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For as long as he could remember, Brighton had been his go to person. It had never really mattered wether it was about a new ice cream flavor he'd discovered or if Daniel and his buddies had pushed him onto gravel which had resulted in skinned knees which really hurt because there was so much dirt in the raw wounds; even though it was definitely worse when they did it during physical education because the gym floor always made his knees feel like they were on fire. But no matter, it had been Bright. He'd told him about the one boyfriend he'd had, and few flings after that one ended. It was partly because he wanted to share his life with Brighton, but also because this was the exact area his friend was so good at. He always knew how to help out, when Jedi only knew how to freak out. Today... he was kind of freaking out. Timothy from the Savannah Dino Club he attended once a month had asked him out during last night's meeting. Timothy.  So, before he could stop himself, he'd barely sat down next to Brighton in his friend's sofa before blurting it out. "Timothy asked me out last night, and I don't know what I should say. He's cute, and he always wears really funny t-shirts."

Okay so there were several things that Bright was known for in Fishville, USA,  aka Tybee Island. Being gay, soccer and the too loud pal of Jedi Evans. That last one more than likely coming in at number one, yes, even above being gay. Or maybe that was just in his mind, either way it had been a long, fruitful and satisfying friendship that Bright wouldn't change or alter for anything. That was until Jedi's first boyfriend. Man, had Bright been a bitch about that. Then he was bitchy about any dude there after and eventually the women in his family, including his younger sisters, got so fed up with him they made damn sure he knew that his issue with his best friend dating wasn't that the dudes were the #worst, but that the dudes weren't him. Ever since then Bright has been painfully aware of his true feelings and it has truly been.... a God damn nightmare. 

Now his sexy ass bestie was sitting there telling him some other dude was cute and Bright got up and started doing random exercises because that always calmed him down. "I'm cute and wear no t-shirts." He grumbled to himself. Jumping up after he finished 10 pushups just so he could start doing a set of deep lunges. "Unfortunately, you're gonna have to tell him no since we have Jurassic World to watch and that's going to take up your time for the rest of ever." He couldn't helped the crescendo his voice seemed to follow as he spoke.(edited)

Jedidiah knew something had changed a few years ago. He wasn't entirely sure what, but he could feel it. It had all started with Miguel. His best friend had really hated him. It'd been really hard because Miguel had made him so happy, perhaps not close to the way Bright did but it was still such a nice feeling. But the other man's approval did dull that happiness, mostly out of confusion. Okay, maybe Bright was usually the one to introduce new friends to him which often meant they were Bright's friends first, but it wasn't like it was the first time Jedi had done so by now; and Bright had seemed to like them all right. It certainly wasn't homophobia - first off, Bright was very gay and second, even if he wasn't, Bright would have never been like that. Ever. Perhaps he just didn’t like Miguel, he’d figured. But he didn’t even know Timothy; and he recognized that look in his best friend’s eyes as he mentioned him. 

He'd always found himself a bit weird, but sometimes Bright really took the cake. He frowned quietly, just watching his friend as he started working out in front of him. Bright murmured something about t-shirts, but Jedi couldn’t honestly hear, he was too busy just being mesmerized by the view in front of him. It was hard not to smile at the sight; Bright was always cute, but he was even cuter now, jumping up and down for whatever reason with that frown on his face. Perhaps it was a soccer thing. It was the season for it after all. “Yeah, but we’re seeing that tonight. He asked about Tuesday,” Jedidiah clarified. “But I don’t know if I want to. We had sex once, and it wasn’t really that nice.”June 30, 2018

Immediately ceasing all movement at the mention of Jedi having sex with this Timothy person. Which honestly, what kind of name is Timothy anyway, it's so.... biblical and sounds like the kind of name a invertebrate would have and that was such a Jedi thing to think. Bet Timothy no spine wouldn't know that because he didn't even get to know Jedi, the single greatest human alive probably, before he  slimed all over him. Which is undoubtedly why the sex was not great.

Now that he had managed to sufficiently calm himself down mentally, enough to speak anyway, he just looked over at the man who had held his heart since before Bright even understood what it meant to give ones heart away. "Who goes out on a Tuesday?" Oops, he hadn't meant to say that... out loud anyway but like to answer his own question, Timothy would so be the guy to go out on a Tuesday. Fucking Timothy Tuesday.... ew. Let's try this one more time. "Ignore that, what I meant was, if the sex wasn't even good, why bother with a round two?" Okay that was.... better.July 1, 2018

Jedidah frowned quietly at his friend's words; not entirely sure what was going on... or why it was going on. Bright had always been so encouraging but this seemed to cross some sort of line. He wasn't exactly sure why - Bright sure seemed to get around, and he'd never seemed like he thought about the prom kiss too much. Not like Jedi... which was why Jedi had stopped thinking about it so much. 

"I don't know," He shrugged, looking over at Bright hesitantly. "I think Tuesdays are nice. They have special deals at Pancake Cloud on Tuesdays." It was much better than IHOP, and you could eat as much as you possibly could on Tuesdays. He was definitely going to suggest that to Timothy. "I don't... I mean, it was really nice. I think we were both nervous, but rthat makes me nervous that I'll be unnecessarily nervous next time too."

Okay now he was seeing that face, the one that makes Bright realize he's being an asshole. First and foremost, Jedidiah was his friend, his oldest, closest and best friend. Maybe he ought to pretend like he knows that. It's his own fault anyway, for some reason with Jedi it was hard for him to cross that bridge. Like all the courage he had got used up at their prom. That had been his moment and instead of seizing it he kissed him, had a micro mental freak out and then left, like an asshole. Just because he missed his shot doesn't mean he's got to be an unsupportive fuckwad every time Jedi finds someone else. 

Sighing, he plopped himself down next to Jedi and throwing his arm around the back of the couch, legs spread open and head turned to look at him, he smiled hoping he could turn the other man's frown upside down too. "Pancake Cloud is pretty dope. Definitely worth a Tuesday date and I mean round too is always better than round one because now you know what you're working with." Licking his bottom lip he leaned forward letting his arm drape over Jedi's shoulders, kind of, just in case touch wasnt something he wanted right now. "Just be your naturally charming and sexy self and it'll be all good."

He felt relief as his friend plopped down next to him, because that meant he was okay. There was still something wrong, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. He knew some best friends didn't think anyone was good enough for their friend. Maybe it was something like that. Bright had spent so many years wiping his tears away when someone hurt him. He supposed he thought like that sometimes, but it still felt unfair. His friend had been the one to kiss him... just to leave him. Sometimes he wondered if the kiss had just beens something funny for Bright. 

Still, he scooted closer as the other man sat down; leaning back soothingly into Bright's arm around him. This is why he'd wanted to talk to his best friend about Timothy. He always knew what to say. He opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. It was more like something almost a scoff yet also almost a chuckle. "I'm not sexy."

With his free hand, Bright dramatically feigned disgust at the idea of Jedi not being sexy. How could he possibly not see it? He thought to himself but then immediately he just thought, because it's Jedi. "Clearly you've never seen yourself perform, or talk about dinosaurs or eat a popsicle." That last one was semi jumbled because he knew if he said it too loud the image of it would pop right back nbn up in his brain and then he'd just be super distracted and ain't nobody got time for that.

Happy to feel the warmth of Jedi's body heat, Bright found himself leaning into it. "You've always been sexy, clearly it's in your genes but it's also like an unexplainable worldwide trending hashtag level phenomenon that none of your brothers could ever hold a candle to. And for real, you not seeing that only boosts the sexy signal that is you."

He chuckled softly at Brighton's theatrics. It always made him laugh, but most importantly, it always made him feel better. But this time, the chuckle died away as he felt his mouth dry up at Bright's last example. He almost didn't hear it. But he did. Before he could stop himself, he hurriedly replied, "I think you're sexy when you eat a popsicle." It felt like it was silent for minutes, hours or days he felt his cheeks heat up.

To be compared to his brothers was weird; both because he had a hard time seeing them a sexy but also because he knew that quite a lot of people thought they were ridiculously sexy. He knew Bright thought they were. "Thank you," Jedi murmured, somehow both shy and confident at the same time now.

If it were anyone else he would have made a comment about being called sexy. Probably say something that was cocky or full of himself but with a hint of charm, you know, his entire brand. But with Jedi, Bright generally preferred to watch as the blush radiated on his fair skin. It was cute and sexy, you know, his brand. Or well it totally was to Bright anyway. 

For a moment Bright thought they were going to kiss but he was pretty sure he was reading into that. Which was essentially all he did with anything Jedi didin relation to him. It was a whole ass thing really. Of course, it hadn't stopped his body from learning forward just that bit more, so their faces were probably too close together. "Yeah, anytime. Just call me the Jedi ego boost squad."

He felt a confusing mix of relief and disappointment as they smoothly just left the popsicle conversation. He regretted saying it because it felt like a huge confession; him watching Bright sucking on popsicle and him later thinking about doing something very similar to Jedi. But it was also a thought that would make his jeans too tight if he didn't stop thinking about it, like... now. 

Jedi turned slightly in order to meet him more face to face; a small smile on his lips as he wasn't quite sure what to do with his body or his hands or his fucking mind - because he could see the softness of Bright's lips and it almost made him let out a sob. He wanted Bright to be happy, and that he would find the love, or loves, of his life but sometimes it was hard to realise he was hesitant with Timothy merely because he wasn't Brighton. But they were best friends, and that was so much more than enough. "Yeah, you are quite good at it," Jedi said with a soft chuckle.

Taking a moment to appreciate the sight in front of him, Bright couldn't help that his eyes darted down to look at Jedi's lips as he spoke and maybe a bit longer than that. It was a moment and Bright was going to write this one down too. That's what he'd started doing anytime a moment passed where Bright thought, Well now wouldn't this be a perfect time to kiss the fuck outta him? It helped him not just lunge forward, but honestly, lately even before Timothy Tuesday, he  was finding it really hard to keep rationalizing why he hadn't just fucking gone for it. If it had been anyone else he would have, but Jedi wasn't just anyone, he was his best friend and he wasn't ready to deal with a possible rejection. Not because it would be a blow to his ego but because of the fall out that might ensue. Bright couldn't handle ruining their friendship because he was shit at keeping it in his pants.

Putting a bit of space between them again, he put on his best smile, jumped up and stretched his long limbs. "Of course I'm good at it. I'm a Rutherford, I'm good at everything." Shaking out his limbs, he dramatically threw one of his tye dyed kimono's on, "Now, how would your band feel about performing at the grand opening of Bright, the club, name still pending?"

There had always been something quite tough about seeing Brighton with someone else, even as they were kids with harmless crushes. He'd often supposed it had to do with the fact that for so long, Bright had been his only friend (and really, the only friend he had felt he'd needed) and whenever Brighton felt so strongly about someone else... he had always been worried he'd be replaced. But it'd been different ever since prom. He was supportive - of course he was, all he wanted was for Bright to be happy - but it always seemed to take something from him. In a way, it'd been harder when his friend had been in a relationship, but on days like this... he felt such a relief that they often chose to cosy up on Bright's sofa rather than his bed. He didn't like to be reminded of all those sex toys, and all the men who had spent the night in that bed next to Brighton.