B.U. | Grizz Visser (The Society)

three musketeers

part nine.

The time finally came for Grizz to leave the safety of his dorm and make his way down to Sam's. After pulling on a green hoodie and black jeans over his legs, paired with plain black boots and an elastic for his mess of hair, his feet carried him up to the boy's door. He quickly sent a text to Sam, letting him know he was outside. He leant against the wall in the hallway.

After a moment, Sam opened the door, clad in dark blue jeans, black sneakers and a light blue drawstring hoodie. Grizz couldn't help but smile to himself, admiring how the boy looked in his party clothes. He always looked so damned cute.

"Ready to go?" Grizz signed, wide eyes, hoping he'd communicated correctly.

Sam nodded his head with a smile, his brows knit together. He was impressed by the taller boy's improvement with the language in such a short time. Grizz was intelligent and had an interest in learning, and Sam greatly admired that about him.

The boys made their way out into the darkness towards Ravenhill, each of them shivering in the cold. Grizz stole glances at Sam as they went on, eyes trailing the boy's cheeks that grew evermore red as they continued on their path. The night agreed with him, the moon creating a perfect glimmer in his eyes. The longer Grizz stared, however, the more Sam's face seemed to fall. Sam began to bite his lip and tug at the sleeves of his hoodie.

"Are you okay?" Grizz asked, placing one of his hands on the boy's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"What?" Sam turned to the taller boy, the moon being his only source of light to read his lips.

"You're trembling," Grizz explained, squeezing his shoulder lightly in his grip, "its going to be okay, Sam, I promise."

Sam took a sharp inhale, nodding his head lightly, "I trust you," he spoke softly, reaching one of his hands up to his shoulder and placing it overtop of Grizz's knuckles. He lightly traced circles over the back of the taller boy's hand, attempting to reassure him that all would be okay in the end. He hoped it would be, at least.

The two continued on their walk once more, with Sam wishing he'd taken hold of Grizz's hand only moments before. He wondered if Grizz would have pulled away.

Once they picked up a reluctant Becca from her residency, the three found themselves growing more and more anxious. They hadn't been to a university party before, and none of them knew what to expect. It was a strange feeling, knowing that the possibilities of how the night could go were practically endless.

"How do you know them again, Grizz?" Becca asked, staring up at the taller boy. He was nearly a foot taller than her, which made conversing difficult, especially in the intense cold. Any sort of eye contact would have to wait, as lifting her head would result in an exposed neck. Neck shivers were not on Becca's agenda for the night.

"They play football with me," Grizz explained, his eyes searching for the frat house along the street. He could have sworn it was on this road, at least, the address Chase gave them should be. "They're... Okay. I don't know. It's supposed to be a rager, though."

"Joy," Becca rolled her eyes with a light chuckle.

Grizz was admittedly nervous to see how things would play out with the football team. The last time him and Sam had faced them, things didn't end well. He hoped that they'd forgotten about the entire thing, and that they could move on. Sam was important to him, and as much as he didn't want to fight with his football team, he would fight for Sam. Sam was too important not to fight for.

The sinking feeling in his chest returned as he thought of a potential altercation with his team. Would they bully him, too, if he intervened with their endeavours? Probably. Though, he supposed he'd have to cross that bridge when he came to it. This time he wasn't going to sit back and watch the boy he loved get hurt.

Wait, what?

The boy he LOVED? Did he just... Think that?

"That looks like the place," Becca exclaimed, pointing toward a large, white, Grecian style house down the street.
Grizz shook his head for a brief moment, ridding himself of his vulnerable thoughts.

The house was lit up with different coloured porch lights, ranging from red, to green, to blue. Loud music boomed from inside the residence, definitely echoing down the street and disturbing all of the neighbours. As a resident of the community, this would be the most annoying night of the week. Though, as a student, this looked like the most fun they'd have all year.

Approaching the front door, Becca poked Sam in the arm, causing him to turn around for a brief moment.

"We stick together, remember?" Becca signed to him, searching his eyes for a hint of doubt. She was worried about him, as per usual.

Becca loved Sam, he was her best friend. They'd known each other for as long as she could remember, and finally being able to hang out in person after years of texting and video calling was the best thing that had happened to her in a long while. She couldn't stand the idea that he'd be put in any kind of confrontational situation. Sam had told her about his previous altercation with the football boys, and she was not going to let him get picked on again.

And as much as Becca trusted Grizz to protect Sam, she couldn't help but wonder why. She knew the two of them were close, and she knew Sam had a crush on him. Sam had told her about it, but not before she guessed from a mile away. That much was obvious. The only thing Becca couldn't figure out was, what were Grizz's intentions in all this? He'd been leading Sam on for days now, spending nights with him and holding his hand. So why on Earth would he bring Sam to a party full of homophobic jocks, knowing they'd already hurt him in the past? Was Grizz so insecure in himself that he constantly needed a foot in each of his clashing identity tropes?

Sam nodded to his best friend, smiling in hopes of reassuring her. He wanted to have a good night, spend time with his two closest friends and make some memories. He only hoped they'd be the types of memories he'd cherish, not have nightmares about.

Grizz pushed open the heavy door of the frat house. Immediately, smoke poured from inside the frame, disappearing into the dark of the night. The house reeked of weed and spilled booze, everything teenagers used as fuel to charge their confidence meters.

"Drinks?" Grizz shouted to Becca and Sam over the loud music, pointing toward the kitchen. The three of them hastily pushed past the crowds of people in the front entryway, navigating the house to find the kitchen. The house opened up in the back, with an open concept design and people scattered all over. The kitchen countertops were a grey granite, accompanied by white cabinetry and stainless steel appliances. The island in the centre opened onto the living room, filled with bodies and furniture alike. A large HD television hung on the far side of the wall, overlooking the space like a security mirror over a consignment store. All over the kitchen counter sat open bottles of liquor, each smelling more foul than the last as Grizz inspected them. He found red solo cups and filled three of them with a brown liquid, handing them out to Becca and Sam.

"Bear!" A voice boomed, echoing through the space and attracting all attention to its source. It was none other than Chase McDermott.