Choose Your Heart, Or Your Head (Ianthony)

Chapter Five

 “Ian, are you ready yet?” Anthony knocked on his hotel door. He was meeting him so that they could go down to the party together, after his little fight with Kalel.

“Hey douchenozzle,” Ian opened the door and smiled at him.

“Hey Ian,” Anthony laughed slightly. There was that feeling in his stomach again. The one that had recently been happening a lot whenever he was around Ian, or even he was just thinking of him. He didn’t want to think about it too much because honestly, he was scared of what it could mean. No way was he going down that route.

“Hello, earth to Anthony,” Ian waved his hand in front of Anthony’s face. “You zoned out there.”

“Sorry,” Anthony shook his head. “I’m kind of messed up right now.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Ian offered. That was great thing about their friendship. Usually guys don’t really talk about their feelings ever, it’s just the way that things are. But Ian and Anthony had been extremely close friends for so long now that it only seemed natural.

“Can I talk to you about it later?” Anthony asked whilst fidgeting with his hands awkwardly. “I don’t really want to ruin the mood of the party.”

“Of course,” Ian gave him a reassuring smile.

“Thanks Ian,” Anthony said gratefully.

“So anyway, I guess we should get going now,” Ian said.

“Not just yet,” Anthony contradicted him. He took a step closer to Ian so that their faces were only a few inches apart, and very carefully, adjusted Ian’s hair. “Perfect.”

They held eye contact for a few seconds before Ian averted his gaze away from Anthony’s dark brown eyes. “You’re so weird Anthony,” he said and Anthony just grinned in response and said nothing.

The party was exactly as they had expected it to be: loud party music, lots of people, lots of dancing and a lot of drinking too.

“Anthony, you might want to slow down a bit. You really don’t want a hangover tomorrow,” Phil warned him as he tipped back the bottle.

“I’m fine,” he said, slurring his words slightly. “I’ve only had a few…”

He didn’t usually drink a lot, not even at parties. But after what had happened with Kalel, he was eager to have a good time parting and didn’t give a fuck about the consequences at that point in time. Party till you pass out; drink till you’re dead, right?

“That’s it, no more drink for you,” Dan said sternly and snatched the bottle out of his hands.

“Whatever,” he shrugged and walked off to find Ian.

“Hey Ian,” Anthony greeted him.

“Oh, hey Anthony,” Ian said back. “Are you having a good time?”

“I guess…” he replied. “Where’s Tyler?” We haven’t said happy birthday to him yet.”

“He’s over there,” Ian pointed to the corner where Tyler was surrounded by a small group of people, including Jack and Finn.

“Oh cool,” Anthony replied and they made their way over to the group.

“Happy birthday Tyler,” Anthony grinned and gave him a brief side hug. Ian did the same.

“Thanks guys,” Tyler said excitedly. “Should we take a picture together?”

“I’ll hold the camera,” Jack offered.