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The common room buzzed with Pete's infectious energy as he paced back and forth, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Come on, guys! The old Carpenter Hall has been abandoned for three years. Three years! Do you know how many ghosts that place probably has by now?"
Garraty lounged on the couch, trying his best to look nonchalant even though his stomach was already doing nervous flips. "Yeah, sure. Sounds cool," he said with a casual shrug that he hoped masked the fact that he'd rather spend the night doing literally anything else.
"You're all going to get arrested," Stebbins drawled from his spot by the window, not even looking up from his book. "And when you do, I'm going to laugh."
Olson shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "He's right, you know. We could get expelled for trespassing. My scholarship—"
"Your scholarship will be fine," Baker interrupted with a grin, clearly enjoying the chaos Pete was stirring up. "Besides, when's the last time any of us did something actually exciting?"
Harkness looked up from his phone, eyes bright with possibility. "Wait, are we actually doing this? Because I've been reading about Gothic architecture in my literature classes, and abandoned buildings have incredible narrative potential—"
"Oh my god," Barkovitch muttered from the corner. "You're all insane."
"Does that mean you're not coming?" Pete asked, raising an eyebrow.
Barkovitch scoffed. "I didn't say that. Someone needs to be there to mock you idiots when you wet yourselves over a creaky floorboard."
Collie piped up from the kitchenette where he was rummaging through cabinets. "I'll come, but only if I can bring snacks. Ghost hunting makes me hungry."
"Deal!" Pete clapped his hands together. "Midnight. Meet by the south entrance."
As the group began to disperse, Garraty felt his chest tighten. He wanted to tell Pete he'd changed his mind, that maybe they could just hang out and watch movies instead. But Pete looked so excited, so alive with the prospect of adventure, and Garraty couldn't bring himself to be the one to dim that light.
Twelve-thirty AM found eight college students shuffling across the quad in what they apparently thought was stealth mode. In reality, they sounded like a small army.
"Shh!" Pete whispered, which was pointless since his whisper was louder than most people's normal speaking voice.
"You shush!" Collie whispered back, his chip bag crinkling with every step. "These Doritos aren't going to eat themselves quietly."
Harkness had his phone out, filming everything. "This has perfect Gothic atmosphere," he murmured. "Very reminiscent of the sublime terror in Radcliffe's novels."
"If any of us ends up like Blair Witch, I'm blaming you," Olson hissed, constantly looking over his shoulder for campus security.
Stebbins walked with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, occasionally shaking his head at the group's complete inability to move quietly. "We might as well be carrying torches and singing drinking songs."
Baker was having the time of his life, occasionally making spooky "ooooh" sounds just to watch Garraty jump. Barkovitch brought up the rear, muttering commentary under his breath about "amateur ghost hunters" and "future Darwin Award recipients."
Garraty stuck close to Pete, trying to draw courage from his boyfriend's enthusiasm. Every shadow looked suspicious, every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps. But Pete's hand would brush against his occasionally, and somehow that made the darkness a little less intimidating.
The abandoned academic building loomed before them, its broken windows like empty eyes staring down at the group of trespassers. Pete had somehow procured a key from a janitor friend, and the door swung open with an ominous creak that made everyone freeze.
"Well, that's not horror movie cliché at all," Stebbins observed.
They filed inside, phone flashlights creating an eerie dance of shadows on the walls. The air smelled of dust and old textbooks, with an underlying mustiness that spoke of years without proper ventilation.
"Okay, this is actually kind of creepy," Collie admitted, his constant munching providing an oddly comforting soundtrack to their exploration.
Harkness was in his element, filming every corner and architectural detail. "The decay patterns on these walls are incredible. It's like a physical manifestation of entropy as a literary theme."
Pete kept trying to spook Garraty by suddenly grabbing his arm or making ghost sounds, and while Garraty yelped each time, he couldn't help but smile at Pete's playfulness. At least one of them was having fun.
"Did anyone else hear that?" Olson whispered, freezing in place.
"Hear what?" Baker asked.
"That... scratching sound."
Everyone went silent, straining to listen. Sure enough, there was a faint scratching coming from somewhere deeper in the building.
"Probably just mice," Stebbins said, but even he sounded less certain than usual.
"Or rats," Barkovitch added helpfully. "Big ones."
"You're all terrible at this," Pete laughed, but Garraty noticed he moved a little closer to the group.
The scratching sound came again, louder this time, and suddenly everyone was moving at once. The group scattered like startled birds, flashlight beams spinning wildly as they fled in different directions down various hallways.
Garraty found himself alone in a corridor lined with empty classrooms, his heart pounding so hard he was sure it could be heard three floors up. He tried calling out for Pete, but his voice came out as barely a whisper. The darkness pressed in around him, and he felt ridiculous tears prick at his eyes.
"Lost already?"
Garraty spun around to find Barkovitch leaning against a doorframe, looking annoyingly calm.
"Jesus, you scared me," Garraty gasped, pressing a hand to his chest.
"You were already scared," Barkovitch pointed out, studying him with sharp eyes. "You've been terrified since we got here. Hell, since Pete suggested this whole thing."
"I'm fine," Garraty said automatically.
"No, you're not. And you know what? That's actually normal. Most people would be scared." Barkovitch pushed off from the wall, his usual mocking tone softening slightly. "You should've told McVries you were scared. Relationships go both ways, you know."
Garraty slumped against the wall. "I didn't want to ruin his fun. He was so excited about this."
"So you decided to suffer in silence? That's stupid." Barkovitch's voice had its edge back, but not as sharp as usual. "Look, Pete's not an idiot. Well, not completely. He'd rather have you honest and scared than lying and miserable. If Collie wanted to do something I didn't like, I'd tell him to fuck off. That's what you do when you actually care about someone."
For a moment, they stood in comfortable silence. Then Barkovitch straightened up, shrugging.
"Whatever," he said, turning to head back toward the main hallway.
They found their way back to the main hallway where Pete was frantically searching, calling Garraty's name with increasing panic.
"Ray! There you are!" Pete rushed over, pulling him into a quick hug. "I thought you'd been murdered by ghost janitors or something."
"I'm okay," Garraty said, then took a breath. "Actually, no. I'm not okay. I've been terrified this entire time. I hate ghost hunting, I hate this creepy building, and I only came because I didn't want to disappoint you."
Pete stared at him for a moment, then broke into a grin. "You absolute idiot. Why didn't you just say so?"
"Because you were so excited—"
"I'm excited about lots of things. Doesn't mean you have to pretend to like all of them." Pete cupped Garraty's face in his hands. "I'd much rather watch terrible movies with my honest, scared boyfriend than drag my lying, miserable boyfriend through haunted buildings."
"I'm not lying—"
"You're lying about not being miserable," Pete said, and kissed him.
It was soft and warm and tasted like the mint gum Pete always chewed, and for a moment Garraty forgot they were standing in a creepy abandoned building at one in the morning. He melted into the kiss, finally feeling like he could breathe properly for the first time all night.
Then the world exploded into noise.
"SURPRISE!"
Six voices yelled at once as their friends jumped out from various hiding spots, and both Garraty and Pete screamed like they were being murdered. Garraty actually stumbled backward and would have fallen if Pete hadn't caught him.
"Oh my GOD!" Garraty shouted, his heart trying to escape through his throat.
"You guys are AWFUL!" Pete yelled, but he was laughing even as he said it.
Baker was practically rolling on the floor with laughter. "Your faces! Oh man, I wish we'd gotten that on camera!"
"This is why children shouldn't be allowed out past bedtime," Olson complained, but he was fighting a smile.
"That was actually pretty good timing," Stebbins admitted grudgingly.
Collie appeared from behind a pillar, still munching. "Anyone want some trail mix? All that screaming made me hungry."
Barkovitch rolled his eyes but moved closer to Collie, quietly taking some trail mix from the offered bag. "You and your snacks," he muttered, but there was fondness in his voice that he tried to hide.
"You're all terrible people," Garraty said, but the adrenaline rush had actually helped with his earlier fear. It was hard to be scared of mysterious building noises when your friends were clearly the most dangerous things in the vicinity.
"Well," Harkness said smugly, holding up his phone, "at least I got some great ghost footage out of this."
"Ghost footage?" Pete asked, still keeping one arm around Garraty's waist.
"Oh yeah. Lots of mysterious sounds, atmospheric shots, and some really authentic reactions to supernatural phenomena."
Stebbins raised an eyebrow. "Harkness."
"What?"
"Your camera was pointed at your own face the entire time."
The group went silent as Harkness frantically checked his phone. His face went through several expressions before settling on mortified realization.
"So what did you actually record?" Baker asked, barely containing his glee.
"Um." Harkness's voice was very small. "Mostly just... my nostril. And some footage of my feet. And, uh..." He glanced at Pete and Garraty. "That kiss. I definitely got that kiss."
The group erupted into laughter and wolf whistles. Garraty turned approximately the color of a fire truck, but Pete just grinned and pulled him closer.
"Well," Pete announced, "I think this has been a very successful ghost hunt. We've learned that Carpenter Hall is haunted by the ghost of Harkness's cinematographic competence."
"Hey!" Harkness protested.
"And that the real treasure was the friends we terrified along the way," Baker added solemnly.
"I hate all of you," Garraty said, but he was smiling as he said it.
As they made their way back across campus, considerably less stealthily than before, Collie fell into step beside Garraty while Barkovitch walked on Collie's other side, occasionally stealing pieces of whatever snack Collie was currently eating.
"You know," Collie said quietly to Garraty, "Pete's been grinning like an idiot ever since you told him you were scared."
"Really?" Garraty glanced over at Pete, who was enthusiastically reenacting Baker's scream for Stebbins's benefit.
"Really. I think he likes the honest version of you better than the trying-to-be-cool version."
Garraty considered this as they walked, listening to his friends' laughter echoing across the quad. Maybe honesty wasn't so scary after all. Certainly not as scary as abandoned buildings, ghost hunts, or the possibility of having friends who thought jump scares were the height of comedy.
Though he was definitely never agreeing to another midnight adventure. At least, not without bringing his own snacks.