"Good morning." Jess smiled as he slid into the passenger seat. He turned the heat on, a habit Isaac realized he's going to do everyday. It was adorable.
"Good morning." Isaac held out his hand and Jess grabbed it, intertwining their fingers.
They started the drive and Jess settled in his seat. After a few moments of quiet Jess spoke. "Tally and Mason are really joining the group aren't they?"
"Yeah." Isaac smiled and nodded. He had always been friends with Mason and he was friendly with Tally. Now, they were making their way into his life and he couldn't be more happy with that. He needed friends after losing his and that's what they became.
"You good with that?" Jess looked over with curiosity. "I mean, you look like you are but I wanna make sure."
"Yeah. They're good guys." Zack nodded.
"Okay." Jess smiled too. "I just didn't know if you were just being friendly or if you were actually okay with them hanging around all the time."
"I'm okay with it." Isaac said.
"Okay." Jess squeezed his hand.
The rest of the drive they didn't say anything. Jess's music played quietly in the background and any time Jess would hum along under his breath Isaac would grin. He really got lucky with Jess.
They pulled up to the school and parked. Jess leaned over to kiss Isaac's cheek before stepping out. Zack smiled widely while getting out as well. They started the walk into the school together, not touching but walking close next to each other.
Tally trudged over and threw his arm around Jess, smiling over at Zack. "Good morning love birds."
"Hey, Tal." Thinking about giving someone a nickname when they already go by a nickname was weird. Zack cringed on the inside. That was weird of him.
Luckily, Tally didn't seem to mind. His smile stayed the same. "How're you guys?"
"Good." Jess answered with a smile.
They approached Jess's locker which seemed to be a new meeting ground for them. Isaac rarely used his locker but Jess had to grab his bag each morning since he didn't take it home. So, his locker seemed to be becoming a new meeting place.
Tally retracted his arm from Jess's shoulders so the other boy could open his locker. Zack and Tally were in a small half circle around the locker. After Jess got his bag they'd all stay there and talk while waiting. Slowly, their friends would meet them as they arrived.
It was kinda like deja vu for Zack. Jace's locker used to be a meet-up spot for his friend group. Every time their newly formed group would cluster around Jess's locker it was like a pained reminder for Isaac that he would never be getting back what he used to have and this was just a replacement.
He could be happy with that, though. He wouldn't dwell too much on people he needed to leave in the past. They chose not to be here anymore. The more he reminded himself of that the less he found the urge to walk over to Jace's locker in the mornings.
The pain was still there, but he would force it to subside. He could focus on the now. On Jess. Jess made him happy.
"Good morning, my friends." Andrew walked over to join them in their circle.
"Hello Andrew." Tally's voice was cheerful and his smile matched his tone.
It was strange to Isaac. Tally was so nice but apparently he didn't like people all that much. According to Mason, there were few people Tally could be around constantly. He apparently got snappy when he was around people he didn't like for long. Zack had trouble imagining that.
"Are we still waiting for Mason?" Andrew glanced around.
"He and Kristi are probably making out in his car." Tally shrugged the question off. Andrew nodded in understanding.
"Makes sense." He then drew his attention elsewhere, to Zack. "Hey, is it true you're getting your schedule changed?"
Isaac shrugged. The entirety of the focus shifted to him. Jess was looking at him with his beautiful eyes filled with curiosity.
"After this semester you're going to start baseball practice with Tally and since Mason left for basketball, I'll be alone. I don't see the point in staying." Isaac explained.
Jace would be there the whole time, glaring from across the field. Zack wouldn't admit it but he was scared. He was scared that once Andrew left he would have more opportunities to be caught alone with the boy. He feared he wouldn't be able to handle if Jace went off on him again.
"Hey." Mason walked over to join their group, Kristi following behind him with her hand in his.
"Hey." Jess said smiling softly at the both of them.
"Good morning." Kristi gave him a small smile as well.
"I heard you have a B in math." Jess shook his head in mock disappointment. "How could you?"
"Shut up." She narrowed her eyes at him. "It was one test score that brought my grade down."
Jess smiled playfully. "One test you failed completely. Aren't you supposed to be the genuis?"
"You have no room to speak, Jess Roma. I recall in sophomore year you were failing science for half of a semester." She was smirking.
Jess gaped. "I was in a bad place."
She rolled her eyes but they both chuckled afterwards. Mason and Isaac shared a small smile as they looked between their partners.
"You guys are nerds." Tally shook his head at them.
Kristi leaned over and flicked his forehead. "And you're a dumb jock with no room to talk."
Tally gaped, looking offended, and put a hand over his heart. "You hurt me, Kristi."
"Suck it up." She then looked over to Mason and gave him a fond smile. "I'm going to find Jane now."
He nodded and she walked away. He then refocused on the group around him. Isaac smiled at him and he smiled back.
"Mase, you need to tell her not to talk to me like that. I'm your best friend and she's so rude." Tally crossed his arms over his chest and looked over with a huff.
"Sorry man, she does what she wants." Mason shrugged off his friend's pouts.
"So rude." Tally whispered under his breath and they all chuckled softly.
The bell rang and they all dispersed. Everyone went their own ways to their own classes. There wasn't a goodbye between them because there didn't need to be. It was just a silent exchange of nods before they left each other.
Mason and Isaac walked alongside each other towards their shared first hour. "Kristi and Jess get along well, don't they?"
"Yeah." Isaac nods. "From my understanding, Jess will get along with anybody and Kristi is nice."
"Yeah. She wants to hangout sometime. With you and Jess. She hangs out with Tally and I all the time so I'm not sure if she means like that or as in a double date. I'm kinda scared to ask."
Zack chuckled. "I'm fine with either."
"Me too, I just don't know how to figure out which one she's implying. I don't want to ask and have her laugh at me for not knowing. She's kinda mean." Mason had a fond smile as he talked.
"Ask her where we should hangout. Her answer will tell you which one she means." Isaac said simply. "Tally and you just chill at each other's houses so if she says just your house or something then she just means hanging out. If she says something that's more like a date setting then you know it's probably a double date thing."
Mason gave him a grin. "You are so wise."
Zack chuckled, "Don't sound so surprised."
They reached their class and went to their seats. The class period flew by with ease and then they left each other to go to their next one. The whole day was like that, going by quickly.
At lunch they all sat together again and Jess joined in a little more with conversation. Zack was more than pleased he was comfortable enough around his friends to talk to them. Then after lunch it was back to classes that passed by easily. Isaac didn't miss the glare from Ethan when he went into fifth hour but he ignored it.
When the seventh hour bell rang Isaac left his classroom and walked down the hall. Tally, Mason, and Andrew found him and they stepped into stride next to him. They didn't talk but they didn't need to.
Mason said bye and waved when he had to split up with them to head to the gym. The other three continued to walk together towards the football locker rooms that were next to the weightrooms.
"I'm thinking of doing power lifting after you switch out of athletics." Tally informed them.
"Oh yeah? You think you have the muscle for that?" Andrew teased.
"Hey, now. Rude." Tally puffed out his cheeks in pout before his expression returned to normal. "I like working out."
"So you're going to turn into a gym rat on us?" Isaac offered. Tally didn't take it as an insult.
"Yep. Guess so. You think it'll get me girls?" Tally wiggled his eyebrows.
"Dude, nothing can get you girls." Andrew deadpanned.
"Wow, okay, mean." Tally rolled his eyes but a quick smile took over his face once again.
They walked into the locker room and set their bags down on the benches. Isaac pulled off his shirt and then dug around his bag some to look for his athletic shirt. Someone shouldered him from behind and he looked over his shoulder. It was Luke. Lovely.
Jace was behind him, glaring. He shot another daggered look towards Andrew. The boy in question glared right back and didn't flinch when Jace mumbled while passing by. "Traitor."
"Well aren't they cheery." Tally hummed.
"It's like Zack came out and they're all suddenly angry at the world." Andrew rolled his eyes. "Even Ki is acting like he's pissed and that's the same boy that made your mom jokes twenty-four seven."
Isaac thought about Andrew's words. It was true, the boy that used to be his chipper best friend has seemed more irritable lately. Every time he sees him in the hallway the boy seems mad. It didn't fit his bright personality.
"Right?" Tally agreed. "Like, calm down. It's not that big of a deal."
Isaac shook his head. "They've got their heads up their asses."
"Yeah." Tally said and Andrew nodded from next to him. They continued to change and ran out to the fields later.
○●○●○
"Hey, Jess, what'd you think of chilling at mine with Zack, Kristi, Andrew and Tally this weekend?" Mason looked at the boy Isaac was currently staring at.
It was lunch and they were all at the table they had claimed. Jess had been eating the fries off Isaac's plate after finishing his muffin. Zack wasn't sure what else was happening around them because he had been staring at his boyfriend.
"Oh, uh..." Jess trailed off in thought.
"We can play that game of Uno." Mason offered with a hopeful smile.
Isaac could tell Jess was struggling to find the words to say. He looked down at his lap. "I'm sorry, that sounds fun but my little sister visits on weekends."
"Oh." Mason said in realization. There wasn't any disappointment in his tone. He let a bright smile show on his face. "We can find a different time."
"Oh, okay." Jess nodded, a little smile coming back. "Sorry again."
"Don't sweat it man." Mason smiled and they went back to eating.
Isaac looked over at Jess and he seemed genuinely disappointed. A thought occurred to him and he smiled. He bumped Jess's shoulder with his own to get his attention.
"We could try tonight?" Zack said, offering the idea.
Jess gave him a blank look for a few seconds before he realized what Isaac meant. A smile formed on his face. "Sure."
Isaac smiled back and looked up at the table. "Mase, we could hangout tonight if you wanted."
Mason had a flash and his smile widened. "We could if it's alright with everyone."
He looked around the table. Tally smiled and nodded, and when his eyes landed on Jess the boy smiled and nodded a little too eagerly. Next, Andrew grinned. "I'm down. Only to show you that Uno is a battlefield."
Mason chuckled. "Alright. I'll ask Kristi about it but she'll more than likely be okay with it."
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Isaac agreed finally.
After that Jess was clearly a bit more excited. No one else could probably notice it but Isaac could. He saw the way his eyes shined and the way his smile tugged up on his lips more.
The bell rang, interrupting whatever conversation the table was having. Zack hadn't been a part of said conversation, his focus was elsewhere. Actually, for most of lunch his focus was on Jess.
He's just too pretty to look away from.
"Man, if I don't find me someone that looks at me like that I don't want it." A female voice was speaking and Zack tried to focus back in on what was happening.
He was walking Jess to class and a pretty girl was walking up to them with a grin. Isaac knew her but he was trying to recall her name. Behind her was a red headed girl following her calmly.
The one with faded blonde hair looked between the two. She smiled. "I had my doubts when I heard about you two but he's been looking at you like you hung the moon so I guess I won't be worried."
She was talking to Jess whose ears were red. He smiled, a little bashful, and risked a glance at Isaac before talking. "He's got a bit of a staring problem."
The girl- Mary?- laughed quietly. "You don't say."
"I'm just too hot." Jess shrugged. Zack chuckled then and nodded. That made Jess's ear turn a darker shade.
"I agree."
"Damn. You two are cute." Maria- yes that was her name- grinned.
"I'm glad he's not an asshole." The redheaded girl spoke, looking at Jess with a soft expression.
"You and me both." Jess nodded. He then looked back over at Zack. "The bell's going to ring. Don't be late again."
Isaac chuckled. He was late to fourth hour because he had walked Jess to class. "Fine. I'll see you at my car after school?"
Jess nodded to confirm. "I'll be there."
"Okay." Isaac glanced around at their audience. No one besides the two girls were paying attention so he bent down and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "I'll see you later."
Then, he walked off. He could hear Maria and her friend, Lia, cooing at Jess as he walked. He smiled to himself and made his way to his classroom.
With that same smile, he made it through the day. The last three classes passed by quick with the promise of hanging out with people after school. He'd never been to Mason's house before.
He and Mason had hung out once or twice before. They'd went out to eat with the team once and then another time, they watched a movie at the theaters together. They hadn't ever been really close friends though. Not close enough that they hung out at each other's houses.
He left the athletics locker room with Tally and Andrew. The two were talking about some TV show and he had stopped paying attention. Andrew got too into the plot of movies and shows sometimes and could argue about things for hours. Tally was now encouraging this behavior.
They made it outside and Mason was there. Him and Jess were talking by the entrance. They both looked over and smiled.
"Hey." Mason greeted. "I'm waiting for Kristi."
Isaac nodded and moved over next to Jess. The boy leaned into his presence and he wasn't quite sure if it was just on instinct or on purpose. Either way it made him smile.
"So, we're all meeting at your house?" Andrew asked and Mason nodded.
"Do you know the way?" Tally looked over at him. He shook his head. "Do you want to ride with me? I can bring you back here to pick up your car afterwards."
"Sure." Andrew beamed.
"Bye!" The girl they were waiting on waved to a small cluster of girls before joining them. She smiled at them all. "I hope you weren't waiting too long."
"Nah, we just got here." Zack informed her while Mason wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"You ready to go?" She nodded at his question. "Alright, let's go."
They all went off to their cars. Andrew followed Tally to his jeep and got in the passenger seat, Kristi and Mason went over to his car, and Jess was leading the way towards Zack's. Isaac unlocked the car when he saw that Jess was there so he could climb into the passenger seat.
By the time he got in the car himself Jess had already made himself comfortable and was waiting. He started the car and grabbed Jess's hand while pulling out of the student parking lot. He didn't really have to know where he was going because Tally and Mason were in front of him the whole way, however if they ever did get out of sight he kinda knew the way.
When they parked Tally and Andrew were just hopping out of the red jeep. Andrew waved at them before walking up to the front door. Tally held it open for them and they walked in.
Kristi was on the couch with the remote in hand, looking right at home. Tally went and jumped next to her, trying to steal the remote from her. He seemed right at home here. It made sense, Mason was his best friend so he was probably here often. The thought reminded Zack of how he used to be at Ki's house. Right at home.
He shook off his thoughts. Focusing in on the now and on Tally and Kristi fighting over the remote. While the two were bickering Andrew made his way over and sat in a recliner.
There was a couch, a sofa, and a chair so the living room was much bigger than Isaac's. He looked around as Mason came out of the kitchen with a glass of water and a bag of chips. He handed both to Kristi who thanked him.
"C'mon, guys, make yourselves comfortable. I'll go grab the Uno cards." Mason smiled over at them.
Jess tugged at his hand and got him moving. They ended up sitting on the sofa together, not touching as Jess didn't seem comfortable yet.
Mason ran upstairs and in his absence Tally hit Kristi with a pillow. While he laughed and stole the remote she glared daggers. If looks could kill Talon would be six feet under right now.
"You piece of shit." She picked up the pillow next and pure fear came over his face. When Mason returned his best friend was being brutally beat with a pillow by his girlfriend.
Mason didn't even bat an eye before he sat down next to Kristi on the couch. He grabbed the remote off the floor where Tally had dropped it and turned on the TV. Ignoring his friend's pleas for help, he turned to his guests with a heartwarming smile. "Any requests for what to watch?"
They watched a movie together. When it started playing Mason pulled the pillow away from Kristi and grabbed ahold of her. She melted in his arms and cuddled up next to his side while Tally pouted by himself.
After a couple minutes Jess relaxed. He leaned over onto Zack and the boy smiled. He wrapped his arm around him and pulled him closer. He felt it when all of Jess's muscles relaxed and the boy stopped being so tense.
By the end of the movie Jess was half asleep against him. He looked over and Kristi was in a similar state in her seat on Mason's lap. Zack wasn't sure when she moved.
"Uno now?" Tally looked around and most of them agreed. Jess sleepily nodded but Isaac had a feeling he wouldn't actually be playing.
They shifted onto the floor around Mason's coffee table and he set the deck down. Andrew shuffled and Mason passed them out to everyone. He looked at Jess with a questioning glance as the boy leaned over onto Zack. Isaac shook his head to answer the question so Mason didn't pass any cards to the sleepy boy.
Instead, Jess shifted into Isaac's lap and watched the game from there. On occasion he would whisper something in Zack's ear and he would have to take his advice. How could he not when that was how Jess was giving it to him?
The game did become a war between Tally, Kristi, and Andrew. They tried to rope Mason into it but the boy was only amused by their antics. Isaac normally would've been right there with them but it was hard to get heated for competition when his adorable boyfriend was falling asleep on him.
Kristi's phone began ringing at the same time as Tally called out Uno loudly. She made a dramatic show of telling everyone to shut up before answering it.
"Hello?" She paused before sighing. "Okay, I'll have him bring me home in a bit."
Mason looked over with interest at her. She looked across at the table as, presumably, one of her parents talked on the other end.
"Alright, we're almost finished with our game of Uno." Another pause. "Okay, love you too. Bye."
She hung up and sat her phone down. Mason looked over. "Got to go?"
"Yeah. Let's finish this and once someone wins we can go." She picked her cards back up.
"Okay."
It was Isaac's turn and he put down a random green card. It went around to Andrew, Mason, and then Kristi before getting back to Tally. He grinned smugly.
"Nah, ain't no way. You're bluffing. No way it's a green." Andrew was heated over this game. When Tally placed down a green card he groaned. "No!"
Mason laughed. "Well, I've definitely learned a thing or two about war today."
Andrew rolled his eyes. "That does not make me feel better about the loss."
They all helped clean up the cards. Well, all of them except Jess who was struggling to even keep his eyes open. Once the card were up Mason and Kristi stood up.
"Well, I better get her home." He then looked at Isaac and chuckled. "And it looks like yours should be getting home too."
Isaac chuckled. "Yeah." He then shifted his focus to jostling the sleepy Jess. "Hey, Baby, wake up."
Jess blinked up at him and hummed. He smiled at the pure adorable look.
"It's time to go."
Slowly Jess got off of him and stood up. Isaac stood after him and lead the way out of the house. They all said their goodbyes before getting in their vehicles.
Jess looked like he was going to fall asleep the whole car ride back. Isaac made sure the heat was on and his radio station was playing quietly.
"Baby, you gotta stay awake so I can take you home." Isaac said, loving the way that even in his tired state the ends of his ears still turned red at the name. "I don't know my way around your house so I can't carry you in when we get there."
Jess groaned quietly. "Can't you just take me to your hous? Then you can carry me in."
Isaac chuckled. He would never turn that down if it weren't for the fact that he knew Jess couldn't hang out on weekends. "Tomorrow is Saturday. Your sister, remember?"
"Oh yeah." Jess appeared to be pouting. "Well, can't you just take me home early? Like you did last time. I wanna stay with you."
The way he said it was in a tired mumble but the words struck Isaac deep. His heart skipped a beat and his chest soared. He smiled and nodded. "Okay."
•○•○•○•○•○•○•○•
All these fluffy chapters with the tiniest hint of angst here and there are so fun to write.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
Love you ♡
- Z