Hidden

• choice of words •

• garrett's point of view •

They were adorable, bobbing side to side whenever we took a turn. Every fine stitch was tended to with the utmost care, thin thread looping through and through the fabric with one fell swoop. Even though they were just plush miniature pandas, I couldn't stop smiling.

Granted, Andrew probably didn't notice that he bought these little bears in the Valentines Day clearance aisle. I saw the little red heart tag on the back. It still left me with a glimmer of hope, maybe he meant it. A sign? It reminded me of a romantic gesture, but I didn't want to take any chances by mentioning it.

"What are you going to name them?" I questioned with a chuckle, keeping it light. You know what they say: always put aside complicated and considerably perplexing emotions, because pandas are first priority above all else.

"I was thinking of something like, uhm, I don't know. Bam and Boo. Two boys." he replied after a second, those two hazel eyes were keenly fixed on the street. His handle on the sleek wheel tightened momentarily as the turn approached, with whitened knuckles.

"That's so sweet! I love them already. Our sons!" I exclaimed right away, as a chipper grin spread across my expression. It didn't waver, not a bit. Although, the phrasing of 'our' sons may have been a little premature; in retrospect.

Andrew winced suddenly, jerking the wheel in an off-course direction. It was a tad nervewracking, but his unforeseen deviation from the road was quickly corrected. Our tall glasses of iced tea sloshed, nearly toppling over.

I wasn't really fazed, mostly since Andrew was a tense driver. Sometimes there were a couple of bumps in the road-- that was to be expected. Of course, I couldn't help but wonder if it was due to my... choice of words.

"Ah-- sorry. I, I think I have a cold. Or something." he mumbled, patting his chest for further emphasis. I glanced towards him, hoping my thoughtless mistake wouldn't be followed by an uncomfortable car ride.

Much to my surprise, his rounded porcelain cheeks were cherry red. Was it the cold?

"It's okay, Andrew! Just please don't crash the car before we get there, I'm hungry. And I'm pretty sure that heaven doesn't serve french fries." I chirped, changing the topic before my emotions were mixed as well as a milkshake. Okay, I need to stop making delicious similes.

"Garrett-- if you keep making me laugh and swerve we're going to end up in heaven faster," he teased, inbetween snickers. "And like you said, they probably only have angel cake."

"Angel cake? Andrew, I swear, your puns are going to be the end of me-" I sputtered, in a fit of my own bubbly laughter. "But... I bet it tastes heavenly."

At that point, we were both racking our mental pun-pedias for a witty replies and quips. Thankfully, I was experienced with puns. One might even say I was godly. Aha-- okay, I'll stop.

• andrew's point of view •

Did someone tell him? I was nervous. That wasn't new, but this was worrying me more than usual. Was Shane meddling with our love lives, in an attempt to get me a date or something?

I love every project that I work on, and Shane is the nicest guy around. My job is amazing, literally the definition of a dream career. But unfortunately, that 'blind date' video was not a fun time.

Earlier, Shane was pestering me about getting in a relationship. I mentioned having a crush. At the time, full time editing was treating me to less than an hour of sleep per night, so my judgement was... less than perfect.

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"Is it... Garrett?" he questioned, tapping his fingertips on the kitchen counter. Shane's curious eyes wandered over to the couch, where I was propped up on a throw pillow. My laptop was brighter than the surroundings, emitting a small field of light.

Ryland and Morgan were taking care of the pets, which would probably take a while. Wrangling up the beastly -- yet adorable -- animals always took up a considerable amount of time. As for Garrett, he was filming a video for his own channel. All in all, that meant me and Shane were spending some quality time together.

"Mm... well..." I trailed off, letting my gaze fall to the keyboard. I made note of the scratched buttons, tracing every faded letter.

"Oh-- you need a new keyboard, hunty. Do you think GUCCI has a tech section?" he rambled on, sitting down beside me. Shane shuffled around the pillows before placing a fizzing can of pop on the coffee table. I was going to suggest using a coaster of some kind, but now didn't seem like the time.

"I think after buying that ring light, my bank account is, hmm, negative six dollars. I don't think that a GUCCI keyboard is... realistic. Besides, this one has the touchscreen ability and the system is--"

"I don't care about your keyboard Andrew, I care about your love life." Shane interrupted, waving his hands excitedly when he uttered those magical words. My 'love life' was practically non-existent. Except for... well, my crush.

"Now," he began, clapping his hands together. "Who is this... romantic interest?"

Shane rolled the r in romantic so it would sound even more enthralling than before, and I was just desperately hoping my laptop would explode into flames so I could have an excuse to leave this conversation.

My eyes frantically darted around the room, finally falling into my buzzing phone. Instagram notification, huh? Megan Batoon is livestreaming now.

"Megan Batoon, yeah. She's cute." I finished, placing my phone onto the couch's armrest.

◇───────◇───────◇

Did Shane find out? Maybe he told Garrett about it, during a late night of drinking Fireball; drunk and overly talkative. Perhaps Shane accidentally spilled the secret while they were filming together, after he got too carried away. The countless scenarios were racing through my head, but they were cut off by Garrett's laugh.

"Andrew, you want to know what my favourite shape is?" he asked in a sing-songy tone, biting his lip to hold back the laughter.

"What is it?"

"A tri-angel."

Needless to say, I choked on my iced tea.