I'm Not A Piece Of Cake (boyxboy)

A Strange Encounter ~ 20

"Gabriel?"

Gabriel froze, his mind jamming up. He never thought he'd see him again, but there he was, holding a red solo cup in his hand.

"Sawyer...wow, uh hi," Gabriel eventually spit out, realizing he may have been staring for too long. Sawyer smiled and bit his bottom lip, scratching at the back of his head. It was clear there was still some tension between them, both of them unsure of how to continue. After a moment, Sawyer spoke again, laughing awkwardly to break the silence.

"Surprising seeing you here," His eyes traveled to the blunt as someone passed it back to Gabriel who declined it for now "Seems just like yesterday I was saving you from a club when you got drunk." Sawyer's comment caused Gabriel to fluster, trying to find something to do with his hands, his eyes moving between Sawyer and the ground.

Sawyer took a sip of his drink, sighing a little and looking down at his feet as he gently kicked the grass. "Guess things have changed..." He spoke softer now and Gabriel nodded a bit. "You even look a lot different." Gabriel offered a smile and did his best to hide that it was fake.

"Well, people change," Gabriel spoke, feeling bad that he had barely said anything. Sawyer nodded back and chuckled.

"You look great though, I mean, I'm really diggin' the style, and I never thought you'd ever join this scene," Sawyer joked, referring to the group after glancing Gabriel up and down.

"Neither did I, but I like it," Gabriel smiled again, a bit more genuine this time. Sawyer smiled back and looked Gabriel over carefully again, but it wasn't the same as with most guys. Something in Sawyer had cracked as soon as he saw that beautiful face and he instantly knew what he had felt for Gabriel never left. After Gabriel transferred, Sawyer started sleeping around again, looking for comfort in anyone that could offer it. But now there Gabriel was and he had some hope that things could be different this time.

Gabriel's eyes quickly glanced behind Sawyer and the man looked back as well, seeing some other guy walking down the porch steps with two drinks in his hand. Sawyer turned back and opened his mouth to speak to Gabriel but was cut off as the guy came around and sat down beside Gabriel, handing him one of the drinks and kissing his cheek. Sawyer's heart fell at the sight and his smile slowly faded, but Gabriel didn't notice.

"Who's this?" Lucas asked Gabriel and the boy smiled while looking from Lucas to Sawyer.

"This is Sawyer, I went to school with him before I transferred," Gabriel told his boyfriend who looked at Sawyer with a smile, though his eyes said something different.

Gabriel had told Lucas all about what happened at his last school, so he had all the bad parts of Sawyer in his mind.

"Oh, you're Sawyer," Lucas said with a chuckle and stood up, reaching a hand out to Sawyer. He spoke as Sawyer took his hand.

"I'm Lucas, Gabriel's boyfriend." Sawyer pulled his hand away after the firm shake, watching as Lucas, stood tall and crossed his arms.

"It's nice to meet you," Sawyer said and then looked back at Gabriel as the boy stood up as well, his height nothing compared to the others. "And it was nice seeing you, Gabriel. Hope you guys have a nice night." With that, Sawyer turned and went back into the house. He could tell that Lucas wanted nothing to do with him, and he understood why. He had treated Gabriel like ass and if he was his boyfriend, he'd be just as protective.

Sawyer chuckled at that thought. He had the chance to be with Gabriel and he lost it. He stuffed one of his hands into the pocket of his joggers, finishing off his drink and tossing the cup in the trash as he walked into the house. It was nice to see Gabriel again, he thought after. He had definitely grew, but his height still only added to how cute he was. And this whole cute-edgy aesthetic? Absolutely adorable.