dishonesty // egobang

14. dishonesty

in a couple painful dress up sessions and pieces of toast later, arin had helped dan out the door to see barry sitting in the parking lot. dan looked skeptical.

"why-"

"shut up and come on." arin grabbed dan's hand and led him to the car and sat in the back with him. barry greeted dan, but when he tried to ask where they were headed, barry turned the music up.

eventually, they arrived at a grassy lot, with a couple of jungle gyms scattered around. old slides threatened to crumble under the weight of even a light rain, wood beams and benches rotten and old.

"i bet you know where we are." dan cast an expecting glance at arin. he nodded.

"of course i do. barry has no idea what the significance of this place is. take a look around. make a guess as to where we are." dan scanned the land. a switch clicked somewhere in the back of his mind. a slow smile spread across his face.

"i know where we are."

"good, come on." arin led them to a tree stump on the edge of the property near a backyard fence. he sat dan down and he leaned against it. arin sat down beside him and didn't say anything else.

"so why'd you bring me here?"

"just to be here, i guess. i imagined this to be a little more nice and shit. i don't know." dan laughed and crossed his arms around his stomach.

"i'm having a nice time so far. this stump smells like rotten wood, but i'm enjoying myself." arin snickered.

"i just felt like we needed a reality check. i know we've been having money problems and we're about to get kicked out, but i think we need this. snap back into reality. or snap into a fake daze, i don't know."

"stop babbling." arin closed his mouth with an audible pop. he pulled his phone out and started texting. dan was about to protest, but his phone soon vibrated.

arin:

haaaaaaaay

dan:

arin i'm sitting next to you what gives

arin:

you said no talking so i'm texting instead

dan giggled and sighed with a smile.

dan:

only you, arin hanson

arin:

you're stuck with me, dan avidan

dan:

damn right you are

arin fidgeted with his phone in his hands.

arin:

has anyone

ever

told you

you have

a nice

arin stopped texting. dan waited a second before nudging him and texting him again.

dan:

a nice...?

eye color?

fashion style?

because if so

yes to all

arin laughed.

arin:

no, asshat

you have a nice butt dude

dan:

lmao what

arin:

you have a nice ass, daniel

dan:

wow thanks dude means a lot coming from you

you who has seen my ass on many occasions

accidentally

arin:

;D

dan:

jesus dude with the :Ds and XDs

arin:

you're stuck with me, 'member?

dan:

ugh i know

arin:

:,(

dan:

don't get me wrong dude i love you and shit but you're so anime it hurts

arin:

iM FEMININE GET OVER IT ASSFACE

dan laughed and looked over to arin, who had been staring at him since he sent the text. a crooked smile crossed his face before letting his head fall on dan's shoulder.

"i would do anything for you, you know that right?" arin nodded. he would do the same for dan without hesitation. "if you needed like... if something happened to you and you needed something i had, i'd give it to you. no questions asked." dan shrugged as if it weren't a big deal. arin shook his head.

"i wouldn't let you, dude. if you weren't alive, there was no point in saving my life anyways."

"well i couldn't live without you, so there."

"dammit, stop trying to one up me! i'm being frickin' nice to your ass and you won't let me!" they laughed.

"i'm just being nice too. if you love me, you'll shut up." arin opened his mouth to say something, shutting it and opening it as if deciding what he was actually going to say. dan smirked. he had won.