Carson Hughes
Canceling on Dana was impossible.
That was how I ended up walking through a corn maze that night with Dana, Logan, and Vinny. What I really didn't expect was to be walking with Logan while Dana and Vinny walked ahead of us, each holding a hot cocoa in their hands.
Apparently it was the last weekend for the haunted corn maze since Halloween had just passed, and Dana was mad that she and Logan hadn't gone at all this year. However, I could tell that wasn't the only thing Dana was mad about.
"I don't know, man, she's been acting weird," Logan said when I asked him about it. "We've been fighting more than usual."
The fact that the two were fighting at all was jarring. They had always been so good together and it was strange to think that was changing.
"About what?" I asked, glancing over at him and away from our significant others walking ahead.
"Stupid stuff," he said with a frustrated sigh. "I don't pay enough attention to her, but we also spend too much time together, we have sex too much, but not enough. It's weird."
I wished my problems with Vinny were as mundane as that.
"I love her and I want to stay with her," Logan continued as the two walked further and further ahead of us. "But I don't know if she... maybe she doesn't love me anymore? I don't know. I hate talking about this."
Part of me felt like a bad friend for not knowing what to say to Logan. He was the one experienced in relationships, not me. My relationship was barely staying afloat while his had been steady for three years.
"I honestly think part of it is because of Hadley and Darren," Logan told me in a low tone, not that the others ahead would be able to hear us.
"Why?"
"They're in their honeymoon phase," Logan said, a sharp breath leaving his mouth and causing a cloud to form in front of us. "He does whatever she wants. Literally, Darren follows Hadley around like a puppy and their relationship is new and exciting."
"I think you're just speculating," I told him after his words trailed off into silence.
"Maybe," he said. "But if she dumps me, be prepared to see me mope like you've never seen before."
I let out a laugh, tucking my hands into my pockets. "We might be in the same boat."
"No, we won't," he instantly replied. "He may be mad now, but the fact that he didn't dump you on the spot is saying something."
I had tried convincing myself of that, but it didn't seem to be the case. If Vinny eventually decided he couldn't move on from what I did, then he would end up dumping me. This was just a trial period, seeing if we could move on from this bump in the road, but only time would tell.
We had eventually walked far enough into the maze that we were at the actual scary part. Dana and Vinny stopped to wait for us before entering the darker part of the maze where screams of joy, or terror, could be heard.
Dana caught Logan's hand in hers when we caught up to them. I wanted nothing more than to reach for Vinny's, but I didn't. He had to be the one to initiate those things because if I tried to, it might only push him away.
Vinny walked silently beside me as we entered the "haunted" part of this maze.
I had been here before with my friends a few times. There was one time Archie got so scared he jumped on top of Isaac and Isaac basically had to carry him out of there. Of course, Archie always denied this. He tried to convince everyone that he got light headed and thought he was going to pass out, but no one believed him. Especially not after seeing the way he jumped and screamed after being scared by some guy with a fake chainsaw.
As we walked through the maze now, Dana jumped every time she heard a noise and squished herself closer to Logan. Vinny started walking closer to me and I tried not to let myself get my hopes too high that he would eventually hold my hand.
We rounded a corner and a man with fake blood splattered all over his face jumped out at us, causing Dana to let out a shrill scream immediately followed by a giggle. Vinny reached out and gripped my arm but released it almost immediately.
However, when another person came out from the corn right beside him, Vinny jumped into me and grabbed onto my arm again, spilling some of his hot cocoa on his hand. He hissed at the burning liquid on his skin.
"Shit, are you okay?" I asked, leading him away from the person who just scared us.
"I'm fine," he said, shaking the liquid off his hand. His other hand continued gripping my arm as we kept going. "Let's never let Dana force us into this dumb shit again."
I didn't want to let the hope show on my face, but what he said made it seem like he expected us to be together long enough to run the risk of Dana forcing us back to the haunted corn maze next year.
"Next time we do the day time maze," I said with a small smile forming on my face.
"Or just stay away from anything haunted in general," he replied and just as he finished speaking, a person dressed as a scarecrow jumped out in front of us, causing the two of us to flinch back.
Vinny dropped his hot cocoa on the ground and moved his hand from my arm to grip my hand before quickly pulling me through the rest of the maze.
"I'm done with this shit," he said as we passed Dana and Logan.
I smiled when we exited the maze and Vinny's hand stayed in mine.
"I needed to get out of there before I accidentally started throwing punches," he said as we waited at the exit for the others.
"I'm sure you wouldn't be the only one that did that," I told him.
"That stupid scarecrow made me drop my cocoa," Vinny complained with a shiver. He hadn't brought anything more than a thin sweatshirt with him and since we were still in an awkward place, I hadn't tried to get him to bring something heavier.
I would have been lying if I said I put on a jacket over my sweatshirt in case he would need it. I wished I was that thoughtful, but I still released Vinny's hand from mine and took the jacket off to hand it over to him.
He gave me a strange look, eyes darting from the jacket in my hands then back up to my face.
"Take it," I said. "You're shivering."
Vinny reluctantly took the jacket from me and put it on. It was a little big on him, the sleeves reaching past his hands, but at least it would keep him warm while we were outside.
"I might keep this," he said after a moment, pulling my arm around him as he lodged himself at my side. "It's comfy."
"You can have it," I said, pulling him close.
"I was just kidding," he said, his lips quirking up slightly.
"You guys left us in there!" Dana exclaimed as she pulled Logan from the maze.
"This is the last time I let you pick where we're going," Vinny told her with a pointed look. She let go of Logan's hand and held her arm out to Vinny. He looped his arm through hers and let my arm fall from his shoulders as the two walked ahead of us toward the concession stand.
Logan and I shared looks of confusion.
"Are they becoming friends or something?" he asked as we followed behind them.
"Seems that way."
"I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
I watched as Vinny laughed at something Dana said. It was one of his real laughs, the one that makes his eyes crinkle from his smile. There was no way I could look at that and think of it as something negative.
"A good thing I think," I told Logan as we began to catch up to them.
We all ended up getting hot ciders and finding a picnic table to sit at as we drank. Dana and Vinny sat on one side while Logan and I sat across from them.
"Is that Isaac over there?" Dana pointed out, gesturing behind us.
Logan and I turned around and sure enough, Isaac was standing near the concession stand. With his arm around Spencer. I looked away as the two shared a kiss and my eyes landed on Vinny who was staring at them with a strange expression.
"Oh my God is he dating Spencer?" Dana asked in a rushed out whisper.
"Apparently!" Logan replied in an exasperated tone.
"Did he ever say anything about it?"
"No!" Logan said before turning to me. "Did he tell you?"
I shook my head. "He never said anything. Neither has Spencer."
I hadn't really seen Spencer since the night Vinny had dinner at my house and he showed up with Paul, but who knew how long he and Isaac had been seeing each other.
"Should we say something or act like we didn't see them?" Dana asked, her tone still hushed as she stared at them.
"Stop staring," Logan hissed. "Just leave them alone, Isaac will say something when he's ready."
I glanced over at Vinny again as he took a sip of cider. His expression was now blank, not giving away how he felt about seeing Spencer. The two of us hadn't spoken about Spencer since our fight about it, but I now realized we were going to have to talk about him eventually, especially if Spencer ended up being my stepbrother one day.
"Do you want to leave?" I asked Vinny quietly, though Logan and Dana still heard.
"I'm fine, Carson," he muttered with narrowed eyes.
"Oh shit, Isaac saw me," Dana said, ducking her head as if that would make her invisible.
Logan and I turned around to see that Isaac was now looking over at us with a hard expression. He said something to Spencer before starting to walk over to us alone.
"Well, this is awkward," Isaac said once he was standing in front of us.
"Just act like we aren't here!" Dana said, lifting her head back up. "Go enjoy your date. We're not even here."
"It's not—" Isaac started before placing his hands on his hips and letting out a heavy sigh, briefly looking up at the sky before directing his attention back at us. "It's just a casual thing."
Isaac's gaze fell to Vinny, who looked up at him with raised eyebrows, and for some reason, that made me suddenly feel protective. It was a foreign feeling as I wanted to force Isaac to look anywhere but at him. I didn't know much about their history, and part of me never wanted to know, but I felt crazy for not even wanting the two to look at each other.
"It really didn't look like a casual thing," Dana remarked with a slight smirk. Isaac looked over at her with an unreadable expression.
"Well, it is," Isaac said, turning his gaze back to Vinny who shot him a glare.
"I don't know why you're trying to convince me of anything, Isaac," he snapped. "I really don't give a shit."
This made me realize I hadn't seen the two interact much at all other than now and maybe there was more to the two of them than either were letting on.
"I just don't want you to think he's going to start coming around and make things weird for you and Carson," Isaac replied after letting out another heavy sigh.
Vinny held his glare on Isaac, but didn't reply.
"It's fine, Isaac," I spoke up, causing both of them to look at me. "You don't have to worry about making things weird for us."
Of course, if he did start bringing Spencer around, it would make things weird for a while, but I didn't want that to be the reason he didn't pursue a relationship with him if that was what he wanted to do.
I got up from the picnic table and stood next to Isaac.
"I'm going to get more cider, does anyone want anything?" I asked the others. Vinny took one last sip of his drink before raising the cup, signaling he wanted another.
"Oh! Can you get some of those cinnamon donut sticks?" Dana asked in an excited tone. "I saw some people walking around with them and now I'm hardcore craving them."
"You got it," I told her before gesturing for Isaac to walk away with me.
"I'm sorry if it's weird," he mumbled, looking down on the ground as we walked. "I didn't expect any of you to find out."
"It's not weird," I denied. "But what's up with you and Vinny?" I hated even asking. I felt like an asshole for bringing it up, but the two seemed to have more tension between them than I had ever noticed.
"Nothing," Isaac instantly replied. "There was some weirdness with Spencer while Vinny and I were hooking up because Spencer wanted him obviously."
I grimaced at the reminder of Isaac and Vinny together.
"So Spencer didn't like me very much back then," he continued, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Well, he didn't like me at all while I was with Vinny. He wasn't, like, nasty to me or anything, but I could just tell."
I nodded and let out a hum.
"And I kinda convinced Vinny to give Spencer a shot," Isaac added, causing my eyes to widen. "And we all see how that turned out."
"Why would you do that?"
Isaac shrugged. "He and I were never together and I knew we wouldn't last and Spencer seemed like a good guy who obviously like Vinny so I just told him to try it. He didn't have to listen to me."
Maybe Vinny held some sort of resentment toward Isaac for that.
"So how did you end up with Spencer?" I wondered.
"Again, I'm not with him," Isaac corrected me. "We have a class together and started talking."
I wasn't going to mention that I had saw them kissing.
"And I'm the only single one out of all of us, so it's kinda nice to have someone," Isaac added.
I wanted to tell him that if he truly wanted to be with Isaac, I would support him, but we had reached the concession stand where Spencer stood before I had the chance.
"Hey, Spencer," I greeted, holding my hand up in a wave.
"Hey," he awkwardly replied. His hands were fidgeting in front of him like he wished he had something to do with them as a distraction.
"Haven't seen you in a while," I remarked.
He nodded. "My mom was in town for a little while between jobs, so I was spending time with her."
"Well, it's good to see you," I said truthfully, even though it was under unexpected circumstances.
However, I looked at him differently now that I knew the truth behind what had happened with him and Vinny and how what Spencer had done had broken him. I didn't know if I would ever be able to look at him the same knowing that. I was sure he had his reasons, whether they were good ones or not.
I walked away from the two of them, telling them both I would see them later. I held eye contact with Isaac for an extra moment before turning away to order more cider and Dana's donut sticks. I took the ciders and donut sticks in a tray before making my way back to the picnic table, only to be stopped by a brunette girl about my age.
"Hey, you need help with any of that?" she asked. She placed her hand on my arm as she spoke. I looked at her, trying to see if I could place her face somewhere in my mind. I soon decided she looked familiar, though I didn't think we had ever spoken and I didn't know her name.
"I'm good thanks," I said with a smile, causing her to blush. That wasn't a good sign.
"You're Carson, right?" she asked and I nodded. "I'm Emelia. We go to school together."
We did?
Emelia must have seen the confusion on my face because she let out a giggle, slightly throwing her head back as her hand still gripped my arm.
"I'm a junior," she explained.
"Oh, right," I said, though I didn't actually know that beforehand.
"Darren's little sister?" she continued.
Oh. That made more sense. I finally saw the resemblance between the two. They had the same gray eyes and pointed nose. I couldn't be sure if I recognized her because I had actually seen her before or if it was just because she looked like Darren.
"So, anyway, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out sometime?" Emelia asked, moving closer to me as she rubbed her hand up and down my arm. "Since your friend is dating Darren and all... maybe we could hang out."
She started bringing her face closer to mine, though not in a way like she was trying to kiss me. More like she just wanted to be close to me, to make me nervous so I would say yes without thinking too hard about it.
Luckily, I was saved from the encounter when Vinny, Logan, and Dana walked up to us.
"We're leaving," Vinny snapped, setting a hard scowl on Emelia.
"Oh, hey Vinny," Emelia replied, backing away from me slightly, but still keeping her hand on my arm.
"Yeah, hey, what the fuck are you doing?" he asked, causing Emelia to look at him as if he was crazy.
"Vinny," I said, stepping away from Emelia, her hand falling away.
He continued glaring at Emelia and she was so surprised by his actions that she couldn't even respond to him.
Vinny took the tray away from me and held it in one hand while grasping my hand with his other one and leading us away. Dana and Logan followed closely behind.
"Why are we leaving?" I asked as we continued toward the parking lot.
"Dana doesn't feel well," Vinny replied with a huff, stomping his feet as we walked.
I suddenly realized that I was experiencing a jealous Vinny and I couldn't help but smile down at him.
"You know I didn't even know who that girl was?" I asked him with a grin.
He shook his head at me. "If she touched you for one more second, I was going to start a fight."
I laughed at that.
"Thanks for saving me, Vinvin," I said, pulling his hand up to my lips to place a kiss on the back of it.
He grumbled incoherently as I briefly turned around to Dana and Logan.
"You don't want your donuts?" I asked Dana.
She shook her head, suddenly looking pale. "I don't feel good."
Logan had his arm around her with a panicked look on his face like he was worried she was going to pass out.
And with that, Vinny and I shared the donut sticks in the backseat of Logan's car while Dana moaned and held her stomach in the front seat and Logan glanced at her every couple of seconds as he drove.
"Did I tell you my therapist wants us to do family therapy?" Vinny asked once the two of us were lying in his bed later that night.
"No, you didn't," I said. I had my arm around him while he had his thrown over my stomach, his head on my chest.
"It's gonna be so awkward," he mumbled against me.
"Probably," I agreed and Vinny let out a laugh.
"Thanks for not trying to make me feel better about it."
"I'm sorry, I—"
"No, I mean it," he interrupted me. "Sometimes I just want you to agree with me."
Vinny had his eyes closed, his speech slurring a bit at the end as he dozed off.
I stayed up later that night, enjoying the feeling of him against me.
**
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