the longest summer in america - jevin

chapter 7

ian is hungry, that's all he knows. his stomach is angry at him, rumbling like thunder and effectively waking him up. he opens his eyes and immediately regrets it, the sunshine way too bright in the room. stretching out one arm to lift his phone from his bedside table, he learns that it's just past ten in the morning.

he slept for twelve hours, more or less. he wishes he could say that's a first. ian's stomach reclaims his attention once again, reminding him that he hasn't eaten anything in just as long.

the instinct to turn to the other side and greet the person who should be next to him is still there, he realizes with a deep sigh. he'll admit that he hoped that a good night's sleep would magically cure him of any residual sadness and confusion, but it looks like it's not his lucky day. he definitely still feels like shit.

feeling that if he continues like this he'll ruin his day before it even starts, ian decides that it's just enough. he pushes the covers off himself and throws his legs off the side of the bed. before he can think better of it, he stands up and stretches his arms up over his head.

his back pops in more places than it should, surely, but he feels calmer afterwards. he quickly puts on some clean clothes, grabs his phone and steps out of his room. he knows his way to the restaurant by now, so he quickly jogs down the stairs and turns a couple of corners to follow the smell of food.

the huge room is empty, except for a couple of people sitting in one corner. ian turns around on his spot, and he must look more confused than he thinks, because a waitress approaches him like he's going to start screaming at any moment.

"good morning, sir," she says with a smile. "what can i help you with?"

"hi," he answers confusedly. "where's everyone? from the wedding, i mean."

she chuckles. "they were up partying well into the morning. i think they're still sleeping. can i bring you anything to drink?"

ian nods, still looking around, uselessly looking for familiar faces. one in particular. "just a coffee, thank you."

the waitress leaves him to sit down at any table he wants, disappearing beyond the set of double doors that leads to the kitchen. ian waits for a couple of seconds, then decides that he can't wait anymore and gets up to raid the buffet table.

a plate full of pastries – what, he deserves it – later, he goes back to his table just in time to find his coffee already there waiting for him. he moves his chair and sits back down, ready to dig in and drown his sorrows in carbs.

it mostly works. the mix of chocolate and flaky, buttery pastries works to fill some of the void he feels inside. it's not the healthiest thing, but it'll have to do.

he wouldn't say it out loud, but half of him keeps expecting jaden to stroll in, face still puffy from sleep and a soft smile just for ian, but he never does. ian figures that he probably joined his friends after he walked him back to his hotel room, so he must have been up late as well, having fun with them while ian was busy being boring.

he doesn't blame him. he came to this resort to celebrate his old housemates getting married with his friends, and he's had to babysit ian instead. doesn't matter how many times he says he doesn't mind and that it's not babysitting; ian still feels like a burden.

it was his own fault for coming here without meeting nick's friends before, anyway. he didn't think nick would definitively lose his mind while they were here, that's for sure, but still.

huffing, ian cleans up as much as he can, then stands up and retreats back to his room. there is a spilt second in which he thinks about going down to the beach by himself, but there'd be the risk of more human interaction, and he doesn't feel like it.