word count: 1853
Wyatt Stevens had the ability to make time freeze.
Dalton walked with a purpose.
He entered a room like he had a job to do, always. He always demanded attention, either by his brooding or his intention, there was something that attracted people to him.
It was like a magnet, like a tornado ripping through and it was obvious when we'd entered The Warehouse that he'd be busy all night.
The Warehouse was... exactly as advertised. A warehouse, on the outskirts of town, only woods surrounded, a mile long line of cars messily parked and teens drunk and hanging off the building inside and out.
It was loud when we walked in, a burst of EDM music and teenagers piled up in a beat-up couch pit, graffitied walls, a band was doing a soundcheck in the corner. Dalton Jones was wide-eyed and looking around at the many attractions. Skaters rode around the bowl, a dip in the floor, it deep, no helmets in sight.
Rhett was behind us, pushing past with Veronica Hall's hand intertwined in his. We'd rode in with Vincent and he disappeared shortly after parking the car. I didn't know what to do with my hands, I wanted to hold his so desperately for some reason.
Maybe it was watching my brother engage in such small intimacy like hand-holding with some girl he'd barely known... and knowing that I couldn't have that with a guy that I'd been seeing for a while. I tried not to be jealous.
I just looked up at Dalton, I watched as he licked his lips in a nervous way presumably and he was leaning into me for a short second, shoulder bumping mine, he wrapped his pinky around mine for a moment.
And then he let go.
Almost as if it didn't happen, he was walking further in, fairly quickly, halting abruptly when Cyan Cruz skated by... Cyan laughed at the Aussie jumping back, holding up a middle finger.
Cyan Cruz had always been like that: mischievous, class clown. He'd always had this way about him, like he didn't care what happened, it drew people towards him, like he'd realized life for what it was. I caught up to Dalton rather quickly. "That's just how Cyan is."
His brows furrowed and he nodded.
His silence really foreshadowed how the night would go because an hour later, I was sitting alone in the corner of a couch pit, drunk teens on top of each other, Dalton nowhere to be found. He excused himself twenty minutes prior claiming he needed to speak to someone and somehow I knew it was Hale.
Either way, I sat alone in this torn up couch pit, a cup of something Dalton had given me and truly, I had no desire to drink. The band was halfway through their set, I was sure, it more pop-punk and Vinny if anything. I tried to have a good time, I did but none of this was my scene and I was very sure that I shouldn't have come in the first place.
Wyatt was also nowhere to be found, I wondered if he'd decided not to come. I was bored, off to the side while the guy I was seeing had disappeared, I'd been scrolling through twitter, really twitter-stalking Wyatt Stevens, trying to see if he'd come out.
He was one of those people that unironically tweeted, it was 2014, no one unironically tweeted. Either way his most recent post was about Three Day Rain, Rhett's friend's band, a link to a new song, that was cool.
"Hey." A feminine voice called out to me as she stepped into the trench. Almost glossy legs, a blinged out anklet over jeweled sandals and wrist full of bangles, Shelley McKim was smiling over at me. "You're Vince's little brother right?"
I tried not to stare, really, but Shelley McKim was all curves, all feminine and glowing and soft. She was wearing super short jean shorts, and her top was so very small that she was almost bursting out of it. I avoided looking, hoping she'd somehow be able to tell that I wasn't attracted to her. Still, she smiled.
I offered a soft one in return. I wondered if she was what guys like Wyatt liked.
"Yeah."
She held out a hand, they were soft, I wanted to ask how she got her skin to feel like that but my level of awkward definitely would've added a serial killer tone. "I'm Shelley."
"I know." I tried not to deadpan but something about her introduction didn't feel that genuine and it was probably due to the fact that we'd definitely known each other for a while. "We've had a ton of classes together." We also both loved Wyatt Stevens at some point.
"Oh." She was blinking, eyes completely apologetic and I almost felt bad. "Sorry, I'm not good with names... a-are you Gabe or Aaron?" Something about that felt like they were getting serious.
"Gabe."
"Nice to meet you, Gabe." But she was bubbly and she seemed kind, that was something that I actually could tell from how she affected Vince. "Again."
"So... You're friends with Dalton?" It was loud and it was annoying.
"Uh, yeah."
She smiled, small. "Does he have a girlfriend?"
"Oh."
"Yeah," her voice was confused, as if she didn't remember that she was supposed to be dating my brother... seeing the look on my face, big brown eyes widened, "oh, no, no I'm dating your brother! You probably think so bad of me now... I'm-I'm asking for a friend, I swear..."
"...Girls love the accent."
And now, I felt stupid. "Oh, uh, yeah, yeah I think he does, I'm not really sure."
"So, he has a girlfriend?"
But was I with Dalton? Did Dalton want people to know he was seeing someone? I mean, we were kinda together, right? "Yes? No? Y-You might wanna ask him? I don't know, I-I really—"
"It's okay if you don't know." She shrugged, but was it actually? We spent so much time together, but where was he now? "I just figured since you're the only one he talks to... but it's cool. Some of the girls kinda wanna know if you're single too."
"I'm not."
Her head tilted and maybe paranoid, I thought I'd said too much. "Oh?"
I'd never really been good at lying, horrendous even. "Yeah, I have a girlfriend in Cali. Leah." Leah was the name of my first best friend, who coincidentally outed me in 4th grade— before I even knew. "You know, actually I think Dalton's dating that other Aussie chick."
"I thought that was his sister?"
"It's not. They're my neighbors, they actually, they-they live... together so I mean, I-I guess it's pretty serious."
Shelley's eyes were wide and I didn't even feel bad for spreading that rumor. "That makes so much sense."
How could I feel bad when Wyatt Stevens was walking by? His hair was tied up in that bun he always had, he was laughing at something Robbie had said.
"Excuse me, sorry- Wyatt." I'd squeezed by Shelley in just enough time for Wyatt to turn to me.
"Hey!" His eyes were bright, electric almost, and he hugged me as if he was grateful to see me. "I thought you weren't coming." He lingered, the smell of oak and the shortness of a cropped football jersey: he looked hot, all baggy jeans and midriff, I couldn't breathe.
"Hey, Shell."
"Hey, Wy." She grinned, side-hugging Robbie. "How's Yuri doing? I saw the Twitter post."
"Great, actually, thanks for asking." He laughed, it just as beautiful as him. "He ate a dish towel so they just had to yank it out."
"Gross. Tell him I said hi, yeah?" She smiled, turning back to me and it felt so genuine, I almost felt bad. "I'm gonna go see if I can find Vinny, it was nice talking to you, Gabe."
"You too."
"I didn't know you guys were friends."
"We're not." At my immediate dismissal, I watched his mouth turn up in a little smile and went to rephrase. "She-she dates Vinny so we're- we're cool she's cool. It's..."
He laughed.
"... cool."
And Wyatt was biting his bottom lip at my word vomit, leaning to knock his shoulder into mine. "That's good, Vince is cool." He nodded. "Shelley's nice too, pretty..."
"Yeah, I guess."
It must've been the fact that I grumbled it out that Wyatt found amusing again cause he was laughing, again.
And then... "I'm glad you decided to come."
"Uh, Vince was coming so I just..."
"Ah." He nodded like that made so much more sense and I appreciated the fact that he got it. "You having fun at least?"
"I'm not big on parties if you haven't noticed."
"Yeah." He shrugged. "You look really cute though. Kinda got that lost look in your eyes."
And fuck, was he flirting with me? Almost as soon as he said it, he scratched the back of his neck like he didn't mean for it to come out and he was spewing apologies.
"Sorry, I'm a little drunk right now." He laughed it off but my heart was going a mile a minute. "Would you like anything? I know you don't really drink, uh—"
"What are you drinking?" I asked instead and I wasn't sure where my confidence came from cause I was taking his cup. "Can I?" And before he answered, I took the worst sip of my life.
"Uh, Gabe that's—"
"That's terrible."
"Yeah, it's just vodka." He laughed. "I was gonna put it in a slushee." He took the cup from me, and his fingers brushed mine.
Wyatt was holding my hand before I knew it, lacing his fingers through mine probably before he even realized either. And I was holding my breath. The kickdrum had pierced through then, something soft and Maroon Five-y and something about it felt like the beginning of a 2005 rom-com. Wyatt was biting his bottom lip when he looked over at me, squeezing my hand slightly as if to test to waters.
And I let out my breath. Offering a small smile, I tried not to blush even with my heart beating a mile a minute. HIs voice was softer. "Come on."
He mixed me a drink at a ransacked table and then we stepped outside into the brisk-Spring air. Wyatt had led me behind the warehouse and through a bonfire, hand still locked with mine and nothing about it even remotely scared me.
When I was with him, nothing else really mattered.
And he was only letting go when we got to the only big oak tree in a field of birches, he was climbing up a ladder attached to a treehouse. Looking back, maybe I shouldn't have wanted to go up with him, maybe I should've wanted to find my kinda-boyfriend... but I didn't.
I had been in love with Wyatt Stevens since the summer I turned 13.