Ian:
You and Ian had been dating for almost two weeks now. It was a weekend like any other, but one thing was different. You were really preoccupied with your phone. Someone was texting you and whoever it was was making you grin and act all excited. Ian had very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, he was happy you were so happy, but on the other hand he wanted to know who it was that was making you so happy. Why wasn’t it him? Ian was not a fan of this feeling.
“Who are you texting?” Ian asked, trying to sound as casual as he could.
“Oh, it’s Luke.” You said with a smile, “He’s coming into town for a week and he should be here soon!”
Luke? Who was Luke again? Ian remembered you talking about him, he was someone from New Urban, but he couldn’t remember who he was. Was that the guy you used to hang out with all the time? Ian felt his chest grow tight, were you really that excited to see this guy?
“Th-that’s great.” Ian said, trying to be supportive, “Where’s he staying?”
“Here, of course,” You laughed, “What, do you think my aunt’s going to make him get a hotel room or something?”
Ian forced a laugh, trying to pretend he was okay with that, but inside he was freaking out. After you two started dating, your aunt had made it clear she did want Ian staying over later than 8:30 on school nights and 9:00 on weekends, unless Laurel was over too. This Luke guy could stay the night though? Granted, he was from out of town and not just a mile away like Ian was, but still.
“(Name)!” Your aunt called, “Come hell me for a minute!”
“Coming!” You called, “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Ian replied as you kissed his cheek.
You had left your phone behind, the text tone catching Ian’s attention. He didn’t mean to look, but hearing a cell go off, it was only natural, or maybe habit, to look over. There in the text notification was Luke’s name and a small emoji heart he had sent. Why was this guy sending you hearts?! Ian wanted to look, but knew he shouldn’t. He bit his lip, looking around your room as he wondered how he should bring this up. He knew you wouldn’t cheat on him, but what was going on?
“Sorry about that.” You said, walking back in the room.
“No problem,” Ian said, glancing around the room, “So, you and Luke, a-are you two close?”
“Well yeah.” You said with a curious look, “Probably as close as you and Barley are. Why?”
A horn honking outside caught his attention.
You squealed loudly, “He’s here! I’m so excited for you two to meet!”
You grabbed Ian by the hand, leading him out to the front yard. To his surprise, Luke was a grown man. He looked like he was in his early thirties. Why was a grown man sending you heart emojis? You couldn’t have a thing for older guys, right?
“There she is!” Luke said in a booming voice, spreading his arms wide.
You let go of Ian, leaping into Luke’s arms as the man twirled you around in a big hug. When he set you down, you grabbed him by his sleeve, leading him to Ian.
“Luke, this is my boyfriend Ian. Ian, this is Luke.” You beamed.
“So you’re the guy that stole my baby sisters heart!” Luke grinned as he wrapped Ian into a tight hug.
Sister? Baby sister?! That’s when it hit him. You had mentioned before that you were from a big family. How could he forget that you were the youngest of seven kids and Luke was your second oldest brother? A wave of relief washed over Ian as your brother set him down.
“I better go say hi to auntie.” Luke said, waving as he went into the house.
“You okay?” You asked with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah.” Ian said, brushing his hoody down, “I don’t know why, I was thinking Luke was our age.”
“Really?” You gave Ian a curious look when a thought came to you, “Oh! I think you were thinking of Lucas!”
“Oh!” It clicked. That must have been it! Lucas was one of your guy friends you had told him about before. That must be who he was thinking about.
“Wait,” You said looking at him, “Were you jealous?”
“What?” Ian asked, his voice cracking as he looked away and cleared his throat, “Me? W-why would I be jealous?”
You couldn’t help smiling as you put your hands on his shoulders, “Well, I’m glad you weren’t jealous. Cause there’s no reason for you to be jealous since you’re the only one for me.”
You gave him a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush and smile.
“You’re the only one for me too.” He said, kissing your forehead.
Barley:
He knew you knew this guy from New Urban, but he didn’t remember how you knew him. However, Barley did know he wasn’t thrilled with how much this guy made you laugh. You two were snickering over some joke, something about unicorns and sprinkles, and Barley had to admit it. He was jealous.
He had stopped by the cafe you were working at, he was all set to surprise you, but he was the one surprised to see you laughing with some guy he didn’t know. When you introduced them you introduced Barley as your boyfriend, which did make him feel a little better, but all he knew was this guy's name was Corey.
A customer walked in, you greeted them before turning to the guys, “I’ll be right back.”
“So,” Barley said, turning to Corey, “Have you known (Name) long?”
“Oh yeah,” Corey grinned, “We’ve known each other our whole lives!”
Well that didn’t make him feel any better.
“That’s great!” Barley said, trying to smile.
“Yeah,” Corey replied, “There was this one time when we were kids…”
Barley listened as Corey told him stories about your childhood. He had very mixed feelings about it. He was happy to hear about it, but at the same time he wished he could have been the one there to make the memories with you.
“Oh oh!” Corey continued, “Then there was the time (Name) and Dad pranked Mom!”
“Wait, (Name) and your dad pranked your mom?” Barley gave him a confused look.
Why would you team up with your friend's dad to prank his mom?
“Oh yeah!” Corey laughed, “Uncle Luke was a perfect distraction for them.”
Wait, wasn’t one of your brothers named Luke?
“What’s your dads name?” Barley asked, suddenly realizing who he was talking to.
“Walter, but everyone calls him Walley.” Corey replied, “Why?”
Barley felt so dumb in that moment. This guy he was jealous of was the oldest son of your oldest brother. Your nephew! You two were close in age cause your brother was fifteen years older than you and he was a young father.
As if realizing something had just clicked for Barley, Corey started laughing.
“You didn’t realize I was her nephew, did you?”
“I’m sorry.” Barley said, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Oh, don’t be.” Corey said, still laughing, “I can’t tell you how many times people thought we were dating back in school.”
“Really?” Barley asked.
“Yeah, in grade school everyone thought we were siblings. Then once we got in junior high it went from siblings to dating. I can’t tell you how many girlfriends got jealous when they first met her, all cause they assumed.” Corey said, playfully nudging Barley.
“In my defense,” Barley said, “I forgot how big your family is.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Corey grinned, “And you don’t need to worry (Name), all she ever talks about is you.”
“Really?” Barley asked, a little surprised about that.
“Oh yeah! And I won’t tell her you got jealous.”
“Thanks man.” Barley smiled. “So tell me more about this pranking she did.”