Archive of Our Own

1

Laurence wasn’t used to the house being this quiet. Garroth had gone out to do something with his parents, and he hadn’t heard anything from Zane, though he knew he was still home. But that was fine. Zane was always a quiet dude, so it was expected. He couldn’t focus on the lack of noise, especially since he was making enough of it himself in the kitchen.

Some background music was playing on his phone as he cooked, some random pop song that was at least dance worthy seeing as Laurence was swaying his hips to the beat as he chopped up tomatoes and onions. He hummed along to the rhythm, tapping his foot as he used his knife to push the cut up pieces into a bowl. This was just for him, since he was definitely a lot more hungry than normal. Probably due to running around with Dante all day at the park. It was a bit of a habit the two of them had developed to make sure they both got out of the house while everyone was gone.

Garroth would probably get dinner while he was out with his parents, but there would be leftovers in case he didn’t. For Zane, who he knew would probably come out later, he would put some in another container like always. He had learned that although Zane didn’t come out to eat most times, he would steal leftovers from the fridge in the middle of the night, only taking what he liked. Laurence had started putting some of the food into a separate container for him, keeping track of what he liked so he could save some for him.

Laurence turned around when he heard a chair squeak and saw Zane sit down at the kitchen island. Speak of the devil and he shall appear he supposed. They didn’t speak, neither of them needed to. Zane was playing something on his phone, or maybe messaging someone. Either way his face was frustrated. You needed to be good at reading small facial expressions with Zane, since he only kept a fourth of his face visible at all times. Laurence wasn’t as good at reading faces as people like Aphmau or Katelyn, but he was good at deciphering body language.

Slumped shoulders, disappointment. Bouncing legs, stress. Slightly shaky hands as he typed, frustration. Small muscle spasms in his upper arm, anxiety. Seeing the way his eyes crinkled when his arm muscles tightened was a give away that his arm was flaring up. He'd probably have to buy more ointment for it. The way Zane held his head meant he was probably having a headache. Clearing his throat constantly was a way of trying to calm down for him. All of these lead to one clear conclusion.

Someone was having a very bad day.

Laurence looked away from Zane, realizing he was probably looking at him longer than socially acceptable. He thought back to the list he kept in the back of his head on all of his friends' comfort foods. He knew Aaron loved a good steak when he was feeling down, and Dante always felt better after he made him some linguini. Thinking back, he remembered back at the old street when they had fend nights. Garroth would always just take leftovers or have Laurence make him something, but Zane made himself a grilled cheese and tomato soup almost every time.

That’s it! Laurence turned the burner he was about to use off as he bent down to search for a pan and a pot. There’s the saying that the way to someone’s soul is through the stomach. Laurence had laughed at it until he found out how true it was. You could tell a lot about someone based on what foods they were in the mood for. Call Laurence crazy, but he had learned a lot about his friends from their eating and drinking habits.

Lucinda had different teas she drank depending upon her mood. Kawaii~Chan baked different sweets depending on how she felt at that moment. Even as far back as high school, he had been able to figure out the Shadow knights moods based on what coffee (or juice in Zenix's case since he was allergic to coffee beans) they ordered at the small cafe they frequented after school. Laurence had an entire catalog of small details like that in his memory, right next to where he kept how everyone liked their foods, like how they all liked their eggs or how strong the ones who drank liked their alcohol. Keeping track of it all wasn’t easy, and he had a small notebook he kept in the junk drawer to help remember, but it was how Laurence learned about and took care of people.

Laurence made a small victorious noise when he found the soup pot and the grilling pan. They weren’t where they usually were, which kinda pissed Laurence off, but not everyone had a system like he did. Taking them out, he looked to make sure Zane was still there, which he was. Good. He could eat it while it was hot.

“What kind of cheese?” He asked, almost out of reflex. He saw Zane jump in his seat a bit and felt bad for a moment before he got his answer.

“I don’t care.” Zane muttered. Laurence sighed. That was a sign that Zane was having a really bad night, considering that he was always extremely specific about his food.

Laurence went to get some normal white bread, before moving to the oatmeal beside it, remembering that was what Zane always used. He thought he saw a surprised look from Zane, but he couldn’t tell and decided not to worry about it. Grabbing a can of tomato soup from the pantry and some provolone from the fridge, he got to work.

For the next twenty minutes, nothing was said. Sometimes there would be a ding from Zane’s phone, and the music still played in the background, but not a word was spoken. Between occasionally flipping the sandwich and stirring the soup, Laurence kept himself busy while occasionally keeping an eye on Zane.

“Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance.” Laurence sang along, tapping his foot against the floor as he stirred. He looked over just in time to see Zane roll his eyes, causing him to let out a laugh and sing the next line louder. Just because he was having a bad night didn’t mean he escaped Laurence’s beautiful singing (no matter how much Zane told him he sounded like a dying bird). In the next ten minutes, Laurence had slid a plate in front of Zane with a grilled cheese and a small bowl of tomato soup. “Careful, it’s hot.” He said on impulse.

“I know that.” Zane said with a mocking tone, but still put his phone down to look at it. “Acceptable.” That was the closest Laurence would get to a compliment, so he took it.

“Thanks one-eye. Now, enjoy yourself and thank me later.” Laurence gave a small grin before turning back to prepare his own dinner. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zane get up and take his plate as he walked out, probably to go eat in his room. Laurence noticed that his shoulders weren’t as stiff and smiled to himself as he went to prepare water to boil.

Mission accomplished.

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2

Now that everyone was back home, sleepovers at Aphmau's house were much more common. Everyone wanted to reconnect after months apart, and Aph and Aaron had the biggest house, so sleepovers were the first idea that came to everyone’s head. Aaron would move all of the couches to the edge of the living room and everyone would set up a sleeping bag. Laurence found that he always looked forward to those nights.

The activities varied depending on what had happened that week and what everyone was up for. Sometimes they watched movies, which would end up with a lot of people either crying, screaming, laughing, cheering, or booing; sometimes all five in the same movie. Sometimes they’d play what Aphmau called ‘mini games’.Guess who, Murder mystery, Prop hunt, those sort of things. Laurence still wasn’t sure what magic allowed them to do that.

Most of the time, it was just normal sleepover games though, like truth or dare or never have I ever. Spin the bottle was banned since there were a lot of couples who didn’t feel comfortable kissing anyone who wasn’t their partner. They tried once with just all of the single people, but Gene landed on Dante the first time he spun and almost threw the bottle, so it was banned all together.

This was one of those games. Hide and seek. Laurence himself was a seeker. He had started as a hider, but Dante had found him in his hiding spot in a tree and made him a seeker. From the last he heard, Travis, Kim, and Zane were the only ones not found yet. He was pretty sure he had searched the entire first floor at least three times, and was about to move on before he heard something falling from the closet under the stairs.

He burst open the door with an ‘Aha!’, but his victory was short lived as he saw that while yes, he had found Zane, a box of stuff had fallen onto him and he seemed dazed. More concerned about whether or not Zane had hit his head, Laurence knelt down next to him and looked for any damage. Thankfully, Zane stood up without any problems, but thanks to his short sleeved shirt Laurence could see that the bandages around his wound were stained with fresh blood. Laurence quickly dragged him by his good arm to the nearby bathroom, sitting him down on the edge of the tub as he dug into the medicine cabinet.

“What happened?” Laurence asked as he looked through the cabinet, searching for bandages and maybe some kind of soothing cream. He didn’t hear an answer, but didn’t rush him. Even if Zane didn’t have a concussion, he was still dazed and probably needed a moment to get his thoughts together.

“Nothing much. I adjusted myself while hiding, accidentally knocked against the shelf, and the box fell on me. No big deal.” Zane muttered finally, rubbing his head with his good arm. Laurence finally found bandages and some disinfect, turning over with a small bit of disbelief in his eyes.

“No big deal?! Zane, you could’ve gotten a concussion!” Laurence got on his knees, taking Zane’s arm and lifting his sleeve up. “It’s bad enough that your wound has partially reopened.” Laurence undid the bandages and thankfully saw a good thing, which was that only parts of the wound had opened and was bleeding. “Hang on, this is gonna sting.”

Laurence applied the disinfecting cream to the parts that had opened, pausing for a few seconds whenever he heard an especially loud wince. Once he had spread it evenly, he took some new bandages and wrapped at least three layers around it, tight enough to keep the wound safe but loose enough to not suffocate it. “There. Good as new.”

He looked up at Zane, who he saw was looking back at him. “…Thanks.” He heard him mutter. Laurence smiled, putting what he had taken out where it had been in the cabinet. Aphmau probably wouldn’t mind that he used some, especially since it was to help Zane.

“You’re welcome.” Laurence walked over and helped him stand up, before flicking him on the nose. “Don’t think just because I patched you up doesn’t mean you haven’t been found.” He caught Zane rolling his eyes, but due to the crinkle of his eye he could tell he was at least partially smiling.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. All that’s left is Travis and Kim ri-“ Zane was interrupted with a loud smashing of a door from upstairs, followed by a surprised scream.

“I found Kim!” He heard Garroth yell from upstairs, followed by a thump of one of them hitting the floor. Probably Garroth getting shoved by Kim. Both Zane and Laurence laughed, before going out to find Travis, the last one hiding.

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3

Laurence knew something bad happened while everyone was gone. From the injuries, to Aaron being blind, to Lucinda losing her magic, to Kim being possesed, to Aphmau and Garroth being werewolves, he knew something must’ve happened. No one would tell him what though. He knew it happened because of the cannon in starlight, and he knew Aaron and Garroths parents had something to do with it, but nothing else. Whenever Laurence asked, he’d get vague answers, had the subject changed, or flat out ignored.

He knew it affected all of them. He and Dante were both worried about everyone, but they didn’t push for answers. They’d tell them when they were ready. He hoped. Laurence was pretty sure something happened between Zane and Garroth. Zane sometimes seemed… almost afraid of Garroth. He didn’t push for answers in that either, subconsciously not wanting to know.

Something else also changed, and that’s the fact that Mr and Mrs Ro’meave came over to visit more often, practically moving into the neighborhood. Laurence usually found an excuse to get out of the house, pretty sure that Mr Ro’meave didn’t like him, but this time he couldn’t. So he just avoided the living room where they were talking.

Currently he was making himself a simple lunch of rice balls and fish. Due to the open doorway between the kitchen and living room, he could hear and see everything. Garroth got praised a lot. For every little thing. Laurence knew that Garroth deserved all the praise, but his tail wagged slowly, as if he didn’t want it to. The only comment he heard about Zane was his father commenting on his weight. He saw Zane place whatever he was eating on the table after that comment and push his hoodie down to cover his stomach more, and he felt his eyebrows furrow in a bit of frustration. He’d have to make sure that didn’t go to Zane’s head.

Normally, he wouldn’t insert himself into situations like this, and he still wouldn’t. Directly. He just grabbed his fish and rice and made his way into the living room. It was his house too. He sat down on the empty space on the couch, right next to Zane. Both of his roommates looked at him weirdly, but Laurence just shrugged. He saw Mr Ro’meave glare at him from the corner of his eye, but paid no mind to it. What was he gonna do, kick him out of his own living room?

He placed two rice balls and some fish onto Zane’s plate, which earned him a small confused look from Zane. Zane went to push it away, but his mother interrupted him. “Zuzu, your friend is offering you food! It would be rude to refuse now wouldn’t it?” Zane looked a bit taken aback, before lifting his plate back up and turning to the side to eat.

Laurence smiled at the woman, who gave him a smile back. He liked Mrs Ro’meave. She was sweet and polite, and never made him feel unwelcome in his own house like her husband did. Neither Garroth or his father had said a word since he came into the room. He got up, set some of his food in Garroths plate to be even (getting a smile from him in the process), and then went to leave the room. His work here was done.

“Oh Laurence, leaving so soon?” Mrs Ro’meave called to him. Laurence paused. Please don’t call him back please don’t call him back- “Why don’t you sit for a while? I would love to know what you’ve been up to.”

Laurence, too polite for his own good, sat back down with his plate. “Of course Mrs. Ro’meave.” He smiled at her kindly, but inside he was in pain.

“Oh, please, just call me Zianna sweetheart.” Mrs- Zianna smiled back at him. Laurence looked beside him to where Zane’s leg was bouncing and his leg was shaking. Anxiety. “You’ve been taking care of my GarGar and Zuzu, haven’t you?” The woman asked him, an almost threatening tone underlying her voice.

“Of course. I care about them.” Laurence nodded, both towards her and Zane. Zane looked to the side and got up, going to leave the room thanks to the distraction. He saw their father look at him leave but say nothing, while Zianna was distracted while happily talking with him, Garroth joining the conversation at some point.

Zane owed him one for this.
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4

Laurence opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling of his room, then to the clock beside his bed. 3:27 AM. He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. No use trying to go back to sleep now. He yawned, feeling how dry his throat was. Must’ve slept with his mouth open again. He slowly set up, moving the blankets off of him and beginning to walk downstairs.

He assumed Garroth was still asleep since he knew he wasn't one to wake up in the middle of the night, but he wasn’t sure about Zane. He could be asleep, he could be awake in his room, or he could be hanging out downstairs, taking advantage of the fact that the house was quiet. Laurence made his way to the kitchen, before he heard quiet noises from the living room, peeking through the doorway.

There was the answer to his question. Zane was sitting on the couch in front of the TV, a random show playing in the background while he read a book. At least, he thought he was reading, but occasionally he would look up and watch the show for a bit, then go back to reading. On the floor next to him sat a small but still good sized stack of books.

“Uhm, whatcha doing there Zane?” Laurence asked quietly. Zane looked up at him with tired eyes. He used the remote sitting on the side table to pause the movie, grabbing a black bookmark with a skull pattern on it and using it to make his place before he closed his book.

“If you must know, a bunch of movies and TV series based off of books I like came out.” Zane told him, gesturing to the screen and his pile of novels. “I’m comparing them to see if the movies match up. So far, they’ve all been disappointments.” He scoffed, and Laurence for once understood. Movies based on books were hardly ever as good as the books. He looked down at the one Zane had in his lap, and a grin made its way into his face.

“You’ve read ‘Twenty-five dates with Mandy Macklson’? I didn’t think you were a romance guy.” Laurence teased, sitting down beside him. He saw Zane look away from him, his face probably red. “So, watching the series huh? I haven’t watched it myself. How is it so far?” Since they were both up, and would most likely be the only ones up for a while, why not make some small talk?

“It’s… decent. Not as good as the book, but decent. So far I’ve gotten to the 5th date with Jerimiah.” Zane explained, sitting up more and reaching for the remote.

“Oh oh, is this the one with the motorcycle racing?” Laurence asked with a grin. “You know, where Jerimiah reveals he has a motorcycle and Mandy also has a motorcycle so they race and whoever wins gets-“

“Yes yes that one.” Zane said with a small laugh, unpausing the movie. Laurence sat closer to him, looking at the book, then the TV. He really didn’t peg Zane as a romance dude, but you learn something new everyday.

“You read, I watch?” He suggested, earning a nod from Zane. He leaned back against the couch, watching as Mandy slid on her helmet and climbed into her red and green bike. He frowned a bit at the fact that they didn’t keep the purple and black combo of the books. He didn’t like that they gave her a mullet because even though it looked good on her, he missed the pixie cut from the books.

For the next who knows how many hours, they just sat there and compared scenes. After every episode they’d talk about what happened and what changes were made. Turns out Zane also didn’t like the new hairstyle they picked for her, but for a vastly different reason.

“It’s quite literally changing a huge theme from the book! She cut her hair off as a rebellion and wasn’t supposed to start growing it out until after she met Pedro, because it symbolized that she was ready to move on and confront her past!” Zane ranted to him, crossing his arms in frustration.

“Man, I just didn’t think it looked that good on her, but you’re right.” Laurence whispered, as if he had just had the biggest realization of his life. He looked over at Zane, who shook his head in disappointment. A sound of something falling rang out from upstairs, followed up by Garroth groaning. “Well, guess I’ll go. Wouldn’t want Garroth to think we're becoming friends, would we?” Laurence laughed, getting up.

Zane looked between the TV and him, pausing the scene they were on. “Of course not.” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Laurence didn’t think much of it, just shrugging his shoulders and going to the kitchen to make Garroth and himself some coffee. If he made another cup of partially sweetened coffee and set it on the counter for Zane to pick up later, he wouldn’t say.

The next time they met in the living room, Laurence managed to get Zane to admit his favorite love interest was the hyper-feminine weebo, so that was a win in his book.
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5

Usually Laurence wasn’t a big fan of house parties, but man this one was amazing. He had almost forgotten how good of a party planner Dante was. Music was blasting from some kind of stereo system he had set up, there were a few tables with food everyone had brung, and honestly the wild atmosphere made Laurence feel like a teenager again. Drinking red wine from a glass right next to Lucinda, he looked around the living room where everyone was.

Aphmau was sitting on a couch next to Kawaii~Chan and Katelyn with Aaron’s head in her lap. He was pretty sure Aaron somehow fell asleep. Maybe a food coma was to blame. Travis was in the corner having a conversation with Dante while they both stuffed their faces with Laurence’s chicken parmesan rolls. That recipe seemed to be a success. Kim was on the couch across from Aphmau and Katelyn, drinking what Laurence was pretty sure was orange juice out of a red solo cup. Garroth was next to her, making some small talk while he shoved an entire tray of Kawaii~Chan's cookies into his mouth. In the opposite corner of the room, Gene was leaned against the wall and talking with Zenix and Sasha, who hadn’t been kicked out despite showing up uninvited. The only person Laurence had failed to see was Zane.

That was frankly expected. Zane wasn’t much of a people person, so he probably stepped outside to get some fresh air. Nothing to worry about. Laurence would probably do the same in just a few moments. In fact, he probably would right now. His ears needed a break from the loud music. He excused himself from where he was sitting, downing the rest of his wine and sitting the glass down.

Climbing the old rickety ladder on the side of Dante and Travis’ house was a bit risky, but Laurence had learned how to move without shaking the ladder too much. If anyone saw him, they’d probably ask why he was climbing onto the roof instead of just hanging out in the backyard or by the pool. He wouldn’t be able to answer. He just felt the most peaceful when he was high above the ground. Maybe that was supposed to say something about his mental state or whatever.

Surprisingly, he found Zane had beaten him to his spot. He was sitting down on the small flat section of the roof that hung above the entryway. Laurence almost left, but decided that maybe he should share his spot this once. Zane was probably overstimulated, and the roof was the quietest place he could be right now without outright leaving the party. Laurence walked over, sitting down next to him. They barely looked at each other, letting themselves be in silence.

Laurence dug into the pocket out his jacket, bringing out the first thing he could get his hands on to fidget with. That ended up being the lighter he always carried with him. It was black and had the Shadow knight logo painted on it, a gift from Gene in high school that he still carried with him for certain occasions. Occasions like right now, as he reached into his other pocket and brought out a mostly empty pack of random brand named cigarettes. Laurence didn’t smoke often, maybe once or twice a month if at all. He never got hooked on the nicotine, thank Irene, so it became something he did only when he felt a bit overstimulated or stressed. It helped calm him down, but he didn’t rely on it.

He could see the surprise in Zane’s eyes when he lit the end of the cigarette and pressed the other against his lips, setting the lighter beside him. “You smoke?” He asked quietly, as if not wanting to disturb the peace of the moment. Laurence opened his lips and let out a puff of smoke. He hadn’t done this in months, so the feeling was more foreign than usual.

“Not very often.” He replied, taking another drag of the cigarette. He almost offered him one out of impulse, but Garroth would probably yell at him for it, no matter how close they were. Garroth... He wondered how he would react to his little habit. It was one of the things that stuck with him from the Shadow knights, even though he didn’t do it as much as he did back then. He knew Garroth, and if anything, he would probably be more so worried then angry. Maybe he’d think Laurence was failing to beat an addiction or something. “What’s up with you? Why’d you leave?”

Zane just nodded at him, not responding as he breathed in the night air. Laurence turned his head away from him whenever he breathed out smoke so he didn’t upset him. He remembered once in high school when he blew smoke in someone’s face when they annoyed him. He got punched, and he honestly deserved it. He was a real douchebag in high school while he was in the Shadow knights.

“It’s loud.” Zane suddenly responded, looking down at roof. “It’s loud, and it’s bright, and I don’t like it. It’s overwhelming.” He sighed, curling his knees closer to his chest. “I didn’t really want to go to this thing, but I didn't want to be seen as a jerk for not coming.” Laurence nodded along with him, resting his hand on the tile of the roof.

“I get it. Parties can get overwhelming, especially if you aren’t exactly a people person.” He paused, taking another drag and blowing another gray cloud out before continuing. “Garroth kinda made me into a people person, but I still prefer just drinking wine in the corner and people watching.” He stopped there for a few moments, letting the two of them fall into silence again, continuing his pattern of dragging and sighing until he couldn’t anymore, dropping the cigarette down and stomping it out.

“We know you Zane.” He suddenly continued. “We know you don’t have the largest social battery. Someone may make some jokes, but we wouldn’t see you as a jerk if it wasn’t a good night for you.” Laurence turned to meet his eye, before he looked away from him.

Zane stayed silent for a while. Laurence was okay with that. They just sat there in the quiet night, the music from the party barely hearable. They heard the front door open below them, seeing Katelyn walk out; probably to get some fresh air. They both stayed still and silent, hoping she wouldn’t notice them. To their unluckiness, she turned up and caught them out of the corner of her eye, doing a double take.

“What the hell are you guys doing up there?!” She yelled, gesturing at both of them. Him and Zane both looked down at her, Laurence smiling sheepishly while Zane shook his head in disappointment. She looked incredibly angry with them, and for what? They weren’t doing anything.

“Uhhh, talking?” Laurence told her, rolling his eyes. “Duh.” He didn’t remember when the beef between him and Katelyn started, but it was almost hilarious at this point. She sighed, the cold night air making her breath visible.

“Whatever. You guys need to come down. Garroths looking for both of you.” She yelled up at them, before turning her back and coming back inside. They both looked at each other, before Laurence stood up and held out his hand. Zane stared at his hand a bit, before taking it and allowing himself to be helped up. After they both climbed down the ladder and went back inside, Garroth grabbed both of them and dragged them back into the main room where everyone else was.

Laurence kept an eye on Zane for the rest of the night. Occasionally he’d go silent when it got too loud, subtly covering his ears for a few moments, before he would rejoin the conversation. When the party was over, and all three of them were home, Zane went up beside him and slid something into his hand. When Laurence opened his palm and looked at it, he saw his lighter. He must’ve left it on the roof and forgot to pick it up. Before he could thank Zane, he had gone up to his room and disappeared for the night. He smiled to himself, slipping the lighter back into his pocket before he went to put the leftover rolls in the fridge.
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6.

Laurence had been unusually kind to him recently.

That was the first thing Zane thought when he had gotten home from the party Dante had thrown. The past month or so, Laurence had been doing things that were uncharacteristically nice towards him. Making him a grilled cheese when he looked down, rebandaging his wound, helping him escape an awkward family situation, indulging him in his favorite movies, and just that night when he had given him some sort of pep talk. They still bickered and bantered, but he was being nice.

Zane didn’t know what changed. It was almost weird for him to think back on Laurence’s nice actions. He wasn’t used to anyone outside of his brother, his best friend, and his girlfriend treating him nicely. He didn’t want to dwell on it, not wanting to get used to the treatment in case it went away suddenly. That was his last thought before he went to sleep that night.

In the morning, he was woken up by the sound of vomiting from the bathroom in the hallway. He sat up a bit, stretching himself out of his exhaustion and getting out of bed. At first he thought it was Garroth, probably after eating chocolate like the boob he is, but when he walked past the open door he saw Laurence instead. He probably should've walked past and ignored it. A month ago he probably would’ve.

This wasn’t a month ago. Maybe he felt slightly indebted to Laurence for all the nice things he had done for him, or maybe, even though he'd never admit to himself or anyone else, he had finally started to warm up to him. Whatever the reason, he walked downstairs, seeing the kitchen was empty. He had no doubts Garroth was either still asleep or out of the house, those being the only reasons he could come up with that Garroth wouldn’t be coddling and babying Laurence.

Zane opened the fridge and reached inside it for the gallon of milk. Milk was something that helped soothe the throat from the stomach acid that was brought up while vomiting. He got a cup out of the cabinet, pouring a glass of it while wondering why he was doing this. Laurence had been almost unnervingly nice to him, and he was just paying him back. That’s what he told himself at least.

Putting the milk back in the fridge, he went to walk upstairs, finding Laurence in the same place he left him. Awkwardly, he walked in and set the glass of milk on the sink counter. He saw Laurence look over to him, seemingly confused on why he had brought him something. That made two of them.

“Drink too much?” He asked him, something inside making him lean down to be more at his height. Laurence nodded, probably not wanting to speak in case it triggered his gag reflex. Zane watched as he raised his hand to move some pieces of hair that were stuck to his forehead. One of the only changes he noticed when they got back was that Laurence’s hair was longer, all the way down to his shoulders. He kept it in a ponytail most days, but it seemed like he didn’t have time to do that.

Laurence seemed like he was about to say something, before he turned away and threw up again. Zane didn’t have any other business here. The milk was there for when he was done, so why was he still here? He noticed Laurence’s hair was dangerously close to getting vomit on it. He guessed that was a struggle of longer hair. Zane thought again to Laurence's nice actions, and sighed as he sat down beside him and kept his hair from falling in his face.

Although he couldn’t see Laurence’s face, he could feel when he paused for a few seconds in surprise. After a moment, he went back to puking his guts out. Zane didn’t do much after that, he just kept Laurence’s hair behind his shoulders. It was soft, which meant he was at least taking good care of it. Unlike him and Garroth, Zane didn’t care much about what his hair looked like, as long as it wasn’t a knotted or mangled mess. He brushed it everyday and that was about it.

After what felt like at least a good ten minutes (but was probably less), Laurence attempted to get up. Zane let go of his hair, standing up and watching as he struggled a bit. He thought back to the previous night when Laurence had offered him his hand on the rooftop, and offered his own to help him stand. Laurence didn’t seem to have the energy to look confused, just taking it and using both his arm and the counter as a stabilizer, almost knocking over the milk in the process.

Once Laurence was stable enough, he let go of Zane’s arm and practically chugged down the glass of milk. He set it down on the counter afterwards, wiping sweat off of his forehead. If Zane didn’t know any better, he might’ve been worried, but he knew vomiting was a usual sign of a mild hangover. He barely ever drank, and when he did his hangover usually consisted of just a minor headache and sometimes some dizziness. With Laurence looking better, he went to leave before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks.” Laurence told him, his voice still hoarse from what he had put his throat through. “For the milk. And holding my hair back.” He sounded awkward about it, making Zane at least feel not as alone in his feelings. “You didn’t have to do that.” That last part caused Zane to roll his eyes. Did he think he did this because he didn’t think he had a choice?

“Of course I didn’t.” He responded, tensing up a bit from the unusual contact. He didn’t want to seem like the bad guy for pulling away from what was obviously meant to be a friendly gesture, but it was unexpected, and he couldn’t help his reaction. Laurence looked over to his shoulder and almost immediately took his hand off of it, looking a bit…guilty? Was that the word to use?

“Are you alright enough to eat?” Zane found himself asking, seeing that Laurence still looked a little queasy; like he could go back to vomiting any minute. The only thing he should eat would be some buttered toast.

“I think so.” Laurence leaned his side against the sink, holding his head. Zane debated passing him some painkillers, not wanting to come off as suspicious for being too nice but also not wanting Laurence to stumble and fall trying to get them himself. In the end he took too long to make up his mind, as Laurence had already reached into the medicine cabinet and was taking some painkillers. “I’ll make some food in a bit.” From the tone of his voice, ‘in a bit’ sounded more like a couple hours away.

Zane almost immediately made up this time. “I’ll make some.” He said, watching as Laurence looked at him suspiciously. “I was already going downstairs to make myself food, it would just mean I wouldn’t have to risk you burning yourself making something while hungover.” He said as an excuse. It wasn’t entirely a lie. He was going downstairs to make himself some food after this, and no matter how good of a cook you were, hangovers weren’t anything to mess with.

“Alright, alright, just don’t poison it.” Laurence joked with him as he leaned more of his back against the counter. Zane just rolled his eyes as he walked out of the bathroom.

“If I wanted to poison your food, I would’ve done it already!” Zane called back to him, not bothering to stick around to hear his response, even though he could still hear him laughing as he walked to the kitchen, and even as he made him toast while he poured himself a bowl of cereal.

If he had made sure he put some strawberry jam on the toast like Laurence always did for himself, then no one would have to know.
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7.

A few weeks after the party and things were pretty much back to normal between them. Laurence would still occasionally do nice things for him, but it wasn’t often. The only change that stayed consistent was them meeting sometimes in the middle of the night and discussing Twenty-five dates with Mandy Macklson and other books they found out they shared interest in. Zane himself would sometimes hold back on the snide remarks on Laurence and Garroths PDA or leave the room to give those two alone time, but other than that he didn’t see himself doing anything partially nice for Laurence.

Until one day, at least two months after the party, Zane noticed something. Laurence was always one to wear long sleeves, almost never wearing anything with sleeves shorter than the middle of his forearm. Zane found it odd, but he didn’t openly judge that since there were so many other things that could be judged about Laurence’s choice of style. He wasn’t exactly curious as to why, but maybe he should’ve been.

Zane was almost always up at the most unholy hours of the night because it was quiet. Laurence and Garroth were almost always asleep, usually cuddled up in one of their beds, so there were no distractions. The times when Laurence caught him downstairs and they compared book tastes were still few and far between, so Zane didn’t exactly expect Laurence at any point. They always ran into each other at random and just decided to sit down and talk if Laurence didn’t go back up to snuggle with his brother.

Tonight, Zane didn’t plan on watching or reading anything. In fact, he was only out of his room because he needed a glass of water. He would just fill up a glass and go back upstairs to watch his My little horsey in peace. What he didn’t expect was Laurence to be downstairs. He wouldn’t have paid any mind to it if Laurence wasn’t wearing a tank top. The tank top itself wasn’t the issue though.

It was the clearly visible scars on his arms.

Zane’s heart almost lept out of his chest from the thought they could’ve been self-inflicted, but in seconds he could determine that they weren’t. The positioning wasn’t right, and unless Laurence truly wanted to cause himself unbearable pain, the burns were an obvious indication they were caused by someone else. They were small but scattered, and Zane found himself staring at them.

When he finally looked up at Laurence’s face, he saw fear. He could easily understand what if. Fear of disgust, fear of judgment, fear of exposure. Of course, Zane didn’t feel any of those things. He felt confusion, and the largest tinge of concern he’d felt for Laurence in a while. The scars obviously weren’t new, they looked years old by now, but it was still concerning.

“What happened?” He felt himself asking before he could think it through. That seemed to snap Laurence out of whatever trance he was in. He could see his grip trembling on the cup he was holding in his hand, his hand threatening to drop it at any point. Zane finally walked through the entry arc and into the kitchen, taking the cup from him and setting it on the counter.

“Please just pretend you never saw them.” That's what he got from Laurence instead of an answer. Zane may be an inpatient person, but even he knew there were lines such as this that shouldn’t be crossed. Even if he was curious on who did this and whether or not they paid for it (ugh, Garroth was starting to rub off on him), he wouldn’t push.

“Alright.” Zane answered. He took an empty cup from the counter and started filling it with water, glancing over his shoulder to see Laurence had calmed down and started drinking from his own cup. After a few moments, his brain spoke for him again. “Who else has seen them?” He assumed at least Garroth had. Those two knew everything about each other.

Laurence looked almost ashamed as he responded to him. “No one else. Only you have at this point. No one would've ever seen them if I had remembered there was a chance I’d bump into you.” This time he had the foresight to set his cup down before his grip started shaking. That answer surprised Zane. Laurence actively hid something from Garroth?

“That's a shocker. I thought you told each other everything.” He joked. He knew Garroth had to lie about what happened at Starlight, but other than that he was pretty sure he told Laurence everything, even if it was the most random of things that nobody needed to know. Their friendship was just like that. Zane and frankly everyone else did not understand it, but it’s what worked for them, so everyone got used to it.

Laurnece again had a guilty look in his eyes, and for once Zane felt bad for his comment. “I mean, it’s not like it’s something he needs to know.” He reasoned with him, possibly himself too. “Besides, I wouldn’t wanna freak him out with how they look.” That last sentence was left muttered as he looked at his arm, glaring at the marks left on the skin, but Zane still heard it loud and clear.

“If he freaked out, it would be out of him worrying about you, not him being disgusted by them.” Zane told him bluntly. It was just the truth. Garroth would probably freak out in the way that he would ask so many questions about them and how he got them and who did it, but he wouldn’t be disgusted. Maybe the burns might put him off, but he would get over it quickly, because that’s just how Garroth was. Zane finally turned to face Laurence, who took a glance towards him.

Zane almost immediately knew what he was about to ask him. “I won’t tell a soul about them, but you shouldn’t be scared about people’s reactions to them. Especially my brothers.” Those were the words Zane left him with as he took his water up to his room. After putting on an episode of My little horsey, he had almost completely forgotten about what he’d seen.

The next day, he saw Laurence leave his room with a short sleeve shirt, and not even twenty minutes later he could overhear Garroths loud questions about them. Zane just plugged his earbuds back in and ignored them, even if a small twinge of satisfaction made itself clear in his heart.
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8.

If you knew Zane, you knew he liked to plan things out. He didn’t like sudden changes of plans, he didn’t like not knowing what was going to happen that day, and he didn’t like it when he couldn’t get everything done the way he wanted too. So, he made strict plans for the day. He considered it a way to take back control after everything at Starlight that was completely out of his control. His plans for today were to reread a series of books to prepare for the sequel and sister series, go over to Kawaii~Chans to spend some time with her, text Aphmau, and maybe get in a bit of baking.

Being dragged out of the house by Laurence to run errands wasn’t a part of his plans.

Laurence had just opened the door to his room and told him they needed to go grocery shopping. When Zane had loudly asked why he couldn’t just take Garroth, he responded with something about how Garroth wasn’t careful enough last time and almost dropped everything. Before he could argue anymore, Laurence had grabbed his wrist and acually dragged him along to the car.

So, here they were now, searching the nearest Minemart for everything on Laurence’s list. They had a lot more to buy then normal considering Dante was holding another party and Laurence had been assigned to bring most if not all the food. Zane didn’t blame them, because even if he never told Laurence (he didn’t need more of an ego boost than everyone else already gave him) he thought his food was some of the best he ever tasted, only topped by his own mothers food along with Ms. Sylvanas.

Currently, they were searching the can and jars aisle, abour halfway done with their shopping. They’d have to stop somewhere else after this since this store didn’t have the beans Laurence needed or whatever. Zane occasionally grabbed things for Laurence, but he tried to stay out of the way.

“Why did you even bring me along?” Zane asked him after a long while of silence. Laurence didn’t look at him, too busy looking over his list and checking things off. When he finally did get an answer, it was pretty much what he was expecting.

“I needed someone to help carry everything to the car.” Laurence only spared him a single glance before pointing his pen up to a shelf. “Go get me those jars of pickles will you? Three of them will do.” Zane grumbled, but walked over and grabbed three jars of pickles. Zane hated pickles, which was funny considering he liked cucumbers. He put them in the cart, feeling someone bump into him as he tried to find a place for them to fit.

Zane turned around, about to yell at whoever bumped into him, but the other person apologized before he could. “Oh- excuse me. I’m so sorry.” Zane took a good look at the man who bumped into him. He was a meif'wa, one with deep red hair and green eyes that made Zane shiver a bit. Green eyes set most of them off after all that had happened with them and what they meant.

“It’s all good.” Laurence answered for the man, leaning down to help him pick up the loaves of bread he dropped. The man gave them both a smile and opened his mouth, probably about to thank Laurence before a high pitched voice rang out from the other end of the aisle, footsteps hurriedly walking towards him.

“Oliver! There you are!” A female, probably his sister from how similar they looked, stomped over and grabbed his arm. The only difference between the two was the species, with the girl being a werewolf instead of a meif'wa. “You can’t just run off! What if you got lost?!” The man just laughed at her.

“Leía, I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” He patted her on head, which caused her tail to wag a bit before he smacked his hand away. Zane stood there awkwardly, moving to the side to let them pass, which led to the girl dragging her brother off to the next aisle. He sighed, knowing that was all the social interaction he needed from strangers today. When he turned to ask Laurence what he needed next, he found him to be gone.

That was certainly strange considering the cart was still there. It was like he just disappeared. With no clue on where he went, and no way to contact him since he knew Laurence had left his phone in the car, he sucked it up and searched for an employee, hoping maybe one of them saw where he went. He found one near the frozen foods, and tapped them on the shoulder to get their attention.

“Excuse me, sorry to bother, but I seem to have lost my friend. Have you seen him?” Zane paused for a few seconds, before figuring he probably needed to give a description of him. “Uhm, brown hair, blue eyes, wearing a gray jacket.” He said, seeing some sort of realization dawn on their face.

“Oh yeah, that guy! He took off running to the exit.” The employee pointed behind them to the nearby doors. “Looked like something was chasing him, but no one came after him.” Zane shook his head, waving a thanks to the employee before heading out the doors. It took him barely a few steps outside until he heard loud hyperventilating coming from the side of the building.

Just as he thought, when he peaked around the corner, he saw Laurence huddled up in a ball on the side of the building, seemingly- no, definitely having a panic attack. Why, Zane wasn’t sure. He walked over and kneeled down in front of him. He needed to get him calm before he could ask any questions. Zane may not be the best at comforting people, but he knew some tricks.

“Laurence.” He surprised himself sometimes with how gentle he could make his voice when needed. “Laurence, can you look at me?” Laurence, whose head was buried into his knees, looked up at him. He could hear him obviously, which meant he wasn’t dissociating. “Alright. Now can you tell me five things you can see?” It was a common strategy to calm someone and keep them grounded to earth.

Laurence’s eyes darted around him, taking in objects around them. “The wall.” That was an easy one. “The- the graffiti.” Zane turned around to see a poorly painted picture of a pineapple. Out of everything, why a pineapple? “The trash can.” Laurence’s voice cracked a bit, causing Zane to fully sit in front of him and hold his eyes for a second. They held eye contact for a few uncomfortable moments, before Laurence looked behind him. “That beer- beer bottle behind you.” That was four. Good. Zane saw Laurence looking up at his face. “And you. Does- does that count?” Zane nodded.

“Where are you right now? Can you tell me that?” Laurence didn’t seem fully grounded, so he’d have to work a little harder. Laurence took another glance around, squinting to read to sign across the street from them.

“The Minemart.” He said, almost like he was relieved. “Between EastEden crossing and Martin Boulevard.” Zane was impressed he could call out the street names before realizing he was probably just reading off the sign. Still, that meant he was calm enough to read, which was good.

“Okay, do you think you’re calm enough?” He asked him, to which Laurence nodded at him. The stammering might have proved otherwise, but he was still catching his breath, so he assumed that was the reason for the stuttering. “Alright, can you tell me what’s going on? Why did you leave?” Zane was curious as to what set him off. He seemed normal, no signs of anxiety the entire trip up until that point. So what changed?

He moved to sit beside Laurence instead of in front of him, catching and holding his gaze. “That girl… she reminded me of someone. I don’t know if it was really her or not.” Laurence took a deep breath, looking away from him. “She… she was a part of a group in high school that-“ he paused for a minute, seeming to contemplate what to say and how much to reveal. “They hurt me. Bad. Again, I don't know if it’s her, but she looked so much like her.” He sighed.

Zane looked down at his arms, which were currently covered by his sleeves. “Are they the reason you have those scars?” Maybe it was insensitive to ask so close after he had just calmed down, but he was curious. He would back off if he stepped too far, but before he could wonder anymore, Laurence nodded. Zane could tell that they were done with this topic for now. Zane got up, and before he could offer a hand, Laurence got up himself and they walked back into the store.

Irene must’ve blessed them, because nothing disappeared from their cart. The rest of the trip continued as planned, until they ran into those two again. Well, more like they were in the same aisle. Zane kept a steady grip on Laurence’s arm the entire time to keep him grounded, and they made it through without any problems. Zane took over driving to give Laurence more time to relax after the trip, only because he didn’t want him to panic while behind the wheel of course.

Once they got home and everything was brought in, it was surprisingly Laurence who rushed up to his room, saying something about how he trusted Zane to put everything away properly before climbing the stairs hurriedly. Easily that day, Zane would’ve yelled at him to come back down and do it himself, but instead he just went into the kitchen and started putting things away. He had tried to remember where Laurence always put them, knowing he had some sort of system for his kitchen. They’d have to talk about what happened at some point, and Garroth would probably want to know why Laurence looked stressed, but right now all Zane was focused on was making sure the milk that was oldest was near the front of the shelf.
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9.

Zane wasn’t a party person. Everyone who was friends with him knew this. Still, he came to most of the parties he was invited to. He didn’t wanna seem like a jerk for refusing, so he only did it once in a while when he really didn’t wanna deal with people. The only invite he never canceled on was when Aphmau invited him to a sleepover. Not only would he feel bad, but Aphmau always knew how to make sure he felt comfortable at a party.

One of those things was definitely not inviting Gene.

Zane’s hatred from Gene was something he had grown out of since their time at Love~Love paradise. He still had a distaste for him, and he didn't exactly feel comfortable around him, but he had acknowledged that he had grown as a person and could be trusted. Trusted was a loose word, but he didn’t feel like Gene was a bad person.

Even though he hid it better, he could tell Laurence was also uncomfortable around Gene. Their past as friends wasn’t a secret, but Zane could tell there was something else that made him uncomfortable. You might be uncomfortable sitting next to an old friend, but when said old friend looks guilty when he sees the scars on your arms, it can cause some questions to form. Zane never spoke his questions though. It wasn’t his place.

Truth or dare always went wrong with their group, always ending in argueing or someone crying, yet they always went back to playing it. Zane always chose truth, never wanting to take a dare, especially not from someone like Dante or Travis. He noticed that he seemed to share this trait with Gene, but for the opposite. Gene had only said dare the entire round. Zane didn’t know how he could be so bold, especially after he was dared by Dante to throw an egg at Katelyn. That was funny to watch.

When Laurence's turn came around, he had chosen to be given truth. He seemed to switch every round. He couldn’t remember who had asked him the question, most likely Katelyn considering how invasive it was, but he was asked about how his time in the Shadow Knights was in high school. He saw both Laurence and Gene tense up a bit.

“It was… It was alright.” Laurence said after a bit of thinking. Gene looked surprised at his answer, and internally Zane was too. He had heard Laurence grumble a lot about them, not bad things but not necessarily good things either. “It was fun while it lasted. We… might’ve done some less than legal stuff, but we had each other's back. At least, most of us did.” Zane didn’t know if it was just him, but he was pretty sure he saw Gene visibly flinch at that statement.

“Really huh? What kind of stuff did you do in the Shadow knights?” Katelyn asked with a curious expression. Zane didn’t know why she cared. Maybe because Laurence seemed embarrassed whenever he talked about his past with them. Laurence kept refusing, and Katelyn kept pushing, until someone surprising spoke up.

“Katelyn, you already asked your question. Let the next person go.” Gene told her. Bold move considering he had already made her angry tonight. She sat up, probably about to yell at him, but a simple grab of her arm from Lucinda and she was sitting down. Laurence gave a side glance towards Gene, and Zane felt like something was being silently said between them.

“I’m gonna go get some air.” Laurence said, getting up and leaving the room without another word. Garroth walked out to go after him, and the room was left in an awkward silence for a while. A few minutes later, Garroth came back without Laurence, looking a bit worried. He didn’t say anything, no one questioned him, and they tried to move back into semi-normalcy.

After a while of being in the room, Zane was starting to feel stuffy. He had gotten used to wearing his mask for long periods of time, but even he could admit it got stuffy after not taking it off. Sometimes he didn’t even take it off when he slept. Aphmau had gotten onto him about that, telling him that habit was going a little overboard. Maybe she was right. In any case, he excused himself from the room to take his mask off in privacy.

To ensure no one could walk in and take a glimpse at his face, he went out to the backyard. And who did he see there other than Laurence. He looked deep in thought, one hand picking at the scars on his other arm while he paced laps around the pool. Zane should leave him be. He avoided him, walking over to the side of the house to slide his mask down and breathe.

Some days he wondered why he still wore it. He wasn’t as insecure about his freckles as he was in high school. The very small stupid part of his brain told him that they wouldn’t recognize him without the mask. He laughed at that obnoxious thought. It wasn’t as if no one had seen him without it. Aphmau had seen his face, Kawaii~Chan had seen his face, and of course Garroth had, considering they grew up together. He knew Travis knew he had freckles due to an offhand comment by Aphmau, but no one else really knew. Maybe he should go without it for a day. Then again, wearing a mask was kind of what he was known for.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of water splashing. He peaked around the side of the house to see that Laurence had tripped into the pool. Zane felt a snicker bubble up in his throat, but he cleared it and walked over to the edge of the pool just in time to help Laurence get out.

“You should really watch your step.” Zane said with a laugh, pulling on Laurence’s arms to yank him out of the pool. He was definitely soaked. Zane shook off the water on his hands, watching Laurence squeeze some out of his hair. “You’re gonna need some new clothes.” He pointed out. There was no way he could go back inside like that. Zane spotted a towel on a rack and tossed it to him.

“You think, capitán-obvious?” Laurence responded with some snark, catching the towel and ringing out his hair properly. “I packed some extra in my bag, but I left it inside and I don’t necessarily want to go back in right now.” Laurence sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs by the pool. Zane contemplated offering to go back inside, but that might come off as too nice. Instead, he sat in the chair beside Laurence.

They sat in silence for a while. Silence between them was usually comfortable, but Zane didn’t like the silence in this moment. It felt uncomfortable. He could see Laurence going back to picking at his scars, digging his nails under the scabs. Knowing that couldn’t be painless for him, Zane made sure his grip was loose as he grabbed his wrist. Laurence glanced at him from the side, but let it be. The silence went on for a bit, and Zane could see Laurence still deep in thought. He could probably use a distraction.

Zane looked over to meet his eyes. “I heard you grew up in the countryside. What was that like?” Zane had heard Laurence talk about it before, and Zane wondered what it was like. He was satiating his own curiosity and distracting Laurence from his thoughts, so it was a win-win in his book.

Laurence tapped his foot as he thought about how to answer. “I mean, it was nice. Way different from here. I didn’t just grow up in the country, you know, I grew up on a farm.” He said proudly. “I got up at dawn every morning to work in the fields and tend to the animals, doing farm chores until sunset. It was fun, and gave me some routine in life.” He was smiling while talking, seemingly liking to think about his childhood. “I had a lot of chores, and they only got harder as I grew up, and yeah it was hard with the sun beating down on you for hours, but I wouldn't change a single thing.” Zane couldn’t help but wonder how Laurence could be so happy doing manual labor all day, but to each their own.

Zane listened intently for a while about how Laurence grew up. How he took care of the crops they grew, the different things he did with the animals, and a pretty hilarious story about the first time he tried to ride a horse. It all seemed pretty good, and the more he heard, the more he wondered why Laurence would want to leave. So, he of course asked. “If you enjoyed life there so much, why’d you come up here?”

Laurence just shrugged when he was asked. “My parents wanted me to get a better education. They sent me up here with Cadenza to go to Phoenix drop for high school. I went to the local schoolhouse in New Meteli before then, and it wasn’t the most funded school. It relied a lot on donations.” Laurence admitted. It made sense, since a small farming town probably didn’t have much funds. “Cadenza wanted to be a fashion designer, so that was another reason our parents sent us up. More opportunities for her up here than in our little town.”

Zane nodded along with him, though that last part got him curious. “And what did you want to be?” Zane himself never really thought about what he wanted to do. Garroth was expected to take over the family business when their father retired, and Vylad had found himself with a love of travel, but Zane never thought about what he wanted to do. There didn’t really seem to be a point in it.

Laurence thought about his answer for a moment. “For a long time, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Specifically an exotic vet. But, vet school is expensive.” Laurence sighed a bit, shrugging it off again. “I mean, I work at an animal shelter now, so I kinda get to live that dream, even if it’s really not the same.” He trailed off at the end of his sentence, and Zane didn’t ask any more questions.

For maybe another minute or so they sat out there, silence being the only thing in the air. Eventually, Laurence stood up and wordlessly went back inside. Zane took a few more minutes to stay out in the night air, before going back inside with him. The rest of the night seemed to go by fine, no snags or arguments. Though apparently, while they were outside, Gene was dared yet again by someone to throw an egg at Aaron. That explained why when Zane walked in, he saw Aphmau chasing Gene around with the mighty chancla.

That was a hilarious end to the night.
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10.

It was well known that Zane wasn’t the best person to go to for love advice. His first majorly serious relationship was his current one with Kawaii~Chan, and although it was going extremely well, Zane would never proclaim that it made him a ‘master of love’ like some people called themselves (looking at you Dante). He was especially bad when it came to breakups, or more so comforting people who had been through a breakup and helping them through it. It wasn’t a topic Zane was particularly versed in.

Hearing Laurence had begun dating some guy named Victor surprised Zane. Everyone who was dating someone in their group was usually dating someone else in the group. Him and Kawaii~Chan, Travis and Katelyn, Aphmau and Aaron, and although they tried to deny it, he was so sure Lucinda and Melissa had something going on. For Laurence to be the one to break that pattern surprised everyone.

He remembered how Laurence had only told them all right before he was about to go on a date. He had said something along the lines of ‘I’m going on a date with Vic’ when Garroth had asked him where he was going that day and left before either of them could ask any questions. He remembered that day everyone had somehow gotten involved in spying on the date.

Garroth had presumably gone to spy on them to make sure Laurence was dating a good guy. Kawaii~Chan had dragged him along to sabotage the date since it got in the way of her ship. Zane had to dress in all gray and paint his skin to pose as a statue, but anything for his girlfriend. Aphmau had spied on him and his girlfriend because she thought they were on a date, dragging Aaron along with her of course. Katelyn had been spying on those two believing they were on a date, having gotten Lucinda to help her by pretending to be a server. Dante had been caught also pretending to be a server, confessing that he came to stop Kawaii~Chan's sabotage. Kim, or well, more so Emmalyn, had spied on him personally since she was still in her ‘thinking she was in love with Zane’ phase (it still creeped Zane out to think about).

None of them were found out until they all heard screaming, including Laurence and Victor, and looked up to the skylight of the restaurant. A few seconds later, Travis came crashing down through it, taking Katelyn down with him and landing on Zane. Zane’s back hurt for almost a week afterwards. Laurence had stared at all of them, a look of shock and horror at seeing all of them there spying on him. His date, Victor, looked extremely confused, one ear flopped against his head. When everyone was arguing and explaining themselves, Zane had seen Gene, Zenix, and Sasha walking into the restaurant out of the corner of his eye, probably with their own reservations. Gene took one look at the loud chaos happening in front of him and dragged his friends out with him, which Zane couldn’t blame him for.

Eventually, everything had gotten settled, and Laurence had introduced them to Victor properly. He was a tan skinned, blonde werewolf, with blue eyes and a rich European accent. French if he was correct. Zane had made a visual comparison to Garroth, which he laughed at. Victor seemed friendly enough. He was extremely flirtatious, referring to Laurence with pet names more often than his actual name. He was a bit dramatic, extremely polite, and seemed like a good boyfriend.

Which meant both Garroth and Zane were left surprised when Laurence came home from a date with Victor crying.

Zane had stayed on the couch in concern, while Garroth had shot up from his seat to ask what had happened. They both sat and listened as Laurence explained that he and Victor had broken up, though he could barely get the words out between his sobbing. He and Garroth had looked at each other, both having many questions but mutually deciding that Laurence needed some time before they asked anything. Garroth had helped Laurence up and to his room to talk, and Zane was left downstairs.

He stayed there for the next two hours, maybe more, while Garroth and Laurence talked. After a long while, Garroth came downstairs with a worried expression. Zane felt some concern seep into himself. Their relationship had seemed so great, but when they were a few days away from their ten month anniversary, they were now broken up. He wondered what had changed

“How is he?” Zane heard himself ask his brother as he sat down. Garroths ears were pressed against his head and his tail was flat against the sofa, which didn’t seem good.

“He’s resting right now.” Was the answer he got. “If you have any questions, wait till the morning.” That sentence was the most serious he had heard Garroth get in a long while. Zane knew why. Even though he didn’t exactly think Laurence was good enough for his brother, he was still his closest friend.

The night went and passed, and neither of them saw Laurence at breakfast. Zane had ordered them all breakfast sandwiches from a nearby place, watching Garroth scarf his down before he went upstairs to deliver Laurence his. He came down a few moments later empty handed, so at least he wasn’t skipping out on food.

Most of the day Garroth spent up in Laurence’s room, talking to him and keeping him company. At one point he had passed by his room and saw Laurence crying into Garroths shoulder. He decided to leave them be. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, in fact he had actually found himself caring for Laurence more lately. He just wanted to let them have their moment.

The next day however, Zane found himself knocking on Laurence’s doorframe. Laurence barely looked up at him from where his face was shoved into his pillow. Zane crossed the threshold into his room, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “So. What happened?” He asked awkwardly. He really wasn’t good at this.

Laurence finally looked up at him, his eyes red from crying. “I’ll tell you the exact same thing I told Garroth, I broke up with him because we weren’t working. We’re still friends, there’s no hard feelings, he wasn’t a bad boyfriend, so why can’t you two just leave me alone and stop asking about it!” His voice cracked about halfway through, and he shoved his face into the pillow again.

To say Zane was surprised by Laurence’s outburst would be an understatement. He felt an apology bubble up in his throat, but that might just make the situation worse. “If you’re sure. I’m- we’re just worried about you.” Zane corrected himself. “You usually don’t get this worked up over anything.” He surprised himself when he placed a comforting hand on Laurence’s back, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb. “I won’t bother you about it, but,” Zane paused for a moment, thinking of what to say. “I’m here. If you ever need to talk.”

Laurence turned his head to the side to peak up at him. He could see the tears bubbling up in his eyes. “You’re right. I wouldn’t usually get worked up over this. But it’s my fault.” He whispered, moving to sit up and curl in on himself. “I wasn’t being true to myself. I wasn’t being genuine about what I wanted. I was trying to get over-“ Laurence bit down on his lip harshly to block the name from coming out. Zane knew, though, who’s name he was about to say. “You know. And, I used him to do it. I thought I was in love. I tried to be in love. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t keep faking it. I couldn’t lie to him anymore.” Small droplets of blood were starting to form on his lips from how hard he was biting through them. “I broke his heart. I could see it on his face, even if he told me everything was fine. I hurt him. I didn’t want to but I did. I’m a terrible person.” After those last words, he buried his face in his knees and muffled his sobs.

Zane didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t the best at comfort. He didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t know what to say, how to reassure him. Everytime he tried to say what he hoped would be kind words, they got stuck in his throat like a knot. So he did the only thing he thought he could. He wrapped his arms around Laurence and pulled him into a hug. He tried to be firm, but not suffocating. Gentle, but not too loose.

After Laurence hugged him back, his mouth finally let him speak. “I don’t think you’re a bad person.” After he let those words free, it was as if a waterfall was crashing down. “Love makes people do stupid things. It’s a blessing and a curse that we can care so much for someone. It can make us better people, but it can also destroy us from the inside out. You didn’t go into that relationship with the intent of leading him on. Things happen. Everyone breaks someone’s heart at some point, Laurence, it’s an undeniable factor of life. I know there’s at least two people on this street who have broken your heart without meaning to, haven't they?” He felt Laurence squeeze him tighter, his hoodie slowly becoming damp as it soaked up his tears.

“I can’t get over him, Zane.” Laurence sobbed. No names needed to be said. Everyone knew. “I’ve loved him for over seventeen years. He’ll never love me back, so I don’t know why I can’t get over him!” Zane found himself slowly rocking them both back and forth, left to right. It was something his mother used to do when he went to her for comfort after a nightmare. It seemed to help. “I don’t want to be stuck loving someone who won’t ever care for me the way I care for him my entire life. He cares about me so much, maybe more than he cares for others, but is it so selfish to want him to love me?” The tears were coming back, and in seconds Laurence was sobbing again.

“It isn’t.” Zane answered him. “You need to start putting yourself first. Take a break from dating. Take care of yourself.” Zane pulled away, both hands still on Laurence’s shoulders. “You’re an amazing person, sometimes annoyingly so. Don’t think I don’t notice the bags under your eyes. I know you don’t fall asleep until you’re sure everyone in the neighborhood is okay.” He watched as Laurence felt underneath his eyes, sighing in defeat. “Don’t focus on what could be. Focus on the now. Focus on yourself.” He surprised himself a bit when he pulled Laurence back into the hug.

Laurence didn’t seem to mind, just squeezing him tightly. Zane could feel his nails digging into his back, but he could ignore the small sparks of pain for now. Zane slowed his breathing a bit, slowing his heartbeat and allowing their breathing patterns to sync up. The sobbing slowly turned into just a few hiccups, before Laurence fell silent. Zane let him go when he pulled away, letting him wipe the remaining tears off his face.

“Thank you Zane. You just helped me a lot.” Laurence gave him a small smile. Zane felt his face itching to give one back. Laurence pet his shoulder a bit, and Zane didn’t flinch as much as he normally would. “You know, you’re a great hugger Zane.” He said with a small laugh.

“Well of course I am. I’m the best at anything I try.” Zane said proudly, watching as Laurence laughed even louder. Zane let himself smile this time, just because Laurence would be too distracted to notice. Suddenly, Laurence looked over to him with a bit of a confused expression.

“You said there were two people who broke my heart on this street?” He asked him, raising an eyebrow. Zane nodded, and Laurence lit up red. “There’s- there’s only one. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Laurnece gave a shallow laugh. Zane crossed his arms, shaking his head.

“Laurence, I’m not blind.” Zane responded. Well, he was partially blind in one eye, but not emotionally blind. “I’m observant. Everyone knows you and Gene have a past, but it went deeper than just friendship for you, didn’t it?” Laurence looked at him wide eyed, but he continued. “I can see the way you look at him sometimes. It’s not a look of someone who’s just seeing an old friend.” Zane went back to facing him, looking him directly in the eyes. “You used to love him, didn’t you? But he didn’t reciprocate. Or maybe you just never told him.”

Laurence’s face stayed with a shell-shocked expression for a moment, before shifting to defeat. “It’s in the past, Zane. A long time ago. Any sort of feelings that existed back then are gone, so there’s no use dwelling on it.” Zane noticed how he didn’t exactly confirm or deny his accusations, but he left it alone. He was right. There was no use dwelling on the past.

“I think we’ve both felt enough big emotions for today.” Zane said after a while of silence. The look on Laurence’s face told him he agreed. Zane tried to think of something to distract him. An idea popped into his mind. “Say, I don’t think I ever heard the full story on how you guys stole that stoplight.”

Laurence’s face split into a large grin. “Oh, you’re in for a treat then.” Zane watched him get comfortable, before telling him probably one the most hilarious stories he’d ever heard. An hour or two went by, until Zane had to leave to get ready for a date with his girlfriend. He could tell that he had made Laurence’s day better, and although he couldn’t never say it out loud, Laurence had made his day a bit better too.

Maybe they were really starting to become friends.