Yeah!” Kevin said, excited.

“Yeah, let’s go, dude!” Ben agreed.

“Get in the van. I have to make a stop, first, so I’m gonna have you all help me.”

“Hm? What do you have to do?” Mark asked.

“You’ll see.”

We got in the van and we drove off. Thomas called shotgun on frame 1 and the other guys sat at the back. Then they saw me driving into the parking lot of a pizza place.

“I’ve gotta get an order,” I told them.

“And you need help getting a pizza?” Thomas asked.

“Ten, actually.”

“What the fuck?” Kevin and Mark exclaimed together.

I laughed. “They’re not for me. They’re for the construction crew,” I told them as we got out of the van. “They’re working hard and fast, so I figured I’d do a little something since I can. Still had to find a place with a good sale, though. I’ll make another trip for the night shift.”

“You’d be the type of boss to let people leave early on a random day, huh?” Mark said.

“Duh,” Thomas shrugged as if that was obvious.

My order of 10 pizzas was ready when we went in to get it, but I had to order one more or risk the guys drooling all over those boxes. Taking them out for a drive in a van filled with the scent of pizza would be too cruel otherwise.

“I still can believe you have a table back here,” Kevin said as they ate. “It’s fucking genius.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Honestly, I still can’t believe our student council president was into cars all this time,” Mark said. “She never seemed the type, you know?”

“I’m more surprised she managed to keep it a secret,” Ben said. “With how much the school loved gossip and rumors.”

“...” I sighed. I wanted to address the elephant in the room because I was likely the only one behind on the news, but I also didn’t want to make everything awkward. But then again, these two came to my house together, so… “Speaking of gossip and rumors, can I ask what’s happening with you, Mark, or is that still a sensitive topic?”

The poor guy almost choked while swallowing and had to punch his own chest. He sighed and shook his head. “It was never sensitive, okay? Just… complicated.”

“Going for a friend’s ex-girlfriend is kinda like that, yeah,” Thomas teased, shooting me a sneaky grin.

“Okay, fuck you, you said it was fine!”

“It is, but I’m gonna give you shit for it for a while longer.”

“Asshole…”

“Wait, so… ARE you dating Lyla?” I asked him.

“No, no. We just… hang out. We talk. I mean…”

“It’s complicated,” I repeated.

“Yeah.” Mark groaned and rubbed his face. “Man, I just want some inner peace. Why is everything so difficult?”

“Almost 19 years and counting, still asking myself the same thing,” I told him.

“Nah, you guys just overthink everything,” Kevin said. “You just gotta go with the flow. Also, Oliver, you don’t get to complain.”

“What!? How come!?”

“We can barely handle a single relationship while you effortlessly juggle six.”

“Yeah, you kinda lost your right to complain a while ago,” Ben agreed.

“Why is it always back to my relationships with you guys? You do realize you’re failing the male version of the Bechdel test, right?”

“What’s the Bechdel test?” Thomas and Kevin asked.

“A test to see if women in fiction talk about anything other than men,” Mark said. “I… learned that just the other day.”

“We don’t… ONLY talk about girls, do we?” Ben asked, glancing up as if trying to recall all our conversations.

“Not only, but a lot. And speaking of, I heard you’re going to move in with Maria, Thomas.”

“W-Wait, how did you…!?”

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” the guys at the back exclaimed, quickly starting to pester the big guy with questions. It was fair that it happened to him once in a while.

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