a r c a d e *

Bentley was at least glad that he could have this weekend off from work – it wasn’t like he didn’t have that much studying to do either, after all, he had gone through most of high school without doing much, so he just assumed that it was going to be the same with college. Although, he was stuck in Lima now, which probably meant that if he had worked harder, he wouldn’t be stuck in a place like that. After some planning, Bentley decided that tonight was the best night to go out – and since he really couldn’t think of anyone else to go out, he decided to annoy some of the people he knew.

Getting into his car and driving to the OSU campus had been something that Bentley had started doing very often ever since all of his friends had gone to college – it wasn’t that long of a ride there and he knew that he would always have a place to crash if he needed. It was great. After messaging Courtland to try and convince her to go out and explore with him, he spotted her on the sidewalk and started honking the horn so the other would see him. Rolling down his window, Bentley looked over at the other from the inside of his car. “Get in, loser! I don’t know what we’re doing, but it’ll sure be fun.” Bentley said out loud, in hopes that the other would get in the car.

“Sorry, I’m holding you up aren’t I…” He looked at the other folding his arms and looking a little off. “I am sure you’re tired and definitely want to get some rest.” he nodded his head and looked around the area to see that the place was becoming slow and probably getting super close to closing. “No, it’s not that…” He stumbled over his words and looked at the other with the shake of his head and sighed softly with a look of despair, because he felt like he was coming off worng to the other and didn’t mean to try to come off that way. “Did I offend you?” He asked the other softly. “Its just your body language seems a little upset and the murmuring.” He didn’t know Benji too well and he definitely didn’t want them to be on a bad foot, so he was just sure that he wanted to get them to a place where they could be friends - especially since he did come back to Lima often. he sighed when the other asked what he was going to do in New York - so instead of saying going to record his album and do album artwork. “Just visit some friends … going to see Joey, Julien, and some others. You want to come?”

.

“No, it’s… fine. I suppose. Sorry, I’ve just kind of had a shitty day at work and I wanted to go home and maybe play some video games, you know? Adult stuff or whatever.” Bentley said with a small shrug, shaking his head at Sammy – he couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow when he asked if he had offended him, which Bentley immediately shook his head to. Sure, he wasn’t having that great of a day, but the last thing he meant to was to offend Sammy. “Sorry, like I said, just a long day at work and you know, being in Lima kind of fucking sucks a lot, so… I can’t really be happy about that whole deal.” Bentley said with a small sigh, shrugging his shoulders again as he looked over at the other – it’s not like he didn’t have a lot to talk about with Sammy, of all people, but he could make it work. After all, he had to seem interested in whatever the costumers decided to try and talk to him about most of the day, so this couldn’t be that bad. As Sammy explained what he was doing in New York, Bentley nodded his head slowly at him. “That sounds fun, dude, I hope you get drunk there. It must be awesome to go out at night in New York… But I’m going to have to say know, I don’t really know those guys that well. Plus, I’m pretty sure that Joey hates me after I kissed his boyfriend in that ski trip all those years ago, so… That’s a no for me.” He said with a smile.

Sammy was spending a few days with his parents before he went up to New York. He finished off his classes a little early - just having to do the final exams when everyone else was ready, so that he could go finish up his album and do some promotional singles. Needless to say he was enjoying the quietness for one last time before he got uprooted in the fast life. He was going to pick up a to-go order for his family at Breadstix and then just chill out for the night - but he soon felt a body crash into his. “Sorr-…. Bentley?” He asked soon as he recognized the voice of the male. “I just came in town to visit mom and dad before heading up to New York. What are you doing here?” He asked the other, remembering that the other did graduate too. He didn’t think that Bentley liked Lima that much, but then again he didn’t know the other too well. “You stuck around?” He asked the other softly - not trying to pry, but not too sure why he did. 

.

The last thing Bentley wanted was to talk to Sammy – not because it was Sammy, but mostly because he had just gotten off a shift and he wanted to make his way home. As Sammy talked, Bentley nodded his head slowly as he waited for the time to answer, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over at the other, trying his best to not rush this whole conversation. “Glad to see that you’re going to New York, wouldn’t want you to be around here or whatever…” He mumbled to himself, before raising an eyebrow at Sammy – the last thing he wanted was to stick around Lima. “Not because I want to, you know. It kind of sucks here.” Bentley said with a shrug, before frowning at Sammy – he really had no idea what was going on in his life, but he thought that it wouldn’t hurt to ask, but it wasn’t like that he was interested. “What are you going to do in New York? You’re studying there or whatever? Or are you just going to visit the half of Lima that just accidentally lives there?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

It seemed like his life had revolved around Breadstix after graduation and that made Bentley angry – the more time passed, the more he thought that staying behind in Lima was just as frustrating as being in high school. He wanted to get out of there more than ever, but it didn’t seem like it was happening anytime soon. As he was finishing his shift at Breadstix, Bentley was ready to walk out of the door and hopefully only return in two days for his next shift, but as soon as he was walking out, he bumped into someone – of course, it wouldn’t be Bentley if he didn’t end up crashing into someone and making a mess. Luckily this time he wasn’t holding any food, which was more than he could say of what had happened on other times. “Sorry, dude.” He said, before realizing who the person was – and just like everyone in Lima, it had to be someone he knew from high school. “Sammy? The fuck are you doing here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at the other – it’s not like he didn’t know him that well, but either way, he knew who he was. “Sorry, I guess that’s not the way to talk to a customer or whatever… What are you doing here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.​

After dropping out of school, Cam had no choice but to get a job and an apartment. His mother was not a fan of supporting her dropout son, and his dad was always down for supporting whatever she wanted. Cam understood it though. He was always his mother’s favorite. She had a lot of plans and expectations for him, none of which included working full time in the kitchen at Breadstix. But here he was, trying to convince his roommate to do a better job or risk getting fired. Maybe Breadstix wasn’t that serious to him, but Cam didn’t half-ass anything and he wasn’t about to start now. “Try to walk slower next time, man,” Cam warned shaking his head. Hearing Bentley’s description of what the dish was, made him immediately roll his eyes. That wasn’t helpful at all. “Spaghetti? Chicken parmesan? Do you have it written down somewhere?” Cam loved cooking, so he definitely took it seriously. It didn’t frustrate him that Bentley didn’t take working at Breadstix all that seriously. It wasn’t like this was anyone’s dream. They were just two guys living in Lima and trying to make the best of the situation. “Dude. They could easily replace you with some teenager. You know that, right?” He muttered, shaking his head. He turned his attention back to the noodles currently cooking on the stove before turning to watch one of the other cooks begin stirring alfredo sauce. “Are you closing tonight? Or are you getting out of here soon?”

.

Bentley had never hung out with Cam before, especially not during high school – the two hadn’t been exactly friends during that time, in fact, Bentley was pretty sure that he used to annoy Cam most of the times they would run into each other in the hallways of McKinley, but now it seemed like the two had actually bonded. It was mostly because they lived together and worked together, which meant that they had to at least try to learn how to deal with each other – and that’s how they had become friends. “Trust me, I can’t walk any slower than this.” Bentley said, letting out a sigh as Cam inquired him about what kind of dish it was – he had no idea what it was, but as he reached for his pocket to try and find somewhere he had written it down, he grabbed a crumbled piece of paper and looked at it. “It’s chicken parmesan, that’s what it is. See? No big deal.” Bentley said, before tossing the piece of paper into the trash as he looked over at Cam, listening to what he had to say. “But they won’t, I just know that… Plus, I have a cute face, which is a plus. They won’t fire me, trust me.” He said with a shrug, before raising an eyebrow at Cam as he kept cooking the noodles – he was glad that he didn’t have to do any of the cooking in the restaurant, mostly because he would probably end up burning down the kitchen. Now that would definitely get him fired. “I’m closing. Which fucking sucks, by the way. It’s the last thing I want to do right now… I wonder if I trip on purpose and crack open my head, I’ll get to go home.” He wondered.

“huh.” lj marveled, smacking her lips together before sticking her tongue in her cheek briefly. looking to bentley, a wide grin crossed her expression, “i didn’t know you could read.” smugly, she again urged him, “now sit down, loser.” once the pair had fully adjusted and their impromptu smoke sesh was in full swing, lj leaned back into her packed trunk and shrugged, “well good news for you, you’re never too old to move around, change shit, try new things, you know.” the thought of growing up and choosing a career path terrified the hell out of lj, but she wasn’t gonna disclose that while bentley was venting to her. taking the j back, she rolled her eyes, “so? find someone new to bring here and make out with?” sucking in smoke, she extended the joint back to bentley, and shook her head as she exhaled, “what does it look like i’m doing here? it’s not that deep with me benny boy…”

.

“Very funny, ha ha.” Bentley said with a roll of his eyes at LJ’s comment, smiling at her as he kept his eyes on her as she talked about how Bentley could still move around. Nodding his head slowly, Bentley shrugged his shoulders. “I guess you’re right, but not all of us can have cool moms like you… Do you think Kitty Lynn would be pleased if I told her that I was going to travel around the country while doing jack shit? She would probably find a way to track me down.” Bentley admitted, knowing that his mom was crazy enough to do something like that, but it wasn’t like he needed to worry about that now – it wasn’t like Bentley had plans of running away from Lima anytime soon. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to make out right now? I thought you were gay.” Bentley teased LJ, before nudging her with his arm as he took the joint back from LJ and repeating the same process as before, as he looked over the small town. “It’s a good place to smoke, I’ll tell you that. How’s Dylan?” Bentley asked, knowing that the two had been dating for a while now – he was glad that the two of them had grown up from what had happened in freshman year, especially since they were basically adults now.

Graham scoffed. He was pretty open-minded about jobs he could work. But he was pretty sure that no one in their right mind enjoyed being a server. “I gurantee you won’t find your passion in a dump like Breadstix though.” He teased. Even being born and bred in Lima, Graham knew that Breadstix was bottom of the barrel. “You should get your bartending license when you turn 21. I feel like you would make a dank bartender. You’re cute and funny and all that good stuff.” Graham said with a shrug. He perked up at the idea of hanging out tonight. “That sounds like fun?” He nodded. “I’ll text sis and see how she feels about it. You better have your own drinks though. I’m not supplying them just because I’m the real adult.” He taunted. 

.

“Trust me, I already know that. But it was either that or working at Sheets n’ Things and I don’t want to deal with Tommy Ryerson creeping around the halls.” Bentley said, rolling his eyes at that thought, shaking his head slowly at Graham. Letting out a laugh when Graham mentioned that he should get a bartending license, Bentley shook his head again. “Have you met me, dude? I’d probably end up breaking all of the bottles and get fired, you know how it is. At least at Breadstix they don’t seem to care if I break a plate or whatever.” He said with a shrug. “But aw, you think I’m cute and funny? How sweet of you.” Bentley teased with a chuckle. “C’mon, you have to get the drinks! If I keep drinking Cam’s rosé, I’ll end up getting sick of it and then I won’t have anything to drink at home. I’ll pay you and everything.” Bentley said with a smile, hoping that this would be enough for Graham to buy the drinks – besides, it wasn’t like he couldn’t find a way to get them, but he wanted to spare that trouble.

sat in her trunk, hatch open with knees against her chest, lj rolled her eyes at bentley’s question. “does it fuckin look like i’m here to dispose of a dead body?” shaking her head, she proceeded to wag the joint between her fingers his direction, “wanna smoke?” she asked, then scooting over to make space for him beside her. once he got situated amongst her empty coolers, sleeping bags, and an emergency roadside kit, she extended the j his way and once again looked at him with furrowed brows, “what are you looking at? you look like you’ve seen a ghost dude. what’s that about?” lj gave him a moment to respond, then took the joint back and took a puff of her own. once she was done blowing her smoke into the air, she casually commented, “i didn’t know you hung around here, the fuck are you even up to?”

.

At LJ’s question, Bentley couldn’t help but to chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t fucking know, didn’t I read in the Muck that you killed two people that one time? I can never be sure.” Bentley said, as he nodded when LJ asked if he wanted to smoke – it wasn’t like his boss was going to notice either way, so he made his way over to the other and sat down beside her and took the joint from the other’s hand, taking a hit as he looked over at LJ with a frown. “I’m just wondering about life, you know? How it would have been different if I hadn’t fucking stayed in this crappy town. Maybe I should have joined you when you were driving around.” Bentley said with a chuckle, as he handed the joint back to LJ as he shook his head slowly. “I like coming here alone sometimes… I used to come here with Malcolm when we were dating and you know… Before everyone knew we were dating. But I really can’t do that anymore.” Bentley said, as he thought that his relationship with Malcolm had been one of the few that had lasted. “What about you? What are you really doing here?” He asked.

it seemed everyone had mixed feelings when it came to being back in lima after college. there was such stigma surrounding being a ‘lima loser’, it almost made kaden feel like he shouldn’t enjoy being back home. but it was exactly that, home. how could he not enjoy his time around his family and friends he had be apart from? that feeling was enforced tenfold as he met up with bentley with a grin, their time on the ice being little more than the two goofing around and occasionally falling, just like old times. but unlike old times, by the time they were tumbling off to the side of the arena, kaden was actually sort of sore. all he could do was silently curse himself for not staying active as he started yanking the gear off. “i’m not old, i’m still twenty for a few more months you fucker,” he scoffed, blindly elbowing where bentley sat next to him. “yeah, i mean new york is an ice land half the time you’d think i would’ve gone out on the ice some,” a pause, “but seriously dude, i still wonder how you can be so clumsy after all these years. never change,” and he meant that. as much as he teased bentley, he’d never want him to be anyone else. though at the mention of the going ons of lima, kaden perked up, turning to fully face him. “oh c’mon, nothing? not even any drama going around? seems very unlike lima. or maybe it just means the quiet before the storm,” that was usually how it went in small towns. “speaking of cam and sterling, how are they? i honeslty haven’t had a chance to catch up with them,” why he was so interesting in the lima updates, he wasn’t sure, but it was almost a fun game keeping up with those he went to high school with. “new york is… definitely big. if i want to go anywhere outside of the block me ad trace are on, i have to use a gps or i’m fucked. but i got a job, so that’s cool. actually, otto works there too which is fun. but yeah, just trying to make it through. i definitely wasn’t ready for the culture shock that is new york, compared to lima anyway. but you need to come up sometime, there’s definitely some cool spots i think you’d love,”

.

Bentley had been kind of angry at himself once he found out that he wasn’t going to make into the school he had applied to – but the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was probably for the best if he had stayed behind for a little longer. While living in the big city was what he wanted initially, he had definitely grown up a little more and he managed to survive on his own, even if he still shared an apartment with Cam. As Kaden talked about how he wasn’t old, Bentley couldn’t help but to chuckle at the other was saying, shaking his head slowly. “I’m keeping what I said, you’re old! And you just keep getting older, I can’t believe you’re turning twenty-one and you still think you can skate like you used to.” Bentley teased the other as a small chuckle escaped his lips, as he kept trying to take the skates off his feet, smiling when Kaden mentioned that Bentley was still clumsy like all of those years before – truly, it seemed like things never changed and that much was true when it came to Bentley’s natural klutz. “I have no fucking idea, but I don’t think it’s going away any time soon. But let’s hope that I don’t end up breaking a bone, because I need to work.” He said, shaking his head immediately after as Kaden asked if there was no drama – Bentley couldn’t remember a time where he had involved himself in some sort of drama in Lima, especially during his high school years, but it seemed like all of the drama had been left behind. “Well, you can always go to Lima Heights and visit Austin and Winnie. And meet their baby.” Bentley mentioned, thinking about how weird it had been when it was revealed that Winnie was pregnant and that whole drama at school. “But they’re both good. I mean, Cam is kind of a pain in my ass now that you mention it, but he’s not a bad roommate. So, I can’t really complain.” Bentley said with a sigh, as Kaden started talking about New York – it seemed like a nightmare and it was in these times that he enjoyed staying in Lima. “Right… But I have been thinking about visiting. You know, I could see you and Trace… And you know, Malcolm.” Bentley said, raising his eyebrows as he mentioned his ex-boyfriend.

WHEN: March 24th, 2043

WHERE: The View, Lima

Bentley had definitely been salty once he found out that he hadn’t gotten into the school he had applied for, he had to appreciate Lima. He wasn’t sure that if would have been able to make it in a big city or adjust to it that fast – after all, he had been in that small town all of his life and it was all that he ever knew, so maybe staying behind was for the best; at least for now, that’s what he kept telling himself. Bentley didn’t plan on staying in Lima forever, of course, this was just a step back – but he did appreciate spending some time by himself by the view. That place had become important to Bentley in the past few years and not just to him – everyone from Lima had been to the view at least once and it was a pretty big place when it came to hanging out.

This time Bentley had come alone – he didn’t work until later, which was great; he really wasn’t looking forward to spending his night at Breadstix again, but he needed the money to pay for rent and it was the best he could get. As he sat outside of his car, Bentley let out a sigh as he heard someone pulling up on their car behind him – as he turned his head to see who it was, Bentley raised an eyebrow at the person as they got out of their car. “Fancy seeing you here… Don’t tell me that you’ve come to dispose of some dead body or something like that. Because I definitely won’t be helping you with that.” Bentley said with a small chuckle, as he waited for the other to answer.

Working at Breadstix wasn’t Cam’s dream job. He was pretty sure that working at Breadstix wasn’t anyone’s dream job. But he didn’t hate it. He was cooking and finally, he was able to brag that he had the recipe for their infamous breadsticks. And he got to work with Bentley. Working with Bentley was kind of stressful in some instances because, well, Bentley was kind of a mess. As old as it made Cam feel, Bentley reminded him of a less mature version of himself. The type of little spaz he could have turned out to be. Cam looked up as Bentley entered the kitchen, immediately shaking his head at the other guy’s words. “How did that happen?” He questioned with a deep sigh. He leaned down and pulled a round of breadsticks out of the oven, placing them on the counter. “Do you remember what the order was?” He knew there was a huge chance that Bentley didn’t remember. He wasn’t exactly great at his job. As much as Cam liked having his roommate around, Bentley wasn’t his favorite coworker. “You have to be more careful, man. If you keep dropping plates, they’re gonna end up firing you,” he warned with a shrug. Sure, Breadstix wasn’t really known for upholding a great work ethic, but still, he didn’t want his friend unable to pay his half of their rent.

.

If it weren’t for this job, Bentley would probably have been stuck at his parent’s house – while not paying rent seemed like the best option, there was no way that he was going to handle another year with his mom, especially since he became the main target after Benji had been off to college. That’s why when Cam mentioned something about needing a roommate, Bentley was the first one to say something and the two had become friends over that – at first Bentley thought that he was just another Lima loser like everyone else, but it didn’t take him long to realize that he was actually pretty cool. “I just tripped, I don’t fucking know.” Bentley said honestly, not sure how he had got himself into that situation – it was pretty common for him to trip on nothing and messing up things, but not everyone was used to that yet. “Some kind of pasta, I think. That red one, whatever the fuck that’s called.” Bentley said, clearly frustrated about that whole situation. As Cam went on about the possibility of him getting fired, he let out a small laugh as he shook his head at Cam. “Please, they can’t fire me. Who are they going to hire? Tommy Ryerson? Yeah, I don’t think so. I think my job is safe for now.” Bentley said, as he crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for the other to prepare the plate that he had dropped earlier. “But I’ll try and be more careful, I guess.”

Graham nodded solemnly. “You gotta find something to passionate about outside of school, bruh.” Graham mentioned with a nod. He wasn’t really an advice person, but since most of his friends were a little younger than him…he ended up sounding that way from time to time. “I know it’s hard when we live…” he gestured around the bland mall they were sitting in. “…here.” he finished, rolling his eyes and resting his head on a fist. Graham was pretty sure he had found something he was passionate about with this whole skate shop thing. It was small, but there was always something to be done. “The shop’s been open all week so…nothing to crazy.” He said with a nod, before suddenly remembering. “Oh! I did adopt a dog.” He said before laughing and pulling out his phone. He showed Bentley a photo of a cute lil rottweiler mutt. “His name is Doofus.”

.

Bentley couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow at what Graham was saying - he was kind of starting to sound like his brother, which only made him roll his eyes a little. “There’s really not much to be passionate about in here, but I get what you mean… Maybe I’ll find some passion in being a waiter.” He said, shaking his head with a small chuckle, as he looked over at Graham as he explained what had been going on in his life, before smiling at the picture of the dog that the other was now showing. “He’s pretty cute… But Doofus? Why would you name him that? The poor dog.” He said, before shaking his head with a laugh, as he leaned back on his seat before letting out a sigh. “What are you doing later tonight? Maybe you could come over to mine and Cam’s place and just hang out. I think we both have a night off tonight, so we’re just going to hang out. You can bring Sterling too.” He said with a small shrug, in hopes that the other would accept the invitation – after all, things would get pretty boring if they didn’t plan things from time to time, and Graham hanging out at their places would at least make things a little more interesting.

WHEN: March 20th, 2043

WHERE: Breadstix, Lima, Ohio

Getting a job at Breadstix probably wasn’t the best idea for Bentley – but he needed one and that was the best thing that he probably was going to get around Lima either way. Plus, he got to work with his roommate, which was something that made it a lot of better. The problem of working as a waiter was that you actually needed to be good at what you were doing. How hard could it be to just put plates on the table? As much as Bentley tried to control his natural klutz over the years, the truth is that he hadn’t made any progress when it came to it – that’s why it didn’t come as a surprise when Bentley had picked up a plate full of food, only to drop it on the floor when he tripped on nothing. As he looked down at the floor, seeing the mess he made, he let out a groan as he looked at the customer. “I’ll be right back.” He said.

As he made his way inside of the kitchen, Bentley quickly looked for Cam – the other probably wasn’t going to be happy that Bentley had dropped yet another plate with food, but he was hoping that he could let it slide again. “Yo, Cam.” He said once he spotted him in the kitchen, making his way towards him as he rolled his eyes, thinking about what he had just done. “I dropped another fucking plate again, can you just do it again?” He asked, crossing his arms, as he looked over at his roommate, wishing that he would just say yes so the two could move on from that.