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It was around seven am Saturday morning, and Evan was already waking up. He was exhausted , but his inner clock had insisted. Sleeping on the old air mattress didn’t make it much better. He had gone to Jared’s house right after school the other day just to hang out and reconcile after the whole Connor Project incident. He was having such a great time, so he decided to just stay the night. At that, Jared offered to let him stay the entire weekend. Excited, he agreed. It was around eleven when he had tried to sleep, but Jared wasn’t having any of it. So instead of sleeping at a normal human time, they stayed up until three am the night before. Evan didn’t regret any of it really; he was able to experience the blessing of a sleepy, affectionate Jared. The night started fairly average, he was his normal self, blunt humor and all. They played dumb board games, sent memes (admittedly that was a little one-sided), and ate endless amounts snacks.
As the clock approached midnight though, he noticed a shift in his friend’s personality. As he not so silently scrolled, he would mumble little indignities.
“Well, that’s not very nice…”
“Um, that’s not funny it’s just sexist…”
“I don’t get the- Oh it’s a dick joke. Okay.”
He grew quieter and cuddlier. The entire time, he kept trying to pull Evan closer and closer, and admittedly, it was hard to refuse. Jared was being uncharacteristically gentle. He was, dare Evan say it, cute . Not exactly childlike, but not quite innocent. He would only describe it as soft. Jared at the time seemed like someone he had to protect. He just wanted to give him a hug the entire time. Eventually, he did succumb to tired Jared’s wishes just once before he went to bed. It was nice.
Hoping this morning would be the same, he didn’t stress too much on being quiet. Evan glanced at his friend, snoring as he lay spread over the couch. Chuckling he just got up, threw the sheets off of the lumpy pad he slept on, and walked out to go to the bathroom. He went about his normal morning business, except at Jared’s. He went to the bathroom. He opened a new toothbrush from under the sink and brushed his teeth. He used Jared’s comb. Going out to the Jared’s kitchen, he ate Jared’s cereal with Jared’s bowls, spoons, and milk. Deciding he should freshen, he went back to the bathroom. Jared’s, or at least the Kleinman family’s water. Jared’s shampoo. Jared’s soap. Jared’s conditioner. Jared’s towel, mirror, and hair dryer. About to get dressed, he realized his own clothes still smelled like sun and plants. Not exactly that those were bad smells in his mind, but putting on clothes that still had odors from the day before bugged him.
Unsure of what to do, he considered his options. Option one, wear the clothes anyway. That would result in Jared making fun of him when he did the sleep equivalent of sober up. He’d still smell weird, fell gross, and become self-conscious. As if that wasn’t already a problem. Option two, get his phone and call home to bring stuff. He left his phone in the living room where they were crashing. He’d be walking out in a towel, and he didn’t want Jared to wake up and see him! The last option... Wear Jared’s clothes. He’s been using all of his other stuff. Might as well just use more. He’d still have to walk out in a towel, but he wouldn’t have to pass his friend. Thinking it over, he decided as odd as it may be for him, he would have to go with the last option.
Wrapping the towel as tightly around his hips as he could, he took a deep breath for courage as he speed walked down the hall. Entering the bedroom, he closed the door behind him and locked it as soon as he could. Still not quite willing to drop the towel, he opened the closet with on hand as the other held the towel with a vice grip. Shuffling through, he found a simple gray t-shirt with some nice birds. He remembers seeing Jared wearing it on many occasions, and it made him hesitant to put it on. It was the only thing he could find besides his many short sleeved button ups, and he felt those should be left untouched. Taking it out, he began to look for a simple pair red of sweatpants, which weren’t hard to find. Finally, he just needed… Well, he needed boxers. Redfaced, he grabbed the first ones he saw, dropped the towel, and put them on before he could think himself out of it. Then, he got dressed in the rest of his clothes.
Before he left the room, he took a moment to look in the mirror. They all hung just a tad bit loose on him. They smelled like Jared, sort of like a lush bath bomb cinnamon and earth. Everything felt soft from their lack of usage. He would’ve been incredibly comfortable if it weren’t for the fact that they weren’t his. He just knew Jared would get a laugh out of it. Call him a beanpole or something.
Dreading what he may say, Evan put the towel back as slowly as he could to avoid him. Walking back to the living room, he tried not to wake up his sleeping friend. He grabbed his phone to call his mom, stepped back to the hallway, and began to call her. It rang twice before she picked up.
“Evan, what is it?”
“I’m at, I’m at Jared’s house which you know, hah, sorry I didn’t have to, have to tell you that o-or anything b-but I-” He stopped talking as he heard his friend started to stir. Hastily, he told his mom he would just call her back later and no, he did not want to be picked up.
He heard Jared groggily greet him good morning as he rolled off the couch. It seemed that he literally rolled off the couch. The salutation was followed by a soft thud.
From the floor, he groaned, “Evaaaaan… Help me uuuuuup.”
He walked over to where he lay in between the sofa and coffee table and offered him a hand, hoping he wouldn’t notice the attire. He’d like to avoid confrontation as much as possible.
“Is that my shirt?”
“I… Uh…” he felt his face warm up. He had been caught, and it wasn’t a claim he could deny.
“And my sweatpants?”
“I-I mean, I just, I was just…”
“You look cute.”
“What?”
Jared gave Evan a loose, tired hug. He tensed slightly at the contact, but the other did not seem to notice. “Yeah… Real cute… Wear my clothes again tomorrow, kay?” As if he couldn’t get any more embarrassed already, Evan felt impossibly warmer. It spread from his cheeks and started going to his ears and down his neck.
“Uh...” Then, Jared let go, and grabbed his glasses off of the table. He began making his way to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.
Evan didn’t know what he was supposed to feel right now. His heart was going a million miles an hour. He mentally scolded himself. There was no reason to feel that way. All of that was probably incredibly normal for him during this time of day. He didn’t even realize he was being weird. If he did, that might mean he liked him, and Jared did not like him. Sometimes, Evan wondered if he even liked him just as a friend, so there was no way he’d think like that. He couldn’t get his hopes up. At least if there were hope in the first place. Evan definitely did not want Jared to compliment him or be soft and nice like he was before. That… Was false. Any claims were incorrect. Regardless if they were from Zoe or Alana, the only other people he really confided in. Regardless of any screenshots they sent. He did not like Jared.
The only reason he wore Jared’s clothes again the following Sunday was because... he asked him to. everything was in the laundry. Evan completely forget to call his mom.
Yeah... We’ll go with that.