Step Into the Sun

25

Connor continued visiting the boys every day after he knew they were both done with classes. He brought them gifts to help take their minds off of all the studying going on between the two of them, pulling a lot of ideas from Jared's list of Evan's favourite things.

Eventually Friday rolled around and Connor showed up at the dorm for movie night.

"Hi!" Evan exclaimed as he opened the door. He hugged Connor quickly, then pulled him inside to where Alana and Jared were arguing over which movie they should watch first.

"...Dumbo is a classic! There's no way you can hate it," Alana defended.

"It makes me cry. I just sob uncontrollably. Ask Evan, it's not pretty," Jared shot back. "Besides, I'm not in the mood for a Disney cartoon."

"Okay, but Evan can't handle horror movies and you know that just as well."

"Let's vote, guys," Zoe cut in. "Evan, Connor. Bambi or Ouija?"

"Why not both?" Connor suggested, kicking off his shoes to join the girls on their nest of blankets on the floor.

"¿Por qué no los dós?" Jared referenced a taco shell commercial, finally clicking Bambi on his computer.

"Just so you guys know, I may be leaving the room during Ouija," Evan announced as he sat down next to Alana. Jared joined them all on the floor as well, squeezing between Zoe and Connor. "Or I'll just cry under a blanket. I haven't decided yet."

"It's okay, Ev. We'll both be blubbering messes together," Jared chimed, reaching over two girls to touch his leg comfortingly.

"Yeah, but Connor's only seen me cry once before and it wasn't that bad so I'm just warning you," Evan leaned forward to look at him, "viewer discretion is advised."

"It's fine," Connor laughed. "Just start the movie, Jare."

Jared clicked play, then reached up to set his computer on his desk.

"Just a warning, I might cry on you," he told Connor, earning a loud shushing from the others.

Connor patted his shoulder in understanding as the movie started.

Sure enough, Jared cried when Bambi's mom died. And during the epic fighting scene for some reason.

"How did you cry at the most intense part?" Zoe questioned as the credits began rolling.

"I just did, okay?" Jared defended, pouting as he got up to change the movie.

Everyone else got up as well to stretch out a bit.

"Do we have to watch Ouija?" Evan asked as he retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge. "Why not one that we can all enjoy?"

"All of us enjoy it except you," Jared pointed out.

"It's okay, Ev. I'll hold your hand if you want," Zoe assured him genuinely with a smile.

"I'll cover your eyes at the scary parts," Alana offered as well.

"I'll provide you eternal support and fend off any scary demons or sprits that try to attack you in your dreams and sleep in your bed with you so any real life ghosts will kill me first so you have a chance to get away," Jared added, only half-joking. The other half was actual loyalty to Evan.

"You're an idiot." Evan rolled his eyes.

"Look, a movie isn't gonna kill you. Worst thing that could happen is you have a couple bad dreams," Jared reasoned. "We don't have to watch it if you really can't stand it, but we all want to."

"Yeah, I know," Evan sighed, walking back to the blanket nest. "I'm alright with it. But I wanna sit by Connor this time."

"Ooo, romantic," Jared teased, sitting down next to Alana as the movie loaded. "Just don't start making out during the scary parts."

"Shut up." Evan blushed as Connor glanced over at him with a smirk.

"No promises," he joked, walking over to sit on the ground next to Evan's feet. He motioned for Evan to sit next to him.

"Hey, if anyone is making out here, it's Alana and me," Zoe added, earning an elbow in the side from her girlfriend.

"Oh yeah, sure, and I'll just make out with my hand," Jared decided, holding up his hand. He started kissing and licking it messily, causing the group to groan in collective disgust.

"Shut up, the movie's starting," Alana warned as the image projected on the wall stopped buffering.

Evan tried to calm himself, but he was already nervous about the movie. Noticing this, Connor wrapped an arm around Evan's waist and pulled him close in attempt to comfort him.

Throughout the movie, Evan became increasingly nervous. At the scary parts, he turned to hide his face against Connor's chest and Connor held him tighter to reassure him.

By the end, Evan was practically in Connor's lap, hugging him out of fear. Connor realised he was trembling and frowned, beginning to rub his back soothingly.

"It's okay, it's over now," Connor mumbled into Evan's hair as he held him.

"That's adorable," Jared commented.

"Guys, that was really scary," Evan whined, pulling away from Connor with shiny cheeks, wet from crying. Connor looked down at his shirt to see two wet spots from Evan's tears.

Sitting up from her position snuggled against Alana, Zoe tackled Evan in another hug, pulling him to the ground.

"It's alright, buddy," she assured him. "You're not stupid enough to use a Ouija board by yourself and not follow the rules. You're safe."

Alana crawled to the other side of their fiasco and joined, spooning Evan.

"Hey, way to steal my cuddle buddy," Connor complained, moving to try to take Evan back.

"Me too!" Jared climbed on top of the pile, closing his eyes as he snuggled against Connor.

"Agh," Evan breathed from the bottom. "Too much."

Connor pushed himself and Jared up, relieving Evan of both of their combined weights.

"Ooo, I love me a strong man," Jared mused as he was lifted on Connor's back. Connor sat up, causing Jared to slide to the ground again. "Never mind."

"My brother is not yours, bitch," Zoe called, still clinging to Evan. "He's a strong independent man who don't need no Jared."

"I think we all need a little Jared," Evan objected, wriggling out of her grasp to sit up.

"We should play truth or dare," Alana suggested randomly, sitting up as well. "It was really fun last time."

"Hell yeah. Or spin the bottle," Jared agreed.

"Spin the bottle is stupid." Zoe shot down his idea. "Especially since there's only five of us here and two of us are dating. Also, we don't have a good bottle for spinning."

tomorrow is my last day of school before break and i only have one final left wooh
also i'm seeing star wars again on friday and i love kylo ren so much