LUCAS
Milan slammed the fridge door shut and Lucas jumped as he sat on the kitchen counter.
"Whoops." Milan set down the milk carton next to Lucas, reaching around him to grab a big bowl and spoon.
"I still think it's weird that you're making pancakes at three in the afternoon," Lucas said as he leaned back against the closed cabinet. He pulled his leg up in front of him, balancing his phone on his knee dangerously. Milan gave him and his knee a look before shrugging and continuing to put ingredients together, spilling some flour on the counter.
"Pancakes are food for the soul. They fit every time of day. Or night."
Lucas shrugged. He heard a door slam in the hallway and looked up as the kitchen door opened to reveal Ralph, finishing tucking his shirt in.
"Couldn't do that in the bathroom?" Milan asked as he and Lucas stared.
"No." Ralph finished and dropped his hands, taking a deep breath, and stretched, popping his back. Lucas made a face.
"Hey!" Ralph pointed a finger at him. "When am I going to really meet this Jens?"
Lucas felt his face heat up as a smile grew.
"I don't know, eventually?"
"Soon."
"Okay, dad."
Ralph's jaw dropped, offended, and Lucas and Milan laughed. Milan mixed some milk into the bowl, stating, "He makes you so...smiley."
Lucas grinned again, not trying to hide it. Jens had that effect on him.
"Okay, mom," he said, looking at Milan, waiting for a reaction. It took a second before Milan reacted as he focused on mixing, getting lumps of flour out.
"I'm not going to take offense to that, moms are badass. And if it means I had to deal with raising you?" He cut a look at Lucas. "I'm the most badass."
"Oh-kay," Lucas got out, holding his finger up like he was going to defend himself before his words were cut off with laughter, which intensified when he saw Ralph laughing. "Bullies."
"Hm." Milan bent over, examining the bowl closely, before straightening his back and mixing harder, more aggressively. "This damn flour," he muttered.
"You should have sifted it first," Lucas said, leaning in slightly to look. Milan scraped the bottom of the bowl and dry flour trailed along the bottom, a gap in the batter.
"Because you're an expert on pancakes?"
"I bake with my mom sometimes. You clearly don't."
"What is going on today?" Milan looked at Lucas, laughing, and Lucas giggled, his eyes and nose crinkling.
His phone began to buzz, and he caught it before it dropped the ground. He smiled when he flipped it around and read who was calling.
"Hey," he said into the phone after answering.
"Hey, baby." He heard voices in the background behind Jens's voice, cooing and whistling, teasing. "What's up?"
"Nothing, really. Hanging out in Milan's kitchen while he makes pancakes."
"Pancakes?"
"Yeah." Lucas looked at Milan pointedly and gestures to his phone. Weird, he mouthed. The voices spoke on Jens's side, muffled enough that he couldn't understand them, but not enough that he couldn't recognize Moyo bickering with Aaron. He heard Jens pull the phone away, his voice quiet as he said, "Shut the fuck up," to them.
"Is that him?" Milan stage-whispered loudly. Lucas nodded.
"We're fucking psychics," Ralph said from where he sat the dining table. Lucas scoffed and rolled his eyes at him.
"Where are you?" Lucas asked Jens.
"Out and about. Would it be okay if we came over?"
Lucas pulled the phone away. "Can they come over?" he asked Milan. Milan looked up from the bowl (that damn flour).
"Is Robbe with them?"
"I'm assuming Robbe with you guys?" he said into the phone.
"Yeah." Lucas nodded.
"They can come." Milan turned his attention back to the mixture, turning his mouth down into a frown. Lucas chuckled lightly at him.
"Milan said yes."
"Ah, hell yeah." Jens said something to the guys and it sounded like they all kicked off on their skateboards. Lucas remembered that he still had Jens's. Which was his now. He smiled.
"Oh, another thing."
"Yeah?"
"Have you told Milan and Ralph about, uhm, about us?" Lucas heard Jens's board speed up, heard him kick off again.
"Yeah, I've told them." He looked up at them and they both made aww faces, eyebrows turning up, mouths turning down. Ralph and Milan looked at each other.
"Considerate!" Ralph said. Milan nodded.
"So sweet."
Lucas shushed then. "You can act as gay as you want," he said into the phone.
"Ah, hell yeah. Okay." He paused, probably looking across the street. "We'll be there in a few."
"Sounds good," Lucas said softly.
"Byeeeee!" The phone clicked off.
When Lucas looked up, (he'd ended up staring at the floor as he listened to Jens's voice) both Ralph and Milan were looking at him. Smiling.
"Fuck off," Lucas said shyly.
- - -
"Lucas, will you be my whisk holder?"
Lucas watched a video on his phone, absently responding, "I will be your whisk holder," and holding his hand out. When the whisk was placed in his hand, he startled slightly and set his phone down as he held the whisk over the mixing bowl. Milan used a large spoon, or a small ladle, to pour batter into the pan.
The doorbell rang and Lucas nearly hopped off the counter before Ralph volunteered to answer it, seeing that Lucas was preoccupied with his whisk-holding.
"You'll see him in like ten seconds, you can wait, my little helper," Milan said without looking at him.
"I'm holding a whisk, that's barely helping."
"What would I do without you?"
As Lucas laughed, the kitchen door opened again, the guys coming in, Ralph, then Jens, then the rest.
"Hey, Lu," Jens said quietly as he immediately went to him, stepping between his legs and leaning in close. He kissed him softly, slower than just a chaste greeting kiss, and both of them got lost in it, Jens's hands drifting from his pockets to Lucas's legs. The room was completely quiet, and neither of them noticed until Milan said sharply, "Whisk," as Lucas's whisk-holding hand floated away from the bowl, dripping some batter onto the countertop.
"Oh, shit." Lucas pulled back and moved the whisk back over the bowl, his other hand reaching up to hold Jens's shoulder. Milan chuckled at him and took the whisk, stepping back from the stove and bringing it to his mouth to lick it.
"You guys are worse than Robbe and Sander," Aaron said, sitting at the table next to Ralph.
"What?" Robbe said, offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you two can barely keep your hands off each other." Aaron gestured to Jens and Lucas, where Jens had his head in the crook of Lucas's neck, gently kissing him before realizing what Aaron was talking about and pulling away. He turned, the small of his back to the edge of the counter, and leaned so his back was pressed to Lucas's chest. Lucas wrapped his arms around him.
"Yeah, says you," Robbe replied haughtily. He hopped up onto the table, sitting between Ralph and Aaron.
"Yeah, you and Amber are insufferable," Moyo added as he took off his jacket and leaned against the wall.
"Hey!" Aaron's jaw dropped. They all laughed.
"You guys are cute together, though," Lucas said when it got quieter, remembering seeing them dancing at the New Years' party. It really was cute. They seemed very happy together.
"Cuter than you guys," Aaron retorted, looking at Jens and then Lucas.
"Ohhh."
Everyone in the room laughed and Lucas wrapped his arms around Jens, pulling him closer and pressing his face cheek to Jens's. Jens brought his arms up, grabbing Lucas's.
"You wish!" they said simultaneously, giggling as Lucas peppered kisses across Jens's face and the back of his neck, and the boys laughed louder.
"They said it at the same time!"
"That's so cute!"
- - -
Lucas's phone buzzed on the counter next to him. He took another glance around the room, at boys eating their afternoon pancakes, Jens still standing between his legs, and slid his right hand off of Jens's shoulder to grab his phone.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to
what is good. Romans 12:9
Oh.
Lucas's smile dipped.
He didn't know how to respond. How to respond to a message that made him wonder about how much he was loved, if at all. He swallowed, reading the verse again.
Hate what is evil.
People hated people like Lucas. Hated Lucas.
Was Lucas evil?
His hands shook slightly as he turned his phone off, still staring at the screen. His breath caught in his throat. He couldn't hear the guys speaking anymore, the noise of the room, the scraping of forks on plates, quiet chuckles, blurred together into a watery white noise.
"Hey."
Lucas looked up, realizing his lips were pursed and relaxed his face as best he could. Jens's brows were turned upward, worried.
"I said your name like three times. What's up?"
Lucas scanned his face, his mouth turning down, and shook his head. Jens kissed him softly, gently placing his hands on Lucas's hips.
"You okay?"
"Mhmm." Lucas touched his face, forgetting there were other people in the room. "Are you?" he asked, changing the subject. "Has your dad called again?"
Jens sighed, sliding his hands down Lucas's thighs and rubbing his thumbs back and forth. He shook his head.
"Hm."
"Hm." Jens paused, squeezing Lucas's legs for a second. "What's wrong?"
Lucas kissed him.
"I'll tell you later."
"Okay."
They kissed again, deeper than before, Lucas biting Jens's lip slightly. Jens slid his hands around Lucas, pulling him closer by the small of his back. Jens hummed against his mouth, smiling.
"Will you please stop making out?" Aaron asked loudly, and Jens and Lucas broke apart momentarily, laughing, before pressing their smiles back together.