Take my heart

Chapter IV

Darren and Lee have been circling around each other for who knows how long now. Caesar and Connor have a bet, of course they do, so when they both disappear in the middle of the Christmas party, Caesar's fairly sure he lost. He gets no time to pity himself, though, because Ash won't stop pestering him.

When Ash is angry, they meddle into other people's lives and try to fix their problems, to make up for the fact that they can¿t get rid of their own. A girl in a soft yellow dress is what catches their attention this time around, so Ash bombards Caesar with all kinds of questions until he's said everything he could possibly know about her.

"So are her and Connor a thing?" they ask for the fifth time, as Caesar puts off answering in favor of grabbing a snack.

He steals a glance at the spot where Connor and Ali have been dancing for the past minutes. A thing? How very specific.

"Hell if I know."

"Well don't you?" his sibling insists, cheeks puffed in annoyance. "I thought you and Connor had this weird telepathy thing."

"We don't," Caesar grunts. It's a question they get asked a lot, to be honest, and he answers the same way every time. "Okay, yeah, Connor flirts with her a lot," he gives in a moment later. "She's not his type, though, you know how he is. Not one to go for anything serious. I guess he finds her rather attractive, but I don't see it."

"I do," says Ash, nodding in approval. Caesar rolls his eyes and takes a sip of his drink. "Anyway, now that you say that, I feel bad for her. If this goes on, she's only gonna get hurt."

Inspecting a cup with a strawberry dessert, Caesar shrugs. "Not our business."

It's no use, of course. Ash is set to making it their business. He won't try to convince them of the contrary, it's not his problem as long as they don't drag him along. In a way, it feels wrong to mess with his best friend's love life, even if Connor says that's not what the situation is.

"You have to do something for me," Ash commands.

"Fuck off."

Unsurprisingly, Ash doesn't listen, and instead goes on to explain exactly how Caesar has to proceed. He concedes after some consideration—it's by far not the craziest idea Ash has ever had, he'll waste more time arguing than just doing what they want.

That's how he finds himself taking Ali from Connor's arms, with a playful smirk to hide his actual intentions. They make small talk as they dance, his 'good-host' instincts kick in and he does everything to make sure she's having a nice time. Once the piece is done, they pull apart, he does a little bow and takes his phone from his pocket.

"I'll need you to play along with me for a bit. My sibling wants to talk to you, is that alright?" he says, handing the phone to a confused Ali. "Nothing weird, don't worry. Just answer the texts and get back to me when you're done."

He disappears among the crowd before the girl gets a chance to complain. The rest is on Ash's hands, for better or for worse, so he settles for enjoying what's left of the party.

A few hours later, Connor and Caesar gravitate towards each other for the tenth time, what inevitably happens when they let their feet guide them. Connor is chatting with a girl he used to share a few classes with, and Caesar stands at his side, a little behind him, watching. It becomes obvious, for him at least, that his best friend is growing tired of talking, so he grabs the first chance he finds and takes over the conversation. Connor grazes his stomach with his elbow in a silent thank you.

The girl from their year is soon replaced by a few guys Caesar knows thanks to their families working together. At a movement of his wrist, Connor leaves in the direction of the nearest table in search of some drinks. He gets back and nudges Caesar's shoe with his, looking over one of the guys' shoulder.

Following his gaze, Caesar spots a silver-haired someone crossing the hall in quick strides, just in the edge of running. They follow him until he meets with a girl in a lilac dress, and then heads out of the venue. When they're gone, Connor and Caesar exchange a glance. The second gets back to his conversation while the first looks around.

Another nudge on his shoe, 'there'. Before glancing away, Caesar finishes the conversation with a few polite remarks, a compliment, and a grin. He follows Connor to where he last saw Darren.

"So... anything you want to tell us?" is how Connor initiates the conversation, as soon as they find Darren next to one of the far back tables.

The boy raises his eyebrows. He's barefoot, holding his shoes in a hand, thrumming his free fingers on the white tablecloth. A tell-tale sing that he's shaken, and his inability to answer only makes it more obvious.

"Did you kiss him?" Caesar asks. Turns out his subtlety is reserved for people outside his friend group.

Darren seems to choke on his own spit, and Connor has to calm him out of a coughing fit. Rubbing a hand on the violinist's back, Connor spares a half glare at his best friend.

"What do you think? Would Lee Jung run out of here like that if they'd kissed?" he says.

Caesar shrugs. "Maybe he's a bad kisser."

"Shut up," Connor huffs. "You weren't good the first few times either."

"How would you know?" Darren intervenes.

A pause.

"Don't change the subject," Connor finally says. "Did you or didn't you? Tell us everything. And why are you barefoot? People usually take off other clothing items first, you know."

Darren looks between the two of them with a frown.

"I'm not telling you anything."

The other two groan at the same time. Caesar is the first to recover, and does a quick once over at Darren. His flushed cheeks are the only indication that anything might have happened; the rest of him remains as they saw it at the beginning of the party, except for the shoes.

"He didn't," they both conclude, startling even themselves.

Darren rolls his eyes but doesn't try to prove them wrong.

"Oh my god! Why didn't you kiss him?" Connor's exasperation explodes in their faces. "Weren't you two alone for the past couple hours? The chance was right there, staring at you through that gray hair! Are you-"

"Okay, okay," Caesar half laughs, slinging an arm over Connor's shoulders and bringing him a step back. "That's enough harassing one of our friends for today, I think." He curls a hand on the boy's nape and squeezes just enough to get him to shut up. "You don't mind if we leave you now, Darren, do you? Connor has to go look for his wallet, you see..."

Darren waves them off and Caesar shoots him an appeasing smile before leading Connor somewhere else. He still has a hand on the back of his neck, absentmindedly toying with the ends of his hair.

"I have my wallet right here," Connor reminds him after a minute.

"I know," Caesar says, "but I couldn't make you pay the bet right in front of little Darren, don't you think? He's pissed enough as it is."

Realization dawns on Connor's expression in the shape of a scowl.

"Shit! I knew I should never bet for that stupid coward. One time I have faith in him, just one, and what do I get? Failure, that's what. And you. Fuck you."

Still grumbling under his breath, Connor takes out his wallet and sullenly presses a couple bills onto Caesar's waiting palm. Circling his fingers around the money, Caesar winks at him.

"Pleasure doing business with you, darling."

No matter how hard he tries, Connor turns out incapable of hiding his own amusement at Caesar's celebration.