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Isak supposes he should’ve seen it coming. He has ears and eyes, okay? He knows what people thinks about him, thinks about them. He hears the whispers, sees the eyes that watching them both with awe. Contrary to popular belief, Isak’s not stupid. So when his father had the audacity to tell him that maybe he should marry to Noora, he doesn’t spit out the water he was about to gulp. And, no, he doesn’t tell his dad to shut the fuck up as well because believe it or not Isak’s a grown up now and doesn’t care about his dad anymore. Not even a tiny bit. So he just drinks his water and chews few beans just to take his time as much as possible and annoys his dad and when he answers, he just says;
“Maybe I should.”
The look his dad gives him is something, least to say. Isak thinks he was expecting a fight maybe but again, he doesn’t care enough to yell at him. And to be honest, he kinda understands why he suggests something like that.
He’s been known Noora since, like, they were 3 years olds and they never really broke apart through the years. They went to the same schools, took the same classes, ate the same foods, slept at each others. Their parents were friends slash business partners so, isak gets it. Really. Noora’s smart and interesting to talk to and she’s such a great pillow when isak’s feeling down…She’s truly a catch. Isak knows this. And he’s aware that she’s hot damn beautiful. He has eyes, remember? And he loves Noora. He doesn’t think he really knows what love is but he knows that he loves her and he knows that she loves him, too. And everything is the way it is supposed to be.
Except it really isn’t and he doesn’t really love her.. Okay, it’s actually not that complicated. Isak knows he’s not attracted to the girls, not really. He remembers the time he and Noora kissed as an experiment when they were 12 and remembers thinking “well, this fucking sucks”. It’s not that Noora is a bad kisser –he wouldn’t know what a good kisser is anyways- it’s just, in all the books he has read and all the movies he had watched it was always butterflies!!!!, fireworks!!!, explosions!! but all isak had was his tiny dry lips bumping into Noora’s and tasting tiniest bit of strawberrish lipstick. No explosions, no butterflies, not even a single one. So, you can imagine the disappointment. And through the years and after all the hooking up he did in his past days, he knows he’s not into girls. And he knows his mother is religious and his dad is business partners with Noora’s dad and it’s important that they are connected to each other, so he knows his role in this story. Isak doesn’t know what his parents’ reaction would be and his mother is not well and it’s..it’s easier to pretend. So he does. He never explicitly tells anyone that they’re together but the implication is always there. People don’t need words anyways, they just assume and go their ways. And Noora makes it so easy for him. She never asks. Never pushes Isak. Never questions him. Sometimes Isak thinks she knows but never asks because he’s too afraid of the answer.
-
Later when he says his father’s brilliant suggestion to Noora, she laughs several minutes that Isak has to throw a pillow at her head.
“And how did you answer to that?”
“I said i’d rather eat shit than to marry you, obviously.”
“You are a shit liar, Issy. Good thing you’re not studying to become a lawyer.”
“That’s a harmful generalization of lawyers and you should be ashamed.”
A message pings just as Isak gets a hit of a pillow.
“There’s a party tonight at Jonas’” she says.
“This is so upsetting.” Isak says while draping his hand over the his head like women in renaissance paintings. “He suppossed to be my best friend, not yours.”
“Don’t hate me because I’m prettier, Issy”
Isak doesn’t answer. Sunlight hits Noora’s hair in a weird angle and it almost looks like her hair is a melting gold and Isak thinks “God, the person you love will be so lucky. I hope they deserve you.”
-
They meet Even at the party. Isak hates him on sight. Ok maybe not on sight because he doesn’t see him when they meet. Isak was leaving the bathroom and some for fucking reason this dude was leaning on the other side of the toilet door while holding a glass of red wine in his hands. Isak doesn’t see his face because as soon as he yanks the door open, this dude falls backwards, onto Isak, while his fucking red fucking wine spills all over him. Isak’s butt hurts from the fall and this guy’s hair is in his mouth and for a second, Isak’s mind goes “UUH NiCe SmElLy FoOd” and that’s..just embarrassing. As people gather around them and the guy trying to get up, Isak lies there, his golden hair now reddish, looking like a complete fool. Suddenly Noora is there and yells with surprise,
“Oh my God, Even! What are you doing in here? Are you okay? It’s so nice to see you!”
The guy, Even, gets up, they hug and start talking like they so ramdomly bumped into each other and all of this feels surreal..
Vilde comes out of nowhere and helps Isak get up. Noora and Even are so lost in conversation that it makes Isak frustrated so he simply leaves without saying anything. He goes to kitchen sink and cleans himself up. With a mixture of embarresment and anger, he drops the clog a few times and swears. When a pair of socks get in his view, he looks up and sees Even.
“Hi, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been leaning to the door. It was stupid of me” he says.
“It really was.” Isak takes a napkin, wets it and starts rubbing his face. Even looks amused. It makes Isak’s blood boil. “Maybe instead of flirting with my friend, you should watch out where you stand.”
“Are you friends with Noora?”
“Lovers, actually.” He doesn’t really know why he says it. He’s pissed and just wants this dude to piss off and leave them alone.
“Oh, that’s interesting because i was talking to Noora earlier and she, maybe, mentioned that there’s no one she’s seeing and agreed to have a date with me.” He says and fixes his hair. “She didn’t explicity said it’s a date but you get the gist of it.” Even smiles and pats Isak’s shoulder. “Sorry buddy”.
Isak glares at the hand that holding his shoulder. He shakes it and says;
“For creeps like yourself, everything with a girl is a date, huh?”
Okay. All of this? Buncha crap, Isak thinks. Who the fuck this guy thinks he is?
They glare at each other for a few seconds. Even opens his mouth to say something then stops and smiles instead. He looks at Isak up and down like he’s challenging him some sort of way and okay, that’s it, Isak is about to punch a giraffe. No regrets.
“I guess I’ll see you around then. Isak.” He says. And Isak thinks: this guy, Even, enjoys this.
He doesn’t answer. He looks at Even’s face, clenches his fists then leaves the room to find Noora.
He doesn’t realise Even called him Isak until he comes home late at night, drunk. He sees blue eyes right before falling asleep.
-
Isak doesn’t think about Even until he catches Noora messaging with him, 2 days after the party. They are at Jonas’, playing fifa with the boys. His phone’s battery long go so he grabs Noora’s without asking. It’s really not his business but anger silenty churns in his stomach.
“I know him since when i was taking drawing classes when we were 13, remember?”
“No” Isak says grumpily but Noora doesn’t hear him.
“He’s a really cool guy and it’s good to talk to someone who is interested in the same things as me.” She says when Isak asks about it.
“Ouch.” says Isak, trying to make it light and to not show his anger.
“He’s inviting me to a movie tonight”, she says while patting Isak’s cheek. Isak turns his head and licks it.
“Ewwww”
“We are not going. Obviously” He drops to the couch and squishes between Magnus and Jonas.
Noora glares at him.
“Oh, good thing you let me know because you are not invited anyways.”
“What’s going on?” Magnus asks.
“My one and only best friend-”
“Hey!” Jonas retorts without looking from TV.
“Ok. One of my best friends whom i’ve known since i was born has a date with the enemy.”
“Yeah best friend my ass” Magnus says just when Mahdi asks “Which enemy?”
“Ugh, the guy at the party. You know, the annoying one.”
“You know his name is Even, Isak. Stop being a child.”
“So you agree that he is annoying. You said it, not me!” Isak takes a bite of a chips. “Can’t believe he’s trying to steal my fiance.”
“Not your fiance” Noora says while typing another message.
“My dad wants me to marry you” Isak wiggles his eyebrows. “You know how much i value dad’s words”.
“You’re so full of shit that it physically hurts me.”
“God you really are a married couple.”
“Only in Isak’s dad’s dreams.” Noora gets up, takes his jacket.
“We won’t be alone anyways. He’ll bring a friend. And if you’d ask me nicely Issy, it’d invite you as well.” She makes a mocking-upset face and leaves.
Isak sits there, not knowing what to think of the situation. He never minds when Noora goes out with people because it’s none of his business and they really are not a thing but this? This feels different. He doesn’t really know why he is this angry but only remembering the way Even looked at Isak, the tiniest bit of mockery in his voice fills him with fire. When Jonas gives him the controller, he tries to get in a good mood and almost does it, until Magnus nudges him and shows an instagram story.
“Damn this dude is fire!”
Isak looks at the story Noora reshared from the user evenbn that saying “DATE” with big bold letters. It’s a simple picture. They are sitting next to each other, smiling to the camera. There really must be a third person with them because it’s not a selfie. Isak looks at Noora, then Even. It doesn’t look like the same asshole at the party. He somehow looks.. softer. An ugly voice in his head whispers;
“He did this for you. You said it wasn’t a date. Here’s your answer”
He gets a message from his dad at the exact minute.
“Someone showed me Noora’s post. What does this mean Isak? Are you no longer together? Call me immediately”
Looking at his phone, anticipation grows on Isak. Probably realizing this, Mahdi says,
“I think you should look out for this dude. There’s a thing between you and her after all” and while a part of isak says “no it’s not. It’s nothing romantic”, other part says “oh boy, i’m sure gonna look out for this dude”.
-
When he gets home, he finds his dad waiting for him.
“You know you are older now, Isak,” he starts without even waiting for him to sit or like,, breathe. “and you must understand the way of life.” His voice comes soft in the darkness like he’s about to read a bedtime story to him. Isak knows how this conversation will go. He knows what his dad is gonna tell him but listens anyways. “You know that Noora’s parents are good friends and our business partners, Isak. You know how much of a big deal it is that you’re together. So, don’t be stupid and lose her” He inhales like he’s about to say something deep. “because then we will lose everything.” He gets quiet. Isak promises himself that tha he won’t say anything because he knows that it doesn’t matter to his dad. He’s been through this many times before. Almost everytime, when his dad heard a rumor about Noora’s love life. Isak knows that it’s fucked up but he can’t fight it anymore. He opens his mouth anyway but his dad beats him to it.
“For he longest time I have never told you what to do, never asked anything from you. But-”
His whole face burns. Anger burns his veins, catches him unguarded. When he speaks, he doesn’t realize he’a shouting.
“Yeah, it was probably you were never here. Thank you for that.”
His dad doesn’t flinch, doesn’t even blink. Isak thinks maybe deep down he always waits for this. For a fight.
“Isak! Don’t be this way. I did everything just for you and your mom. I left the country because that was what needed to be done! Now you need to do what has to be done. Fort his family. For us!”
“You left the country because it was the easy thing to do!” He says it like it is a known fact and he’s just sharing it with the class. “Mom was sick, she couldn’t take care of herself and instead of looking after her, you left us. You left me! I was 15, dad. I was 15 and I don’t know what to do. So, now do not sit there and tell me it was for us! This is for you. Everything is always for you. I am nothing but a muppet to you!”
He doesn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation. He walks out the door and wanders around the city with a burden that he can’t shake off from his shoulders, until street lights close off and sun rises.
-
Next day he goes to Noora’s and listens while she gusts over Even. Isak is not a jealous person, no, he never was but as the time passes and the voices in his head kept whispering he’s about to lose Noora, their friendship, his protection and all the yadda yadda his dad kept telling him about, it’s clear that he has a problem. He never liked this Even guy since he first saw him and if he has to fight for Noora, he will fight. It is selfish, he knows. But this is what everyone expects from him. ‘It will be just another thing to add to the list of things i hate about myself’ he thinks and try to come up with a plan to not lose Noora.
-
As weird as it sounds Isak and Even spent a lot of time because of Noora. They go to shopping, to swimming, to bowling. The bowling day is extremely annoying because Noora never leaves Even and Eva’s side and it’s so annoying. What is more annoying is that he and Even are now in a competition. The one who wins Noora’s heart, wins this stupid competition they are having which Isak doesn’t even wanna join because he’s not interested in Noora. But that’s what his dad expects him and that’s what his friends expects him, so he does. And he looks stupid while doing it. He knows none of this makes sense. He and Even fight to get her drinks, try to get her attention. One time they decide to go to a movie but Eva and Noora ditched them, so Isak and Even had to watch the movie together and Isak hates it. He is so sick of this dude, honestly.
Next time he sees Even, he is completely unprepared. It is late. Late enough that all coffee shops to be closed but he sees KB’s lights are still lit up and okay he really has to grab a coffee or else he will fall asleep and fail this semester’s most important exam. So he runs to KB and it is not until later, when barista asks what he wanted that Isak realizes oh shit, it’s the guy, Even.
Isak makes a sound mixture of a ugh and uhm and stares at Even. Even simply smiles. If Isak had enough sleep, he probably wouldn’t have said the next thing he says but he hasn’t slept for awhile now and he really hates this guy, oh my god.
“Stay away from Noora” he spits out.
Even looks surprised and taken aback. After Isak’s words dawn on him, a crease forms on his forehead.
“Who do you think you are?” He says and he sounds furious.
Isak loves it.
“Noora is a grown woman and if she lets me see her then sucks for you buddy, because i’m gonna see her and i’ll take her to dates and make her happy and you’ll just have to respect her! I don’t know what your fucking problem is but you need to step back. She’s not a your belongings. She can decide whatever she wants. You have to respect her!”
When Even finishes talking, he is simply fuming.
“Now get the fuck out of here. I have a choice to not serve you and i certainly won’t be serving you!”
Isak was gonna pull a Karen, honest to god he was but the raw anger Even shows in that moment is just, breathtaking. It isn’t violent, no, it was at the same tone till the end but he had said it with so much passion, like how dare isak disrespects noora’s choices like that, that Isak doesn’t know what to say so he doesn’t say anything and just leaves.
-
Isak doesn’t fail his class. It’s a miracle that he doesn’t and secretly he thinks it is thanks to Even. Even’s pure anger that night kept isak awake and since he started to feel guilty, he needed to focus on other things and his exam papers came to rescue. When he leaves the class, his mind is so occupied that he doesn’t realise that he is once again at KB. And Isak is a science guy, okay. If his legs bring him here, there must be a reason and he knows what that reason is. He pushes the door and the smell of coffee travels to him. Isak knows that he has been acting childish. He knows that Noora is not her property. But he’s so afraid to lose her, so afraid to see the disappointment in his dad’s eyes, that he acted like an idiot. He knows this. And he knows that he’s a coward for trying to sabotage Noora’s happiness. He doesn’t know what he was thinking. So, he’s here to apologize to Even and to make amends.
He sees Even behind the counter. He’s talking to a collegue while taking off of his apron. He doesn’t see Isak until he’s at the counter.
“Hi!” Okay, Isak has never seen people throwing daggers from their eyes but that is literally what Even’s doing right now.
“Okay, look-“ Isak starts but Even shuts him up.
“You are lucky because my shift just ended. You can tell your order to Eva.” He sounds tired.
“I’m not here to grab a coffee. I want to talk to you.” When Even doesn’t say anything, he contunies. “Can I walk with you or if you have time, can I get you a coffee or anything?”
“Look Isak. If this is about Noora again, I do-”
“It’s not! I mean, kinda it is but..I just want to apologize.” Even raises an eyebrow and considers Isak. Isak doesn’t know what he finds but it must be enough because then he says,
“I need to be somewhere, like, right now. Can you walk to tram?”
“Yes, thank you!”
Even grabs his jacket and says bye to Eva who keeps sending glares to Isak which, to be honest, Isak deserves.
“So..” Isak glances at Even. “I know I was acting shitty from the beginning and I shouldn’t try to get in between you to guys. And I have no right to tell you to stay away from Noora. I think if she’d hear me say something like that, she’d definitely beat my ass.” He smiles lovingly and steals another glance from Even who looks deep in thought.
“I’m sorry for the way acted. I don’t know what I was thinking. She’s such a huge part of my life that I guess I kinda got jealous.”
“Why did you say you’re lovers then?” When he sees Isak doesn’t understand what he is talking about, adds “at the party. The one i fell on you”
“Didn’t need to specify that. Did you add it to remind me my misery” asks Isak mischievously. Even laughs.
“Maybe.” He shrugs and okay, not that Isak didn’t know before but Even? is hot. In fact, he is smoking hot, holy shit.
“I don’t know. I was just annoyed by how smug you looked, I guess. Never would have guessed you’d ask her if she was single though. You are fast, dude.”
“I didn’t, actually.” Even winks and bumps his shoulder with Isak’s.
“What do you mean you actually didn’t?”
“I told her that I need to find you and apologize for falling on you and she said you’re her Isak aka best friend since 3 years old and we would find you together! We did find you but then a friend of her came and took her and yeah..”
They fall silent.
“I guess sorry for lying about that too?”
Even laughs again.
“It’s okay.” He kicks a stone. “I will not say sorry for yesterday though. You deserved that.”
“I truly did, didn’t I?”
They fall silent again. And with a big surpise Isak realizes they past the nearest tram stop and walking for the next one. Even must have realized that, too because he hmmms and adds,
“Did you know that we met before?”
“No way!” Isak says and doesn’t add ‘I’d never forget a hottie like you’
“Yes way,” Even laughs. “Noora introduced us when you came to visit her in art class. I even drew you!”
“No way!” Isak says again, “I don’t remember it and I don’t have a drawing so?? Tell me the truth Picasso!”
“I swear,” Even laughs again, “I, unfortunately, drew your nose a little bit out of portion and you found it so ugly that you started crying. It was the meanest criticism I have ever had.”
Isak snorts and says “Sorry,” then a little later adds, “I wish I could see it now. Bet it’s a great one.”
Even bumps their shoulders again.
“Oh, interesting you say that!”
And that is exactly how Isak founds himself at the rooftop of Even’s house, his portrait in his hands.
“My nose doesn’t really look like this, right?” he chuckles.
Even throws him a piece of paper.
“The meanest criticism ever,” He murmurs.
They share a joint along the way.
“These all are so beautiful, Even. you are really talented.” He looks at the evry single drawing they have around them. Some of them more special than the others and Isak knows it’s a privilige to see these and he isn’t sure if he deserves it.
After that day the dynamics between them changes. They still spent a lot of time together but they don’t race for Noora’s attention which seems like only focused on Eva. In fact they come to a