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Chris and Josh had never spent more than a day without talking to each other. Well, except for that time in high school when Josh went on vacation with his family and had no cell service. Even then, Josh made it a point to send him some cheesy postcards depicting his ventures until he returned. (Being the sentimental person Chris is, he held onto them in a box filled with other trinkets Josh had given him over the years, despite Josh’s protests.)
So when a day turned into a couple of days, turned into a week, Josh started to panic a little bit. Mid-terms were coming up, yet Josh’s mind was too preoccupied with the fact that his usual doting boyfriend had gone no contact with him after an argument. It’s not like Josh had texted Chris either– his pride can’t help it– he’d kind of hoped to spontaneously bump into him on campus and take it from there. One problem: Josh didn’t think it through very well. They were in two completely different majors with no overlapping courses and completely different time schedules. Josh wondered how they’d managed to spend so much time together this semester beforehand. Or Chris was just really damn good at hiding from Josh. Either way, Josh didn’t like being away from Chris for this long.
[10:00 AM]
From: Joshua
Emergency emergency help
[10:05 AM]
From: Sammy
Sir, I’m going to need more details.
[10:05 AM]
From: Joshua
Chris
[10:06 AM]
From: Sammy
Omg. What did you do this time?
[10:07 AM]
From: Joshua
Ok its not like that. Or maybe it is idk Its too much to explain thru text can u come to my room plzz
[10:09 AM]
From: Sammy
I’m in class rn, I’ll come after?
[10:09 AM]
From: Joshua
Okok hurry ;-(
**
“Wait, let me get this straight…” Sam paused, massaging the area between her eyebrows. “Chris was jealous because some girl was clinging to you the whole time at a party? And you just let it happen? Where was Chris during this, by the way?”
“I was drunk as hell, I don’t remember much,” Josh admitted. “Just the fight at his place afterwards. My head was killing me, and I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. So... maybe I was being a bit of an asshole.”
Sam crossed her arms and shot Josh a judgmental stare. “Yeah, I’m going to assume you were being a gigantic asshole.”
Josh leaned back on his chair, almost tipping over. He covered his face with both hands and let out a loud groan that ended in a sharp cry of frustration.
“Fuck, is it that bad?” Josh said, exasperated.
“Let’s see,” Sam mockingly raised her open hand in the air, putting down a single finger each time she listed Josh’s so-called fuck-ups. “First, you dismissed Chris by telling him he was ‘jealous for no reason’. Then, you guys started name-calling and you ended up storming out like a kid without resolving anything. Oh, and you didn’t apologize. Now, you’re telling me he hasn’t even tried to reach you in like, a week? Chris hasn’t? Are we talking about the same Chris who always follows you around like a lost puppy? I wouldn’t be surprised if he broke up with you for reals–”
“Sam!” Josh’s jaw dropped, offended by the last remark. “It was a rhetorical question. Besides, I wanted you here to help me, not to make me feel even more like shit.”
“Why can’t I do both?” Sam said wryly.
“Are you on my side, or what?” he pouted, scowling at her from across the kitchen table.
“Someone’s gotta give you some tough love.” Sam lightly smiled, before her expression became more pensive. “In all seriousness, though, just talk to him and apologize. Knowing Chris, he’s probably more hurt than angry. How long have you guys been dating now, four months? And you’ve been friends since forever. He won’t leave you over this, you just need to own up to your mistakes.”
Have a proper adult conversation with him and apologize. When Sam put it that way, it seemed so simple. Frankly, Josh just felt too ashamed to confront Chris at this point. He didn’t mean to snap at Chris; deep down, he knew Chris didn’t do anything wrong. He really was an asshole.
“I don’t deserve him,” Josh muttered, hanging his head.
“It’s too early to have a pity party, Josh,” Sam sighed. “Here, gimme your phone.”
Before Josh could protest, Sam had reached over the table and snatched his phone, and for some reason, knew his passcode (as if using Chris’ birthday couldn’t be obvious enough). Josh relented, deciding to let Sam text God-knows-what to Chris.
“Since you don’t have the balls to text Chris first, I did it for you,” Sam said with a satisfied look, handing his phone back to him.
Josh rolled his eyes and glanced at the message she had sent his boyfriend.
I’m sorry baby. can we talk, please?
Josh’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Whoa, Samantha. What the fuck. I have never called him that before,” he sputtered. He regretted trusting Sam with his phone, but it was too late, the message was delivered. Sent to the nearest cell tower. “He’s not going to respond to that–”
His phone dinged with almost stupidly perfect comedic timing.
“You were saying?” Sam said, pointing at the phone with her chin.
[12:35 PM]
From: Chris<3
Busy w assignments
Josh frowned deeply, feeling his heart drop down to the pit of his stomach. Chris was studious, sure, but one thing he never did was brush Josh off over it. In fact, Josh had a natural talent for convincing Chris to put down his work for… other activities.
“Earth to Josh,” Sam snapped her fingers repeatedly. “What did he say?”
“He said he’s busy with assignments.” Josh wrinkled his eyebrows and slammed his phone on the table without any concern for it. “I told you, he fucking hates me. Didn’t even say anything about the stupid pet name.”
“Oh, wow, he’s mad mad,” Sam replied, clicking her tongue in deliberation. “I have an idea. Let me ask Ash, they study together a lot. I’ll let you know if they meet up today so you can ambush Chris and you can do your thing, okay?”
“You think that would work?” Josh said morosely, his eyes filled with uneasiness.
“Hey, you won’t know until you try,” Sam replied with a rueful smile. “And look on the bright side, he texted back right away. I bet you he still cares.”
“Okay, fine. Just text me the deets when you hear from Ashley,” Josh sighed.
“That’s my guy.” Sam stood up from her chair and walked over to Josh’s seat. She encouragingly touched his shoulder before drawing him into a gentle hug, her cheek resting on top of Josh’s head of short-brown hair. After a few seconds, she pulled away, ruffling his hair.
“Alright, I gotta head to my next class. I hate profs that take attendance,” Sam whined, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. “You owe me a meal next time, Joshua.”
“Anything for the kind lady,” Josh looked over his shoulder and gave her a small grin, waving Sam goodbye.
All Josh had to do was wait, which was… harder said than done. The comforting atmosphere Sam brought with her dissipated as she closed the front door behind her. His apartment was silent more often than he was used to; the familiar sound of a keyboard clacking away, intermittent bickering, laughing, and all the sounds in between made Josh’s solitary all the more apparent.
He missed Chris.
**
Campus café. ETA 5 PM.
Sam had texted him, accompanied by a GIF of an animated hamster saluting, holding a sign that said ‘good luck!’. Josh responded with two thumbs-up and a crying emoji.
Now, Josh was standing at a safe distance outside the café, attempting to peek at Chris and Ashley through the glass windows. From his oversized black hood, his strange movements, and the flashy bouquet he was holding, he must have looked like a creep, gaining quite a few curious looks from passersbys. Feeling a tad self-conscious, he decided to move closer, grabbing a seat at the patio outside the cafe, but carefully remaining out of their sight.
Josh would never miss the opportunity to create an elaborate plan. It wouldn’t be a fun prank like it normally was, but this was also something equally important, if not more. Operation win Christopher Hartley back: camp at the site, somewhere hidden. Wait for Ashley to go to the washroom, then make a move on his target. If, for some reason, Ashley had the bladder capacity of an elephant, he asked Sam to call and distract her. He’d then close in on Chris, surprise him with the flowers and a well-thought-out apology. Beg the man for forgiveness if he had to. They would inevitably make reparations, go back to his place, and have a steamy makeout session in his bed. Clothes non-obligatory. Boom. A perfect operation. Well, kind of.
They looked like they were having a good time– maybe too much of a good time, for students that were supposed to be studying. Chris was laughing hard, almost buckling over, and Josh thought to himself that whatever the hell Ashley told him couldn’t be that funny. Josh felt a twinge of envy pass through his body as he watched Chris lay his hand on Ashley’s wrist, smiling from ear to ear. If he hadn’t had his plan in mind (and if Chris wasn’t mad at him), he would’ve stormed inside and dragged Chris away, no questions asked.
“Alright, let’s move it along, guys,” Josh grumbled, pulling his phone out from his pocket.
[5:20 PM]
From: Joshua
Time to get ashley out of there >:| did u tell her about my plan btw?
[5:21 PM]
From: Sammy
No I didn’t trust her to act normally, she was suspicious though lol. Dw I’ll call her rn and tell her to go to the washroom so I can explain everything
[5:21 PM]
From: Joshua
Ur the best.
[5:21 PM]
From: Sammy
:)
Josh, who was fidgeting in his seat, watched Ashley pick up her phone and put it to her ear. Her mouth was moving fast, seemingly discussing something with what should be Sam on the other line. Her lips then curled into a tight smile, and she looked at Chris, nodding her head. Then, finally standing up, she walked over to Chris, bent down, and placed a light kiss on his cheek. Chris appeared surprised, covering the cheek with his hand. They exchanged a few words before Ashley skipped away, through the cafe, hidden from the view outside.
Josh almost instinctively looked away after seeing the kiss, as if he was peeping at something he wasn’t supposed to see. He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by the cheek kiss– him or Chris. His eyes were still widened, mouth slightly parted. It wasn’t that Josh was jealous or anything, kisses didn’t have to be romantic; but his body couldn’t help but react in a state of discontent and overprotectiveness over Chris. He should probably go execute the rest of his plan, but he was stuck studying Chris’ face, interpreting his body language. What did he think about that kiss? Was his face and ears red? Did he like Ashley more than he thought?
Okay, maybe he’s a little jealous.
In that single moment, he actually regretted all the times he had planted ideas in Chris’s head during high school. All the times he nudged and teased Chris about getting to the bone zone with Ashley, deliberately making them run into each other in the hallways and the cafeteria, leaving fake love notes in their lockers. Not that his schemes ever worked, seeing that Chris confessed it was Josh he had a crush on this whole time and only saw Ashley as a ‘good friend’.
Right, Chris liked him , not someone else. Josh took a slow deep breath, trying to collect his bearings. He grabbed the flowers resting on the table and marched inside, eyes gleaming with determination to reconcile with his boyfriend. When he swung open the door, he could see Chris more clearly, who was sitting a couple more meters away, gaze focused on his laptop.
Josh bit his lip, pushing down the bit of hesitation and nerves that were lingering inside of him, and walked over to Chris’ table.
“Hey, Cochise,” Josh breathed out nonchalantly. “Got some time to talk?”
Chris looked up at him, his eyes catching Josh’s in a stare with a mix of emotions that Josh couldn’t quite decipher. It’s been a relatively long time since he’d seen Chris, and Josh started to feel himself get lost in those hazy blue eyes that he adored. But Chris quickly broke eye contact, his gaze shifting to the bouquet of white and purple hyacinths that Josh held by his side.
“Ah. These are for you,” Josh cleared his throat several times, holding the flowers out for Chris to take. Josh had to control himself from making a dumb no-homo joke, for his own sake. “The florist at the shop helped me to pick ‘em out. They’re called, like, haya-cinths or something.”
“O-oh, okay,” Chris said stiffly, perplexed by the gesture. “Thanks.” He grabbed the bouquet from Josh’s hands and laid it next to his work on the table, Josh then positioned himself in the chair next to Chris. An awkward, silent tension was spread thinly between the two of them, one waiting for the other person to speak. Josh expected the words to flow out naturally, as they usually did; but for some reason, his throat felt strained and the butterflies in his stomach unwillingly returned. Chris’ eyes were darting around the room, clearly uncomfortable by the situation, but at least he didn’t tell Josh to get lost, right?
“Look, Chris, I hate the way we left things off. I truly didn’t mean anything I said that night. I know being wasted isn’t an excuse, so I’m sorry I was such an asshole to you.” Josh said meekly, hands fiddling underneath the table. “And I’m also sorry it took me so long to say that.”
“Is that all?”
Josh blinked a couple of times, puzzled by his question. “What’d you mean?”
“What about the stuff that happened at the party? Like the girl clinging on to you like her life depended on it, man.” Chris furrowed his eyebrows, an inkling of hurt washed on his face.
“Bro, I was so wasted, it could’ve been a fucking raccoon or somethin’ and I wouldn’t have done anything about it. But I swear to you,” Josh put his hand over his chest and raised his other arm, as if taking an oath. “It won’t happen again, Cochise. You’re my partner. No one else got shit on you.”
Oh. Chris couldn’t help the smile tugging at the ends of his lips at the last of Josh’s words– his rendition of sweet-talking him– which would’ve worked, on any other given day. Forgiven and done with. But, today, Chris wanted to offer Josh a taste of his own medicine.
It wasn’t easy for Chris to abstain from Josh’s presence. At any given time, he wanted to show up at Josh’s doorstep and wrap his arms around him, to never let go. He knew Josh was loyal to the bone, but that pretty mouth of his attracted much unwanted attention, more so than Chris could tolerate. He was jealous, who wouldn’t be? When Chris mentioned the subject, in a half-joking, half-serious manner, Josh’s careless, dick-ish response struck a nerve with him, and before he knew it, all hell broke loose. Whoops. Chris wasn’t going to lie, he was pretty hurt. And when Josh didn’t text him the next day, and the next? Really freakin’ hurt. Like, crying-his-eyes-out-to-Ashley-after-one-too-many-drinks hurt, and he hadn’t done that since high school when Josh told him he was seeing someone, albeit a short and non-meaningful relationship.
Chris was pretty quick to drown himself in his studies after, fearful of the reality of fucking up their relationship beyond hope. So when he was studying with Ashley for the umpteenth time this week, and Ashley was giving multiple side-eyes to an intriguing figure lurking outside, whispering ‘I think that’s Josh’ through clenched teeth, he lost it over how ridiculous he looked. Then, when Sam phoned Ashley soon after, she had an ‘aha!’ moment, with a sly look that Chris became mindful of. Only after she sealed her lips on his cheek, did he catch on to her intentions of making Josh jealous.
“So… what about you, Chris?”
“Sorry, what?” Chris was trying to pay attention, but thinking about Ashley made him wonder if she would return soon with more of her ploys.
“Are we good?” Josh said, with a stern expression. “Hey, what are you looking around for? My eyes are over here.”
“Yeah, we’re good.” Chris meant that. “I’m just wondering where Ashley went.”
Josh let out a short, sharp sigh. He’s relieved that Chris doesn’t despise him, but the thought of Ashley was pissing him off right now. “Are you waiting for Ashley to come back? Seriously? Your boyfriend’s trying to make up with you.”
“Well, yeah, we were kind of in the middle of studying,” Chris replied, pretending to delve back into his work. Chris swore Ashley’s pettiness was contagious.
“Speaking of Ashley, do you like her or something? Or does she have a crush on you? Because…”
Chris’ lips twitched. He definitely saw, just how Ashley wanted.
Without denying anything, he said, “Because, what?”
“‘Cause I kind of saw her… kiss your cheek…” his voice trailed off.
“Oh, uhh, that. I don’t know what that was about.” Chris shrugged, eyes fixed on his laptop screen. “Ash kinda does what she wants, you know?” Which was, partially true.
“Sure, okay, whatever. But she knows we’re dating, right?” Josh mumbled petulantly, leaning down to rest his chin on the table.
Okay, that was cute. And Chris was starting to feel bad, just a teensy, tiny bit. After all, he did come all this way to apologize. He also never thought of himself as a flower type of guy, but the image of Josh engrossed over which flowers to get him was enough to convince him otherwise.
“Of course she does,” Chris grinned. He closed the lid of his laptop, lowering his head to meet Josh’s gaze at eye level. “She was just pullin’ a Josh on you. For revenge, I guess. You know you’re not that good at camouflaging, right?”
“Wait, you mean you guys saw me?”
Chris deadpanned. “No, we couldn’t see the weird-looking guy staring into our souls through the window.”
“Don’t you mean good-looking?” Josh corrected, and Chris gave him a scoff. “That’s pretty good though, for Ashley. I thought she was seriously making a move on you. I was ready to fight her.”
“I would pay to see that,” Chris laughed, but then softened his voice, “Fuck, I missed you.”
Josh beamed. Finally. “I missed you, too.”
Josh then stood up and started gathering the scattered paper over the table, grabbing Chris’s bag and cramming everything inside. “Come on, let’s go,” Josh said, hurriedly.
“Go where?” Chris asked, although was already helping Josh with his task. “We should wait for Ashley to come back, first.”
“No, she’ll figure it out. She’s a smart gal,” Josh protested, before moving closer to Chris, inches away from his face. “Besides, would you rather smash faces here, or at my place? Your choice, Cochise.” Chris quivered as Josh whispered his words, his breath brushing gently against his earlobe. Before Chris could formulate a response, Josh was half-way to the front, eagerly looking back at him, his mind already made up.
“Shit,” Chris muttered to himself. How could he say no? He sprinted over to reach Josh, following him through the doors.
“...By the way, are we calling each other baby now?” Chris said, curiously, but with playful intent. He held Josh’s hand, their fingers interlocking perfectly.
“O-oh,” Josh stammered, mildly embarrassed. He forgot about that. “Yeah, you like it?”
“Mmh, I dunno… we’ll have to use it more often, first.”
If Josh told Sam what he had said, she would make him treat her to a Michelin 3-star restaurant. Totally worth it, though.