Work Text:
“Good boy,” Jake purrs into his mic.
Albert laughs in a way that Jake knows means he’s flustered. It awakens something deep, deep inside him that he smothers down.
Naturally, he says it again. He’s only teasing, he wants to get a rise out of Albert; it’s been difficult doing so recently. At least when they’re in front of a camera, they can both put up a front that everything is okay. The fans won’t be able to tell.
Still, something rises deep from Jake’s gut. Things are awkward; there's no other way to describe it. He feels off during this recording, but he plays along with Albert. His mind wanders to their earlier messages.
> wanna record
> gonna play doors 2
< sure
< oh wait
< do u need to beat doors 1 to play?
> yes
> u havnt beat it?
< no lol
Jake watches the little dots bounce up and down for about two minutes before they disappear. His face falls; he feels like he picked the wrong answer. Great, now he’s gonna ask to record with one of his other friends. He swallows hard.
He doesn’t really know what it is he’s apologizing for, but midway through typing “im sorry,” another message pops up.
> zooms said he can lend you his account
Jake deletes his message.
< rlly?
< awesome
< tell him i said thanks
They’re done recording; Jake can hear Albert fumbling with his recording set up as he turns off his mic. Normally, they’d talk while he does this. Jake is only met with heavy silence. He clears his throat- Albert doesn’t even look up. “I’m, uh, goin’ now," he forces out, hoping Albert will tell him to stay.
Albert’s eyes flicker up. “Already?” He sounds disappointed, but he doesn’t add anything else.
Jake just nods. “Yup. Buh-bye.”
Jake hangs up. He goes straight to their DMs and sends Albert a message.
< fort tmr?
> sure
Jake cringes at the blandness of the messages. His fingers flit across his keyboard, itching to send something else to his friend, though he can’t find the right words. Jake purses his lips.
This is… Fine-ish. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a rough patch- all best friends go through them. Their messages being stale doesn’t equate to how close they actually are. Besides, their chemistry is perfectly fine on camera. It’s nothing to stress over, he tells himself as he puts his head in his hands.
What happened between them to end up texting like acquaintances? The idea of being anything less than best friends has goose bumps rising along Jake’s arms. That’s a good question, actually. How’d we end up like this? He chews on his bottom lip before clicking out of Discord.
Jake opens up Roblox, blandly staring at the interface. He aimlessly scrolls through the games, then his friends list. It’s overly modern and sleek in a way that’s uncomfortable. There’s a pang of nostalgia in his heart when he realizes that he misses the old UI; how comforting and welcoming it was, the old website where he met his best friend.
Hm.
He pauses on one user in his friends list. The stupid yellow face stares back. He clicks on it, bringing him to Streety’s profile. Jake tilts his head at it; he thinks back to over a decade ago when they met. His cursor gravitates to his Roblox messages, clicking through the pages until he found what he was looking for.
Streety
RE: Do I get promoted for actually having a Bluesteel helm? :D
Streety wrote:
Lalalala
Jayengee wrote:
I don’t think it should work that way but it definitely gets you noticed.
The bluntness of the message makes him want to curl in on himself, though knowing what followed softens the blow. The catalyst to their entire friendship is laid out in front of him- it feels like he just sent the message again for the first time. His heart soars at the sight of it, a smile appearing on his face. Such a simple sentence that makes Jake fall back in time.
Streety
RE: We should start out with pistols in the base.
Streety wrote:
Cuz if you die from a raider, your basically screwed.
Jayengee wrote:
I did, didn’t work out as well.
Just looking at it he’s reminded of how long they’ve been friends. A wave of nostalgia rolls over him. Jake clicks through more and more messages. He watches their relationship blossom into what it is now. With each message, his grin grows wider- he really should’ve done this sooner. It feels good to be reminded that he and Albert always have been and always will be friends. There's a twinge of something else in his gut that he refuses to acknowledge.
Jayengee
Hey
Jayengee wrote:
Come to my first game
It’s addictive, clicking through these old messages. The messages seem to slow down around this area; it’s when they became actual friends and switched to talking outside of Roblox. Jake is reminded of the game he and Albert would play- the house, where they’d spend hours and hours talking. They would talk about everything, and Jake would always wish he could talk to him in person. It gets him thinking again.
He’d take distant messages over no messages any day, sure, but even then- this is all so petty. They’re being melodramatic because, what, envy? Resentment? What for? It certainly wasn't girl problems anymore, like in 2019. He bites the inside of his cheek. I should talk to him, Jake thinks, I need to so we can be this close again.
Jake looks at his computer clock. 1:04 AM stares at him. Another day, he reasons with himself. They’ll be back to normal soon enough. Jake rubs an eye and moves to shut down his PC. I can’t believe I spent an hour looking through those messages. Still, he doesn’t feel any regret- just a longing to go back and obsessively click through more and more of those messages.
He strips down to just his boxers and clambers into bed. Jake lays on his back and stares at his popcorn ceiling, his mind still racing. What went wrong? Did I say something dumb? Is he like this with everyone now?
That has him sitting up. Of course! He tells himself. I should ask, like, Kaden, if Albert has been acting the same way! His sleep-addled brain is already getting to work- he feels for his phone on his nightstand, opens up Discord, and sends Kaden a few messages.
< yo
< sry if this sounds weird but
< has albert been distant with you?
< just in messages
Jake puts the phone back on the nightstand, face up. He doesn’t expect a response right now; instead, he attempts to fall back asleep again. His eyes fall shut, dry from how much he’s been staring at screens today, though his mind continues to circle back to Albert.
It’s stupid. It’s so, so stupid how often he thinks about his friend, meanwhile Albert is probably sound asleep right now without a care in the world. As far as he knows, Jake could just be overthinking all of this.
But, a deeper part of him knows that isn’t true. The first and only time they “broke up,” re: were angry at each other for months, Jake couldn’t tell that Albert was unhappy. Looking back, he feels humiliated that he couldn’t tell his best friend was upset, but that’s not the point. Albert is a professional at pretending. This just feels too on the nose. It’s weirding him out and feels like he’s in a nervous limbo just waiting for the emotional explosion.
A ping has Jake shooting up. He reaches for his phone and opens up Discord, reading the message.
> no, he hasnt
> is something wrong?
> if theres anything i can do lmk!!
He’s shaking. A jumble of emotions are coursing through his veins and he can’t tell any of them apart. Red-hot anger is one of them for sure, but also desperation, sadness, betrayal, something akin to relief(?) and it leaves him feeling even more confused. Jake hates Albert so, so Goddamn much right now he’s shaking and he feels like he could kill him. Seriously, fuck him.
He neglects messaging Kaden back- he’ll feel guilty about it in the morning. Right now, he’s going to spend his night crafting up a confrontation. Ideas come and go in his mind, but they’re all along the lines of hey asshole, why do you hate me all of the sudden? You’re acting like a piece of shit even though I haven’t done anything, or if I have done something, you haven’t told me. I know you’re not being like this with our other friends, I asked, so just fucking tell me.
Jake grits his teeth and rips the blankets off of him. You know what? How about I just talk to him right now. He powers up his PC again and types in his password, quickly going to Discord.
He loses steam.
Well, no, “losing steam” would imply that he is no longer angry - he’s still pissed - but he is frozen in place. He can’t bring himself to blow up at his friend, but rather stew in his white-hot fury. Jake heaves a breath, brings his hand up to his mouse, and begins scrolling up. The rhythmic action calms him, but only slightly. He scrolls up and up and up until he gets to where this - call it what it is - dry-spell first started.
Albert is an enigma, Jake has come to realize. For one, their friendship is one in a million- that much he’s sure of. Their friendship is different from any other friendship as their bond was formed online. There’s a certain level of fragility to this; it morphed from wanting to befriend a higher rank in a Roblox group to years of history.
They’re closer in ways other people dream of. Even then, Albert just gets Jake, he feels. Before this, he would assume that Jake gets Albert too, but now he’s not so sure.
Albert is everything; Jake can’t stand to lose him again. Albert is the best person he knows; he’s funny, he’s considerate, he’s so, so sweet if you know him well enough. He pauses his scrolling- it didn’t take very long, as these one-word messages only happen a few times a week.
> im so excited
> me and denis can pick you up from the airport!!
< sounds good :)
< im at gate 6 btw
Jake thinks back to months ago, when things were fine between them.
It was an RDC afterparty and they were sitting in Jake’s room. Albert was drunk and giggly and all his greatest qualities were amplified. He looked at Jake with hazy brown eyes and soft dark hair framing his face just right and he- he caressed Jake’s arm, rubbing it up and down before pulling him in for a hug.
“Y’know you’re my bes’ friend, right?” Albert slurred, his forehead bumping into Jake’s shoulder. “Mine,” he murmured, more possessively.
Fuck, just the memory brings a certain heat to his cheeks.
“You’re drunk,” Jake said, gently pushing Albert back at an arm's length. The man in question pouted, offended at being apart from his friend. “C’mon, you gotta get to bed.”
The next morning, Albert didn’t remember what happened, That is, Jake assumed Albert blacked out.
Now that he’s looking back on this particular night, Jake is terrified. Is that it? He was, what, uncomfortable with me? I don’t know how to fix this.
Or,
Jake licks his lips and reads over the messages Albert sent- both before RDC and after. His anger hasn’t vanished quite yet, but it’s being replaced by something warmer, fuzzier.
He’s being… Coy.
It’s a game of cat and mouse, Jake realizes. How long it’s been going on for, he doesn’t exactly know, but he wants to punch himself in the face for not noticing it sooner.
The anger is back, because Jesus Christ he may be stupid but Albert is even worse.
He hits the call button before he comprehends it. The silly Discord ring tone is aggravatingly loud, though he doesn’t move to turn it down. Jake prays he woke Albert up from his sleep because this is just ridiculous.
The sound of the call being answered reignites a flame inside Jake.
“Mm, wha’sup? ‘S late,” Albert mumbles tiredly. His voice is soothing and intimate, and any other time, Jake would feel calmer.
“You’re such a fucking idiot dude, what were you thinking?” Jake says, a crazed laugh escaping him.
Albert pauses. “What?” He sounds more awake.
“You do remember the RDC afterparty!” Jake accuses.
He can hear Albert’s breathing and the click of his throat as he swallows. “I, uh, don’t understand,” he lies.
“You were almost fondling me in my room and you tried to play it off as a blackout? You didn’t think I wouldn’t notice how distant you sounded in your messages?”
“... Listen, Jake, I’m sorry-”
“Yeah, you should be sorry for not bringing it up earlier! I thought you hated me!”
Albert’s breath hitches. “I don’t-”
“I know that now, but- but you were driving me insane.”
Then, Albert says, so softly he almost missed it, “I understand if you hate me, though.”
Jake furrows his brows. “Whaddya mean? I’d never hate you.”
“... You know, for the whole, coming on to you part. I-I was drunk, I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
“Albert.”
“What?”
“Were you serious about that?”
“Which part?”
“Me being yours.”
Albert says nothing.
“I wasn’t rejecting you because of that. You were drunk, you weren’t thinking right. You’re sober now, so tell me, am I yours?” He’s demanding it now, he needs to hear it from Albert over and over again. Jake finds that his breathing is just as heavy and uneven and messy as Alberts.
“Yes,” he says with an air of finality.
“Okay. Then I’m yours, and you’re mine, right?”
“Yeah- yeah, I’m yours.” Albert replies, voice strained. Jake can’t blame him.
He leans back in his chair. “I don’t know what your plan was with these messages, though.”
“I hated it. Knew you’d figure it out, though.”
There’s a lull in their conversation; Jake doesn’t find it awkward, though he can tell Albert does.
“I, uh,” Jake clears his throat, “I do like you. A lot.”
“Mm. I like you too,” Albert hesitates, “do you, maybe, wanna come back to Florida?”
It’s a welcomed surprise for Jake. “Yeah, I do.”
“Okay. G’night,” Albert says.
“Goodnight,” Jake replies.
Neither move to hang up yet; they’re both waiting for something. Another confirmation, maybe.
“When I see you in person, I hope you’re a better flirt.”
There’s a sharp laugh from Albert. “I’ll try.”
“Love you.”
“Yeah, love you, too.”
Finally, Jake hangs up on Discord. A stupid grin is plastered on his face and he feels giddy and light with the sheer amount of adoration he feels for Albert.
He wants to hug 2011 Jake for being smart enough to invite Albert to his silly game. He wants to scold his 2019 self for even thinking about leaving Albert, let alone temporarily following through with it. He also really, really wants to kiss Albert right now, but only after he yells at him again for such a dumb- plan, or whatever this was.
The clock reads 2:49, though he can’t bring himself to care. He’s scared for what tomorrow morning will bring, because of course they have to talk this out; but right now, he is content. Jake drifts off to sleep with a smile.