Noticing You (BoyxBoy)

Twenty-Five

"Good morning." Jess smiled as he slid into the passenger seat. He turned the heat on, a habit Isaac realized he's going to do everyday. It was adorable.

"Good morning." Isaac held out his hand and Jess grabbed it, intertwining their fingers.

They started the drive and Jess settled in his seat. After a few moments of quiet Jess spoke. "Tally and Mason are really joining the group aren't they?"

"Yeah." Isaac smiled and nodded. He had always been friends with Mason and he was friendly with Tally. Now, they were making their way into his life and he couldn't be more happy with that. He needed friends after losing his and that's what they became.

"You good with that?" Jess looked over with curiosity. "I mean, you look like you are but I wanna make sure."

"Yeah. They're good guys." Zack nodded.

"Okay." Jess smiled too. "I just didn't know if you were just being friendly or if you were actually okay with them hanging around all the time."

"I'm okay with it." Isaac said.

"Okay." Jess squeezed his hand.

The rest of the drive they didn't say anything. Jess's music played quietly in the background and any time Jess would hum along under his breath Isaac would grin. He really got lucky with Jess.

They pulled up to the school and parked. Jess leaned over to kiss Isaac's cheek before stepping out. Zack smiled widely while getting out as well. They started the walk into the school together, not touching but walking close next to each other.

Tally trudged over and threw his arm around Jess, smiling over at Zack. "Good morning love birds."

"Hey, Tal." Thinking about giving someone a nickname when they already go by a nickname was weird. Zack cringed on the inside. That was weird of him.

Luckily, Tally didn't seem to mind. His smile stayed the same. "How're you guys?"

"Good." Jess answered with a smile.

They approached Jess's locker which seemed to be a new meeting ground for them. Isaac rarely used his locker but Jess had to grab his bag each morning since he didn't take it home. So, his locker seemed to be becoming a new meeting place.

Tally retracted his arm from Jess's shoulders so the other boy could open his locker. Zack and Tally were in a small half circle around the locker. After Jess got his bag they'd all stay there and talk while waiting. Slowly, their friends would meet them as they arrived.

It was kinda like deja vu for Zack. Jace's locker used to be a meet-up spot for his friend group. Every time their newly formed group would cluster around Jess's locker it was like a pained reminder for Isaac that he would never be getting back what he used to have and this was just a replacement.

He could be happy with that, though. He wouldn't dwell too much on people he needed to leave in the past. They chose not to be here anymore. The more he reminded himself of that the less he found the urge to walk over to Jace's locker in the mornings.

The pain was still there, but he would force it to subside. He could focus on the now. On Jess. Jess made him happy.

"Good morning, my friends." Andrew walked over to join them in their circle.

"Hello Andrew." Tally's voice was cheerful and his smile matched his tone.

It was strange to Isaac. Tally was so nice but apparently he didn't like people all that much. According to Mason, there were few people Tally could be around constantly. He apparently got snappy when he was around people he didn't like for long. Zack had trouble imagining that.