Jared laid on the couch as he scrolled through Reddit, which everyone hated that he had, and tried not to think about his current situation. About twenty minutes later, Evan showed up with a Target bag in his hand. "Hey." Jared set his phone down and crossed his arms. "Thanks for leaving me alone in your dorm room, I really needed that right now." He said sarcastically. Evan's eyes widened. "Oh! N-no-no-no! I-I just ran out real-really quickly! I needed to talk to my mom and grab some groceries!" Jared's expression softened. "Oh." He said. "What'd you need to talk to your mom about?" Evan set the bag down. "I...uh...came out to her..."
"You what?"
"W-well, I knew that, uh, you needed someone to be there for you, and, uh, I wanted to let her know that I wasn't going t-to come home e-every weekend because I wanted to st-stay here...with you!"
"So you told her you're pansexual?"
"I-uh...yeah." Jared raised his eyebrows. "And how did she take it?"
Evan shrugged. "Well, uh, I told her that I was going to be staying here, and when she asked why, I just told her that I wanted to be with my boyfriend." He paused to take a breath. "So, she said 'Boyfriend?', and I told her that I'm pan. She looked at my scarf and then said 'Evan, honey, I've known that for seven years.'." Jared burst out laughing. "That's amazing." He stopped laughing all of a sudden and looked down at a patch covering a hole in the couch. "Oh, god," Evan whispered, running over to the couch. He took Jared's hands in his. "I'm sorry. I thought..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. Jared shook his head. "No, that's not it. I just-you really came out to your mom? For me? Why?"
"Because th-that's what...boyfriends do, right? An-and I don't want to leave you alone."
"With you, I'm never alone." They looked into each other's eyes lovingly for a few seconds before they burst out laughing. "That...was terribly sappy." Evan giggled as Jared put his head in his hands. "Remind me why I exist again?" He asked. "Because who else would I come out to my mom for?" Evan replied.
Jared stood up and stretched. "Hey, why don't we meet Zoe and Alana at Ooh La Latte?" He asked, picking up his phone to text the girls. "A-Alana...and Zoe?" A look of worry flashed across Evan's face. "Evan, they don't hate you. You've gotta get that out of your head. And besides, they're the ones who helped me plan how to ask you out." Evan thought for a moment. "Yeah, that sounds like Zoe...but I thought you said one of your life's rules was that 'Alana's terrible and nobody likes her'?" Jared shrugged. "Once she and Zoe started dating I came to realize that she's still terrible, but she's my friend, and I have the right to think she's terrible." He said with a smirk. "What? Zoe and Alana? But Zoe's so..."
"Straight? I know. She's actually bi. She realized it when she hooked up with Alana at some college party. They've been dating for a couple months."
"Why did I just find this out?" Jared shrugged again and looked down at his phone. "I'll send a text to Zoe to meet at the cafe." They waited a few moments before his phone buzzed. "Okay, let's go. The cafe was only a few minutes away, so Evan and Jared decided to walk together. Hand in hand, they walked along the sidewalk, breathing in the crisp air. "So, this is what I smell like?" Jared asked, nudging Evan with his elbow. "Shut up, I was trying to be nice."
"You're too cute." He said, leaning down for a kiss. Jared had grown taller in the past few months. He was tall enough to rest his chin on Evan's head; which he loved to do to Evan's dismay. Evan looked away, hiding his blush. To his left, he spotted two people glaring at them. "Come on, you can do it," Jared whispered in his ear. Evan took a deep breath...and flipped them off. They scoffed and looked away while Jared jumped up and down excitedly. "Yes! I literally have never been prouder, babe." Evan smiled softly and took his hand again. "Come on, they're waiting for us."
When Jared and Evan got there, Zoe was sitting alone at a booth in the back, her hands wrapped around a creme colored mug. She looked up and gave a little wave. They slid into the seat across from her. "Hey, Evan. Long time, no see." She looked down at her mug again. "I-is everything...okay?" Evan had watched her for years, he knew when she was upset. Zoe shrugged. "Uh, where's Alana?" Jared asked. She grimaced. "I-uh-I kinda screwed up."
"What happened?" She sighed. "Well...she thinks that I'm still in love with you." She said, looking at Evan. His eyes widened. "W-what?" Jared pressed his lips together. "You're kidding." She shook her head. "I wish I was."
Evan pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is already giving me a headache. Jared stood up. "I'll get some tea." Once he returned, Zoe began her story. "It all started two days ago. I mentioned how much I missed talking to Evan, because, for some reason, he really gets me." Evan blushed in response. "Anyway, she got a little angry about it- but not about Evan in general, about me talking about him. I thought she was just being, I don't know, protective. I didn't pay much attention to it, you know? But then, yesterday, I liked one of the photos of you two, and Alana saw me do it, I guess. She got kinda pissed again and said something like 'Why are you so obsessed with Evan?' and instead of saying that I'm not, I...uh, kind of said 'Why are you so obsessed with me being obsessed with Evan?'."
The boys winced. "Ouch..." Jared said, pouring an unhealthy amount of sugar in his tea. "Yeah, she didn't take it that well." Evan sighed and bit his lip. "Well, then Jared texted that you guys wanted to meet here..." Jared smacked his forehead. "Shit. That didn't help, did it?" Zoe smiled cynically and shook her head. "Nope. She went into this whole screaming thing and basically kicked me out of our dorm. So, now I'm here." Jared got up and mumbled something about how arguments made him hungry.
"I'm so sorry, Zoe. Th-this is all my fault..." Evan said. "No, it's my fault. And besides, I think she's overreacting a bit." Jared laughed. "A bit?" Evan kicked him under the table. "I, um...I think maybe it-it's a big misunderstanding? On her part, I mean." Zoe nodded. "I'm not gonna explain that to her, it'll just make this whole thing even worse. Maybe I should just go apologize?" Evan shook his head. "I should."
Zoe's eyes widened. "What?" Evan stood up. "She'll believe me if I tell her. Sh-she's not gonna get angry at me if I explain." Zoe thought for a minute. "You...you think she'll forgive me?" Evan nodded. Her seemingly permanent frown rose into a grin. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She jumped up and gave him a huge hug. When they pulled apart, the sound of a mug shattering rang through the cafe. "Alana!" Zoe cried out. Alana just shook her head, wiped her eyes, and stormed out of the building. "Oh, god." Zoe ran after, Evan trailing behind her. She stopped.
"No, Evan. This is your fault. Just...just go."
