When the Dawn Breaks [TBAU]

☆ Chapter 11 ☆

Scar showed up to the get together fashionably late, per usual.

Maybe there were a few additional factors affecting his punctuality. Like the fact that he knew Bdubs was going to be there. And the fact that they'd had that argument mere days prior.

But Scar was just always late to events, so clearly those things weren't why he had spent an extra fifteen minutes giving himself a pep talk in the mirror. Nor were they why he accidentally took the long route to Xisuma's house. Scar just had poor time management skills.

But, he was doing this today.

That's what he said to himself as he made his way inside and integrated himself into the party.

He was apologizing to Bdubs today.

That's what he told himself as he started up a conversation with Mumbo and Ren. Mumbo was talking about being rich, Ren said that maybe the town needed an economy reset, Scar made them laugh about magenta terracotta.

The best way to explain how Scar felt was that he had butterflies in his stomach. It was like he was back in elementary school, trying to talk to his crush. His heart flipped and flopped like a fish out of water as he cast glances at Bdubs across the room.

Scar swished around the solo cup of ice that he held, and switched hands because of how cold it was. Mumbo had asked him about it confusedly when he got it. Scar just told him that he liked his water extra cold.

In reality, it was a timer. Once the ice melted down all the way, he'd talk to Bdubs. It gave him time to think about what to say.

To be fair, he'd been thinking about what to say all day. To be fair, Scar was a coward.

He gripped his cup a little tighter as he looked to the other side of the room distantly. Bdubs and Keralis were laughing together, watching the movie they'd put on and making commentary on it. Scar listened quietly as Bdubs' airy giggles filled the room.

Bdubs was happy, and he deserved to be. Scar had made him upset. Scar had made him cry. Scar was horrible for that.

He looked down at his cup. Time was running out. Scar sighed, the worst that could happen was that Bdubs was still mad at him for what he'd done. That, of course, was likely, because Scar was such a bad friend to him.

But he needed to tell Bdubs that he didn't mean what he said. He needed to tell Bdubs that all he wanted was for him to be happy and safe.

Well, he's happy right now, see?

Scar grumbled, asking those thoughts to shut up.

He's happy so why bother?

He was bothering because it was the right thing to do. He spun his cup again, listening to the last little pieces of the ice click around as they hit each other. It was now or never.

Scar lifted the cup to his lips, drinking all of the freezing water in one swallow.

"Ah, the perfect temperature," He laughed, and smiled to Mumbo and Ren. "I'm gonna go watch a bit of the movie over there," Scar lied, and headed away when Mumbo and Ren nodded.

Scar gave his solo cup one last squeeze before throwing it away. He took a deep breath, shoved his shaky hands into his pockets, and joined Bdubs and Keralis on the couch that they were watching the movie from.

Scar silently waited for the current scene of 'High School Musical' that was on to finish, counting the lines that he'd definitely not memorized in his head. As soon as it started to transition into the next scene, Scar turned and tapped Bdubs on the shoulder. The shorter man spun around to face him.