Best For Last || Evan Peters AU

graduation

      After talking and laughing for nearly an hour at Drew's kitchen table with her and Raelynn, you'd come to the realization that everything in this town had a memory of Evan attached to it, even the people. You had to get better at pushing the thoughts of him to the back of your mind: yes, you were here for an old mutual friend of yours, but it was that friend's wedding, and you had to be on your best, cheeriest behavior.

   Drew and Rae had just brought up the subject of cosmetology again -- coincidentally, Drew's thing was makeup and Rae's was lashes -- when your phone buzzed with a call in your pocket. You retrieved it, and saw that Arya's contact photo filled your phone screen.

   "Just a sec guys," you told your friends as you stood. "It's the bride." They nodded and shooed you away, and once you were in the next room, you tapped the little green circle. "Hey, what's up?"

   "Heyyy Y/N," her cheerful voice replied. "You're in PA, right?"

   "I am; please tell your parents thank you a million times over from me."

   "Oh it's nothing, but I will! Listen, Dante got something he wanna tell you."

   Your heart dropped automatically. Of course, every worst case scenario popped into your brain, and the few seconds it took you to respond felt like ten minutes.

   "Okay," you replied, your voice unsure. "Let me have it."

   "Alright," she said mostly happily, but there was a concerned edge to her voice. "Don't be mad."

   That comment only worsened things, and if you thought the time you took to respond felt like forever, the time she took to hand the phone to Dante was double eternity.

   "Yo," his deeper voice was on the line. "How's life?"

   "My heart's about to fall out of my ass, tell me what's wrong." you said it playfully, but you were definitely serious.

   He laughed, but it somehow sounded distressed. He repeated his fiancée, "Don't be mad."

   "Dante, I'm about to jump off a building. What?"

   "So, you remember when I said it's gonna be six of us on this trip? All the groomsmen and bridesmaids?"

   You didn't like where this was going. Your silence prompted him to continue.

   "One of my two groomsmen is,... ah, it's Evan."

   You froze. Your hearing buzzed and dulled, and you had to lean with your shoulder against the wall to keep your vision from tunneling. Your legs had turned to jelly. You stared at one spot on the floor until you thought you'd burn a hole through it. 

   "Hello? You good?"

   You finally plopped down onto the giant grey sofa cushion, hurriedly exhaling and closing your eyes, "Why... was that not something you mentioned before?"

   "Cause, I knew it would've made you not wanna come."

   "No shit," you hissed. "Is that why you paid for my tickets?"

   "Part of it," he admitted, and you balled your hands into fists until your knuckles turned white. "Look, chill, it's gonna be so busy y'all gonna barely see each other."

   "Hardly see-- we're gonna be couped up in a van together for 12 hours!"

   "Y'all two are not gonna be the only people in there," his voice remained calm as yours got higher and higher. "Like I said, it's gonna be busy. Stay at opposite ends of the bus, talk to other people. Come on Y/N, it's been like eight years."

   You were about to continue to be outraged, but Drew's concerned face popped around the corner, and you quickly fixed your face and shot her a thumbs up. She disappeared again, and you collected yourself before responding.

   "Fine," you said a little more calmly, but ground your teeth. "Only because I feel bad that you guys spent all that money on me already."

   "And Arya would be short a bridesmaid if you dropped out."

   "Right," you said flatly. "Can't have that."

   "If it was something for just me I probably wouldn't even ask you," he started. "But I do really want you there, and I need Arya to have a perfect time and a perfect wedding day. Can I count on you?"

   You pinched the bridge of your nose and shut your eyes again, "Yes. You can count on me."

   "Cool cool," you could hear his smile over the phone. "I knew I could. You the best for real."

   "I might still jump off a building."

   He laughed, "Well just wait 'til after the wedding, alright?"

   "Will do."

   You guys wrapped up the phone call, and you let yourself sit motionless for a few minutes after you hung up. Eight years. It'd been eight years since you'd last been in the same place as Evan, and you felt like you still weren't ready to see him again. You didn't know why you'd assumed that in the seven years you'd been gone that he and Dante would've grown apart. You realized that must've meant Dante was just that good a friend, to still be close enough with Evan to make him a groomsmen, yet never mention anything about him when you two spoke. You thought over his reasonings of basically tricking you into coming here: you believed that he wouldn't ask it of you if it weren't for Arya. He loved her so much he'd lasso the moon if she wanted it.

   Before you dared to re-enter the kitchen, you sat with the fact that you had less than a full day to mentally prepare to see Evan again, and face all the long buried emotions that would inevitably be ripped to the surface. You played back the beginning of the end in your mind.

9 years ago
      Three weeks before you graduated, Chloe had to be put down at only 7 years old from the tumors that nearly covered her underside. She was part of your family as much as a sibling would've been, and it hit you and your mom pretty hard. You blamed her otherwise unexplainable weight loss and rather sickly demeanor that arose from seemingly nowhere on this hard hit. Evan was there for you, comforting you the best he knew how. He even got you a chocolate lab stuffed animal that looked as closely like your beloved lost pet as possible.

   Your graduating class was one of the biggest your school had ever seen. You, Evan, and Dante took loads of pictures in your caps and gowns afterwards, and a few of them even included Sid. He'd dropped out, but was working already on his GED. He was also working his way into your trio, and though he respected you and Evan enough to never act on it, it was pretty obvious he had a thing for you. Marina also graduated with you guys, but seeing as she cheated on Dante, you all avoided her altogether these days. He'd taken the first job that called him back a few weeks ago, and trained with a girl named Arya. She was dating some other asshole at the time, but Dante was trying his best to get her interested in him. He'd eventually succeed.

   Now, you and Evan were driving in his car to the joint grad party his older sister had thrown together for you in their huge backyard. As usual, you sat comfortably in his passenger seat. By the end of this year, you'd have been together six years-- that was unheard of for people your ages.

   An upbeat song came on the radio, and with the windows down and Evan's right hand resting where it always did on your left knee, you two were in the best days of summer, and of your life at that point.

   You had no idea how soon it'd all come crashing down.