Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gus hummed softly as he opened up shop at HAS Coffee Co. in the Forearm Forest mall. The sun shone brightly through the mall skylights, the soft murmur of other shops opening left the air buzzing, and the clock ticked down to when the morning rush of grumpy shoppers would descend upon the underpaid high school and college students that manned the place. 

“Ah, aren’t Saturday mornings beautiful?” Gus sighed as he set three steaming hot coffees onto the counter. 

His manager Eileen, grunted softly, sipping serenely on a black coffee with five espresso shots. She claimed it was the only way to get through the horrible Saturday morning shift. When Gus first started working after he turned sixteen, she offered to make it for him. Needless to say, his resulting caffeine rush was so bad it officially went into Luz’s embarrassing stories to tell Gus file. Now, Gus kept his coffee simple.

Though Saturday rushes were horrible, Gus could see the brightside to his job. Eileen let him make as many free coffees as he wanted for his friends, he could use his KPOP playlist, and he could talk to Willow during slow periods. 

Speaking of Willow, at the flower shop next door, she was setting up a few bright blooms to decorate the front. She smiled softly as she lifted a large pot with ease, she even raised a hand to wave at Gus. 

“Good morning, Gus,” Willow called out. 

“Hiya Willow,” Gus said. “How are you this fine morning? May I interest you in my finest creation?” 

Gus bowed with a flourish, presenting her with a freshly made cappuccino. 

Willow placed the pot down delicately and took the cup into her hands. She took a small sip, savoring the warm drink. 

“Thanks for the coffee, Gus,” said Willow. “It always puts me in the best mood.” 

“And that, my fair Willow, is why I give free coffees to my wonderful and kind best friend,” Gus said, he plucked a fallen flower and placed it behind her ear. 

“I won’t tell Luz you said that,” Willow teased. 

“Ah, sweet Willow, you and Luz share the best friend portion of my heart,” Gus replied. “Nothing will ever get between our unbreaka-”

Gus lost his train of thought because somewhere behind Willow, Gus noticed a familiar form. To his excitement, he saw the employees of the neighboring Hot Topic begin to open shop as well, cutting way too close to opening as always. Bria, with her perfectly dyed hair that shimmered in the sunlight like amethysts, stretched lazily as her coworker unlocked the heavy doors. Even though it was an early Saturday morning, she looked stunning. Gus watched as she chatted energetically to her coworker who only grunted in response. Unsatisfied with his lack of attention, she tilted her head towards Gus and sent him a playful wink. 

Gus felt his whole face heat up, he nervously waved to Bria before turning his attention back to Willow, hoping she didn’t notice his ogling. 

If her wrinkled nose was any indication, she definitely noticed. 

“So, Gus,” Willow’s lips were pressed in a fine line, one eyebrow raised, openly judging him. 

“Oh, wow! I have to go right now,” rambled Gus as he robotically turned on his heel. “I accidentally made an extra coffee, so I’ll go give it to someone now. See you later!” 

In reply, Willow silently shook her head and went into the store to count out the cash register. Gus was thankful that the Sanrio store Luz worked at was on the other side of the mall, because unlike Willow, she wouldn’t let Gus off if she caught him mooning over his latest crush. Luz had it out for him and his crushes because of how mercilessly he teased her for her crush on Amity in freshman year. 

He thought it was hilarious at the time and regretted nothing. 

It wasn’t as funny when he began crushing on Viney after seeing her tackle a rogue pig at the state fair and thought her fiery spirit was breathtaking. Luz told the older girl that he needed tutoring in Biology. That resulted in some awkward tutoring sessions that he didn’t need and him finding out she was a lesbian. 

Or when his stupid 14 year old heart thought he had a chance with Derwin, a rebellious music major at the local college that Raine gave lessons to. Something about his fluffy hair and the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled made Gus’ heart flutter. Once she found out, Luz began teasing him about liking older men. 

He started regretting it now that he’s crushing the older, mysterious, and sassy Bria, she began texting him articles called To Win the Heart of a Mean Goth or other ridiculous and unreliable articles like that. She would coo over all the keychains he bought as an excuse to chat with her as she rang him up during his lunch breaks. 

Luz teased him for liking older, loner delinquent types, which he tried to deny, but the data didn’t really lie.  

So maybe he DID have a type, but he still thought Luz’ teasing wasn’t fair. He only got a summer of teasing before she started dating Amity. To make it worse, now that they’re dating, teasing doesn’t work anymore. 

Long story short, Luz can stay in her Sanrio store, far far FAR away from his crush on Bria, who might even like him back. 

When he was sure Willow wasn’t looking, Gus rushed over to where Bria was tapping away at her phone in front of the Hot Topic. Gus tapped her shoulder and she looked up at him with her dazzling smile and her bright brown eyes. 

“Hey, Gus, and what are you doing in front of my humble store?” she asked, a mischievous twinkle making her eyes shine all the brighter.  

“Well, um, I accidentally made an extra caramel latte. I know it’s your favorite so I decided to give it to you,” he said, proud of himself for keeping his voice low and cool. 

“But the mall hasn’t opened yet. How do you have an extra already?” 

Though she said that, Bria took the drink and chugged at it. She beamed widely, showing off what Gus thought were the most adorable dimples in the world.

“Thanks, you make the best coffee!” Bria chirped. “I’m glad you always manage to accidentally make extra coffees when we’re both working.” 

“W-well yeah, no prob,” Gus said, he gave her a crooked smile and brushed a few stray curls out of his face in a way he hoped was charming and suave. 

Bria giggled and reached a hand out to pat Gus’ cheek. Part of him debated whether or not he should wash that cheek ever again. The other part of him tried to restrain himself from doing a victory dance right where anyone, especially Bria, could see him. He didn’t have long to debate before he was interrupted. 

“Bria, can you help me? The cash register is jammed aga-BWAH” 

Gus felt someone crash into his side, but since he was pretty sturdily built, he barely budged at the impact. 

The other person wasn’t so lucky. He felt them flail and grab onto his arm, wincing when their nails dug into his skin for some purchase, which didn’t help as they still fell to the ground with a heavy thud. To top it all off, the two of them were awkwardly holding hands. 

Gus looked down and saw

“Mattholomule?” 

From the floor, Mattholomule scowled up at him. 

“Ugh, Augustus, now my day is ruined.” 

“Hey, Matty, there’s no need to be so cranky every morning,” Bria cooed, idly taking another sip from her drink from where she dodged his fall. 

Mattholomule muttered something under his breath and used his free hand to brush a few stray hairs from his eyes. Between the dark bags under his eyes, disheveled hoodie, and untied laces on his boots, Mattholomule looked like he’d seen better days. 

“Do you need help?” Gus asked, channeling all his energy into being polite.  

“I don’t need your help,” Mattholomule hissed as he lifted himself up. 

“Okay, then you can let go of my hand.” 

Realization dawned across Mattholomule’s face and he quickly ripped his hand out of Gus’. In doing so, he swung backwards and crashed back down onto the floor again with a yelp. When he tried to get up again, he tripped on his own shoelaces and fell over for the third time within five minutes. 

Not one to let a guy make a complete fool of himself, Gus crouched over and grabbed Mattholomule’s hands, pulling him up. 

“Don’t worry, Matty. I got you.” 

The sound Mattholomule made was somewhere between undignified squawk and a hiss of anger. His face contorted into an all too familiar scowl and he ripped his hands away as if he had been scalded instead of helped to his feet. 

“Only Bria can call me that! And stop touching me!” Mattholomule said, emphasizing his words with sharp pokes into Gus’ chest. 

“You’re touching me right now,” retorted Gus, giving Mattholomule’s forehead a sharp flick. 

“I wouldn’t be touching you if you didn’t touch me first!” Mattholomule said as he jammed his (extremely heavy emo) boot heel onto Gus’ toes. 

“You’re the one who clawed at me after you crashed into me!” Gus shoved Mattholomule’s shoulder. “So, technically you touched ME first!” 

Mattholomule raised his hand to return the shove, but he paused. His eyes darted nervously down to Gus’ arm, seeing the faintly raised lines down Gus’ forearm. His eyes squeezed shut and he let a puff of air out through his nose. Then he shoved his hands into his pockets and dug out a few blue bandages and unceremoniously dumped them into Gus’ hands. 

“Whatever, take those,” Mattholomule huffed before sauntering back into the depths of the door. When he was in the doorway, looked over his shoulder one more time and said, “By the way, stop flirting with Bria in broad daylight. Your dopey smile makes me wanna throw up.” 

After Mattholomule disappeared into the blacks and reds of the Hot Topic, Gus looked down at the bandages in his hand. It was strangely thoughtful of Mattholomule, both to give him the bandages and to even have them in the first place. At the same time, it was a clumsy gesture since his scratches weren’t even bleeding. Even if they were, the tiny bandages wouldn’t help at all. Gus only brought up the scratches to be petty, but Mattholomule gave him some bandages as some bizarre apology and stormed off like a disgruntled cat. 

For the briefest of moments, Mattholomule seemed to be a good guy, maybe even a bit cute and endearing. 

“Don’t worry about Matty,” Bria said. “He can be a bit prickly to cover up how awkward he is on the inside.” 

Gus brushed his previous thoughts aside. There’s no way Mattholomule could be as nice and charming as Bria. She was earnest, energetic, and adventurous while Mattholomule was smug, hot-headed, and argumentative. Plus, the only thing cuter than Bria’s laugh was her smile, a bright beacon in the dimly lit store. Mattholomule’s dark eye bags were only accentuated by his eyeliner and the darkness of the store. 

“It’s okay Bria, I don’t think we’ll ever get along, but I’m willing to deal with him as long as I can talk to you.” 

“You’re so sweet,” Bria said, giving Gus one parting pat on the cheek. 

He waved absentmindedly at her retreating form, savoring the warmth of her hand before it faded away. If this were how he got to start every day, he could take on thousands of rude and grumpy Mattholomules, no problem. 

Bria’s warmth was left forgotten when Mattholomule walked past the entrance again, giving Gus the middle finger. He laughed when Gus’ smile melted off his face, because Mattholomule apparently fueled himself off spite.  

Good old Mattholomule, the same as always. 

Though he went to Hot Topic to see Bria and to give her free coffees, somehow he found himself thinking more about Mattholomule. Something about his smugness made it hard for Gus to look away. Sometimes his arrogant and mean-spirited laughter haunted his dreams, or rather his nightmares. 

It started when they were both in high school, when Gus the sophomore president of the Witch Appreciation Society and Mattholomule was the only freshman recruit. From the first day of club activities, the two were at each other’s throats fighting for the presidency. By the end of the week Mattholomule, Gus, and somehow Luz were stuck watching Principal Bump’s hypnotizing VCRs about being a good student. When he and Luz ended up destroying all the VCRs and rusty television sets in the school, Principal Bump mercifully didn’t expel them at expense of Gus’ precious presidency and gave it to Mattholomule instead. 

Since then, the two competed in everything, Mattholomule even kept a notebook detailing each win and loss. Gus would know, he’s gotten a detailed report telling him why he lost stuffed into his locker every time. The reports were actually pretty good, considering every time Gus used them to wipe that smirk off Mattholomule’s face. There was something so satisfying about watching his rival’s face go slack whenever Gus one-ups him. 

He was so stuck in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice someone standing in his way until he crashed into Willow. When he looked down, he was faced with her piercing green eyes and her judgemental pout. 

“Gus, do you really need to flirt with the Hot Topic employees every chance you get?” 

“Hey! Not everyone needs to know that,” Gus whispered.

He put his finger against her mouth, glad that Willow was soft-spoken so that nobody else heard. If it were Luz speaking, well. . . not everyone needed to know that he was flirting with Bria and Matt- 

Wait. . .

“I was flirting with Bria, not Mattholomule,” Gus hissed, casting a few paranoid glances towards the entrance of Hot Topic. “That guy is a jerk.” 

Willow gently pushed his hand away, “What about Bria? Are you sure she’s good for you?” 

 “Please don’t say that, I’m- I-” Gus struggled to find the words. 

He thought about her smile, her sass, and her fierceness. She was exactly the kind of girl to keep him on his feet, not that he minded. In fact, he loved the idea of it. 

“I’m serious about her and I think she likes me back, so,” he glanced up at Willow, whose face had softened considerably, a sight that gave him the courage to continue, “I think I’ll ask her to be my girlfriend soon.” 

“We can talk more about this later,” Willow said, “but the mall is opening up and Eileen doesn’t look happy with you right now. Let’s talk when I’m off my shift, okay?”  

True to her words, Eileen was glaring at him with her one visible eye, her eye patch made for a terrifyingly piercing gaze. She gestured towards the trickle of bleary-eyed mothers that approached their shop with strollers and complaining children in tow. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” Gus said. 

Willow patted him on the shoulder as he ran back towards the coffee shop. Talking to her about Bria was probably for the best anyway, she would give him the advice he needed to properly ask her out. 

It would be a nice and simple plan. 

There was no way this could go wrong.

Chapter Text

“There’s so many ways this could go wrong!” Willow stated bluntly as she rolled a cherry tomato from her salad underneath her fork. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gus grumbled into the hand that held up his head. 

They sat together at one of the vaguely sticky tables at the mall food court. It wasn’t that crowded for a Saturday, but that was probably because they didn’t get to take their lunch break until their shifts were over. Which meant they finally sat down to eat around 3:30 p.m. The air smelled like fried foods and the hum was as loud as ever despite being at ¼ capacity. Willow poked at her lukewarm salad from home while Gus wolfed down his peanut butter jelly sandwich in five bites.

Truly, it was the best time and place for a well-meaning friend talk. 

“Gus, when you get a crush you tend to get a bit over your head. Remember that one time you had a big crush you wrote a multi-chapter fanfic about it?” 

Gus almost slammed his face onto the table in an attempt to knock himself out, thus avoiding this topic. He settled for covering his face with his hands in shame instead. 

“Look, that was a moment of weakness that led to a small cult following, I had to satisfy the fans! They were going crazy in the comments!” Gus spluttered. “They worked me like a mule.”

Willow stabbed the cherry tomato she was playing with, splattering the already sticky table with tomato juice and seeds. 

“You wrote a fanfic about your dad selling you to the CATS.” 

Derwin and his college friends dropped out of college to start their own ambiguous bat-cat thing punk band, which seemed to blow up overnight. They became famous enough to top the charts. People even bought their merchandise in bulk just to sell them online at triple their price to entice desperate teenagers. Gus was one of their most loyal fans, spending all of his allowance money on new CDs and posters. He even got a signed autograph as a special gift from Raine that he still hung proudly above his desk to fawn over. 

In some fit of 14-year-old delusion and Derwin’s dashing smile from his autographed poster, Gus stayed up all night, on a school night, to write a fanfic that became bigger than he ever planned it to be. 

From that, was born the My Dad Sold Me to the CATS fanfic, both a shame and a pride in Gus’ short life. He published it at 6:45 a.m., right before the school bus came, in a state of sleep-deprived delirium. 

“They’re so dreamy,” Gus sighed, “especially Derwin.” 

“He lost to the entire band in that one arm-wrestling YouTube video when that ex-marine joined the band.” Willow said, pausing to take a sip of her kombucha, “You know, the one you made us watch a million times.” 

“Clumsy guys are just my type, I just want to sweep one off his feet.” Gus mused. “And while buff dudes aren’t my thing, I wouldn’t say no to Steve’s smile.” 

Willow nodded, “He does have a nice smile, but don’t you think he looks a bit li-” 

She was interrupted by a loud ping on his phone, Bria’s icon popped up on the screen and Gus sighed dreamily. 

“But who needs them when I have Bria, the prettiest, strongest, and nicest girl in the world!” Gus said, completely ignoring whatever Willow wanted to say. 

“About that, don’t you think she’s actually kind of,” Willow paused awkwardly, “mean?” 

“No?” 

“She dated Boscha and had a messy break-up,” pointed out Willow. “There was a Twitter war over it, for some reason I was tagged in the Boscha call out post.” 

“I’m sure it was all Boscha’s fault! She bullied you, I bet she was a bad influence on Bria,” Gus argued. 

“She’s mean to Mattholomule,” added Willow. 

“Does she?” asked Gus. “Mattholomule is a grumpy, clumsy, and prickly guy. I think he needs to be humbled.” 

“Gus, you’re a smart kid but you,” Willow struggled to find a tactful way to say it, “kinda get blinded by. . .” 

“Your overwhelming need for approval, even if it comes at the cost of your self worth,” chirped Skara. 

Two trays slammed themselves down next to them, interrupting their conversation. Skara and Viney plopped themselves in the empty seats at the table. Hunter followed politely behind, setting his tray down stiffly as he sat. 

Deflated, Gus succumbed to his fate and let his face fall onto the table, potentially permanently fusing him to it. Skara patted him on the back good-naturedly. 

“It’s totally, I used to be like that too,” Skara added brightly. “Boscha and I used to be so mean. Sorry Willow,” She gave Willow a soft look. “But I’m totally my own person now! And I’m still friends with Boshca on the days she isn’t that mean. Be your own person, Gus!” 

In reply, Gus mumbled something into the table. 

“What’s she’s trying to say, is that maybe you tend to get a bit head-over-heels?” said Viney. 

“As your friends, we think you should take a step back and reassess things,” Willow said with the kind sweet smile she always had, but it was striking a sore nerve in Gus right now. “I mean, how well do you know Bria?” 

“I know all that I need to know. She’s sweet and courageous. She saved Braxus from from a falling display case and she’s starting an anti-bullying campaign at school!” retorted Gus, then his tone softened. “And her purple hair is so pretty. The color goes perfectly with her turquoise hair clips.” 

Hunter, who had been mostly zoned out while scarfing down his meal looked up, he shot Gus a look of disappointment. 

“That purple-haired hairclip girl? She tried pushing me into the school dumpsters once,” Hunter bluntly spat out. “She does that to the hoodie kid all the time.” 

“That’s probably some other purple-haired girl,” Gus argued, then he snatched all the fries off of Hunter’s tray, “and you already stink man.” 

Hunter glared and grabbed the other half of Gus’ sandwich. 

“Gus,” Willow said, calmly interrupted their squabble, “you’re free to make your own decisions. You’re a smart kid with a big heart, but you’ve got to trust us on this one, Bria is bad news.” 

“Do you have any proof?” Gus argued. “Any of you?”

“Not really,” admitted Viney, “she just gives off rancid vibes.” 

“She made Boscha cry when they broke up,” Skara added. 

“She tried pushing Hunter into the dumpster!” Willow said, crossing her arms. 

“One, Viney, you taught me to never judge a book by its cover. Two, Skara, you told me Boscha secretly cries over every breakup so your point is moot. And three, Hunter doesn’t know who anybody is!” Gus listed smugly. “I may be the youngest, but I can make my own decisions. If this is a mistake, then so be it.” 

There was a brief tense silence which was broken by Viney. 

“Okay, we get it, we’re biased” muttered Viney, then she stage whispered to the rest of the group, “Who let the smartass into debate club?” 

“Well, technically I got into debate club after I quit journalism club, you would not believe the pressures of journalism,” explained Gus. “And I was in the journalism club because I got kicked out of the Witch Appreciation Society for destruction of property.” 

“Oh, I remember that,” Skara said cheerfully, pushing along the cheerful atmosphere, “everyone in school talked about it. You and Luz destroyed every VHS tape and television in the school!” 

“How did that happen?” Hunter asked, he was only a recent transfer to their school, from homeschool, so he had missed the entirety of that incident. 

Gus prepared a grand and only slightly embellished tale before Willow shoved a bit of her dads’ homemade cookies into his mouth. 

“Sorry, Gus, save the performance for next time,” Willow said with a small smile, shoving another cookie in Gus’ direction that he obediently ate, even though he was scowling. She then turned to Hunter. “Mattholomule got Luz and Gus roped into detention, the janitor accidentally locked the three of them inside of the school. Mattholomule somehow got a concussion picking the lock so Luz and Gus decided to turn on all the televisions as a light beacon, but they ended up overheating all of those old televisions. Luckily I called the police to bust them out because the whole school’s circuit board was fried. But it was technically the school's fault, so instead of paying for the damages they were forever banned from Witch Appreciation Society.” 

By the end of that spiel, Willow was a bit out of breath. Hunter looked between her and Gus as if they had grown third eyes and another head. 

“That doesn’t explain anything,” Hunter said flatly. 

“That’s why you need my performance,” Gus said proudly. 

The group talked and laughed together, recounting how they remembered the detention incident. Between their four different accounts of the story, Hunter left the conversation more confused than ever before. 

“You’re fucking with me when you said you released snakes from the bio lab, we don’t even have snakes,” said Hunter. 

“You’re looking at one of the three reasons snakes are banned on school grounds,” Gus slung an arm around Hunter’s shoulder. “And you should have seen how we tossed Mattholomule between us like a football.” 

“I don’t think a person can be that,” Hunter struggled to find the words, “little.” 

“Trust me, blondie, Matty really is that little. I bet you could swing him around without breaking a sweat,” chimed in a new voice. 

Two hands covered Gus’ eyes then, he smelt a rosey perfume as someone leaned onto him from behind. The person leaned in close and blew into his ear, almost making Gus jump out of his seat. 

“Guess who?” the voice whispered softly into his ears. 

Gus smiled giddily without even meaning to, his hands reached up to tentatively touch the hands covering his eyes. He memorized how her hands were surprisingly soft despite being in the woodworking elective at her school. 

“Hi Bria,” Gus said. 

He heard Viney and Hunter pretend to gag. 

“You got me,” Bria chirped. 

She moved her hands away and Gus found himself missing their warmth already. 

He ignored the judgemental looks his friends gave him and turned to completely face Bria. 

She was still leaning onto his chair, close enough that he could count every freckle if he wanted too. Right behind her were Angmar and Gavin. A bit further behind them was Mattholomule and some guy that Gus didn’t really recognize, a tall chubby redhead with a soft smile. 

“Anyway, Gus,” Bria placed her hands on his shoulders and Gus was afraid he’d burst into flames right then and there, “you’ve been ignoring my texts.” 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to,” Gus replied sheepishly. “I’ve been a bit busy talking to my friends, The Emerald Entrails, we do roller derby on the weekends.”

“Oh, how nice,” Bria said, casting a quick glance over the group. “You talked to them, now it’s my turn. You’re off work, come with us.” 

Before Gus could even answer, she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of his chair. Gus made sure to grab his lunchbox and phone off the table, shooting one last wave to his friends before he was whisked away into the crowd. 

Bria finally stopped on the second level of the parking lot, where there weren’t any cars but there were plenty of strange smells. Gus wrinkled his nose a bit, but he didn’t dare complain because Bria was still holding his hand. 

He vaguely noted that the redhead had his arm around Mattholomule, but he didn’t pay it much mind once Bria started talking. 

“Okay, team, I was thinking, we should invite Gus to our hangouts!” Bria said brightly. 

“Augustus?” Mattholomule scoffed, aghast. “He goes to Hexside, our group is for Glandus kids only.” 

Bria rolled her eyes and clung onto Gus’ arm. She shot Mattholomule a glare. 

“We kept you.” 

Mattholomule spluttered, but didn’t say anything else. He crossed his arms, pouted, and looked away. The red head patted his shoulder comfortingly. 

Bria, Gavin, and Angmar all laughed. Gus started laughing when Bria rested her head against his arm. Her cheeks were so soft and her hair was so silky it was hard to deny her anything. 

Then Bria dragged him down by the collar and grabbed his phone out of his hands. She used his fingerprint to unlock it and added a bunch of numbers to his contacts list. When she was done, she pressed a firm kiss on Gus’ cheek, slipping his phone back into his jacket pocket. 

The only reason Gus didn’t pass out was because Bria started whispering in his ear. 

“That text from before was an invitation to our group chat. I’m only adding you because you’re so cute, so you better not bore me.” 

Gus swallowed. 

“I won’t,” Gus barely got the words out. 

Bria patted him on the head and walked away without saying anything else, Gavin and Angmar followed her obediently. She blew him one last kiss as they all piled into her bright red car. Gus waved dumbly back, still processing how her kiss still burned against his skin. He watched as she sped off, nearly running over the three of them. 

It was then that Mattholomule seemed to come to a realization.

“Shit, Bria was supposed to be my ride,” he hissed. He turned towards the redhead, “Eric, can you give me a ride home?” 

“Sorry, honey,” apparently Eric replied, “my shift is starting soon and I won’t get out until midnight.” 

“I can wait,” Mattholomule argued. 

“You did the morning shift, plus, didn’t you say your brother is off work this weekend?” Eric said, his voice kind and soft. 

“Fine, but next time I’m waiting for you,” Mattholomule scoffed, his face the softest Gus had ever seen it. 

“You’d get kicked out,” joked Eric.

“Puh-lease, I can hide from those dumb security guards any day,” Mattholomule declared smugly. 

Gus was surprised to see Mattolomule look so relaxed and soft. 

“I know you can, see you tomorrow?”  

“Sure, I guess,” Mattholomule replied with a roll of his eyes. 

He pressed a quick kiss to Mattholomule’s lips, who hummed softly in response. A bit embarrassed, Gus looked away. 

A hand, Eric’s, patted his shoulder. 

“Nice meeting you, Gus. I’m Eric, by the way, see you around,” Eric said. 

“Oh, bye,” Gus replied. 

Eric smiled brightly at him. He leaned over to give Mattholomule one last peck before running off. 

The two of them kept waving to each other until Eric walked backwards into the building. Mattholomule smiling a goofy smile the entire time. 

The sliding doors into the bright and bustling mall closed. 

Once those doors closed, Mattholomule’s smile immediately melted off his face. He scowled and looked at Gus with thinly veiled disdain. 

And there it was. 

Gus and Mattholomule were alone together for the first time since the detention incident. 

Things sure weren’t looking pretty.

Chapter Text

Well, if Gus wanted to get into Bria’s good graces maybe he should start getting along with Mattholomule. Even if Mattholomule was the most infuriating person he ever had the displeasure of meeting. 

“So, Matty,” Gus started. 

“Don’t call me that,” Mattholomule muttered. “In fact, don’t talk to me, Bria’s not here. You don’t need to pretend.” 

Before Gus could get another word out, Mattholomule pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Someone on the other end picked up. 

“Come pick me up,” Mattholomule demanded. 

Garbled speech replied, apparently whatever the other person said was pissing him off judging by how his foot tapped against the ground impatiently. 

“What do you mean you can’t pick me up?” he yelled into the phone. “It’s just a fifteen minute drive. I bet it’s five if you speed.” 

Staticy laughter came from the other end. 

“I don’t care about your soup, it can burn to charcoal for all I care, Steve. Your brother is more important than some liquid gunk.” 

Mattholomule’s face went slightly softer at whatever Steve said. 

“Fine, sure, love you too,” Mattholomule muttered. He held his cell phone in front of his face, glaring down at it as if this Steve guy was actually there. “You owe me, next time mom goes out, I choose the ice-cream flavor. Bye.” 

Then, to Gus’ surprise, Mattholomule turned to him. 

“Give me a ride home,” Mattholomule stated.

“I thought you didn’t want me to talk to you,” Gus retorted. 

“If you give me a ride home it’ll look good to Bria,” Mattholomule cooed, he even fluttered his eyelashes a bit. 

It was probably a lie, but then again, Mattholomule was one of Bria’s closest friends. If Mattholomule told Bria how gallant and chivalrous he was, then maybe she would become as enamored with him as he was with her. 

“Fine, but there’s one condition,” said Gus, smirking. 

“Whatever it is, I can take it,” Mattholomule shot back. “What’s the worst a little dork like you can do?”

A few minutes later, the two of them were strapped on Gus’ trusty bike, with Mattholomule on the rear rack, trying to hold onto Gus while making as little physical contact as possible. Thus, he was barely hanging onto the bike. The wind blew around them as Gus sped down the side of the roads, fearless to the oncoming vehicles. 

“This wasn’t the condition I had in mind,” Mattholomule screamed as a car honked at them. “What idiot even rides his bike to work?” 

“It’s good exercise,” Gus replied. 

“You don’t look like the exercising type,” Mattholomule snarked.

“I do roller derby. Started biking so my legs could get super ripped.” 

Mattholomule peeked around to look at Gus’ legs. 

“Yeah, you sure are ripped, if you were comparing yourself with a toothpick,” Mattholomule cackled. 

Gus purposefully sped over a bump on the road, forcing Mattholomule to scramble to stay on. 

Savoring his small victories, Gus decided to return to being civil. 

“Anyway, dude, where do you live?” Gus asked. 

“Left at the traffic light,” Mattholomule said. 

The rest of the trip was relatively quiet, with Mattholomule barking out directions and Gus following along with them. In a short amount of time, they came to a halt in front of a small brown house. The smell of some kind of hearty soup wafted from inside. There was a motorcycle in the driveway. 

Without thanking him, Mattholomule hopped off the back of the bike. Before he could unlock the door, it swung open to reveal a tall man wearing a biker jacket. He scooped Mattholomule up in a hug and ruffled his hair. Mattholomule whacked the man’s arm and wiggled out of his embrace. Then, the man seemed to notice Gus. 

“Are you Matt’s friend? Get over here,” the man shouted. 

The voice was vaguely familiar, but Gus couldn’t quite place where he heard it from. But the man’s voice sounded kind, and Gus had to admit, he was curious about what Mattholomule’s family was like. He leaned his bike on the mailbox and ventured up the driveway. 

As Gus walked closer, he realized the man looked eerily like. . . 

“Steve! Don’t let Augustus in, he’s just some jacka-” Mattholomule started to protest, but the man put him into a headlock and continued to wave Gus over. Mattholomule continued to struggle. “Let go of me!” 

Gus gasped, taking a good one over on the man. 

Tall, broad shoulders, and two bright blue eyes. Three moles dotted his cheeks and his chin was just the right amount of stubbly without looking sleazy. He had a bright yellow shirt that said “Steve” in an equally bright red text. 

It was the same face that was on all of the newer CATS merch. 

“Steve from CATS lives here?” asked Gus, in utter awe. 

“Well, duh,” Mattholomule muttered from where he was still stuck in the headlock, “he’s my brother.” 

“Steve from CATS is your brother?” Gus squeaked. 

“That’s right, little man,” Steve replied. He let go of Mattholomule, who huffed in annoyance. “Matt is my lil’ bro, he’s a bit on the grumpy side but he’s a real softie underneath that.” 

Mattholomule stomped on his brother’s foot. Steve yelped and flailed the exact same way his brother did. The resemblance there was uncanny. 

Those weren’t the only similarities. His messy hair was the exact same shade of brown as Mattholomule’s and parted in the middle the exact same way, except Mattholomule’s was growing into a mullet. They both had dimples when they smiled, dimples that Gus had gushed over to Willow when Steve first joined the band. And their eyes both crinkled in the same way when they smiled, though Gus wasn’t a hundred percent sure of that since he had only seen Mattholomule smile widely, like once, when he was talking to some guy at the Hot Topic register that one time. 

It was surprising that Mattholomule had a smoking older brother. 

Or maybe it wasn’t. 

Well, now that he thought about it, Mattholomule had gotten cuter the past year. He was basically a scrawnier version of his brother. His eyes were a bit sharper, his nose was smaller, and his face was rounder. If anything, Gus actually preferred- 

“You good man?” Steve asked. “You’ve been staring for a while. Are you a fan?” 

“Yes,” Gus said dreamily. 

“Don’t be weird about this,” Mattholomule warned. 

“Can you sign my forehead?” Gus shouted.

Dammit. 

Steve looked at his bug-eyed while Mattholomule looked livid. Then, Steve laughed. 

“Sure, anything for a fan,” Steve turned towards his brother. “Matt, can you get me one of your special markers from your art kit?” 

Mattholomule shot Gus a look, but he still skulked up the stairs, leaving Gus and Steve alone.

“So, how do you know my brother?” asked Steve. 

His smile was still kind, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“School,” Gus replied, unsure of why he was getting nervous. 

“And how’s he doing?” 

Gus thought back to the parking lot. 

“He’s doing okay?” Gus supplied. “We’re going to hang out with Bria sometime.” 

“Ah, Bria,” Steve’s expression was difficult to read. He seemed to catch himself, and went back to smiling. “Are you his new boyfriend? I know he has one, big brother senses. You can tell me.” 

“Boyfriend?” asked Gus. “Shouldn’t he be telling you this stuff?” 

Steve sighed, “Matty doesn’t tell me anything these days. I’m really worried about him.” 

“Maybe I’d tell you things if you stopped snooping behind my back to my classmates you nosy asshole.” 

Mattholomule peeked back around Steve, despite berating his brother, he glared at Gus as if it was his fault or something. At least Steve had the shame to look a bit bashful and guilty. 

“Get your stupid signature and get out of here, idiot,” Mattholomule pointed at Gus with one hand and slammed the marker into his brother’s hand with the other. 

“You really want a forehead signature?” asked Steve. 

At first it was a random outburst, but now that Gus really thought about it, he didn’t have anything for Steve to sign, and taking something from their house to get signed just felt impolite. Plus, who else would get to say they got their forehead signed by one of the CATS members? 

“I’m ready,” declared Gus. 

He had to bend down a bit since he was about Steve’s height. He couldn’t wait to show off the signature to Luz and Willow. It took all of his willpower to not burst out into tears of happiness. He was willing to deal with Mattholomule’s grumpiness a thousand times over if it meant the chance to talk to his hot older brother who just happened to be in his favorite band. 

Hey, even if Bria was his crush and Derwin his bias, that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the eye-candy. 

“I owe you my life,” Gus sighed. 

If Mattholomule looked livid before, he looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel now, but Gus didn’t care, he was living out his teenage fanboy fantasy. 

“So, you wanna stay for dinner? Any friend of M-” 

Mattholomule headbutted his brother and pushed him back inside. 

“Augustus is busy, don’t bother him,” Mattholomule grunted, using his entire body to push his brother further back into the house. 

“What, I,” Gus stopped when Mattholomule glared at him. 

Gus knew when the fold ‘em. 

“I’ve got plans tonight, sorry” Gus lied. 

“Next time then?” Steve asked. 

“Of course,” he gushed before Mattholomule could stop him.

“Bye, Augustus,” spat Mattholomule.

“At least walk your friend to his bike,” Steve piped in. “He did give you a ride home.” 

Mattholomule slammed the door in his brother’s face. He grabbed Gus by the wrist and dragged him back towards his bike. 

He didn’t say a word until Gus was on his bike. 

“Don’t ever come here again,” Mattholomule said pointedly. 

“Geez, is this the thanks I get for helping you?” 

“Just go, if you come bother my brother again because you’re some mega fan of his, I’ll lace your coffee with laxatives.” 

“Don’t worry, you’re the only person in that house I actually want to bother,” teased Gus, throwing out two finger guns. 

“I hate you,” Mattholomule shoved two middle fingers into Gus’ face. 

“See ya, Matty,” Gus crooned; he mockingly winked at Mattholomule. 

“Don’t call me that!” screamed Mattholomule. “And you look stupid with my brother’s signature on your forehead!” 

Gus swerved to dodge the boot that Mattholomule threw after him, laughing loudly the entire time. He circled back to wave to Steve, who was waiting at the window, and to dodge Mattholomule’s other boot. 

It wasn’t until he was halfway home that he realized how much fun he had with Mattholomule of all people. 

Gus sorted that thought away to the back of his mind, temporarily placated by the fact that future Gus could deal with that. 

Chapter Text

Gus’ bike screeched to a stop in front of the Porter home, he discreetly deposited it next to the garage. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but it was almost dinner time. His father usually worried and fretted if he wasn’t home by six. It was getting close to seven at this point. Between talking to Bria, Mattholomule home, and meeting one of his idols, it had gotten a bit late. He slipped the key quietly into the lock, before he could turn it, the door opened. 

“Why is that on your forehead?” 

Gus startled when he saw Darius at the doorway. 

“Darius, hey, I was just taking out the trash! Been home on time this entire time! Didn’t go anywhere else!” he scrambled. 

“I didn’t ask for any of that,” Darius replied. “I asked about your forehead.” 

Gus reached up to touch his signed forehead but stopped, just in case the ink was still smudgeable. 

“I, uh, met Steve from the CATS,” Gus admitted. 

“I can see that, I recognize that fool’s signature,” Darius pressed his fingers to his temple. “Don’t tell me you’re feeding into his ego. I could just ask all four of them to mail you a signature, you don’t need to do this.” 

Oh right, Darius was best friends with the CATS manager and songwriter, Raine Whispers. Someone Gus also vaguely knew through Eda. Hypothetically, there was a way for him to get a real signature without bothering Steve at his own home. But now that the CATS were actually famous, it was pretty hard to get ahold of any of them. Sometimes Darius helped them with their costume design, Amber jokingly complained that he gave them style and prestige lessons because he thought they were too goofy. Or now that Gus knew Darius personally, maybe it wasn’t a joke. 

“His brother introduced me,” Gus said. 

Darius smiled at that and ruffled Gus’ hair. 

“Steve’s bratty brother, I met him a few times when he helped with our sets or poster designs in the early days,” Darius mused. “A damn smart mouth, nothing like the sweet angel his brother made him out to be.” 

“A bratty smart mouth is one way of putting it,” Gus grumbled. “He’s so rude and mean.” 

“Hmm, either way, it’s rare for you to be late to come home,” Darius said. “Is there someone you should be introducing to us soon? That’s one reason teens suddenly start coming home for dinner late, and that’s for silly romances.” 

Gus flushed a bit. 

“Well, there’s someone, but I don’t want to tell dad yet,” Gus muttered. “I think it’s mutual but I don’t want to introduce you two until it’s more official.” 

“Waiting until it’s official? And you’re no fun, you didn’t even try to deny it,” Darius scoffed. “You and Perry are really cut from the same cloth, but I suppose that’s a charm point.” 

“How did you know I liked someone?” asked Gus. 

“You came home with a giddy smile, you’ve glanced at your phone several times during this conversation, and you lied about being late. I was a teenager too, you know,” Darius said. Darius flicked his forehead playfully. “I was going to cover for you, but that forehead of yours would give you away and the trash is already outside, if you paid attention you’d be a better liar.” 

With a final laugh, Darius turned towards the dining room and Gus trailed after. At the table, Perry was just finishing setting up their dinner. 

“Why are you late?” asked Perry. “And what is that on your forehead?” 

“Gus ran into one of those CATS he’s really into,” Darius replied before Gus could. 

“Oh, the ones on that poster. Which one?” 

“Steve, you met him once when you did that interview. You know, the first time we met. He’s the goofy one,” Darius reminded Perry. 

“This just in, Augustus Porter spotted in the company of famed CATS bassist,” Perry said. He mimed holding out a microphone to Gus. “Now tell the world, how did you run into the famed musician?” 

“Dad! Darius!” Gus pushed Perry’s hand away. “You’re embarrassing me.” 

Darius shot him a wink and turned back to Perry. 

“He lives in town and Gus works at the mall. It’s not surprising that they ran into each other,” Darius lied. 

Huh, that was weird. There wasn’t any reason to hide that he sent Mattholomule home and met Steve there. 

“Gus, staying behind to talk to a celebrity isn’t a good excuse for being home late. I let you ride your bike to and from work when it’s daylight, you got home after dark today. What if you got hit by a truck?” Perry scolded. “If this happens again I’ll be driving you.” 

“Sorry, dad,” Gus mumbled. “I won’t let it happen again.” 

“Though I do wonder, how did Steve get away with being in the mall? Wouldn’t the fans have recognized him?” Perry asked out loud. “I didn’t see any tweets or posts about him.” 

Curse his father’s sharp wits and curse Darius for teaching his father the actual ability to use social media. 

“He was disguised,” Gus chimed in. “I only recognized him because I’m his biggest fan ever.”

“I thought you liked the lanky boy more,” Perry said. 

“You don’t get it, dad! You can have multiple favorites.” 

Perry shook his head and gave him a look that meant he didn’t get it, but he didn’t press the issue any further. 

The rest of their family dinner was peaceful. Gus tuned out whatever nerd topic his dad and Darius talked about, instead staring at the screen at the contact information Bria put into his phone. He daydreamed about the day they would be each other’s wallpapers and take a bunch of selfies as they waited in line for pretzels at the food court. 

They cleaned up with little fanfare, the men retreated to the living room to watch the news on the orb and Gus ran upstairs to look lovingly down at his phone. 

Gus was in a blissful haze as the group chat planned a get together for next week after work. He agreed to everything that Bria planned without even reading a single word. He’d go catch every star in the galaxy for her if she asked, clearing out his schedule to have dinner and hanging out at the park would be nothing. 

Well, maybe hanging out at the park at night would be something his dad wouldn’t approve of, but in the pursuit of love, Gus would push some boundaries. Plus, he had gotten into way worse situations with Luz and Willow when they first met. 

It was midnight when he realized nighttime park crusades meant that Gus couldn’t ride his bike, and there was no way his dad or Darius would be happy to pick him up from somewhere they said was shady. Willow might agree out of kindness but she didn’t approve of Bria, Luz would probably be out with Amity, and Hunter always went to bed at nine p.m. on the dot. 

His mind wandered to the group chat. 

Angmar and Gavin would probably ride with Bria, but asking the girl he liked to give him a ride because he couldn’t drive was too lame. That really left him with Eric and Mattholomule. Knowing Mattholomule, he’d rat him out to Bria. Going with Eric wasn’t any better because he’d tell Mattholomule who would tell Bria. Plus, they’d probably ride together too. 

He didn’t have a single good option. 

Gus screamed into his pillow dramatically. 

One of those options was slightly less horrendous than the others. So, he took out his phone and started texting.

On Monday, during history class, Gus and Luz huddled in the back of the classroom. Whispering lowly enough that their teacher couldn’t hear them. 

“Omg, I remember Bria, she was so brave saving Braxus from that falling display,” Luz gushed. “I don’t get why the Entrails don’t like her.” 

“See,” Gus preened. “I knew you would understand me, best friend.” 

“So, you just need Amity and I to drop you off and pick you up? That’s easy,” Luz piped. She leaned in closer, a smirk on her face. “A secret date in the park after hours? Is this a KDrama?” 

Gus blushed, “No! Other people will be there too.” 

“Like who? Anyone we know?” 

“Mattholomule will be there,” Gus answered. 

Luz slammed her fists on the table, gaining the attention of the entire classroom. 

“MATTHOLOMULE?” she screeched. 

A few short moments later, the two of them were seated outside of Principal Bump’s office. 

“Why is Mattholomule going to be there,” hissed Luz, lowering her voice so as to not disturb the principal. 

“He’s Bria’s friend!” 

“He’s Mattholomule!” 

“He’s not that bad! Plus, his brother is Steve,” Gus gestured to the fading signature on his forehead. “He signed my forehead.” 

Luz reached over and started shaking Gus. 

“You didn’t say that! I want Steve to sign my forehead too!” she screamed. 

Gus grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her back. 

“I did say it, it’s not my fault you had Amity blacklist Mattholomule’s name on your phone!” he screamed back. 

The office door next to them opened, Principal Bump peered out. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting something,” he drawled. 

He ushered the two of them into his office, where they sat on the uncomfortable wooden chairs in front of his desk guiltily. 

“This story better be good,” Principal Bump said. 

For the rest of the period, Principal Bump let the two of them ramble and bicker about how they got sent to the principal’s office again. Even if it was about matter’s outside of school, he still listened intently. He even offered them some popcorn as they chatted. 

“While I think interrupting your history class for dating woes is a horrible excuse, I do admit it was kind of funny,” Principal Bump said. He took the detention slips their teacher wrote and put them into some kind of scrapbook. “I won’t be giving you two detention, but at least try to avoid being sent back here.” 

“You’re the best Principal Bump!” Luz cheered. “Here, on our way here, we drew some fanart about you to bribe our way out of detention, but now you can have it anyway!” 

“I helped too,” Gus bragged. 

A hyper-realistic image of the principal done entirely with glitter pen was placed on Principal Bump’s desk. The man huffed, but he took the paper and placed it into the scrapbook as well. 

“Now go along you two, I’ve got actual work to do.” 

Released from the confines of the office, the two of them rushed to their next classes right as the bell rang. 

Right as he turned the corner into the Art wing, Gus glanced back at Luz.

“Are you still able to give me a ride?” 

Luz shot him a thumbs up as she was being pulled away by a mass of students. 

“I’ll have to check to see if I get the car, but if I do then you’re all set. Vee rarely needs it, so it should be good.” 

“You’re the best Luz!” Gus shouted. 

They both went their own ways. Gus sautered towards his English classroom. Lost in his own thoughts, Gus walked into the arts classroom right as someone was walking out.

The person next to him screamed and fell backwards, their mess of papers flying everywhere. Their head cracked against the floor. A few of the students already sitting at their desks snickered.

“Fuck you, man,” groaned the other person. 

“Mattholomule?” Gus gawked at the boy on the floor. “What are you doing here?” 

 Mattholomule ignored him and scrambled to pick up all of his papers. Between them, Gus spotted what actually looked like a few pretty good pieces. 

Gus bent down and picked up a drawing, it was an anatomical sketch of what looked like a man in a plague doctor mask. Though he was considerably buffer than most plague doctors in the media. 

“Did you draw this?” 

“Give that back!” Mattholomule ripped the paper out of Gus’ hands, tearing the corner off. “And don’t mention this to anyone.” 

Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, Mattholomule was blushing a deep red. He messily stuffed the art into a large folder. Most of the class had gone back to their conversations as Mattholomule gathered the rest of his things.  

“Sorry,” Gus muttered, handing a few more papers he took extra care not to peek at, no matter how curious he was feeling. 

“Whatever, you’re making me late for my next period,” Mattholomule scoffed. 

Gus handed over the last few pieces of paper that flew towards the rest of the class. One of the other students kicked the paper away from him, muttering something under their breath to their friend. Their eyes flicked between him and Mattholomule. 

“You good, man? That was a nasty fall,” Gus said softly, handing over a sketch that had a dirty footprint on it. 

“Oh, just great after having a giant oaf ram into me.” 

“You might have a concussion again,” Gus fretted. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t treat me like I’m some delicate doll,” Mattholomule snapped. 

His eyes flickered towards the fading signature on Gus’ head and made a sound somewhere between a groan and a snort. 

“By the way, my brother got mad at me for not thanking you the other day, so, thanks. And he’s making me promise to give you a ride some time,” Mattholomule turned around to glare daggers at Gus. “One. Ride. And it better not be for anything stupid, like that chicken scribble on your forehead.” 

Without letting Gus reply, Mattholomule picked himself up, leaving Gus kneeling on the ground. Without moving to help him up, Mattholomule rushed out the door and into the hallways. 

The bell ending passing rang soon after. 

Seeing Mattholomule in an art classroom felt different. He never imagined that bratty kid as an artist, even when Darius praised his skills. It just seemed unimaginable with how abrasive and jerkish the other boy was. 

And Gus could never really figure out if Mattholomule was a complete jerk or something else entirely. He never knew how to approach him. 

Annoyance curled in Gus’ gut. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and was surprised to feel something there. 

He didn’t realize he stuffed the corner of Mattholomule’s sketch into his pocket. 

He carefully stuffed it into his ID case. 

Then he continued with class as if nothing ever happened. 

Chapter Text

It was Friday, fourth period history class. 

And Luz Noceda was kneeling in front of him dramatically like this was some anime. 

Their history teacher glared as if he wanted to send them to the principal's office again, but technically dramatic apologies during passing weren't against school rules. 

“I’m so sorry, Gus!” Luz cried out. 

“Huh?” 

“It’s Vee’s weekend for the car and she actually wants to go out with her buddies,” Luz explained. “I tried to tell her it was for love, but she stood her ground. I’m so proud of her.” 

Vee, Luz’s twin sister, was usually a quiet recluse, but Gus vaguely knew that she had been getting along with a few of the other loner kids. He saw them rolling dice and trading cards at lunch sometimes. 

Vee was shy and kind, which usually meant she agreed to most of Luz’s whims without any complaint, so honestly Gus was proud of her for standing up to her more outgoing sister too. 

“Now Amity and I are going to have a home date watching animal documentaries with mama, so I can’t be your ride,” Luz said. 

Shit. 

“It’s okay Luz, I got myself into this situation and I’ll get myself out,” Gus reassured her. 

“I’m really sorry, buddy, I’ll help you out next time, any favor and you got it,” Luz said. 

“Holding you to that,” Gus said with a wink. 

Then the bell rang, with one glare from their teacher, they went to their desks, now on opposite sides of the classroom, and prepared to take their notes. 

During the next passing period, Gus walked faster than usual to his next class. It would typically take him the entire passing period to get across the school, but between rudely weaving through his classmates and maybe sliding down one set of stair railings, he was standing in front of his art classroom in record time. Turns out panicked speed walking was an effective time saver. 

He burst into the classroom and took long strides towards his desk. When he put his stuff down, he noticed there was someone there, still hunched over a sketchbook. From a quick glance, it looked like two figures holding out swords. He watched as a hand and pencil glided across the page, adding detail to the armor. 

The shaggy brown hair and fingerless gloves were getting a little too familiar at this point. 

“Uh, Mattholomule, this is my seat. It’s passing.” 

“Fuck!”

Mattholomule glared at Gus and slammed the sketchbook shut. It took him a second to realize what Gus said. He cursed and started packing his things, throwing everything into one red folder that was barely holding itself together. 

Gus didn’t say anything, he had bigger problems. 

Bigger problems being that he still needed a ride to hang out with Bria. 

She said that if he was boring, she would ditch him and surely missing out on the first group hangout would be extremely boring. Then he’d never get to do a horror movie marathon with her that ends with both of them passing out on the couch for his dads to tease him about over dinner.  

Mattholomule brushed past him, shoulder checking him, and reminding Gus of an important resource. 

“Mattholomule,” Gus ran to catch up, “you said you owe me a ride, right?” 

Mattholomule picked up his pace. 

“Unfortunately.” 

“Can you give me a ride tomorrow? We’ll be even!” Gus said. “I’ll never bother you again.” 

“I doubt that, you fucking ass,” Mattholomule replied. He turned towards the English wing and Gus followed after. “But fine, text me your address. If you aren’t outside at five thirty on the dot, I’m leaving you.” 

“Thanks, Matty, you’re not the worst,” Gus gushed. 

“You could at least pretend to suck up to me!” Mattholomule complained. 

The two of them came to a stop in front of a classroom. 

“Gas is expensive and this is a last minute thing, so you owe me a coffee too,” Mattholomule added with a smirk. 

“Geez, isn’t the ride supposed to be a thank you?” Gus grumbled. Mattholomule shoved him in annoyance. Though Gus was tempted to shove back, he decided to play along instead. “Okay, fine, fine. What kind of coffee do you like?” 

“Just a black coffee,” Mattholomule answered, “and don’t do anything weird with it.” 

He then turned and walked into his classroom to his desk. Mattholomule looked back, stuck out his tongue, and tapped on his wrist. 

At that, the bell ending passing rang. 

And Gus was halfway across the school again. 

Mattholomule mouthed something that looked suspiciously like “Fucking dweeb.” 

Gus narrowed his eyes and walked back to his actual class, preparing some believable story about a line in the bathroom or something. 

At the end of the school day, he tried to text Mattholomule about the next day, he realized the other wasn't registered as a contact in his phone. Even though Bria said she put everyone’s contact information into his phone. 

He found that a little strange.

The next morning, Gus was up bright and early at his job. He opened up a bit earlier so that he could make the extra coffees before the morning rush came. 

One cappuccino, one caramel latte, and one white chocolate mocha. 

He delivered Willow her coffee. For some reason he was reluctant to tell her about the hangout with Bria. 

“We’re doing a girls movie night, you wanna join?” she asked. 

“Whoops, sorry, busy tonight. Witch society things,” Gus lied. A pit sunk to the pit of his stomach. Lying to Willow was physically painful. “Actually I wanted to hang out with Bria and her friends, don’t be mad.” 

“Gus, I won’t be mad. I said what I thought, but that doesn’t mean you have to listen,” Willow said softly. “I just want you to be happy. Can you promise me that?” 

She held out her pinky. 

“Anything for you,” Gus said cheerfully. 

They shook their pinkies together. Then Willow gestured for Gus to bend down to hug him. 

“Have fun, tell me how things go.” 

Gus hugged her back with one arm, the other holding up the coffees. 

“You know it.” 

Willow pulled back from the hug and her glasses had a fierce glint despite the soft sunlight. 

“And when things do go wrong, let me know, so Bria and I can have a talk with my fists,” she said this evenly. 

Gus felt scared for Bria, but he was still grateful for her protectiveness. Plus, despite her general pacifism and soft smiles, Willow knew how to throw a good punch. 

“Thanks Willow.” 

Willow went back to the shop to tend to a few more plants, leaving Gus to his own devices. 

He went over to the Hot Topic next door, where Mattholomule was opening up, alone. 

“Where’s Bria?” asked Gus. 

“Good morning to you too,” Mattholomule muttered, not bothering to look at him, “and she’s probably skipping.” 

“Oh.” 

Mattholomule turned around to look at him, hands on his hips. 

“Don’t stand there looking like some sad puppy dog because Bria isn’t here,” Mattholomule rolled his eyes. “If you got somewhere else to be pathetic, then go do that there.” 

“Well, then I guess you don’t need your coffee,” Gus grumbled. 

“Wait, you made me coffee?” Mattholomule perked up ever so slightly. 

“Yeah, you asked me to.” 

Mattholomule crossed his arms and looked down. His expression went blank. 

“I’m just,” he paused, “surprised.” 

Mattholomule seemed to shake it off and resumed with his typical scowling. 

“Anyways, thanks for the drink,” Mattholomule held out his hand. “Now give it here.” 

“Of course, your grumpiness,” Gus held out the white chocolate mocha. 

Mattholomule snatched the drink and took a sip. His eyes widened in surprise. 

“This isn’t what I asked for.” 

“Whoops,” Gus let a rare smirk form on his face, “you just seemed like the type of guy that pretends to like black coffee to seem cool. So I made something more fitting, I could add more whipped cream and chocolate flakes next time.” 

“I hate you! I’m not drinking this trash!” Mattholomule shouted. 

Without throwing the coffee into the trash bin located outside of the store, Mattholomule stomped back into the Hot Topic. 

Gus realized he didn’t get Mattholomule’s number. Maybe he would use his break to ask him for it. 

Though he was supposed to have had his break around lunchtime, Gus ended up clocking out for his break around two because that was when the crowds finally died down. He was a bit buzzed and jumpy from drinking Bria’s caramel latte. Its sticky sweetness was still clotted inside his mouth. 

Some part of him thought he’d like it because Bria did. 

He hated it, he had never been a fan of caramel. 

He walked over and peeked into the Hot Topic, which was relatively empty. There were only two people there. 

“What do you mean you’re not going tonight?” Mattholomule was barely keeping his voice down. 

Gus awkwardly crouched behind some racks. He wasn’t sure if he should run or if he should pretend to be clothes on a hanger 

“I’m camping out so I can go fishing early tomorrow morning,” replied Eric. “You can come if you want.” 

“Ugh, no,” Mathtolomule sighed. “I hate fishing and I hate camping. I don’t get what you like about it.” 

“That’s because you never come,” Eric said stiffly. 

“And you always skip out on hanging out with me and my friends!” complained Mattholomule. 

“Friends?” asked Eric. 

“Stop looking at me like I’m some pity case,” Mattholomule snapped. “I know what I’m doing.” 

“I’m watching out for you.” 

“I didn’t ask for that, you asshole.” 

Usually Gus was all for snooping, but somehow this felt wrong. 

“I didn't come to argue with you, but here we are, fighting at your job for anyone to see,” Eric muttered, it unreasonably felt directed at Gus, who flinched and sunk further into the clothing racks. 

“Let’s just talk later or something,” Eric continued. 

“Get out, I’ll see you next week, maybe,” Mattholomule said. 

“Or we can talk tomorrow,” Eric said in a strained voice. 

“I’ll see you next week,” Mattholomule repeated coldly. 

Eric sighed and walked out of the store so quickly he didn’t see Gus hiding amongst the masses of dark clothing in the dimly lit store. 

Gus fiddled nervously for a few more minutes, making it look like he didn’t just walk in on and eavesdrop on an argument like it was some poorly written soap opera. He tried to make himself as small as possible. 

“Do I want to know why you’re stuffing yourself into the displays?” 

Standing over him was Mattholomule, who had one hand on his hip and the other holding a box, looking surprisingly good for someone that just had a public fight with his boyfriend.  

“Mattholomule! What’s up?” Gus gushed as he bolted upright. 

“Doing my job,” Mattholomule deadpanned. “If you’re here for Bria, she’s a no-show.” He dropped the box down on the floor, precariously close to Gus’ feet. “And because of that I couldn’t take a break so I feel like shit. Would it kill you to bother another store?” 

“Well, that’s the thing, I’m actually here for you. I have something to ask you.” 

Mattholomule turned around and went in the direction of the stock room. 

“Going on break, bye.” 

“Wait! It’s actually important!” Gus speed walked behind Mattholomule. “Can I have your number?” 

The boy in front stopped in his tracks. 

Without turning around he asked, “Bria didn’t give it to you?” 

“She must have forgotten, she’s a bit silly sometimes. You probably know that already, since she’s your friend,” Gus nervously pulled on his collar, the Bria he knew was sharp-witted and a defender of the people. But being witty didn’t necessarily mean she had a great memory, he tried to explain to himself. He set his phone to the contacts page. “Can you give me it so we can text about tomorrow.” 

Mattholomule snatched the phone out of Gus’ hand. He typed quickly and handed it back to Gus. 

“Thanks, man, now I can add myself onto your,” Gus stopped when he heard the door to the storage room slam shut. 

With nothing better to do, he texted Mattholomule his address. He contemplated adding an emoji to cheer him up. An empty chat log with just an address felt too. . . cold. But he couldn’t bring himself to write anything more. 

Mattholomule read the message, but didn’t reply. 

Gus finished up his shift and went home with little fanfare.