𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 (𝘣𝘹𝘣)

forty three

a/n: i am SO sorry for abandoning this story guys omg ): i feel like i'm an overachiever and i'm literally writing three stories at once (idk why cs it's hard asf) but i love this story sm and i don't mean to leave it

happy new year ((:

**
Benjamin holds a shirt up to his chest, tilting his head to the side before throwing it down on the floor. He grabs another shirt and does the same thing.

Noah walks into the room and smiles. "Hey. Getting ready for tonight?"

Benjamin covers his chest with his shirt as he turns around. "O-Oh...Yeah. Is that what you're wearing?"

Noah looks down at his hoodie and cargo pants before looking up at Benjamin. "No?"

"No," Benjamin shakes his head. "I mean...No, you look good. I was just asking."

Noah nods his head and takes a seat on the bed. He glances at the shirt wrapped around Benjamin's torso. "You don't have to cover up...You know that right, bebes?"

"Well...Yeah, of course. I just...We haven't-."

"Had the talk, again?"

"Yeah," Benjamin grabs his tee shirt off the ground, putting it on before he sits next to Noah. "I'm sorry. I'm so awkward."

"No, you're not. I mean, do you wanna talk about it?" Noah asks.

Benjamin purses his lips and glances down at his hands. "I mean...Yeah. We haven't...Y'know...Since we were teenagers."

Noah chuckles. "Yeah."

"H-How many people were you with? After we broke up?" Benjamin turns to fully face Noah.

"Uh," Noah scratches his head. "My ex-girlfriend...And some others. You?"

"Well, Markus...A-And others."

"So we should probably get tested before we even think about revisiting that, huh?"

Benjamin smiles a little. "Yeah."

"But you do want to, right?"

Benjamin reaches out and grabs Noah's hand. "Of course. I'm glad we talked about it."

**
Noah holds the door open for Benjamin as they arrive at the bar. In true Benjamin and Noah fashion, they were the last two there.

"Hey, guys!" Gabi yells from across the bar, causing everyone to feel some ounce of embarrassment.

Elly shakes her head at her. "Jesus, Gabs. You have zero shame at all."

"Of course not," She smiles.

Noah examines around the bar, leaning down to whisper to Benjamin. "This place is like a ghost town. How expensive is this gonna be?"

Benjamin shrugs his shoulders. "I have no clue but let's be good and hopefully Gabi will pay for all our drinks."

Noah chuckles as they make it to the group. "Hey, guys."

Lucas smiles at them. "Fashionably late as always," Lucas holds out a glass of beer. "For you two."

Noah grabs one glass, handing it to Benjamin before grabbing his own. He takes a seat and lets out a sigh. "How late are we again?"

Jazmyne shakes her head. "Try thirty minutes. I swear you two have no concept of time."

Benjamin chuckles and takes a sip from his beer. "Yeah, we're trying to set a record. Next time, we're gonna be two hours late."

Gabi furrows her brows at Tatiyana. "Did you not get a drink? Did they forget a drink? I just paid-."

"No...No, it's fine, Gabi. I don't wanna drink right now. Maybe later?" Tatiyana perks up at Lucas and smiles.

Gabi notices that before glancing at Benjamin. Benjamin smiles at her before looking over at Lucas. "Uh...Is there something you guys wanna tell us?"

Tatiyana shakes her head. "What? Is it that weird for me to not wanna drink?"

Jazmyne nods her head aggressively. "Uhm, yes. You have a two-year-old and you get to be away from her for a night. What's the deal?"

Lucas glances at Tatiyana and shrugs. "You can tell them."

"Okayyy," Tatiyana smiles as she looks back at Jazmyne. "We're pregnant again!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Jazmyne smiles and reaches out to grab Tatiyana's hand. "I'm gonna be an auntie again?"

Noah smiles at them. "Wow. Congrats."

"Damn. You guys are like an actual family." Elly takes a sip from her drink. "Congrats. You guys were meant to be parents."

Tatiyana smiles. "Awe. Thank you, guys."

"Yeah, thanks. We're looking at houses and shit. We've been living with my mom but with twins on the way-."

"Twins!?" Jazmyne dramatically falls back in her seat. "I'm living vicariously through you guys right now."

"That was supposed to be a surprise, stupid!" Tatiyana jokes with Lucas. "We don't know the genders yet."

Jazmyne suddenly sits up. "We have some news too! We're moving back, eek!"

"Really?" Benjamin asks. "When?"

"Next month! We signed a lease to an apartment today!" Jazmyne exclaims. "Which also means wedding planning is coming sooner than ever. Can you tell I'm excited?"

"Very. What about you Elly? You excited?"

"Hell yeah, I'm excited. Rent in New York is ode and I'm excited to not worry about that shit so much. Oh...And plus you guys to I guess."

Everyone in the group laughs at her. Gabi raises her hands a little. "Wait, I have news too then. I closed on three clients, bought a new building and Alexis is moving in with me."

"Great, yay. Wahoo, Gabi is rich." Lucas jokes.

"Oh, alright Mr. Williams. Don't come crying to me when your baby shower gift is a pile of pennies."

Tatiyana smiles and grabs Lucas's arm. "What he meant to say is...Congratulations and we love a hardworking woman. Also, when do we get to meet Alexis?"

"Soon! I promise I just don't want to bombard her."

"What about you guys? Any major accomplishments?" Elly asks as she glances at Benjamin and Noah.

Benjamin was holding Noah's hand, playing with the rings around his fingers. "Oh...Uhm," Benjamin looks up at Noah, a look of fluster on his face.

Noah looks around at the group as they awaited an answer. "I'm thinking of going back to college. Community college. Maybe."

"That's great! What would you study?" Gabi asks.

"Something to do with cars or...Business, maybe? Help my dad out with the business and stuff."

"That's great," Lucas smiles at him. Lucas has been the main one worried about Noah and his issues with sobriety. It felt good to see and hear about his best friend improving.

"Benny?"

Benjamin glances at the group and shrugs. "Uh, I don't know. I just uhm...Work and...Y'know.."

Elly glances over at Gabi. Gabi nods her head and looks back over at Benjamin. "Well, that's great too! Being a software engineer is not for the weak."

Benjamin smiles a little and grabs his beer off the table, taking a sip from it. "Excuse me. I'm gonna go use the restroom."

The group watches as he walks away. Noah sits up and grabs his phone from his front pocket, sending him a quick text.

"Is it the shit with his dad?" Elly asks.

Noah shrugs his shoulders. "Probably. I'm uh...Gonna go check on him. Make sure he doesn't-."

"Go ahead." Gabi smiles softly and watches as Noah gets up to follow Benjamin to the bathroom.

**