new york nights - aryan simhadri

𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 - 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞

♥

night zero

𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬. unfortunately for me, because i've been trying for the past thirty minutes.

we all have that one seemingly impossible dream as a kid, right? like, you want to be a superhero or a princess or something.

growing up, mine was to be the next gordon ramsey. my best friend aryan's was to be an actor for our favorite book series, percy jackson and the olympians. after finishing the first book, the two of us had on a two-year-long obsession with mythology. at least, mine stopped after two years. not too sure about ary, though.

so, why do i want to bake my feelings away and why am i talking about stupid dreams? because even though i am not the next gordon ramsey, one of us achieved our dreams- aryan.

he's leaving to go film the new percy jackson series. yep, you heard me right, his crazy dream became true. and he's not just some background character - he's grover, one of the main ones. it's not a casual role where he could just come and visit me back home a few times during filming, no, he'll probably have to stay there for an extra amount of time too.

i sound like a really bad friend right now, don't i? hi, i'm lorcan owen-michael. it's a long name, i know. some people call me lorc or lorcy, and aryan calls me lorie. i don't really mind what you call me! i love romance everything. movies, books, whatever you give me, i'll read or watch it. i also really like to bake. i've been doing it since i was twelve and it's always felt like an outlet to get my emotions out.

which is why i'm baking now, because this is the last time i'll see my best friend before for the next... well, i don't know, but it's basically forever! and to make it worse, we'll have over two thousand miles between us. which is a four-hour plane ride, not too bad, but plane tickets are a lot of money.

"lorie?" aryan walks through the doorframe leading to the kitchen, lighting up when he sees me stirring my cookie mix aggressively. without saying a word, he runs to me and wraps me in a hug, causing me to freeze and drop my spatula on the floor.

i'm normally not a nervous mess, i swear. it's just, objectively, my best friend is pretty good looking. the way his dark, black curls fall over his equally dark eyes and how cute his face looks when that goofy smile of his comes out is attractive. like, i could see how other people could think that, you know? and i'm blushing while he's hugging me because i'm embarrassed i dropped my spatula! stop pushing something there's not, okay?

"hi." he pulls away, letting his hands rest on my shoulders as he gazes into my eyes. "oh, you dropped your spatula." leaning over, he picks up my spatula from the floor and dangles it in the air. "come and get it," he laughs as he hangs it even higher and higher over my head.

"ary- dude!" i jump for it, but just as my fingers get close to grasping it again, he snatches it from my hands and giggles, covering his stomach with his hands to hide it from me. i start tickling him in an attempt to get it back, and he started laughing so hard he dropped it onto the floor, allowing me to steal it back. "aha!"

i gripped my spatula tightly as the two of us stood in the kitchen, just staring at each other. possibly for the last time for a while. "i'm going to miss you," he mumbled, looking up at me with his huge saucer eyes.

"me too." i offer a weak smile, trying to lighten the situation. i've always been one of those really, really positive people, like when i was a really young kid and fell into mud, getting it all over my new collared shirt and instead of crying, i giggled and just got back to skipping down the street. my brother just gaped at me as i kept smiling and moving on with my day. it's definitely not easy though, i've had to force positivity more than once.

he points to my bowl with the spatula sticking out of it. "what are you making?"

"cookies," i hold the bowl close to my stomach as i continue stirring again.

"can i have one?"

"well, if you stay..." i trail off, smiling like it's a joke. i meant it as one of those things where it's half a joke, but half serious.

he smiles back and replies, "yeah, i'll leave the show immediately and stay here to eat cookies with you."

"really?" i tease, placing the bowl on the table and washing my hands in the nearby sink, not breaking eye contact.

his expression softens and he responds in a low voice, "you want me to?"

yes. "no," i answer quickly, shaking my head. you can want something personally but know it's for the better. know it's for the better.

"it won't be that long, okay?" 

it will. "okay..."

"hey," he reaches for my cheeks, holding my face in his hands as he stares at me intently with a melancholy look. "it'll be okay."

i never thought you could speak something into existence until the prettiest guy i know cupped my face and told me it'd all be fine. it's all fine now, just like that! wow. i mean, wow. aryan's looking at me adorably. but like, in a friendly way, you know?

i snap out of my lovey-dovey haze at the sound of aryan asking, "you want to watch a movie?"

"yeah."

my face breaks out into a huge grin when he says the exact words i want to hear- "do you want to watch ten things i hate about you?"

"of course-" i push the pan with cookie dough balls scattered on top into the oven, "-let's go!" the two of us walk over to my aquamarine colored couch with rainbow pillows on it, taking a seat on the very left side of the couch. aryan drapes his body over mine, resting his head on my side's armrest, his torso right above my legs, his huge eyes staring right up at me.

"do you think that my co-stars are going to be nice?" he purses his lips, then tugs at his grey sweater.

the worst thing to tell an overthinker is i don't know, so instead i smiled down at him and answered, "of course." in reality, i was worried about the same thing, but more if he'd like them more than me and then throw me away.

rationally, i knew he'd never do that- this is my best friend ary we're talking about- but i still felt anxious about it.

"já estou com saudades de você," i mumble whilst running my fingers through his hair, looking up at the screen every so often so he can't see how nervous i am. about him looking at me, about him leaving me, everything.

without skipping a beat he asks, "what's that mean?" 

i crack a small, bittersweet smile. "i'm missing you already."

"you couldn't even guess how i feel right now," he blows out a big breath of air and rests his hands on the back of his head, his elbow digging into my stomach.

stifling a laugh, i grin and shake my head. "okay, fofo." fofo basically translates to cute, but i called him it once and his face turned bright red. the meaning of the nickname has changed to just teasing him at this point, honestly.

"shut up!" he play punches me in the shoulder, turning his head so he's facing the tv as a rush of familiarity runs over me - and then sadness. the last time we're together for a really, really long time. it'll just be me in my apartment, and even the splashes of color all around it aren't going to be able to make up for the huge hole that'll be missing- aryan. i could literally start a night club in my living room and still feel empty without him here. it's concerning honestly, and romance books haven't taught me how to deal with that part of love yet.

♥