“Naw,” Matt replied with a sardonic gasp.“You don’t say?B, I think the entirety of Lavender Heights heard that fight.They were about to go subatomic.”
Blake flinched.“Yeah.”
“Whaaaat about you?”Matt asked.It was his turn to nudge Blake in the ribs with a bony elbow.He did that annoying-ass thing where he gripped his tongue between the tips of his teeth, like he was about to crack the worst pun known to man and make everyone in the vicinity groan.
“Whataboutme?”Blake replied, suspicious.
“What about you and that cutie over there?”Matt whispered, jerking his head towards Marin, who was exchanging friendly jabs with Noel over the former’s winning score.“I know he was being a jerk, but Ryan was right.You’ve been super flirty all night.”
“You may be my best friend, but you’re also myex,Matt.I’m not talking about my relationships with you,” Blake grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.Matt groaned, jutting his lower lip out into an exaggerated pout.
“Comeon, it’s all over your face!”he said, grabbing Blake’s forearm and giving it a violent shake.“Youliiiiiikehim.Like, youlike-like him, BB.”
“Shut up,” Blake groused, staring at anything that wasn’t Matt’s face—although he couldn’t help the smile that eked up the corner of his mouth.Matt gasped, doing a poor job of staying quiet.
“You’re smiling!You’re fucking smiling!”he accused, shaking Blake’s arm even harder.Blake ducked his head, grinning down at the floor.“Iknowthat look, Blake DeLuca.That is the look oflove.”
“I’ve known him for two days!”Blake countered in embarrassment.
“You okay back there?”Marin asked, glancing over his shoulder at the pair.
“Yeah!”they responded in unison.As soon as Marin’s attention was back on the game, Matt rounded on Blake, his smile manic.
“You’re super into him!You want to marry him!”Matt accused in a barely-hushed tone.“You want to share your monsterfucker fantasies with him, don’t you BB?”
“Matt!”Blake hissed between gritted teeth, face reaching thermonuclear temperatures.
“I’m so ri-ight!”Matt trilled, doing a small victory dance somewhere between a hop and a wiggle.He calmed, glancing over at Marin and Noel.“In all seriousness, B—and you know I don’t do serious,” he added.
“No, really?”Blake replied, voice thick with sarcasm.
Matt flipped him off.“But… I like you two together.Marin’s a really cool guy—I’ve never seen anyone get Noel out of his shell quite like him.I think you two could make a good couple.You complement each other really well.”
Blake stared at Matt in mild shock, surprised by the sincerity of his words.“I… wow.Thanks, Matt.That’s…” He shuffled a little in place, “That’s a lot, coming from you.I don’t take that lightly, you know.”
“I know.”Matt smiled, looking wistful.“I was your first love, after all.Gotta make sure you’re well taken care of.”
“Same goes for me, you know.”Blake chuckled, staring over at Noel.“We’ve gotten to hang out with Noel a bit over the past few days and he’s a lot different than the initial impression he gives off—he’s way more similar to how you said he really was.”
“Yeah, Noel’s a loveable, dorky sweetheart.”Matt looked over at him, expression still tender.“He’s gonna make someone really happy someday.I can tell.I’d give anything to date a guy like that.”
Blake shook his head, horror slowly dawning over him.It truly was a situation of dumbass-for-dumbass, huh?
“Matt,” he said.“You’re a dipshit.”
?
It wasn’t another twenty minutes before Matt proceeded to plop down at one of the fraying barstools in front of the shooting range, prop his head up on Noel’s shoulder, and attempt to go to sleep.Noel flushed so pink that Blake could see it through his thick, white foundation, his eyes scrunching up above the small, shaky smile of disbelief that was certainly hidden behind his mask.
“Noe, I’m sleepy,” Matt mumbled into the spikes on Noel’s overcoat—it did not look comfortable.
“Knock it off, Matt,” Blake scolded, peeling Matt’s face off of the studs.Without hesitation, Matt resettled himself on a smoother part of Noel’s person, which happened to be his chest.The poor guy looked like he was going to combust.
“We should probably get going home,” Marin said, glancing at an analog clock tacked above the shooting gallery and then over at Blake.“It’s almost five.”
“Shit, I didn’t realize,” Blake started.“Yeah, we should probably get going.”
He glanced at where Noel was stroking Matt’s head.“I didn’t know what your plans from here on out were—Celeste said you’re free to crash at their place.”
