The door to Garroth's room opened wide, catching the attention of the three. Garroth, Aphmau, Emmalyn, and Kenmur all walked out. The moment Aphmau saw Aaron, she turned and said goodbye to Garroth before leaving the house in a rush.
"What's going on?" Katelyn asked, confused by her roommate's behavior.
Emmalyn and Kenmur shrugged as they left the party, leaving Garroth standing alone, deep in his thoughts.
"Garroth, are you okay?" Aaron asked tentatively, afraid to set him off.
At the mention of his name, Garroth made eye contact with Aaron, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions.
"I... I need to go do something," Garroth finally responded, determination filling his voice. With that, he walked out the backdoor.
The three musketeers shared a look with one another.
What happened?
===
Garroth looked around, trying to find some place to put the cupcake of doom when he noticed Kenmur rush into his room. Emmalyn ran into the bathroom soon after.
He immediately sensed the romantic tension, and for once it wasn't between him and Laurance.
With that, Garroth walked into his room, not knowing that Aphmau had walked into the bathroom.
"Kenmur?" Garroth called out as he walked into his room. "What are you doing? Is everything okay?"
The boy in question, who was sitting in a desk chair, glanced up at Garroth. His eyes widened, not expecting anyone to come in here.
"Oh, sorry I didn't mean- I'm fine actually it's... it's just that...," Kenmur sighed, done beating around the bush. "Garroth, you're good with romancey stuff, right?"
Garroth stood blank faced, thinking back to his current situation, college, and his fake relationship with Ivy. Sure, he may have been known as a high school flirt, the boy next door, but all that charm had gotten wasted on a girl who he knew wasn't interested in him.
Garroth eyed his box of feathers in the corner of his room. Raising his eyebrows, he thought to himself that maybe he still had his charm.
"Yes... kind of."
Despite Garroth's lackluster response, Kenmur felt assured in Garroth's guidance.
"Well, me and Emmalyn have been talking for a while... y'know romantically. And, tonight I want to kiss her at New Years, but I don't know how!"
"You don't know how to kiss or you don't know how to go for it? Because I'm not too comfortable with being your kissing bud-" Garroth was cut off by Kenmur's loud exclamation in disagreement.
"No! I mean I don't know how to initiate it!"
"Well, in that case, I know exactly what to do. Don't you worry Kenmur, if you follow my lead and the teachings of Animal Planet, you'll be able to sweep Emmalyn off her feet!"
Confused, Kenmur tried to get clarification on what he meant but was silenced as a box was put at his feet. He watched as Garroth opened it to reveal that it was nearly full to the brim with brightly colored feathers. What happened to the dozens that were missing was a question that would never be answered for Kenmur. The assured feeling he had in Garroth was slowly diminishing. Nevertheless, he allowed Garroth to continue.
One by one, Garroth glued the tips of feathers onto his clothes. While he was waiting for one of them to stick, he opened up a desk drawer next to Kenmur which contained a stack of unmade burger king crowns. It dawned on Kenmur that the charm he had in mind was completely different from Garroth's version. Unfortunately, it was too late to back out now.
Garroth finished assembling his outfit, placing a crown delicately atop his head. He was truly a sight to see.
"Garroth, I'm not too sure about this anymore," Kenmur admitted, finally voicing his concerns with Garroth's behavior.
"Nonsense, don't you trust me, Kenmur?"
Against his better judgement, Kenmur nodded.
"Good, first you're gonna have to learn the dance. Once you've mastered it, you can put on the feathers! Now, you puff out your feathers like this, and do a little dance. This will not only attract a mate, but will scare off the other males as well."
Garroth continued to do weird motions, obviously trying to imitate a mating dance he saw on Animal Planet. How he thought this was popular for the ladies was beyond him.
Someone cleared their throat.
Startled, the two boys turned toward the doorway where Zane stood. Although most of his face was covered, his one visible eye revealed all. He was now traumatized. This went completely unnoticed by Garroth.
"Perfect timing, Zane. Tell me, does this intimidate you?" Garroth asked as he proceeded to continue his dance.
"Please, just stop. Can you just tell me where you keep your water bottles?"
"They're in the fridge. Now how powerful do these feathers-"
"KC, are you sure you want to take another shot?" Travis's voice projected throughout the house.
"No, she does not!" Zane yelled back, rushing back out into the living room, leaving the two boys alone once again with a box of feathers.
Garroth turned back to Kenmur with a smile on his face.
"See, it works! Now get up. It's time to dance!"
===
Emmalyn shut the door behind her and walked further into the bathroom. It was already 11:30 p.m., and she still didn't have enough courage to finally make a move on Kenmur. The thought of saying a pick-up line made her red in the face, so how was she supposed to swoop in for a New Year kiss?
The bathroom door opened, yanking Emmalyn out of her thoughts. In her haste, she forgot to lock the bathroom door. This would have been really embarrassing if she was on the toilet.
"Oh, Emmalyn!" Aphmau exclaimed in surprise, obviously not expecting anyone to be there.
"Aphmau, I... I'll be out in a minute."
"Oh no, that's okay take your time. I wasn't actually gonna use the restroom anyways so...," Aphmau laughed awkwardly, trying to slowly back out of the restroom.
"Neither was I. Actually, maybe you can help me- wait why are you leaving?"
Aphmau froze, caught in her pursuit to discreetly leave the room. She glanced around, trying to find a way to distract Emmalyn from her plan. On any other day, Aphmau would be more than willing to have a conversation with someone awkwardly in a bathroom but now was not the time. She had thoughts to contemplate and people to avoid.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Emmalyn cocked her brow, clearly unconvinced with Aphmau's excuse. Nevertheless, this could be a good opportunity for them to work together. Aphmau was never one to leave her friends in the dust, so something had to be on her mind.
"Aphmau, are you okay?"
Aphmau bit her lip as worry washed over her face. There was no need to mix other people into her problems. Especially for the situation she's currently in, but she was backed into a corner. Should she tell her? No. It's stupid, she should just leave. Meeting Emmalyn's hopeful gaze, though, made the idea of helping each other seem a lot more promising.
She sighed before she responded, relaxing her features,
"No, but neither are you. I think we can both help each other out here." Emmalyn smiled at her.
"I had the same idea! Alright then, tell me your problem and I'll tell you mine."
The feeling of regret swarmed in the back of Aphmau's mind. She was supposed to be working on her own issues not allowing them to control her thoughts and actions. The anxiety continued to grow; it consumed her. Saying this would only solidify her feelings, but she was going to feel even worse if she backed out now.
"I don't want to kiss Aaron at midnight."
===
Kenmur plopped down on Garroth's bed completely out of breath.
"Garroth," he wheezed, "I don't think I can keep doing this."
Garroth, who was still up and standing, looked down upon him in shame.
"You've only gotten through two Just Dance levels. If you want to sweep Emmalyn off her feet you better get up and dance! How could you call yourself a ladies man?"
Kenmur sat up on the bed, still catching his breath.
"I don't. I don't understand how dancing and feathers are going to help me. You do realize that I'm talking about a real person, right? I'm not trying to flirt with a bunch of birds."
Garroth let out a laugh as he sat next to him on the bed. He used his controller to quit the game running on his laptop.
"Of course, I know. When I found you here, you were all stiff and nervous. Now look at you, you've been loosened up! How anxious do you feel right now?"
Reflecting back on the past several minutes, Kenmur had failed to realize how he was feeling about the whole situation. Right now, despite being out of breath, he felt pumped! He smiled at Garroth.
"Actually, I don't feel too bad."
"See? I am a master at this! Now get up, it's time for the final part."
Kenmur furrowed his brows.
"Final part of what? I thought we were done?"
Garroth let out another laugh as he brought a box over to him. The same box that contained the many colorful feathers.
"It's time for initiation."
===
"I don't understand. Your problem is that you don't want to kiss Aaron? You don't have to kiss him if you don't want to," Emmalyn reassured, still confused about what her problem was.
"No, you don't understand. Aaron and I have been seeing each other for the past month but we aren't actually dating. Plus, I know that Aaron wants to kiss me tonight."
"Okay..." Emmalyn lowered the toilet lid before sitting down. Aphmau locked the bathroom door before sitting on the ground. "So, you're just not ready for a relationship with him just yet. I can understand that. A New Year's kiss means more than a regular one."
Aphmau pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms.
"No, it's more than that," Aphmau denied, her voice muffled by her arms as she bit the bullet and told her the truth in her mind. "I don't know if I want to even be in a relationship. Since I don't know, I don't want to lose the opportunity if I do."
Emmalyn's eyes went wide as she sat up straighter, leaning forward as if she didn't hear her correctly. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to say anything. Both of them knew what Aphmau was doing, and despite knowing that it was wrong she kept doing it.
"Doesn't Aaron like you, like really like you?"
The regret that sat in the back of Aphmau's mind came front and center. It sounded a lot worse when spoken out loud.
"Yeah..." She thought that this feeling would go away. Eventually, she would be ready to commit to a relationship, but the thought of being bound to someone sent a shiver down her spine. It's not that she didn't like Aaron. She knew he was an amazing person that loved her, but she also knew she was doing him dirty by doing this. No matter what she did, if she kept dragging him along, he was going to catch up with her.
"Don't you like him?"
"Of course." Aphmau didn't hesitate with her answer.
"Well, you can't hold on to him until you're ready. Especially if you think you might never be ready. Maybe it's best if you let him go and work on yourself. Don't get all lovey-dovey with him and still say you're single. Be honest with him."
Let him go?
Let him go?
I have to let Aaron go?
I have to.
It's not fair to him.
Her arms felt wet. Pulling her head back from her arms, her vision blurred. A burning sensation built in the back of her throat. Large streaks of tears ran down her cheeks, dripping off her face and onto her arms. Lips that were always upturned into a smile quivered under the thought of her actions, but they didn't make a sound. She couldn't see Emmalyn sit down next to her on the floor, but she could feel the hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Emmalyn consoled, "but you know what you have to do. I trust that you'll make the best decision." Bullshit. They both knew what the "best decision" was. Aphmau knew from the moment she almost kissed Aaron on the day of the snowball fight. She chose not to say what was on her mind and instead chose to follow Aaron's lead, not knowing he was following her.
"I don't want this to ruin what we have right now," Aphmau admitted, crossing her arms over her chest.
She should have been honest.
"And I don't think it will," Aaron said truthfully.
Back then...
"I...I don't wanna date anyone right now, but I-I like you."
...she confused the butterflies in her stomach...
"I like you, too."
...as hope...
"But you want a relationship, don't you?"
...instead of fear...
"Ideally, I would like to be with you, but we can take things slow. We don't have to jump right into the deep end right now," he assured.
...instead of regret...
"I'd like that."
Because Aphmau knew from the bottom of her heart...she was manipulating the person she loved the most.
===
One feather. Two feather. Red feather. Blue feather.
Each one was carefully placed onto Kenmur's clothes with a little bit of kid glue. Everyone knew that the glue teachers gave to their students never stuck for long. Despite being incredibly reluctant to do this, Kenmur sat through every feather that Garroth placed on his body. He would become the most handsome man. At least, according to Garroth.
"You're not gonna make me wear this when I go talk to Emmalyn, right?" Kenmur asked as Garroth finished covering his entire shirt in feathers.
"Of course not, this is a practice that must only be done in private."
Kenmur smiled at his antics, glad that Garroth was willing to help him out even if his methods weren't the norm. He watched as Garroth reached into his desk drawer, pulling out hair pins and a Burger King crown.
"Does this mean I graduated?" Kenmur joked, eyeing the crown. Garroth nodded as his face filled with pride. The crown, which had now been placed and secured neatly on Kenmur's head, seemed to shine under the bedroom light.
"Now, go admire yourself in the mirror, embrace yourself!" Garroth motioned to the full-body mirror attached to his wall. Kenmur stood up and walked over to the mirror while Garroth worked on cleaning up.
Each loose feather that had fallen out of the box was picked up and put back in its proper place. As Garroth moved to pick up the hairpins which he had left on the edge of the box, he accidentally knocked them straight in. No problem. Garroth shoved his hand in the box, fishing around for his lost hairpins. Instead of feeling the cool, thin metal, he felt something soft and silky.
"Is this nylon?" Garroth thought to himself.
"Hey Garroth, some of the feathers are starting to fall off. Do you want me to take this off now?" Kenmur asked, quickly snapping Garroth out of his thoughts. Startled, Garroth responded,
"Um, yeah! Go ahead!"
Directing his attention back to the box, he gripped the soft object and pulled it out, careful to make sure not to spill any feathers.
Pink.
Yellow.
Blue.
His mind went blank. The only thought that ran through his head was the person who gave this to him in the first place. Laurance. Laurance gave him a pansexual flag. He remembered how confused he was when he first read the card. Wondering why Laurance would write such a heartfelt letter and just give him feathers. It made sense now.
If Laurance had gotten the bisexual flag, then was this his way of acceptance? By showing people who he was without attempting to deny it? Laurance was putting in the effort to fix his wrongdoings and so was Garroth.
He had to talk to him tonight.
"Here are your feathers, crown, and hairpins," Kenmur said as he pushed the big pile toward him. "Oh, neat flag. Are you gonna hang it up in your room?"
Garroth glanced up at him, a light shining behind his eyes.
"Yeah, now come on. It's almost midnight. Let's go find Emmalyn."
===
"I'm sorry. I just dumped all of this on you and didn't even ask what your problem was," Aphmau apologized as she wiped the last of her tears.
"It's alright, I'm glad I was able to help. It's kind of funny though, you don't want to kiss someone at New Year's, but I do," Emmalyn laughed light-heartedly, humored by the irony of the situation.
Aphmau's eyes widened as she stared at Emmalyn. She already knew exactly who she was talking about.
"You want to kiss Kenmur?"
A bit embarrassed by having it said out loud, Emmalyn nodded.
"That's great, so what's holding you back?"
Emmalyn sighed with her downcast eyes, pulling her knees up to her chest to match Aphmau.
"I'm worried that Kenmur might not want to kiss me. We've only been talking romantically for a short time, so I don't know if a New Year's kiss might be too soon."
Aphmau chuckled at her concerns, glad that her problems only consisted of stuff like this. She wished this could be her problem instead of what she was going through right now. Also, only Emmalyn and Kenmur would be the ones to say they are talking to someone "platonically" or "romantically." What a bunch of nerds.
"I don't think you have to worry. Knowing you, you're a lot better at setting boundaries than I am. Plus, you and Kenmur have been pining at each other for so long, longer than you guys have probably been talking. He may be a little awkward when it comes to socializing, but I know he can get his message across clearly. If he didn't want to kiss you at New Year's, you'd know with 100% certainty, so chin up!"
Emmalyn gazed up at her friend, her eyes beginning to glimmer in hope. True hope, not a bundle of nerves that didn't know what future was ahead of them. It was a light that shined down on what she knew she wanted.
"I'll be honest, I didn't really expect this advice from you, but I appreciate it!" Aphmau smiled at her, standing up from the floor before extending a hand out to her.
"No problem, now come on. Let's go find Kenmur."
===
Right as Garroth and Kenmur left the room, Aphmau and Emmalyn came out of the bathroom. The four made eye contact with one another. Before Emmalyn or Kenmur could get a word out, Aphmau spoke first.
"Hey, we were just looking for you guys!" Something was off with her tone, almost as if she was acting. Garroth quickly picked up on it, realizing what was going on.
"Really?" Garroth asked, matching her tone. "Well, so were we!"
"What a crazy coincidence!"
"Indeed!"
They acted more and more crazy by the second, someone had to stop them.
"We were just about to go into Garroth's room, wanna come with us?" Kenmur asked knowing full well the girls saw them both just walk out from there.
"Sure!" Emmalyn agreed, sensing the weird atmosphere around them.
The four of them walked back into Garroth's room. The first thing that Aphmau looked for was a distraction. Something that she could use to give Emmalyn and Kenmur privacy without actually leaving the room. Fortunately, the first thing she laid her eyes on was... a flag.
Specifically, a pansexual flag that lay neatly folded on Garroth's bed.
"Garroth, is this yours?"
He eyed the flag on the bed, walking up to it with Aphmau.
"Yeah, Laurance gave it to me for Christmas. Do you... want to help me put it up?"
Aphmau's heart warmed at the fact, happy that their friendship was slowly mending.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Between the blaring music from the party and the sound of them trying to hang up the flag, the two didn't even realize that midnight had struck. They only found out when they turned around to see Emmalyn and Kenmur sharing a sweet kiss with one another.
A kiss that reminded Aphmau of what could have been and Garroth of what should have been.
The two knew what they had to do. Aphmau was going to tell Aaron sometime after the party, still needing to collect herself to confront him. Garroth knew that the longer he waited, the longer the problem would last.
So, Aphmau cleared her throat.
"If you two lovebirds are done over there, I think it's time to head back out to the party. The fireworks are gonna go off." Despite her teasing words, her tone was laced with nervousness.
Kenmur and Emmalyn looked at Aphmau with red faces, embarrassed at being caught kissing one another, but they agreed.
With that, the four of them left Garroth's room to go enjoy the rest of the party. The first thing they noticed was Aaron, Katelyn, and Travis on the couch. The three turned their heads in their direction, not knowing that they were all in Garroth's room.
Looking around, Garroth noticed that everyone else had already gone home or was in the backyard.
The moment Aphmau made eye contact with Aaron, she turned and said goodbye to Garroth before leaving the house in a rush.
"What's going on?" Katelyn asked, confused by her roommate's behavior.
Emmalyn and Kenmur shrugged as they walked hand in hand out into the backyard, leaving Garroth standing alone, deep in his thoughts.
"Garroth, are you okay?" Aaron asked tentatively, afraid to set him off.
At the mention of his name, Garroth made eye contact with Aaron, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions.
"I... I need to go do something," Garroth finally responded, determination filling his voice. With that, he followed Emmalyn and Kenmur out the backdoor.
This all led to where Garroth was now.
===
"Let's talk."
Garroth didn't trust himself enough to talk so he nodded, watching as Laurance took a breath before he spoke. Laurance's eyes didn't reach his face. Instead, they were averted left and right, never meeting Garroth's gaze for more than a second. With Garroth's silence, Laurance continued.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said at the party. I was scared of people knowing something about me that I couldn't really accept myself. What I said was terrible and I didn't mean any of it because-" Laurance looked Garroth straight in the eyes-
"I like you, Garroth."
There he goes again using the same four words that made Garroth's heart skip a beat every time. As Garroth stood there love-stricken, he had almost forgotten to respond.
"It's okay. I read your note and I got the flag. Thank you, and I'm sorry too. The whole thing with the mistletoe should have just been a stupid accident, but I overreacted. I wasn't ready to tell you my sexuality or that I... I liked you too."
A small smile formed on Laurance's lips as he heard those last words.
"You shouldn't have been forced to say that when you weren't ready. I'm sorry for putting you in that situation."
"Well, you were going to find out soon anyway."
The two shared a light laugh, the tension slowly easing off of them.
"So, about gay chicken..."
Garroth groaned, covering his growing red face with his hands. He had tried hard to bury that memory, too embarrassed to even mention it.
"Oh dear Irene, that was so stupid."
Laurance let out a full laugh at his reaction, trying to hide how embarrassing it was for him as well.
"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking."
"I don't either. I keep trying to get it out of my memory. I mean it was funny, but the fact that we really tried to use it to settle an argument was just..."
"Yeah, It... You didn't really see it as gay chicken, did you?"
Garroth nodded in agreement.
"To be honest, I just wanted an excuse to kiss you, but it wasn't right to try and do it like that. I'm glad that we didn't end up kissing, but I wouldn't have been upset if we did."
Laurance blushed realizing they had the exact same thought. A beat of silence passed through them before Laurance finally spoke.
"So, what now?"
A smile grew on Garroth's face.
"Well, what do you want to do?"
Laurance knew what he wanted, but he couldn't be unrealistic about it.
"It's a no-brainer that I want to date you, but after everything that's happened, I need some time. I don't want to rush into this too fast, especially since we finally started talking again."
"I agree, I don't want to mess things up again. Although, I wouldn't mind too much if you wanted to date right now," Garroth teased, eliciting a laugh from his friend.
"So, will you wait for me?
Garroth gazed into Laurance's light blue eyes that shimmered with adoration. In them, he saw his best friend, the man who had stuck by him through every mistake he had made. The guy who remained his best friend while they went to separate colleges for four years. Even while they were fighting over Aphmau, they knew that they wouldn't let someone tear apart their friendship. If there was one thing Laurance had taught him throughout all these years, it was patience. Besides, Laurance was worth waiting for.
"Always."
Laurance smiled wide, showing his shining set of teeth and crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. He moved his arms wide open.
"Wanna hug it out?" Laurance offered, flipping the roles on Garroth.
"No homo?" Garroth joked.
"Just shut up and hug me."
Without hesitation, Garroth moved straight into Laurance's open arms, wrapping his own around his body. Laurance buried his face in the crook of Garroth's neck, savoring the sweet moment of finally getting his friend back. Of course, these moments never last for long, but they knew that this wasn't the last one. Never again would they allow their relationship to go sour.
"Garroth?" Laurance asked tentatively as he felt something attached to Garroth's shirt.
"Yeah?"
"What am I touching on your back?"
Garroth was quiet for a moment before he sighed,
"Feathers."
{A/N: Whoop whoop! I hope you guys liked it! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a star and a comment! I'll hopefully see you guys again in two weeks. Hopefully. Bye!"