It's Too Cliché...Right? Ch. 08

"Wow," I involuntarily spoke when the bridge was over, this catching Evan's attention as his eyes shot open and sat up with a jolt.

Fumbling with his phone, he managed to pause his music, before turning his shocked expression to me. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I uh..." I started, rubbing the back of my neck, suddenly nervous again when I remembered why I was there. "I came to talk to you when I heard you singing." He blushed when I said this as if he didn't think that anyone should have heard him sing. Which was absurd seeing how good he was. "You're really good."

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, sidestepping the compliment as he fiddled with his phone in his hand, flipping it between his fingers.

I walked in, thinking that he hadn't actually kicked me out, so he must have wanted to hear what I was going to say. Closing the door behind me, I leaned against it, not moving any closer, wanting to give him his space that I was already invading just by being there.

"About what happened in school today, I just needed to apologize again. I really shouldn't have put you in a situation like that when you weren't ready and I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I just want you to know that I totally get it if you don't really want to see me anymore, and I'm not going to force you to either. I just figured I'd make my peace with you," I said.

"Oh," he replied. I didn't really know what to make of that though but it kind of gave me a feeling like this really was it. He'd had enough and this foray into the gay life wasn't worth it.

"Right," I said, trying my hardest to mask the slight hurt in my voice. "I'll just head off then. Have a nice life." Without another word, I turned and opened the door, heading down the hallway.

The words that he had spoken back in the school bathroom echoed in my head as I walked away. 'I'm not gay.' Maybe he really was straight, and me being around confusing him wasn't doing him any good. Besides, even if he was gay in some way, I was just torturing myself by trying to help him figure it out. After all, my heart was on the line too, especially so when I've practically been into the guy for the last three years.

I was just to the stairs when I was roughly turned around, Evan staring at me with anger in his eyes. Wait, why was he angry? "You didn't even give me a chance to talk," he mumbled.

"I thought you said everything you needed to," I replied, the truth.

"Well, I haven't," he said, removing his hands from my shoulders as he pinched the bridge of his nose, pacing up and down in front of me. I waited, not really sure where he was going with this. Was he going to cuss me out, telling me how I had ruined his life? Or say how he didn't want to say goodbye?

Finally, he stopped, looking at me straight in the eyes, the intensity in them almost unnerving. "I hate you, you know that?" he eventually said. Okay, I was not expecting that.

"Okay—"

He cut me off. "You walk into my life and suddenly everything is being turned upside down. I was satisfied with my life before you, and now..." he trailed off.

"I fucked it all up," I finished.

"And now," he continued, totally ignoring my sentence. "You've somehow wriggled yourself into my life so much that I don't want you to leave."

"Wait, what?" I asked, eyebrows raised in question.

He sighed, walking up to me till we were only inches apart. Looking into my eyes, I detected a flicker of...uncertainty? Behind that, that same determination I had seen in his eyes before. What I thought would have ended with a kiss bestowed onto my lips, ended with him resting his head on my shoulder instead.

In our position, I was unsure of what I wanted to do. With him resting his head on my shoulder, he almost felt broken, like even the slightest movement would have caused him to crumble at my feet. Another part of me, however, wanted to bring my hand up and wrap comforting arms around his frame, to take away any of the pain that he was feeling.

Instead, I felt his fingers slowly weaving through my own, linking our hands together in our strange yet intimate embrace. His grip was strong, almost like he was afraid that I would drift away if he didn't hold on tight enough, yet his hands trembled ever so slightly in mine.

"I just..." he choked out, voice wavering as he fought with whatever inner demons he was facing. "I need time."

The pain in his voice made me feel like a complete asshole. In that moment, I only cared for him and his needs, my own problems seeming minuscule in comparison. I moved my arms around him, releasing his hands and instead giving him a tight hug. "I'll wait," I said, completely meaning it. Evan was a work in progress, and I realized I needed to nurture him in a way. He may have been strong in certain aspects, but he was also incredibly vulnerable.

"Thank you," he said, lifting his head from my shoulder and resting it against my forehead instead. "I really do enjoy your company, you know."

I chuckled, cocking a side smile as I looked into his eyes. "As do I," I replied, before going in for a quick kiss. "I'll be right here if you need anything."

He nodded, taking a deep breath before pulling away from me. "You need a ride home?" he asked.

"I'd like that," I said, giving him a comforting smile.

———————

Making my way into the cafeteria, I headed straight for the food line, my side noticeably devoid of Evan. We had texted the night before, and while our relationship was probably in the clear, it was still on rocky ground. Of course, I told him that I would give him his space in school, which he appreciated, and we would go about as we usually did before this whole thing. I was more than okay with that, seeing how trying to get Evan and my friends together the previous day went soooo well. Yes, I was being sarcastic.

I had told the gang that I had somehow managed to salvage the remnants of my relationship with Evan but didn't give them any more than that. That would probably teach them not to meddle with my love life, at least for now.

Carrying my tray of food, I walked over to our table, plopping down into the seat, Sam, Brian and the twins already there. Coming soon after me were Jake and Tim, quietly taking their seats, not announcing their arrival, nor anyone acknowledging it.

Brian was busy with his Nintendo DS in his hand, occupied with the latest installment of the Pokémon franchise, but even I could tell that his attention wasn't fully on the game, my arrival seemingly adding enough of a distraction that Pokémon became almost secondary...almost.

Sam just fiddled with her phone, shooting irritated glances at Brian for focusing on his game instead of trying to make conversation, not that she was attempting any kind of speech anyway. I watched as Sam slipped a stealthy hand to his bicep and pinching him hard, causing the bigger man to jump in his seat. The message was clear to Brian, though, immediately stowing his portable game console into his bag but otherwise stayed silent, to which Sam responded with an eye roll.

The twins were nudging each other as if hoping that the other would have something to say that would diffuse the tension surrounding the table, but all it led to was some passive aggressive facial expressions and disappointed grunts. Jake and Tim looked to one another and twirled their forks in their food, tapping nervous fingers against the cheap wood of the cafeteria table.

The atmosphere was quiet, too quiet if you asked me, which just made everything more awkward than it needed to be. Okay sure, they probably thought I was still mad at them, and I was still just a tiny bit miffed, but I wasn't going to snap at them if they decided to say something. "Speak," I said, taking a bite of whatever they were serving that day. I saw hesitant glances shoot around the table, which to be honest only made me more annoyed. "I'm not angry, just talk."

"So..." Sam started, probably trying to break this silence. "You're back together with Evan?" At this question, Brian groaned as if wanting to slap his girlfriend for going to that topic.

"Yes," I replied. "But we're not talking about anything like that."

"Right, my bad," Sam said, cheeks flushing as she turned her attention to her food.

"Um, I saw this article on Facebook about useless talents," Tim said, trying his hardest to come up with a neutral topic. "Like this one person could write backwards flawlessly, like a mirror image kind of thing."

"Um...Is it still called a talent if it's useless, though?" Mitch asked, building on the conversation.

"I guess. I mean if it's something not everyone can do, it's a talent, right?" Tim said. There were halfhearted grunts of agreement across the table and I could already feel the conversation dying then. Oh, god, must I do everything?

"You guys got any useless talents?" I probed, trying to keep this lighthearted topic going.

"Hey," a voice said, a very familiar voice. I looked up to see everyone staring dumbfounded at the person behind me, though I didn't need to turn around to know who it was, but the question was, what was he doing here? I turned and raised an eyebrow at Evan, wordlessly asking him what he was up to. We were supposed to be acting normal and he didn't normally sit with me at lunch. "I was wondering if I could join you guys?" he asked, clearly picking up on the question on my mind, but not without a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"You want to sit with us?" I asked, still trying to process all this. It was just yesterday that he was basically pleading me with not force him to sit with my friends, and now he willingly came over?

"It's okay if you don't want me to," he said, already turning away when I grabbed his arm.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," I apologized, before glancing over to my group, asking if they would mind Evan joining us without uttering a single word. They returned approving looks so I guess that's that. "Of course you can join us," I said, scooting over to make some room for Evan.

He slid in beside me, looking down at his hands as his fingers rubbed across his knuckles. "Thanks," he remarked, the blush still painting his cheeks.

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to get over the sudden tension that engulfed the table, everyone kind of at a loss of what to do next. It was Tim that recovered first. "So, we were talking about useless talents, anyone got any?" he said, partly to get the group back on topic and away from the awkwardness, but also to clue Evan into the conversation.

"I guess I can do this?" Mitch said, raising his hand and bending his thumb in a way that looked almost painful, except that his face didn't give any indication that he was suffering in any way. "I've got double jointed thumbs."

"Okay, just stop that," Melissa cried, pushing Mitch's hands away. "You know that shit creeps me out."

There was a chorus of light laughs that came from the rest of us before I waited for the next useless talent to be brought forth. Nobody else spoke, though. Really, no one else had a useless talent? I know I didn't but I expected more than a single double jointed thumb. "No one else has one?"

"Well, I can roll my tongue?" Jake added, although everyone, including Evan, proceeded to prove that we all could too, which kind of just shut down his idea.

My eyes drifted across the table, seeing how no one else was adding anything before my eyes went to the banana sitting on Brian's tray. The idea popped into my head immediately as I pointed to the piece of fruit. "Brian," I called, picking up the banana and holding it out to him. A blush immediately crept up on his face as he realized what I meant and gave me an almost appalled look as if he couldn't believe I had just suggested that.

"No way dude," he shouted, shaking his head vigorously.

"What?" Tim asked, confusion etching into his features.

"Brian here can—" I started but was promptly cut off by Brian.

"Dude, shut up!"

"C'mon babe, what is it?" Sam cooed, placing her hand on his neck and rubbing it reassuringly. This had a calming effect on his body, seeing his tense shoulders relax just a little bit.

"It's...embarrassing," he muttered.

I scoffed at him. "Embarrassing is not at all how I see it."

"Just zip it, Brad," Brian scowled, but I just smirked and continued holding out the banana to him. His eyes darted from the yellow fruit to me, to the rest of the table occupants, his mind trying to figure out the best course of action. As his gaze landed on me again, I raised an eyebrow, nonverbally challenging him which earned me a scowl. Turns out I won our little argument because next thing, Brian was snatching the banana from my hands with a sigh.

I smiled triumphantly as I watched Brian peel away the skin from the banana, muttering curses under his breath. With the fruit almost completely unsheathed, he held it in front of him, eyes darting to everyone at the table, only to find every single pair of eyes watching him intently. I could already tell that some of the table occupants must have guessed what Brian was about to do, just based solely on the way their eyebrows seemed to have risen just a tiny bit.

I smirked, Brian rolling his eyes at me before bringing the banana to his lips, lowering his mouth onto the phallic looking fruit. As the fruit disappeared past his lips, I turned my attention to the other guys at our table, seeing their surprise growing with each inch the fruit disappeared. Eyes were wide when Brian took the fruit past everyone's expectations, not even gagging in the slightest.

Eventually, Brian pulled the banana from his mouth, seeing that he had made it almost all the way down the 6" fruit with ease. He took a bite off the end of the banana and chewed as if he hadn't just deep throated the poor vegetable.

"That is so not a useless talent," Jake coughed out.

"It is to me. It's not like I suck dick or anything," Brian defended, still chewing on the banana.

"Damn, you don't even know what gay guys would do to have a talent like that," Jake added, making me smile and holding out my fist to him for a fist bump.

"Practicing with bananas gets tiring, doesn't it?" I joked back. To my right, Evan choked on his drink as he fought back the laugh he was holding in, his face going red as he fought the urge to spit water across the table.

"You okay dude?" I asked, concerned, even though I was on the verge of bursting out laughing too.

He nodded, holding a finger up to compose himself, cheeks still puffed as he held the water in his mouth. Eventually, he managed to swallow the liquid, the relief clear on his face. "That wasn't cool," he chuckled. For a moment, I felt like Evan was getting more comfortable around the gang if he could laugh with them.

"What about you?" Jake asked, directing his question at Evan, causing Evan to completely stop chuckling. Okay, so maybe he was still a little nervous around my friends.

"What?" he asked back.

"Any useless talents?"

"Oh uh...does this count?" he asked, lifting his hand and giving the Star Trek Spock hand sign thing.

"Uh not really, no," Tim said, immediately showing that he too could do it, everyone else also showing they could. I almost blushed, feeling like Evan was Jake just a few minutes ago.

"Oh no...um...sorry not the Vulcan salute," Evan said, correcting himself. "Well, a little bit, I guess. Do the sign, but try touching your middle and ring finger together without moving your index or pinky fingers," Evan said, demonstrating with his own hand as he explained. His fingers moved easily, which to be honest didn't really look that difficult.

Turning my attention back to Tim, I immediately saw that it was anything but easy. When Tim tried, his fingers spasmed as if unable to control themselves. It definitely got me intrigued and I tried too, with similar results. Doing the sign was easy enough, but moving the two fingers together independently was a hell lot more challenging.

"Holy shit," Sam cried out when she couldn't do it either.

"Well, that is definitely an impressive useless talent," Tim laughed, attention still focused on trying to get his fingers to cooperate.

I turned to Evan to see the slightest bit of a smile on his face, and it causes me to grin in response. Sure, Evan wasn't completely comfortable around my friends just yet, but somehow, I didn't think it would take long for him to truly become a part of our group. With them already knowing about Evan and me being together, maybe it could help him get comfortable with the idea of being out of the closet.

"What?" he asked when he caught me staring goofily at him.

"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head and turning back to my food, the smile still plastered on my face.

Then I felt it, warms fingers weaving themselves with mine underneath the table, gripping my hand tightly. I returned the grip, squeezing him reassuringly, loving the feel of his warm hand in mine. I moved slightly, barely leaning into his side so as to not draw attention from the others, but enough to let him feel my presence beside him.

I could almost feel the smile that crept onto Evan's face at that, and that made me extremely happy. Like I said, Evan was a work in progress, but I was sure as hell glad that I was the one helping him towards that end goal, that I was the one he decided to trust. The thought alone made my insides bubble with joy, and I guess for the first time, I felt that maybe Brian and Sam were right.

No, I wasn't in love with Evan just yet, but I was definitely falling. But that begged the question, did Evan feel the same way?