Fortunately, the conversation calmed down after that, and Evan was finally able to breathe. However, when the last of the stress finally left him, he realised he still had a nasty taste in his mouth.
"Can you get me a glass of water?" he asked Josh, who immediately stood up. But then he held out his hand to Evan, and Kieran followed suit. "Let's get something to eat too. I don't know about you but I'm hungry."
His two friends supported him on one side, so he didn't have to put his foot on the floor and helped him to a chair in the kitchen. A second later, a glass of water landed in front of Evan, and he immediately began to chug it.
"If you were that thirsty, you could just say so," Josh said with a laugh.
"I thought you were mad at me." Evan shrugged, and Josh rolled his eyes at him.
"Well, you did save my life," Josh said in a normal tone as if they were talking about the weather, before turning to the fridge.
"Thanks for that, by the way," Kieran chimed in, and Evan gave him a smile in return because it was silly to say you're welcome in this situation.
"Anytime," he said instead.
"No offence," Josh said over his shoulder, "but I hope we don't find ourselves in the same situation again."
"Understood," Evan chuckled, "but you know where I am in case of need."
Eventually, Josh took the mini pizzas out of the freezer and started putting them on the baking tray. And although Evan hadn't thought he was hungry, the sight of Josh preparing food convinced him otherwise. And his stomach, which had decided to join the conversation, bore witness.
"Wow, the big bad wolf is hungry," Josh laughed at his own joke.
"You're lucky you're not Little Red Riding Hood," Evan replied in the same spirit, and the atmosphere between them relaxed a bit again. If he hadn't been wearing clothes a size too big and the pain in his ankle hadn't shot up, it would have been like a normal hang-out with friends.
Their following conversation was similar and for Evan, it felt like they were back at the beginning of their friendship before he started dating Kieran. It was a nice change, and he welcomed it.
"I do have one more question though," Kieran spoke, changing the subject once the three of them were seated at the table, a plate of mini pizzas between them.
"Ask away," Evan encouraged him.
"Do the others know? Angie obviously does, but I doubt Lola, Aiden, Millie, Clara, and Rory do."
Evan stopped and licked the sauce off his finger before answering. "Rory knows. It was more complicated with him, but that's not my story to tell. The others don't. In fact, none of you are supposed to know, otherwise I'd get kicked out of the pack."
"Shit," Josh was the first to speak. "Thanks for the trust, I guess?"
"Are you going to tell them?" Kieran asked him, taking him by surprise. Kieran seemed to notice this and immediately added: "I don't mean it badly or under pressure, I was just curious."
"I honestly didn't think about it," Evan admitted. "But I didn't think about telling Rory either, it just happened." He shrugged.
"I guess it would be nice if Aiden and Lola knew too," he murmured almost inaudibly, his gaze falling to the plate in front of him.
"It's up to you, dude." Josh shrugged and took a bite of his pizza. And there the subject ended they switched to small talk.
Just as the last of the mini pizzas had gone down, Kieran's phone vibrated with an incoming message. It was Ryan saying they had left the house and would be there in ten to fifteen minutes.
"They?" Kieran asked as he read out the entire message.
Evan nodded immediately. "Ryan doesn't have a licence. My guess is Michael will be driving him."
"As for driving," Kieran began in a slightly nervous tone, "if Michael won't teach you, I can try." His suggestion was unexpected, and Evan's expression showed it, but he quickly replaced the surprised grimace with a broad smile.
"That would be great," Evan admitted. "But are you sure you're ready for this? Nobody seems to trust me behind the wheel."
"I think I'll survive," Kieran grinned, and this time there was no sadness in his eyes, just pure joy.
"Well, you did survive dating him," Josh remarked.
"Hey!" Evan immediately swung his arm at him, but he managed to duck skilfully and started laughing. It took a second for the other two to join him.
In the end, it looked as if tonight would be a success, and it might fix something that Evan thought was beyond repair. However, there was still one last challenge to overcome.
Ten minutes went by faster than he expected, and just after Kieran's cell phone vibrated, Evan heard the sound of an incoming engine. Evan immediately stood up, momentarily forgetting about his feet and the fact that he didn't even have socks on them, and hissed in pain as he shifted his weight onto his injured leg.
"Gotcha." Kieran immediately propped him up from the side, and Evan draped an arm over his shoulder. Together they walked to the front door, Josh holding on to Evan's other side in case he needed help.
He only pulled away from him when he needed to open the door. And the moment he did, Evan saw a familiar car, from which his mate stepped briskly out, approaching the door with quick steps the moment their gazes locked.
Evan dropped his hand from Keiran's shoulder, and he let go instantly, though he still kept his hands near his waist in case he needed support. It was useless, however, as Evan quickly forgot he was hurt and hobbled in Ryan's direction.
The moment he was close enough Ryan brought him into his arms, wrapping his arms tightly but still carefully around his waist and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Evan did the same, closing his eyes contentedly, finally feeling completely safe.
They clung to each other for a long time, oblivious to the others, and they did not disturb them. In that moment, Evan completely forgot about trying to hide his new relationship from Kieran's eyes. Fortunately, Ryan's voice snapped him out of his unconscious bliss, and he remembered where he was. "Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine, it's just going to take a while to heal," Evan assured him, facing him, still with his arms around him. Ryan nodded, though there was still concern in his eyes, but he looked calmer than when he'd arrived.
Then the dark eyes moved over Evan's shoulder, however, and fell on the two boys standing outside the front door. Evan's eyes rested in turn on the black-haired boy who was leaning against the car with his arms folded across his chest.
Kieran and Josh apparently took this as a sign that they could move closer, and Evan, hearing footsteps behind him, cautiously moved to Ryan's side so he could face his friends.
"I'm sorry," Ryan was the first to speak. "I'm sorry I stole him from you." No one needed explanation as to who his words were directed at.
"I'm sure I'm the one who should apologise," Kieran told him.
Before it could turn into an awkward moment, however, Josh stepped in. "How come you're both so polite and then there's Evan?"
"He can be polite when he wants to be," Ryan chuckled, defending his mate.
"Except he never does." Evan heard behind him and turned to scowl at Michael, who seemed more than satisfied with his statement. Evan, however, was the only one who didn't think it was funny, judging by the reactions of the others.
"That's right," Josh agreed verbally, then moved even closer to them so he could shake Ryan's hand. "I'm Josh."
"Ryan," the raven-haired boy immediately introduced himself and then his eyes rested on the other stranger.
"I'm Kieran," the blue-eyed boy introduced himself, then added, "I've heard a lot about you." His voice was affable, even though he was looking at someone his ex-boyfriend had broken his heart for. It was to be expected, though, since Kieran being Kieran didn't have a hint of malice in him.
"Ryan," he repeated even though the other boy knew and then added, surprising him: "I've heard a lot about you, too." The smile on his lips suggested that he was not only telling the truth, but that what he had heard was more than positive. Kieran's eyes fell on Evan in surprise for a moment, but then he just shook his head with a soft smile and left it at that.
"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Evan turned his head to focus on his cousin-in-law, who still hadn't gotten away from the car to come closer to them.
Michael sighed as if Evan was asking an impossible task of him, but he obeyed and walked closer to them.
"I'm Michael. And Evan may have been talking about you, but half the time I don't listen to him." The black-haired boy shrugged, and Evan, registering his words, immediately pierced him with a glare.
Josh was barely trying to contain his laughter, especially when Evan's glare shifted to him the moment his shoulders shook, but he tried with all his might and only managed to blurt out his name in a rush.
"We should hang out together sometime," Kieran suggested kindly, and Evan knew he wasn't just saying it as a courtesy phrase.
"That would be nice," Ryan replied in the same polite tone, and Evan's eyes unconsciously skipped from one to the other. He knew they were both too nice to be mean, but at the same time, he had no idea what had just happened.
"I seriously don't want to throw you out, but Evan's going to freeze up in a minute," Josh interjected, also probably suspecting that it was the best idea to cut this conversation short before it could go badly wrong.
His words were enough to turn the smile on Ryan's face into a worried expression, especially when he inspected him from head to toe and realized he was barefoot.
After that, they said their quick goodbyes, and Ryan helped his boyfriend into the car, sitting in the back seat next to him so he could lean against him. And even though it had been a crazy day, being in the arms of his mate like this, Evan had never felt better.
"They seemed nice," Ryan remarked, bringing a smile to Evan's face.
"They are," he confirmed.