Silent But Sweet

Chapter Twenty-Four - The Antisocial

TW: a very slight description of choking (not kinky) and the mildest violence ever, mostly just fluff that delves slightly further into their psychology

"Hello?" Called the tall brunet as he haphazardly pushed the partially rotting door open. "Anybody home?"

"Connor, honey, is that you?" A welcoming voice responded. "I'm in the kitchen!"

 Connor could not help the dopey grin planting itself on his face. Feeling so welcome was so foreign but he would be damned if he said it was not loved. In one swift movement, he shut the door - not slammed - and dumped his satchel by it. It was routine: three days a week, he'd pop round the Hansen residence. Some days to just watch a movie, other's for dinner, occasionally just to hold onto his blond boyfriend.

"What's up, Mrs. H?" He asked, sauntering into the kitchen to spot the young mother with her back to him, bent over their oven to stir a pot of what he assumed was spaghetti. "Where's Ev?" 

"In his room with some friends." She flashed a tired smile over her shoulder before musing, "Knowing my ditsy baby, he's probably forgotten you were coming."

He let out a chuckle. "Of course he has. Is it alright for me to go see him?"

"Yes, honey. Tell him there'll be spaghetti at seven for me?"

Conor smiled at the affectionate nickname. "Sure thing." He turned to exit the kitchen.

"Wait, Connor?"

He paused, looking back at Heidi over his shoulder.

Her voice came out stern, an echo of a warning. "The door stays open. No funny business; don't need another single-parent Hansen."

"I- What?! Evan can't- Hang on, you said there were other people in his room?!"

She looked at him unbendingly, dramatically waving her wooden spoon like she was scolding the brunet who was fully facing her by now. "No foursomes. Capeesh?"

A ball of bolognese sauce hit the floor with a slap noise.

"Sì sì, ho capito. I understand." He put his hands up in a mock surrender, turning around once more and slinking his way upstairs, taking steps two at a time because he's edgy. He stood outside Evan's closed bedroom door. Something felt... off. It was silent. Weren't there supposed to be other people here? Connor gripped the handle, putting up his guard and preparing for the worst. Slowly, he opened the door.

Inside his room, Evan laid on the floor, staring blankly at his phone screen. On his bed, like the selfish teen he was, laid Jared Kleinman, taking up the entirety of the comfortable space. He had his laptop in front of him, tapping lazily away on the Macbook keyboard. To his left, Zoe Murphy was huddled into a scrappy beanbag. Much like Jared, she was also focused on a laptop, squinting at the screen as she typed. All three of them were too engrossed in their devices to even notice the door open.

"Y'know," Connor started, three pairs of eyes locked on to him, clearly startled, "when old people say our generation is antisocial, they're specifically talking about you guys."

"Connor!" His sister flashed him a cheery smile. God, it was nice when Zoe was happy to see him.

"Sorry, you must be lost. No one ordered a stripper." Connor chose to ignore that comment from Jared. 

"Oh god, it's Wednesday? Fuck, I'm sorry, it completely slipped my mind. We were just working on my performance..." That explained the screens; they were messaging each other.

"Ev, it's fine, stop worrying." Connor briefly smiled. "Kleinman?"

Jared's head shot up.

"Off." Connor spat, voice more commanding than Evan had ever heard before. It reminded the blond of the cruel boy he met in the hallway. Even Jared, who'd sacrifice his right arm to disrespect Connor usually, did not dare fight back. He slid on the floor with his laptop, making some snarky comment about how he was not a dog under his breath. The tall brunet sat on the bed where Jared was, noticing his sister and his boyfriend's wary eyes on him. He focused on Evan, opening his arms wide and offering a warm grin. It was as if he did not seem capable of murder a mere few seconds ago. "Evan? Sit with me~?"

Evan chuckled lightly and settled himself between Connor's legs, his back resting on Connor's chest. "You sure know how to make yourself scary."

The taller winced slightly: it was always his instinct to win via intimidation. He had been trying to battle that habit as not to scare away Evan. He forced himself to laugh back. "Got to stand up for my sweetheart." He signed although awkwardly with Evan being between his arms. He glanced to see Zoe and Jared back to work on their respective laptops. They sent boring messages to and thro about 'composition' and 'harmonies' whilst Evan replied on his phone. The silence blanketing the plant-filled room was not uncomfortable, it was the sort of silence that followed hard work, but the brunet was far from fond of it either. 

He leaned over, one hand landing in a bowl of assorted sweets that Jared would have been undeniably hogging. Popping a few in his mouth, the brunet hummed contentedly. Then, he retched. The movement, jolted him up. All eyes in the room went to him as he coughed and spluttered. Evan was thrown slightly forward by the fit his boyfriend was having but he did little to help, eyes brimming with concern. The unexpectedly sour, candied thing Connor had put in his mouth was burning his tongue. It was stupidly bitter. Once he managed to force himself to, against his body's instinctive protests, he swallowed it, shuddering. His aquamarine eyes noted the smirk upon Jared's face

"God," He groaned, rubbing his throat, "so fucking sour."

Evan's hand reached out and touched his arm comfortingly. It was an awkward and hesitant thing to do, but the brunet appreciated it nonetheless. They were not usually the kind of couple to be affectionate around people. They sat by each other - more often on or against each other. They would hold hands and kiss cheeks and hug. They would even go as far as the occasional back rub or hair brush. Nevertheless, as soon as there were more people in the room than their close family members, they became strangers. School was the worst, in Connor's opinion. As soon as they were back in that environment, Evan lost his smile. The blond did not crack as many awful jokes, nor did he sign his words as elegantly and smoothly. He acted as though he knew nothing of the taller, maybe even feared him still. The brunet would give anything to be able to reach down to kiss Evan's cheek by the lockers, tell him everything would be fine, but the blond's scopophobia seemed to have a restraining order against him. 

Connor refocused his attention, realising he'd been staring at Evan in silence for too long for comfort: the blond looked a mix between flustered and afraid. Connor coughed once more; before letting out a laugh. "Fuckin' hell. That tasted like ass!"

Jared piped in. "And you know how that tastes because...?"

"Ask Evan." Connor winked.

If looks could kill, Evan would have torn Connor limb from limb with his bare hands. The taller boy expected the 'mixture between bashful, annoyed and embarrassed' look he often got from his companion when he made jokes, but was surprised to see something else completely he could not pin. He looked exasperated, smug and almost doubtful. 

"I know I don't understand sign language but, God, I can guess what that look means." Zoe spoke, voice almost full of awe with Evan's unamused expression. He crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow, although his eyes gave away that he was stifling a laugh. 

"Enlighten me. What does this one mean?" Connor smiled back at Evan nervously.

"My guess is: 'too much of a pussy to kiss me, let alone something like that'. Am I right?"

Evan's lips quirked into a smirk, pointing at Zoe as if to say, 'Bingo.' Connor turned a dark shade of red as the rest of the room erupted into laughter, the blush dusting the tips of his ears. He had not expected this callout.

His boyfriend may seem quiet and reserved to the outside world, but he sure seemed to know what he wanted. And he was gonna get it.

Word count: 1366

y'all finna kill me soon

also fun fact: evan only swears when he's sure only those the swears are intended for can hear him because he's scared of seeming rude. that's why he signs them when he knows certainly that connor's the only person that will understand him and texts them but doesn't write them on paper in case someone reads it over his shoulder (idk how obvious it was throughout the book, just a lil tidbit)