[Chriseva] A Family We Chose For Ourselves

3. Yakuza

"So you and Chris, huh?"

It's a series of conversation starters Eva feels like she's gotten far too comfortable with. But in this case, she can't really blame him for bring it up. For a couple of people who had been so close in the past and never had an empty air between them that couldn't be filled with some topic to talk about, Eva and Isak have become more like strangers with each other.

She'd only heard about his relationship with Even from the nasty rumour mill at school. And then again when Isak missed school around the time people started talking about Even having a mental illness. Teenagers could be cruel and malicious and Eva made it a point to shut down any of the gossip mongering going on within her vicinity.

"You know, at one point, me and Noora thought you and Chris were a thing?" Eva says as she slows down her step as Isak walks up beside her.

Isak's incredulous 'what?' was endearingly familiar and Eva felt a pang of nostalgia hit her right in the gut. Even laughed and only then did Eva really notice what a beautiful laugh he had. He and Isak really looked great together and it was obvious they made each other happy, which was the most important thing.

"Yeah, and a Ouija board outed you to the rest of the group."

Isak's 'what??' got even more incredulous and confused and Even if possible laughed even harder. Jonas was looking at her and Noora like they'd spouted a third head between them.

"Care to elaborate?"

Eva and Noora shared a look between them before addressing Isak again. "We have a confession to make. Uh, actually, we kind of knew you were gay, like since the Christmas party during first year."

Isak's brows furrowed but he didn't interrupt them.

"Remember when I borrowed your phone to make that call?" when Isak hesitantly nodded Noora continued. "Well, uh, I kind of saw your gay porn tabs."

Immediately Jonas' eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and Even nearly spluttered.

"What?" Isak was flabbergasted and appeared to have lost all ability to form coherent sentences or use words that wasn't a questioning exclamation.

"Yeah, imagine my surprise," Eva said, giving Isak a suggestive side eye.

"Wait, tabs? How many gay porn sites did he have open?" Even asks, addressing the most pressing issue at hand.

"Just one!—" Isak says at the same time Noora and Eva blurted out, "Like 20 or something."

Jonas looked like he was torn between backing his friend and joining Even laughing on the side.

The night air was chilly and crisp but not uncomfortable and for a minute Eva got so caught up in the moment looking at Isak spluttering at the side and Even trying to placate him with some comforting words like 'it's okay, it happens to the best of us', with Noora and Jonas looking infinitely amused off to the side that she almost forgot the reason they were out there in the first place. She had become familiar enough with Chris' house over the course of the couple of months' worth of parties to know that they were almost half way there but there was still no sign of him. She pulled out her phone to try his number again when it starts vibrating with an incoming call that almost causes her to drop it to the icy cold ground.

A glance at the caller id causes her heart to skip a beat.

Chris Penetrator calling it said and Eva couldn't answer it fast enough.

"Chris! Where are you? What happe—" everyone immediately stops in their tracks and all conversations come to a quick halt when Eva half shouts into the phone when she picks up. But she trails off into silence when the voice on the other line flows through and was decidedly not Chris.