Orphanage AU: Lams

Chapter 56: Divide

This is again, the two couples we've been following in the periphery- Boyfs and JeffMads...

---Jeremy's POV---

"Hey."

"Hey." I tried not to feel miserable as we plopped down to lunch, taking the slushy he held out to me as he rummaged around his messy backpack for my midday MDR.

I had always been pining after him, but now that he was officially dating someone else, it hurt like a bitch every time I looked at him.

His perfect tanned skin, supple and smooth. His dark, softly curling hair, his warm eyes covered by nerdy glasses that he wore as proudly as someone else might wear their J's.

"Yo, dude, you good?" Michael's smooth voice wrenched me out of my thoughts as I realized a little too late that I had been staring not-so-subtly at his painfully kissable lips. "You're- or you were spacing out. Kind of staring. Am I turning into a zombie?" Micha joked, laughing and lifting his shirt so I could check whether or not an infection was spreading.

I tried to look analytical, but all I could see was that golden brown skin so fucking perfect, and I wanted to run my fingers up his sides, up his shirt, farther, to trace the pac man on his left hip- fuck. His pants didn't sag, but they weren't clinched super tight either, and they hung just low enough for the rim of his underwear to be just visible...

"Jeremy?" The shirt dropped back down, covering Micha with a red sweatshirt again, and I jerked my eyes away, feeling my face burn. So close and so far, the divide between us felt like a canyon.

I crossed my legs, willing it to go away. It didn't. Fuck imagination. I was in school for god's sake.

I winced and stared at a spot a little to the left of him, replying, "You're fine, Player One." So fine.

Michael's smile was like the sun, so bright and warm. "Sure am, bro." When my smile only make it halfway to my face, his turned into one of concern, and again he pressed, "Are you?"

"You're dating Brooke." I blurted it out like an accusation. "Awww, fuck, I mean-"

Michael shook his head, a mix of emotions playing tag across his face, settling on earnest. "Well shit, man, if you want her, I'll go break up right now!" He was already pulling out his phone, and an irrational warmth blossomed in my chest. Maybe at the idea of him being single, maybe at his instinct to choose my happiness over his every time.

"Nah, nah, it's... not that." I quickly said, pushing his hand down.

Michael eyed me quizzically, as though suddenly I had been replaced with a look alike that he couldn't figure out. I just shook my head as if to clear my brain and move ahead.

"Nevermind."

"Seriously, if you're into her-"

"Dude, bro! I'm not!" When I get nervous my whole face goes red, so I must have been as red as a rose. The truth was probably painfully obvious, but Michael had been oblivious for as long as I could remember.

A ping! From Micha's phone saved me and Micha dropped the subject. "Brooke's coming here for the date because she's sick of this one kid... when you get the pot can you bring it right over? If you get there soon enough, Brooke will still be there and she can bring it back to Windham."

Micha scrolled through the messages mindlessly as he figured through the timing before shutting off his phone.

"Totally. I got you man, don't sweat it." I stumbled quickly like an eager to please puppy.