How You Get The Girl - Lukas Dostal

seventeen

TO PUT A LONG STORY SHORT, Lukas, Jamie, and Trevor were all scratched from the roster for the foreseeable future. Higher up management found out about the situation, and figured it would be for the best. This meant they had all day, every day to sit and reflect.

For Jamie, that meant a complete phone detox, not using it unless it was to call his mom, a lot of pacing around his apartment, and silently cursing under his breath all day. About nothing in particular, just anything and everything made him mad.

Trevor tried to trudge on, but the gravity around the situation crept back into his mind a few times a day, completely immersing him. He had also mostly confined himself to his home, swearing off ever arguing with Maddie ever again, to the point where he insisted she stay with him in his apartment until they got it figured out.

And, Lukas was, well... coping.

He didn't dare leave his apartment unless it was to get groceries, or go to the gym in his complex. He was doing a lot of that, actually.

'Sweat therapy' he liked to call it. Go to the gym, bang weights and run on the treadmill until he could barely breathe. It was better than the shit show he would have to try to explain otherwise.

Of course, he knew the allegations were true. Even more so using the fact that he froze up and didn't try to justify himself at the moment, but the important thing was that everyone was missing such important context. Context that would change everything.

So, about a week later, Lukas had had enough of overthinking and self-sabotaging, and made the decision to go to Maddie's apartment. When no one answered the door, he figured that she might just have been ignoring him, since she hadn't talked to him since the incident, but he went to Trevor's place anyway just to make sure.

Knock, knock, knock.

Trevor opened the door, hood pulled over his head with obviously no effort put into his appearance. His dirty blond hair stuck out slightly, and he slouched as he he sighed, looking Lukas up and down, but surprisingly, didn't tell him to fuck off and slam the door, although Lukas definitely thought he would.

"Trevor, please, before you do anything, hear me out." Lukas blurted out, as quick as possible in case he didn't have much time. After he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the air he'd lost, he met Trevor's eyes to be met with an unexpected... calm. Disinterest, boredom, even, not even close to what he had expected.

A chuckle broke Lukas out of his confusion, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he surveyed the look of amusement on Trevor's face. Trevor noticed that it was definitely inappropriate to be laughing right now, quite quickly at that, so he cleared his throat. "Fuck– sorry," He said, his voice raspy, "Come in, just be quiet. She's sleeping."

Lukas stepped into Trevor's apartment, his heart pounding in his chest. The vaguely familiar surroundings offered little comfort as he braced himself for the conversation ahead. Trevor closed the door behind him quietly, walking into the kitchen and reaching into the cabinet to take out two glasses. "You want some water?"

Lukas cocked his head, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Um, no, I think I'm okay," He started, his confusion still evident, "Are you... are you okay? Why are you so calm?"

Trevor filled his glass with water, and he took a long sip before turning to face Lukas. His expression was surprisingly neutral, almost resigned. "I've had a lot of time to think," he said, his voice measured. "A lot of time to cool down. And honestly, I'm just tired, man. This whole situation... it's a mess, but being angry all the time won't fix it."

Lukas blinked, not quite believing the transformation in Trevor's demeanor. "But you're still mad, right?"

Trevor sighed, placing the glass of water on the counter before leaning back against it. "Mad? Yeah, I'm mad," he admitted, his voice steady but laced with exhaustion, "But not at you."