"Holy shit, these milkshakes are good."
Steven's pleasantly surprised by this. It wasn't exactly that he expected them to be bad, but he surely hadn't planned on it being this good. Plus there was a nice amount of whipped cream on top, and there was a damn good-looking cherry, all in all it was a really, really good shake.
"Steven, stop staring at the shake like that. You can't marry a milkshake," John says with a laugh.
Steven looks at him for a moment, before turning away with a faint blush on his cheeks. "But it's a good shake..."
Tom and Minx both laugh, Minx folding her arms. She looks at Anthony and smirks. "Hey, Anthony, how long are you gonna be staring at Steven? You know you gotta blink, right?"
Anthony jumps, like a kid who's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looks away from Steven, and turns to face the window, his face growing redder by the second.
Tom and John are both in hysterics, laughing so hard Steven is surprised they can still breathe.
"I, uh, I.... Fuck, you-you're supposed to let me explain myself! Hold on, j-just let me explain!" Anthony could probably pass for a tomato by now, and he's waving his arms around for whatever reason.
Tom shakes his head, trying to catch some kind of breath without laughing. He grins at Anthony, gesturing towards Steven. "Go ahead then, Chilled! Explain yourself."
Chilled? That's a funny nickname. Where'd they get that one from?
Anthony's stuttering and tripping over his own words. He's also refusing to look at Steven now, instead intent on 'explaining' himself to the others.
Steven felt like he didn't belong here. He hardly knows anybody here, he's hot and cramped in between Anthony and Minx, and suddenly Anthony is refusing to even acknowledge his presence.
The shakes were good, yes, but Steven was fully prepared to go home now. Things were awkward, and he felt like he was being forced to sit and watch Tom and John flirt with each other.
Minx chuckles and gives Anthony a smirk. "So what you're saying is that you're staring at Steven because he looks weird? Jesus, Chilled. You're harsh."
Does he not like me or something? He's always looking at me funny and he acts different when I'm around.
Or maybe I just worry too much? I don't know.
"Hey, you okay?" John's got a worried look on his face as he gazes over at Steven.
"Yeah... Just tired, I guess. Was up too late last night." Steven shifts in his seat, finding himself unable to look at John in the eyes.
Minx pats his back, and smiles warmly. She nods at the others, and then turns back to Steven. "I'll take him home, alright? It was nice chatting with you guys."
Steven waves a small goodbye to the others, as Minx walks him out of the building. They've hardly gotten into Minx's car when she turns to him and gives him a very stern look.
"Something's up. What is it?"
Steven is stunned, to say the least. He's only known her for four days, and she's acting like she's known him for years. It's odd, to say the least.
"N-nothing's up. I'm just tired."
"You're a terrible liar, Stevie." Minx turns the car on, and begins to back out of the parking spot.
Steven huffs and gives her the best glare he can. "Don't call me that," he grumbles, doing his best to sound serious.
I'm so fucking bad at being angry. Maybe I can just give her pissed off looks until she lets me go.
"Alright then, Steve."
"Don't call me that either. That's just as stupid as Stevie."
Minx nods, like this is the most casual thing in existence, then looks at Steven. "I'm gonna call you Ze then. There's nothing you can say about it, just a warning."
Steven has the sudden urge to open the car door and roll out onto the street. He doesn't, of course, because he's almost completely positive that Minx would drag him right back into the car.
"You're not getting out of this, Ze. What's going on?"
"Since when were you my mom? What goes on in my life should mean nothing to you."
Minx turns to him and smiles," I mean between you and Anthony. Something's obviously going on between you two."
Steven sighs, and then finds himself giving into Minx and her 'concern.' He looks at her, frowning a little.
"I don't know, I just... He always acts weird around me. He stares at me like crazy, he never really talks to me, and I'm pretty sure he talks about me behind my back. Does he not like me, or something?"
The only response he gets is an amused chuckle. It's not until they pull up into a driveway that Steven realizes they're not even at his house.
"Where are we? I thought you were taking me home."
Minx chuckles, and begins to get out of the car. "We're at Max's place. Adam and Max invited us over to play some games, but I said no because we had plans. Now that we don't, we're gonna go do fun shit with them."
Steven hesitates.
Minx sees this, and gives him a sugar-sweet smile.
"Besides, your social skills obviously need help, so it'll do you some good."
So now, Steven's stretched out across Max's bed while the other three argue over what to play.
"We could totally play some Rocket League, you know."
"But Max! Gmod is just as fun, and there's no competition!"
Minx shakes her head. "Hell no. Adam, you cheat, that takes all the fun out of it."
Steven sighs. He rolls over onto his back, then gives an upset groan.
"You hear that, Max?" Adam gives Max a look before continuing, " He's tired of you being a bad host."
Minx scoffs. "He's tired of Anthony's... tendencies. "
Adam flops down besides Steven, an excited grin forming on his face. "Ooh! Like, Chilled-Anthony or Galm-Anthony?"
Max doesn't hesitate to smack Adam on his head. "Well, there's only one Anthony with homosexual tendencies."
This is news to Steven, and he sits up a bit to look at Max.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Max shrugs, " It means he's gay but refuses to admit it."
Minx smiles.
She smiles like she's just figured out how to summon Satan and win the lottery all at once. Should I be afraid?
Minx looks directly at Steven, and in that instant Steven finds his answer. To be exact, Steven finds an answer that he doesn't like.
Yes. Very afraid.
"If you ask me, I'd say Anthony's got a thing for you, Ze." Minx is now grinning like she's become Satan herself.
"Since when were we calling him Ze?" Max looks completely baffled as he continues," And why Ze, exactly? This is almost as weird as us calling John Smarty."
Adam giggles, and shakes his head. "That doesn't matter, Max! Let's hear more about how Chilled wants to bang Ze."
Steven wasn't sure how to feel about this. They've only spoken twice, the first being when they met and the second being at the restaurant a little while ago.
When the hell did he find the time to fall in love? And why me? What makes me so special?
"You really think so? I mean.... it seems kinda weird to me." Steven looks at the others curiously.
"What? You don't like gays, or you don't like Anthony being gay for you? Or do you not like him in general?" Max looks mildly intrigued by all of this.
Steven thinks for a moment. He looks at all of his friends, and gives them a little smile.
"I think he's kinda cool. But if he wants me, he's gonna have to make the first move."
~~~
friendly reminder that your author has no idea how to end chapters, or what a plot is
(Or how to title, but that's a different story)