Mrs. Ramsey nearly had a heart attack when the boys arrived at Geoff's house. Mr. Ramsey had already left for work, and she almost called off so that she could stay home and tend to Gavin.
Geoff sighed exasperatedly. He now knew how Gavin felt when his parents wouldn't stop calling him during his first week in America.
"He's fine, mom. We can take care of him."
Gavin was trying in vain to hide inside of his hoodie. He appreciated the concern, but he could hear the others snickering behind him.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Ramsey. This isn't even the worst that's happened to me."
That didn't seem to reassure her at all. It took almost half an hour for Geoff to convince her to go into work. After a while she relented.
"Gavin honey, if you feel dizzy or lightheaded call me, understand?"
Gavin blushed harder, his face beet red. "Yes, ma'am."
After she had gone the boys started setting up the living room while Gavin went to go change.
"I swear it's like she wants to adopt him or something," Geoff complained.
"Who doesn't want an accident prone British son?" Ray joked.
"It's the new hipster accessory," Jack said in a bad imitation of a Californian girl.
Everyone but Michael were too busy laughing to notice Gavin back out of the living room. He cursed under his breath and went after him, rounding the corner just in time to see the guest bedroom door close.
He slowly walked down the hall and lifted his hand to knock, but the sound of Gavin's voice stopped him.
"-and they were all laughing at me!"
"We make fun of each other all the time, B." A soft male voice said, having the same thick accent as Gavin's.
Michael frowned and pushed the door open just the slightest, being as silent as possible. Through the narrow crack he could see Gavin sitting at his desk, his laptop open in front of him. He assumed the Brit was on Skype, but he couldn't see the person he was talking to.
"To each others faces! They were doing it behind my back."
"I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it," said B, whoever that was.
"Geoff sounded so annoyed. I thought he liked me, but I'm just some annoying British twat to the lot of them."
Michael could have kicked himself. After gym class today it was hard to remember that Gavin hasn't been there all along. He was still learning the dynamics of their friendship. He and the guys joked around and insulted each other daily, it's how they operated as a group. But Gavin didn't know that.
Michael was about to walk in and apologize to the sensitive brunette but froze when he heard what came next.
"I wish you were here, Dan. I really miss you."
"I miss you too, B. Be strong for me, yeah?"
Gavin laughed softly. "I'll try. I can't wait till Christmas. You're still flying over here right?"
"Of course, mate. Can't let you stand under the mistletoe alone, now can I?"
Gavin giggled and continued on with the conversation. He sounded much happier speaking with this Dan person than with the others.
Michael slowly backed away from the guest bedroom then made his way back to the living room. His heart was pounding and his head swam with all kinds of images. Gavin wasn't /really/ with this Dan guy, right? It had to be a joke or something.
