Joba was never a morning person, he never will be either. Ever since he was a kid he's always hated getting up early for any goddamn reason. So, he wasn't very pleased when he got a call at five am. He groaned, rolling over on his bed, and eventually falling off. He let out a loud, 'fuck' before grabbing his phone, answering without looking at the caller.
"Hello?" Joba almost yelled, gripping his bed covers that fell off the bed with him.
"Woah, who crawled up yer' ass?" He calmed down when he heard one of his good friends' voice on the other line.
"Ian, you crawled up my ass." Joba put his phone on speaker as he kept listening to Ian, while picking up all the sheets and blankets that fell off his bed.
"Kinky. Anyways, I have something kinda important to tell you..." Joba popped his head up from where he was bent over, waiting for Ian to say something.
"I'm getting..." There was silence as the other man groaned, falling back on his bed.
"Ian, if this is another pregnancy joke, I will actually murder yo-"
"I'M GETTING MARRIED! Jesus, FUCK. I was trying to make it more surprising." Joba stayed quiet before his eyes widened as he bolted up right.
"You're getting MARRIED?!" They both squealed, congratulations and cheerfulness ran through.
"Dude, dude, oh my god! How'd Jaden propose?" Joba was now walking to his small, apartment, kitchen.
"Well, we were just layin' in bed, talkin-
"-Like gays do."
"-Shut the fuck up, anyways, he jus' asked me." Ian sounded like a starstruck school girl who had a crush on the hunky football player, which was an accurate way to describe Jaden and Ian's relationship. Joba waited for his coffee to start, listening to Ian talk.
"Cuties. Do any of the other boys know?" He rubbed his eyes, yawning quietly.
"Merlyn and Kiko know, I think 'Bari knows something's up." Ian yawned as Joba opened his fridge, looking around it.
"Jaden's callin' his mom right now, I think he's gonna tell Dom, Lana, Romil, and..." They paused as Joba grabbed a half eaten kit-kat.
"And..?" He asked, breaking off a piece of the bar.
"The name we do not speak of." Joba groaned at that, looking over and seeing that his coffee was done.
"Him? You guys still talk to him?"
"Boba, not all of us broke up with Matt." Russel set the phone aside, grabbing a Hello Kitty Christmas mug to pour his coffee in.
"I know, but it's jus,'-" He paused not paying attention to his mug overflowing.
"It's like if I was still friends with your old boyfriends."
"You went out to lunch with Nick last week. There's a thing called growing as a human, Mr. Joba Is Real." Joba cursed as he grabbed a towel, finally noticing the overflowing cup of coffee.
"I know, I know. It's just tougher for me." He could hear Ian tiredly rolling his eyes through the phone, Joba abandoned his cup, going over to the cupboard to grab a bagel.
"What's he even do nowadays? All I remember is that when we were dating, he worked at a Chuck-E-Cheese." The man put a bagel in his old, pink, toaster that his grandma handed down to him.
"Wasn't he a,-" Ian let out a drool filled yawn, "-dog walker too?"
"Yeah." Joba leant against his counter, not enjoying the feeling of nostalgia and missing someone.
"Matt's doing music now, he's not that bad. He and Romil have made some good ass songs." Ian told the other, shifting in his bed.
"Yeah, and my job at fuckin' waffle house ain't helping me much with my music."
"Hey, hey, hey,-" Ian started, "-That's where I work too. Don't insult me." They both chuckled as he heard Ian groan, hopefully stretching. They both said they're goodbyes so Ian could get some sleep, Joba hung up. He put his head in his hands, praying to every god out there:
'Please don't let Matt Champion be at Ian's wedding.'
Six Months Later.
Joba set down a plate of hashbrowns with a side of bacon in front of an older man, smiling at him, and then walking over to where one of his other friends Merlyn, who was also his lovely room mate.
Who also worked at Waffle House.
"Fuck. Lyn, what time is it?" Joba rubbed his eyes, leaning against the counter, the whole place empty except for an old man and the two boys.
Merlyn looked at his watch, "It's eleven pm." The other man groaned, Merlyn chuckled, ruffling Joba's hair.
"God, I can't wait to get home, and sleep." He laid his elbows on the counter, then laid his head in his elbows. The other man patted his head.
"Don't worry, young one. At least Ian's wedding is Saturday." The tired boy held up a peace sign (even though it was tragically Monday) as they heard a ding come from the front door, Joba sat up, still had his eyes closed. He walked over to the group, keeping his eyes down on his notepad.
"Hi, welcome to Waffle House, can I start yo-"
"Joba?" He looked up at the familiar voice, his eyes widening when he saw the one and only Matt Champion.
"I-uh-" He looked back at Merlyn who walked as fast as he could over to them, taking over Joba's spot. Joba ran out the front door, immediately putting his back to the brick wall outside. He breathed heavily as he heard the door open.
"God, thank you. I was gonna have a heart attack why the fuck do these things alwa-"
"Uh, hi." The deep voice was there again, making Joba's eyes widen once again.
"I didn't know you still worked here." Matt said, walking closer to Joba.
"Tragically enough, I do." The shorter man pulled out a carton of cigarettes, easily taking one out. He held one out to Joba, who Just held up a hand.
"I don't smoke anymore." Matt's eyes widened, putting the cigarette back into the small box, sliding it in his back pocket.
"When'd you stop smokin'?" He lit the stick that stuck between his teeth, inhaling, then exhaling.
"Uh, a few months ago." He watched Matt blow out a cloud of smoke, shaking his head out of the dumb trance of looking at him. Also, Joba didn't stop smoking a few months ago, he stopped like,- two weeks ago. Maybe. He doesn't really remember.
"Wow, better than me." They stayed silent for a bit, the chilly night of spring or whatever came over Joba. Matt stared at him, blowing smoke before speaking.
"Hey, I jus'- I just wanted you to know that I don't want any hard feelings and all. Ya' know, since I'm going to Ian's wedding, I don't want it to be awkward and all." He inhaled once more, then Joba stood up from where he was crouched down.
"Yeah, yeah, no hard feelings." Joba nodded towards him, holding his hand out to shake. Matt chuckled, dropping his cigarette on the ground, then stomping on it.
"You still do the handshake thing?" He grabbed the other man's hand, shaking it in a firm grip. They held for an awkward amount of time that became a liiiittle too uncomfortable for him, Joba basically ripped his hand out of the others grip.
"Cool." Was all Matt said as he nodded, slowly walking away from the other, still nodding. Matt went back inside as Joba leaned back, hitting the brick wall again.
"Cool." He murmured to himself, leaning his head back and sighing.
