Meant to Be

Chapter 6 - Happy New Year!

December 31st, 2019

Rob, please answer your phone. We really need to talk.

Rob had been radio silent since the night of the dinner party. They had exchanged awkward glances once or twice at work, but Rob had made sure to steer clear of him the entire time. Angelo believed Rob had asked to swap shifts with someone because he started seeing him less and less, making him wonder if he did something wrong.

Several weeks had passed since Angelo went over Michael's apartment. Every time the memory replayed in his mind, the person he was kissing changed occasionally. It was often a morphed figure of both Rob and Michael. With Rob's eyes but Michael's jawline or vice versa. He tried hard to block out the memory but it was the only thing that he thought of before bed.

"Earth to Angelo..." Ash said waving her hand in front of his face. He had zoned out while blowing up balloons for the New Year's Eve party they were throwing. "These balloons aren't gonna fill themself dummy"

"I know. Sorry" he said cracking a smile.

"Phoebe how's the cheese board coming?" she yells into the kitchen where Phoebe was dicing various meets and cheeses for a platter.

"It's pronounced charcuterie babe!" she yells back.

"So Angelo. My dearest friend." Ash said turning back to him. He knew what this meant.

"What did you do?" he replies with a stern look on his face. Usually when Ash calls him her "dearest friend" it means she did something wrong.

"I may have kind of, sort of, accidentally..." she pauses "...invited Michael"

"Ash what the hell!" he yells at her. "Why would you do that?"

"It was an accident I swear! I accidentally sent it to that Michael, and not my friend from high school" she responds.

"Well did he respond?" Angelo was still mad but now curious.

"Not yet, which may mean he's not coming" she says.

"You better hope so" he responds.

_____________

The time was now 9:17 PM and party guests began arriving. There were a few familiar faces. Friends from medical school, friends from high school. But there were a lot of unfamiliar faces as well. Phoebe's friends from work, Ash's younger cousin who's a senior at Boston University, and other stragglers who he had not been introduced to yet. He had already fixed himself a drink to drown out the wandering thoughts going on in his head. I

t was now 10:47 and Michael had not turned up yet. This was a good sign in his book. He mingled around for a bit and got overwhelmed by the amount of social interaction so decided to take a breather in his room for a minute. He went into his room and fell back first onto his bed staring at the ceiling. He felt his eyelids beginning to droop as the room started going dark. Suddenly a knock at his door startled him awake. He assumed it was just Phoebe absolutely plastered wanting him to sing karaoke with her. He slowly rises to his feet using his dresser as a support, and opens the door. To his surprise it's not Phoebe. But it's Rob.

"H-hi" Rob stutters "Can we talk?"

Angelo gestures into him room and they both sit down on his bed.

"I just wanna say I'm sorry for...you know...that night. I was being stupid, and not thinking, and I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like-" Angelo interrupts Rob's incessant rambling.

"Rob I liked it" he responds. This leaves Rob in a state of silence staring into his eyes. Eventually Rob responds.

"What?"

"Oh my god you idiot. I liked it. I liked kissing you"

"Y-you did" Rob responds with a smile forming on his face.

"I did. I did so much in fact, I've been dying to do it again since." Angelo says flirtatiously.

He leans into a shell shocked Rob, once again sealing lips with Rob. It started out as a light peck but soon transformed into an amalgamation of a passionate make-out sesh. The two are now rolling around on Angelo's bed caught in the heat of something messy but also beautiful. Angelo began reaching his hand up Rob's shirt, tracing every nook and cranny of Rob's chiseled figure. It would have gone further if they had not been interrupted by a knock at the door.

"You two love-birds are gonna miss the ball drop if you don't get out here now" Ash yells through the door.

They fall side by side each other on the bed laughing, which soon turned into another moment of awkward silence and staring at the ceiling.

"I really like you Angelo" Rob says, "Like a lot"

Angelo hesitates for a moment "I-I really like you too Rob". The two smile seal one last peck, and then make their way out into the party. Angelo looks at his phone to check the time. 11:53. Wow we really did almost miss it ,Angelo thinks to himself.

The pair walk into the living room, where the New Year's Eve special is playing on the T.V. with the ball in frame. Everyone has now gathered with either their partner or some random stranger they had just met with a glass of champagne for toasting. 

"I'll go grab us drinks" Rob says with a smile, leaving toward the kitchen. While waiting there in the living room amongst the crowd of paired peoples, Angelo is tapped on the shoulder. Turning around he finds the absolute worst person he could be seeing on his New Year's Eve. Michael

"Hey-y Angelo" he says

"What do you want Michael?" Angelo responds with a stern face

"I just want to talk, please" Michael says

"There is nothing to talk about" Angelo says firmly.

People are now beginning to notice the argument. Michael being embarrassed, whispers under his breath, "Please Angelo can we take this somewhere quiet"

"I have nothing to say to you Michael!" he says loudly which stops most of the chatter in the room. Angelo turns to walk away, but Michael grabs his arm, spins him around, and seals his lips with Angelo's. At first Angelo enjoyed this, but then thinking back to Rob, he pulled away, shoving Michael. He stood there too stunned to speak.

Before he could get any words out he looked over at the kitchen. In the doorway stood Rob with two glasses of champagne in his hands. He gently placed them on the counter, grabbed his coat and left hastily. Angelo stood there in a state of shock staring at Michael as the crowd around them chanted:

"5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!!!"