Asher took a step backward to make room as the newcomer closed and locked the bathroom door once more.

“Lily?” Even though he’d recognized her voice, it was still hard to believe it was really her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She smiled sheepishly at him. “Uh, surprise! I decided to crash.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Asher demanded, more annoyed than he would have been under different circumstances. His frustration and sadness at both Landon and Oliver had him on-edge.

Lily bit her lip guiltily. “I came as backup. Y’know, in case something like… this happened. Which it did, so… I’m here to help!” She tried to smile.

He sighed in annoyance at his friend. “What do you mean ‘something like this’?”

She hesitated before replying. “Okay, so… You were all excited about Landon inviting you to this party, right? And then yesterday on the way to my car after school, I kinda-sorta overheard Penny telling one of her friends about Ollie taking her to a party too… And it sounded pretty, um… y’know. Like… date-y?” Lily looked almost guilty once more. “But I didn’t wanna say anything in case it wasn’t true! And I wasn’t even sure it was gonna be the same party anyway but… I guess it was.” She shrugged helplessly. “So I decided to just make sure I was around in case you needed me.”

Asher shook his head, slightly amused but mostly annoyed. Lily was always trying to meddle and get tangled up with whatever was going on in his life. “Uh huh… And no offense, Lil, but how is the fact that you’re here supposed to help?”

“Because I can do this!” Lily closed the distance between them then, pulling Asher in for a hug.

Asher closed his eyes, grateful for the comfort of his friend’s embrace. “Okay… this does help a little.” He admitted, despite his irritation at her.

She pulled away from him, smiling. “Good.” There was a moment or two of silence before she continued. “So… do you wanna talk about it?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “What’s there to say? You were right about Ollie and Penny dating behind my back. I should’ve listened to you. I just… Didn’t wanna believe it, I guess…” Asher muttered uncomfortably.

He felt so stupid for not seeing it before. Of course they were dating — why else would they be spending so much time together? It made him almost sick as the realization truly sunk in — Ollie was dating Penny. Maybe even having sex with her, for all he knew. His best friend and his little sister… together.

And the worst part was, he honestly couldn’t even say what was making him the most upset — that they’d both been lying to him, that his best friend was probably doing unspeakable things to his little sister behind his back, or…

Asher’s mind was momentarily brought back to the night of Homecoming, when Oliver had teased him about making out to make Landon jealous. He hadn’t thought about that night in a long time.

What if I’d said yes, Asher wondered? What if I hadn’t gotten sick? What if they’d actually gone through with it? And what if Oliver wasn’t really teasing after all? Would he have been the one on that couch instead of Penny?

Asher quickly shook the thought away. He was just letting himself get worked up because he’d been totally ditched by Landon. Desperate enough to get myself fantasizing about Ollie again… God, I’m pathetic. As he thought of Landon’s rejection, he felt the pain in his heart deepen.

“So… if you don’t wanna talk about that…” Lily’s voice called Asher back to the present. “What about what happened with Landon?” She asked softly.

Though he knew it was pointless to play dumb, he did. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, when you came in the kitchen earlier, you already looked pretty upset. And that was before Penny and Ollie… y’know.” Lily spoke very quickly, clearly hoping to gloss over the subject the best she could. “Plus, uh, Landon’s waiting right outside the door.” She confessed. “He wants to talk to you.”

“What?!”

“I don’t think he can hear us!” Lily assured him. “But yeah… He looked pretty guilty. He tried to follow you in here too, but I beat him to it. Told him to let me talk to you first.” She explained. “And if you want me to tell him to leave you alone, I will. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk to him or not…”

That was it — Lily was taking this whole thing way too far. ”What the fuck, Lily?! I really don’t need you swooping in like this to ‘protect me’ or whatever.” He failed to hide his anger as he spoke. “I’m not a little kid, so I’d kind of appreciate not being treated like one!”

“Sorry, Ash…” She hung her head for a moment. “I just know you were all excited about Landon and the party but you were still worried about Ollie and stuff too, and once I found out he and Penny were gonna be here tonight, it just felt like it was the perfect recipe for disaster and I didn’t want you to get hurt!” Lily explained almost desperately, her words spilling from her mouth so quickly that Asher had trouble keeping up. “And once I found out you DID get hurt, I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Asher let out a long, slow breath. It was so hard to stay angry at her. “I know you were just trying to help.”

“That doesn’t make it okay though. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay. You know I can’t stay mad at you, Lil.” He smiled softly at her. “And… I guess you can tell Landon I’ll talk to him.”

Lily’s brow furrowed slightly in concern. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “This party already totally blows. Not sure what he can say to make it worse…”

“Okay. I’ll let him in… And I’ll be in the kitchen stuffing my face with pizza and beer if you need me.” Lily gave Asher a small smile before turning toward the door.

“Thanks…”

For a moment, he could just barely make out the muffled sound of Lily’s voice on the other side of the door before it opened once more. Asher felt his heart racing with nervousness as Landon’s tall, muscular form appeared in the doorway.

“Uh… H-hey, Asher.” Landon muttered uncomfortably as soon as he’d locked the door behind him.

Asher had a difficult time meeting his gaze. “Hi.” He replied lamely.

It wasn’t until they were alone together in the silence that Asher realized how bizarre it was to still be standing there in a stranger’s tiny bathroom. But where else would be quiet or private enough to have a real conversation?

“Look, I’m really sorry.” Landon broke the silence at last. “I totally ignored you earlier and it was super shitty of me… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been nice if you actually acknowledged my existence.” Asher replied sarcastically. He was still so hurt from before.

“I know. I fucked this whole thing up, and I’m sorry.” Landon apologized yet again. “It happens all the time at these stupid parties. All these girls never leave me alone. And honestly, I can’t stand it. But I’m just so used to it by now that I just… Play along, I guess? But I got way too carried away this time.”

“You did… But I know you didn’t mean to.” Asher replied seriously. Though being ignored had certainly been annoying, it wasn’t what had truly hurt him the most. “We all do stupid shit without meaning to sometimes. I mean God, look at me and half the shit that comes out of my mouth.”

Landon let out a small laugh. “Well, I still feel like shit. It’s those stupid girls I should’ve been ignoring, not you. I’m the one who asked you to come with me. Tonight was supposed to be…” He stopped the sentence short, a slight look of embarrassment coming to his face. “It just wasn’t supposed to be like this.” He finished softly.

Landon’s words gave Asher pause. “What was it supposed to be, then?” He asked.

“I… I dunno.”

“Well neither do I, Landon.” Asher felt his earlier hurt and anger returning. “Because when Naki asked you if you brought somebody special with you, I thought…”

It was Asher’s turn to leave his sentence hanging. The words had spilled from his lips before he even realized what he was saying.

Apparently Landon did not miss the implication behind his words. “Wait… you did?” He asked softly.

Asher nodded slowly. “Which I know was totally stupid of me. I should‘ve known it wasn’t like that. It just…” He shrugged. “It hurt to hear you say it.” It was terrifying to be having this conversation, but now that he’d dipped his toes in the water, why not dive right in?

Guess this is it… I made everything weird and now Landon’s never gonna wanna speak to me again.

“You weren’t stupid.” Landon shook his head slowly as he spoke. “I was.”

Asher’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“When she asked me that, I totally freaked. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing because… Well, it’s two things, I guess.” Landon explained. “One, I’m not, um… Not a hundred percent like… out to most people.”

Asher felt his heart skip a beat. Holy shit. Did… Did he just say…?

“And two, I wasn’t sure if you thought this was a date or not and I was afraid I’d make it super fucking weird if I said it was. But… For the record, it totally is.” Landon’s lips curled into a soft smile as he spoke.

Holy Fuck. I’m dreaming. This is a dream right? It’s gotta be. “R-really?” It took all of Asher’s strength to even form a single word.

Landon nodded, taking a step toward him. “I meant what I said the other day — I really like you, Asher.”

Asher’s stomach did a somersault at these words. “M-me too. Landon, I —“

Holy shit holy shit holy shit. Ohhhh my God. No fucking way! Though his lips were soft and slow against Landon’s, Asher’s mind was moving at lightning speed, suddenly assaulted by what felt like a million thoughts at once.

He tried his best to silence them and just enjoy the moment — one he’d been dreaming of for literally years. It was more amazing than Asher ever could have imagined, and for the first time since he’d entered that dimly-lit bathroom, all thoughts of Ollie fled his mind.

Asher brushed one of his thumbs along the hard line of Landon’s jaw while his other hand traveled lower and lower down the small of his back until…

Asher could have died right then and there as his hand made contact with the most glorious national treasure known to man. Oh God… Yes! It’s fucking perfect! Ahhhh!

Landon smiled softly against his lips as Asher gave his ass a gentle squeeze. “Mmm…”

Knock-knock-knock

Both of them literally leapt apart as the sudden knocking reached their ears.

“Uh… One minute!” Landon called out awkwardly.

He gave Asher a playful grin as the two of them immediately dissolved into laughter.

“Shit, there’s probably a line for the bathroom by now.” Asher whispered between his giggles, still floating on cloud nine.

“Bet we can find somewhere else… If you wanna pick up where we left off?” Landon asked, smirking playfully at him.

Asher’s heart leapt with excitement. “Hell yeah.”

Still fighting back their laughter, the two unlocked the door and headed back out to join the party.

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Note: Hope all my US-based readers have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! I am very thankful for all of you 😉 ❤