The moment they walked into the mall Saturday morning, Grian was already eyeing the carousel. It was near hilarious the way he tried so hard to be nonchalant as he hinted that he wanted to go on it.
"You know, guys," Grian said, leaning into Jimmy as they walked passed the fountain and in the direction of the ride, "I heard that carousels are good for your brain."
Joel snorted from on the other side of Jimmy. "What are they good for?" he asked mockingly.
"Stimulation of the senses," answered the boy as he pointed to his head. "Also helps increase production of serotonin, by the way." Grian winked at Joel, who rolled his eyes and chuckled in response.
Fwhip laughed, swinging an arm around Grian's shoulders as he said, "I think we owe it you to let you go on it."
Grian's eyes lit up like a child getting a new toy. "Really?"
Chuckling again, Fwhip nodded. "Yeah, really."
Grian gasped and stopped walking, punching the air in his excitement. The others smiled fondly at the sight, and after his dance of victory, Grian cleared his throat and nodded, then marched off toward the carousel, saying, "Well, come on, then."
"You heard the man," Fwhip said as he started pushing everyone along from behind. "Get moving."
Joel scoffed. "I'm not going that thing," he said, sounding more proud than not. He let out a whine when Lizzie nudged him. "Do I seriously have to?"
Lizzie nodded. "Yes, sir, you do." She took him by the hand and dragged him along, quickly catching up to Grian, who was already standing in line.
Despite Joel's whines and protests, he seemed to enjoy the ride. In fact, he even offered to go back on when Grian wanted to go a second time. Meanwhile, Lizzie, Jimmy, and Fwhip sat down at one of the tables off to the side of the food court.
"Why does he like that thing so much?" Fwhip asked as they watched Grian and Joel bob up and down on their horses.
Lizzie sighed. "He's... childhood deprived, I guess," she answered. "He never got to do things like riding a carousel when he was younger." She snorted, smiling down at the table now. "Fairs are his favorite place to go during the summer. He absolutely loves going on the Ferris wheel."
Jimmy giggled. "I remember the first time we took him on one," he said, a happy and gently reminiscent tone in his voice. He turned his attention to Fwhip as he spoke. "Me and Lizzie-"
"Lizzie and I," the oldest of the three corrected
Jimmy groaned. "Lizzie and I took Grian and Mumbo to the fair a couple years ago," he continued. "Grian had never been to one before, and we convinced him to go on the Ferris wheel with us. He was scared at first, but once we got to the top, he said he liked the view too much to be scared anymore."
Fwhip snickered. "Of course." He sighed contently and rested his chin on his palm. "Looks like they're going on again."
Lizzie hummed. "It's about noon," she said, standing up. "You guys want anything to eat?" She held a hand up in front of Jimmy before he could speak and said, "There are no McDonald's at this mall."
"What about Taco Bell?" Fwhip asked, and Lizzie grimaced.
"You want Taco Bell? That stuff makes you gassy."
"So?"
"I'm not driving a bunch of stinky, gassy, constipated boys home in my car later," Lizzie said, crossing her arms.
Fwhip sighed. "Why not have Grian choose?"
Lizzie blinked. "Oh. That's..." She sat down. "That's a good point."
It was a bit before Joel had convinced Grian to finally get off of the carousel.
"Sorry for making you go on with me," Grian apologized shyly as he and Joel slowly approached the table the other three sat at.
Joel wrapped an arm around Grian, his other hand stuffed into his leather jacket pocket. "Don't worry about it," the brunette said. "I'm happy to go on it with you, but it's well after noon now, and I'm sort of starving over here."
Grian hummed. "Right, sorry."
Sighing, Joel let go of the blonde and nudged him with his elbow. "Quit apologizing," Joel scolded gently. "You've no reason to say sorry, so don't."
Grian nodded. "Thank you," he mumbled quietly. He sniffled and hid his watery eyes with his forearm. "Thank you."
"Hey, hey." Joel stopped walking, turning Grian to face him. "Look at me."
Grian let out a protesting whine.
"Grian, look at me, bud."
Grian lowered his arm.
Joel's eyes softened as a gentle smile spread over the brunette's lips. "Listen, I care about you," he started, "more than you will ever know. Okay? And I will go to the ends of the earth for you if I have to." Grian's eyes drifted away and Joel put a hand to the other boy's cheek to get his attention. "Riding a carousel is the least I could do for you right now with how much you've been through overnight."
"Really?" Grian asked, his voice cracking.
"Really," Joel echoed back, smiling fondly at Grian. He pulled the younger into a hug. "I don't say this enough, but I love you, Grian. Trust me when I say you deserve so much more than the cards the universe has dealt you."
Grian let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "I don't know about that," he said. "I've been given some pretty great friends, so..." He trailed off, hugging Joel tighter as the latter chuckled. "I'd say I'm pretty lucky despite my... situation."
"Look at you being all sentimental, you goof," Joel teased, earning a kick to the shin. "Ow-"
"Don't you dare tell anyone about this, got it?" Grian said with half-hearted venom in his voice. "I'll skin you."
Joel snorted. "Sure thing."
Joel waited for Grian to calm down a bit more before going over to the table where the others sat, though the blonde's face was still quite red.
"Oh, there they-" Lizzie gasped when she saw Grian's face. "Are you alright?"
Grian opened his mouth to answer, but Joel threw an arm around the younger and spoke first. "He's alright," the brunette said. "Just got a little too excited on the carousel."
Lizzie smiled. "Where do you want to go for food?" she asked, nodding her head toward the several food chains in the court.
Looking around for a moment, Grian finally came to a decision. "Taco Bell," he said confidently, and it seemed like it took everything for Lizzie to not grumble about it.
"Alright," she said, standing up from her seat. She smiled and took his hand. "Come on, I'll get you whatever you want."
Jimmy and Fwhip didn't join Lizzie and Joel as they took Grian to get everyone's food.
"It's like watching a couple with their kid," Fwhip joked, nudging Jimmy with his elbow.
Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. If they could, they'd adopt Grian, go buy a house on the water in Brighton, and live happily ever after," he said. "Not before they got married, though. Though, they'd get married right now if Dad didn't absolutely despise him."
"Your old man doesn't like Joel?"
"Not a single bit," the blonde answered. "Dad thinks he's in some kind of a biker gang."
Fwhip snorted. "Joel? In a biker gang?" The ginger barked out a laugh. "The short guy in drama club? In a biker gang?"
Jimmy covered his mouth with his hand, trying not to laugh. "Oh my god."
They chatted while they waited for the other three to return with lunch, joking and laughing about anything and everything. At some point, Jimmy had caught a glimpse of bright blue hair walking into a Hot Topic, but before he could even try to tell if it was Scott or not, Grian sat next to the other blonde, blocking his view of the store.
"Timmy, eat," Grian ordered, mouth half full of food.
Jimmy blinked, confused. "Wha-"
"Eat!"
Throwing his hands up, Jimmy surrendered. "Alright," he said, laughing a bit to himself as hs grabbed a taco. "Where are we going next?" He took a bite, and the entire bottom of the taco gave way, letting everything inside fall onto the table. "Are you kidding me?"
Lizzie covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh, while Fwhip laughed hysterically between her and Jimmy.
"I'll go grab some napkins," Joel offered, laughing as well as he stood up.
Fwhip was practically gasping for air as he cackled at Jimmy's misfortune. "How did you manage to-" The ginger cut himself off as he started laughing again.
Jimmy scowled. "Don't laugh." He whipped his head around when he heard Grian snickering. "Not you, t-" Jimmy stopped when Grian started full-on laughing, a look of pure joy on the younger's face. Jimmy's half-hearted scowl softened to a small smile before he began to chuckle as well.
Eventually, they'd cleaned up the mess and finished eating, and they split off into two groups - Joel and Lizzie with Grian, and Fwhip with Jimmy.
"Why are we going to Hot Topic?" Fwhip asked, almost sounding disgusted as they walked into the store. "There's nothing cool here."
Jimmy shrugged. "I saw a cool T-shirt from the window," he lied, eyeing the display of T-shirt designs. He walked over to the rack, but watched out of the corner of his eye to see if he could catch sight of that beautiful blue hair again.
Fwhip rolled his eyes. "I guess they do have some cool things," he admitted, staring oddly at a rack of hoodies.
"That'll be sixty-seven dollars and eighty-three cents," Jimmy overheard the cashier saying, before another voice.
Scott's voice.
"Okay," he said in his usual quiet manner. Jimmy loved how he spoke. There was a beat of silence before Scott sighed. "You know what? Just..." He let out a frustrated grunt. "Never mind," he said. "I can come back another day."
"Alright," the cashier said. "Have a nice-"
"Wait," Jimmy said before he could stop himself. He heard Fwhip mutter an agitated of course under his breath. Jimmy walked over, pulling his little leather wallet from his pocket. "How much do you need?"
Scott looked confused. "Wha-" He cut himself off, blinking a few times as he realized what Jimmy meant. "Oh, that's fine you don't have to-"
"How much do you need?" Jimmy insisted.
Scott stood in silence for a moment, hesitating before looking down at his own wallet. "I..." He whispered numbers to himself. "Eleven," he said finally.
Jimmy smiled and pulled out a ten and a one, handing it happily to Scott. "There you go."
"Thank you," the cyanette said shyly.
After Scott paid for his things, Jimmy (despite Fwhip's many protests) offered to let Scott hang out with them for the rest of the day.
"Are you sure?" Scott asked. His eyes looked nervous as he fiddled with the plastic bag in his hand.
Jimmy nodded. "A hundred percent." He ignored Fwhip's groan from behind him. "No one likes to be by themselves, right?"
Scott stared at Jimmy for a moment. "I..." He huffed out a soft chuckle, and Jimmy could've sworn there was a swarm of butterflies flying about in his stomach. "I guess you're right." He glanced over at Fwhip. "But I don't want to intrude."
Fwhip hummed sarcastically. "How considerate," he said. "Why don't you leave, then?"
Jimmy gasped and turned to throw a light punch at Fwhip's shoulder. "Be nice!"
"You want me to be nice?" Fwhip nearly yelled. "That asshole made you cry yesterday!" Scott looked down at the ground. "He said we weren't worth a second thought. Why the hell would you ask me to be nice to him?"
Jimmy paused. "Because it's mean to be rude, that's why," he said finally. "And-" He glanced over to Scott, who was digging the toe of his white converse high-tops into the tile floor. Jimmy sighed. "I don't think he meant it." Scott looked up at this, and he didn't look as nervous as before.
Fwhip scoffed. "You're only saying that because you like him," he spat, and suddenly, Jimmy didn't want Scott to tag along with them as much anymore. "But, guess what, Jimmy? Scott has a boyfriend, so get the hell over it. I don't understand your pining-"
"Wait, what?" Scott stared between the two, a wide-eyed and baffled expression on his face.
Jimmy's cheeks flushed, and not just from embarrassment. He was furious. "Well," he continued, directing his bitter words at Fwhip, "if you don't want to at least try to tolerate being with Scott, you don't have to hang out with us."
"Ha! Well, maybe I didn't want to hang out with you in the first place," Fwhip retorted. "Maybe I only came 'cause I'd be able to hang out with Grian, Joel, and Lizzie. Maybe, I don't even like you!"
That last shout made Jimmy flinch.
Jimmy nodded, his eyes burning. "Okay," he said, his voice smaller than Fwhip had ever heard it before. "That's fine. You can go hang out with them, then. See if I care."
Fwhip sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Jim, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, I get it," Jimmy interrupted, and a single tear involuntarily slipped down his cheek. "You don't like me. Maybe I don't like you, either." He turned to leave, but stopped and said over his shoulder, "By the way, if you want to talk about assholes, you should take a look in the mirror."
Fwhip stared at Jimmy for a moment as the latter walked away before huffing. He glanced over at Scott, who looked confused and almost hurt.
"Why are you just standing there?" Fwhip asked, drawing Scott's attention. "You gonna follow him or not?"
Scott opened his mouth to speak but decided against it and rushed after Jimmy.
* * *
Grian kind of just said ✨main character✨ these past couple chapters. Don't worry, next chapter won't be angst. Well. Mostly. :) /lh/pos
By the way, I've made a playlist on Spotify inspired by this book! The link is in my carrd in my bio :) /lh/pos