Afton Random Books

Main AU: Short hair

[Lucas x Arthur?]

-LA-

Today Lucas invited his friends to come. Oliver didn't mind it as long as they didn't make a mess, after all he will be at Devian's house for all day. So he and his sister were the one who helped Lucas to prepare a few things.

They came an hour after the snacks were prepared, and considering they were Lucas' friends, he wasn't too surprised almost all of them were from different countries. Two women and three men. Lucas must have had a lot of acquaintances considering his job required him to go overseas several times to spy on things.

Even so, Arthur didn't expect Lucas to be so flexible and proficient in speaking, no wonder so many people could become his friends easily.

If compared to him ...

Arthur frowned and winced. He didn't have that many friends, mainly due to his mother. After all, he was also actually a very awkward person, people said he was the type to make friends easily, he just smiled wryly whenever he heard that—which was not true.

Because of that, he really admired Lucas' social skills, really.

Arthur peeked into the living room, watched them talking to each other with Lucas as the center of attention, and again he was in awe of Lucas. He gave a small smile and turned around, not intending to join their conversation—after all, it felt like he couldn't follow the flow of their conversation. Arthur was about to walk away, but only for one step and he stopped because he heard something interesting.

"I've never seen you with your lover, do you even have it or not?"

He glanced at them.

Lucas looked like he was going to answer, but his other friend, a woman with wavy hair spoke first. "Lucas has had a lot of lovers, you never saw him with any of them?" She laughed loudly, Arthur turned his head.

"Come on," Lucas said after that. "You know I just, uh, taking advantage of them for my job."

The man who had asked earlier answered. "That's why I asked you that! A real lover, not a fake one that you use just for work, you heartless bastard."

Arthur secretly agreed to that statement, Lucas really didn't have a heart when it came to his exes.

"I'm guessing your type must be the one with long hair and curvaceous body."

Arthur frowned.

Lucas quickly replied. "Dude, no. That's your ideal type, not mine." Lucas groaned in irritation. "Why are you suddenly asking about that anyway? That's enough."

There was a strange feeling inside Arthur—he remembered their current relationship. What relationship did they have now? Arthur wondered, they never said they loved each other, but acted like one. His brother once said that he and Lucas were just friends with benefits when he asked the man while he was in confusion. Presumably he believed he liked Lucas ... did Lucas like him back, or was he just taking it that way?

Would Lucas reveal the status of his relationship with him to his friends too? But from what he said earlier, Lucas seemed not interested at all to say it.

It was understandable, even so Arthur felt disappointed for no reason. He suddenly felt annoyed with himself.

"Lucas once told me he liked people with short hair." One of Lucas' friends spoke again, Arthur straining his ears to listen better. What type of person did Lucas like? "So he'd definitely date someone with short hair, wouldn't he?"

For a few moments Lucas didn't answer. "Well, I'm with this guy. He's cute."

Arthur's blue eyes widened slightly, his cheeks burning—wait, was Lucas talking about him or someone else? Must be him, right? Or did Lucas have a real boyfriend? Considering they were only friends with benefits.

Somehow his chest hurts.

"Is it true? What's he like?"

"Adorable. Black hair, blue eyes." He saw Lucas smiling after saying that, but Arthur still had doubts.

"Short hair?"

"No, his hair is quite long."

His friend answered again. "I'm pretty sure you told me back then you liked short haired people! Why have your tastes changed so suddenly? Short hair is better."

Arthur pursed his lips, he wanted to leave but curiosity still kept him here. "So what if my taste is short hair but I'm dating someone with long hair? It's none of your business at all." Lucas snorted, reaching for his drink. "No one can predict it."

"I just find it weird, no need to get angry."

It was enough of eavesdropping. He forced his feet to step away from here. His mind was racing. What Lucas' friend said might be true, must be weird. Arthur bit his lip uneasily. He felt anxious, he felt a lot of worries.

And subconsciously he opened the door of his sister's room, Patricia who was reading a book on a cushion chair.

"Oh, Arta," Patricia greeted and smiled. "Do you need something?"

Arthur didn't answer at all, not a single word left his mouth, just standing in the doorway with a look that was difficult to describe, a jumbled expression with both eyebrows swooping down and the bridge of his nose scrunched up.

"Arta?" Patricia tilted her head in confusion, she put down her book and stood up, approaching Arthur slowly—her blue eyes rolled from Arthur's head and down, then stopped at the object her brother was holding in his right hand. Patricia gasped and immediately snatched it away—she didn't want Arthur to fall back into his destructive thoughts. "What is it? What do you want to do with this? Arthur?" Now she sounded even more worried.

It seemed that after she snatched the sharp object, Arthur seemed to wake up from daydream and blinked in surprise, then smiled crookedly when he saw the scissors in Patricia's hands. "Nothing ... can you cut my hair?"