Fighting Butterflies (BoyxBoy)

Four

"What if he was naked?" He asked her with narrowed eyes when she simply shrugged.

"He wasn't," Nora stated as if that was enough.

"I know you like him and all but you have to admit, this is kinda..." He wanted to say obsessive but he wasn't sure if he'd be met with calmness. He turned to Ruxie who seemed almost indifferent to the photo their friend showed. Maybe they weren't as bothered by it since they didn't like Drew to the extent that Ryan did, he thought.

"Eh it's alright, besides, the door was open when I passed by on Friday and if he didn't wanna get seen like this, he would've closed it," said Nora, laughing. "Plus, we've already seen him bare-chested, what's the big deal?"

Ryan wanted to argue but the door to the ice cream bar got thrown open suddenly, making him look up at the commotion. His words got caught in his throat when he saw the subject of their conversation walking into the bar as he carried two boxes in his arms. Ryan's eyes remained on him as Drew walked to the back of the bar.

"I didn't know he worked here," Ryan stated once Drew was out of sight, looking back at Nora and Ruxie.

"He doesn't," Nora said. "From what I heard, his family bought the bar three months ago and it's actually Drew's brother that makes the ice cream. He just helps out sometimes," she explained making Ryan nod.

"How do you even find out these things?" Ruxie questioned with a laugh which made Ryan also chuckle. He also did wonder how Nora got her information sometimes.

"Come on guys," Nora scoffed, flipping her long black hair as she rolled her eyes. "I'm not the only one with a massive crush on him," she said. Ryan tensed for a moment, but he silently let out a sigh when Nora continued, showing no sign that she was even slightly aware of his crush on Drew. "Plus, word gets around. Y'all are just too boring to hear it."

"Just because we don't like gossip doesn't mean we're boring," Ryan retorted, also flipping his wavy blond hair — though significantly shorter than hers — which made Nora flip him the bird with a smile.

"Eh, speak for yourself, dude," Ruxie chuckled. "I actually have a life."

Ryan rolled his eyes at his friends. He didn't consider himself boring just because he didn't go out as much as they did, but it was whatever. He wasn't going to get into it now.

"How come we've never seen him around then?" Ryan then asked Nora, going back to the topic.

Nora thought for a moment, rubbing her chin with a finger. "Can't be sure but maybe we just haven't come at the right time?" She suggested, making Ruxie and Ryan nod at the plausible explanation.

When Ryan was ready to order, he asked his friends what they wanted to and then got up to go get it at the bar. And for some dumb reason, Ryan just felt like he needed to visit the bathroom. He let out a sigh, slightly annoyed with his bladder, and changed his route, heading for the bathroom.

His phone buzzed with a text and Ryan immediately checked it to see a message from Nora, asking him to get her a banana split smoothie instead of the cookie and cream ice cream she had initially wanted. Ryan shook his head, smiling down at his phone as he opened the door to the bathroom.

"Fuck!" He groaned when his head hit a very sturdy chest. He was startled by the unexpected collision, which made his phone fall to the ground. Ryan groaned silently and glanced up at the person he bumped into.

"Oh..." he gasped, his face reddening at the sight of the six-foot-tall guy who occupied his mind ninety-nine percent of the time. His heart hammered in his chest so rapidly that Ryan could almost hear the heightened rhythmic beat. I did it again, he thought, unable to stop the shivers that ran through him as Drew's eyes narrowed on him.