ᴇᴠᴇʀʟᴏɴɢ

( grant gustin, 27, cis man ) I just bumped into [ NATHANIEL VANDERBILT ] the other day while walking down [ NORTH ] Kingsboro, where [ HE/HIM ] live. I hear they can be [ COMPASSIONATE ] and [ INSECURE ], but when I think of them I immediately think about [ 2AM PHONE CALLS, THE SMELL OF RAIN, POLAROIDS ]

Nate was having feelings, Nate was in his feelings and... well, feeling things meant having to deal with other things. As in, telling someone with whom he’d been having fun for a while that things may need to end soon. Sure, he wasn’t cheating on anybody, but he’d always been honest - perhaps too honest - maybe that was a flaw. 

“Hey...” he trailed off, sitting up on the couch. They’d been watching something on Netflix and though things usually escalated from there, he didn’t want to this time. “Can we talk?” 

But there was no reason for them to not be friends, right? Or at least to give their friendship an attempt. Nate figured it’d been long enough. 

“Hey...” Nate stood up from the booth he’d saved for them when he saw him walk in the shop and greeted his ex-boyfriend with a smile , “I didn’t want to be rude and order first.” He paused, quickly adding. “Today’s my treat, by the way.” 

“well damn, natey boy.” trav laughed, patting nate’s shoulder and grinning, “i really didn’t think you had it in ya.” he teased and shrugged, “i guess music, because the most relaxing thing….” he smirked, he was pretty sure that wasn’t allowed right in the cabin of the plane though, plus if he even suggested it mat would get that cute annoyed look on his face and ignore him for the entire ride to california, and he was pretty much banking on handing mat’s hand to get him through the trip. “music then…that’s what everyone’s been saying, so i guess that’s the winner.”

Rowan was working the counter at The Toadstool, looking busy whenever her boss was near her, but taking out her textbook and notes whenever there weren’t eyes on her. She found work, while partially necessary, to be tedious and if it weren’t for the money aspect, it would be completely boring. She could be using this time to keep her mind sharp, to work on practice tests, but no, here she was, bored out of her mind. 

She was looking down when someone familiar entered, the bell on the door jingling as they did. She looked up and smiled; finally a break in the dullness. “What are you doing here?” Rowan asked with a smile. “Looking for a copy of Tolstoy to help get you through the week?” she joked, though she didn’t know if it really came off as a good one. She never considered herself to be a really funny person.

“You know me so well!” Nate exclaimed in between laughs, though he shrugged his shoulders - he was a little embarrassed at the fact that he often found himself here, even when he had loads of work to do. It was a bit of a safe space for him, a place to go to when he was feeling overwhelmed, he supposed. “Well, okay, maybe not Tolstoy today. Give me something new. Recommend me something I wouldn’t usually read, something that’s not really my style. Surprise me, Rowan Finlay.” 

DIY was not really Tee’s thing. It never was and it probably never would be. So why he thought it would be a good idea to try and build a shelf himself, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was his attempt at proving to himself that he was a functional independent adult, although it wasn’t working so well for him so far. His finger was bleeding from when he aimed badly and hit it with the hammer and now he was attempting to get on the ladder in order to get the top part attached. “You know, instead of laughing at me you could try lending a hand?” he snapped, finally at his wit’s end with the stupid shelf. 

It wasn’t humorous - it wasn’t! - but Nate couldn’t help the laugh he let out at the fact that both of them were not made for this. Nate was good at many things, but home improvement was something he should steer far away from. Hell, he could barely tell tools apart... but he knew Tee had just hit himself with a hammer. Ah, shit. “Here -” he handed Tee a towel so he could wipe the blood, wincing at the damage he’d done to himself, “you know... maybe we should get someone else to work on this instead. You gave it a go and if I try, I’m gonna end up with a messed up finger too.” 

“Hey, I may not be the best at advice, but I am a bartender. I can’t say I’m not used to being on the other side of venting.” Allister muttered to the person sitting on the other side of the bar top, his blue eyes set, and as understanding on his company as he could manage. He really wasn’t the type to get overly emotional, but he’d come around to being more understanding. It was hard to get away from the whole therapist vibe after being a bartender all these years. “Seriously, what’s botherin’ you? I promise to be as objective as possible.”

“i dunno man…it’s like how do you trust one of those things?” he questioned, genuinely a little distraught at the thought of his first trip on an airplane. of course he was excited, a trip to california with his secret boyfriend, that was all good, that was awesome. but the plane ride. his first time and he was definitely overthinking it. “got any like…tricks or whatever so i don’t shit my pants?” he asked, putting out his cigarette and looking back up, “and before you suggest it, i’ve been told i can’t show up to the gate high so that’s totally out of the question.”

“i don’t know…we’re not into this shit, you know?” jude sighed, staring at the aisle in front of him. “i don’t want to do something big, just like a little something so he knows i’m thinking about him.” not that he really needed to tell cillian that, they were still in that lame-ass honeymoon phase everyone talked about. but for the first time, jude was with someone he loved on valentine’s day and he wanted to show it, even if traditional means seemed really stupid. “a bear maybe…but nah…chocolates but, we could just steal that shit.” he shrugged, “any suggestions?”

it felt good to be out and about kingsboro again, and cody was glad to be home, because kingsboro felt more like home than california did. here he had friends, relationships that mattered, roots that he never really had managed to put down back in hollywood. plus there was just something about the streets of new york made him come alive again, even if he was a little hungover on this day. he headed into the city, ordering his coffee and sliding into the booth across from his coffee “date” with a grin, “rough morning?” he teased, when it was clear by the red puffy eyes he wore on his won face and the mess of his hair that he was the one who’d had a rough morning.

“you know it.” he replied with an amused smile, an eyebrow quirked as he inwardly questioned exactly what cody had been up to the previous night. leave it to cody to still make a rough night look attractive. “i did have an issue when i was at the gym earlier so, yes.” he’d already ordered his own coffee as he waited for cody; it was his second of the day already. perhaps he was addicted. “what’s on your schedule after this?” he asked, his smile growing as he added. “you were missed, you know. i’m glad you’re back.”