#simplyleez

It’s their second year of College. They’re living in shared housing with the people that were their flat mates in the first year, Jughead didn’t see the need to change the people and Archie couldn’t be bothered, sure it would have been nice to live together but they still see each other almost every day. Jughead’s studying a course in Film while Archie’s doing a joint honours degree in Music Technology and Music Performance. They’re happy because they’re doing what they love, plus they finally got out of Riverdale.

 It’s not that they hate the town, okay it’s problematic along with the whole population, but they’re in a bigger city now with more people and better opportunities. Jughead works part time at a local coffee shop, not matter how cliche it is it still has good pay, and Archie plays some nights at small bars. So, life’s great and happy. Except there’s this thing, this unspoken thing that neither of them talk about. The thing that when they’re drunk and alone it’s dangerous in that they’ll ruin what they have, it ruins their friendship.

 Those late nights of heavy make out sessions and wandering hands that stop before it becomes too serious. They don’t speak about it, and try not to think about it until the next time it happens, then they ignore each other for a few days then they’re back to being best friends until next time. There’s always a next time because College is filled with parties and drinking, and maybe there is something there, something deeper than just physical attraction. But neither is very willing to face it. Not yet at least.

 “Man come on you’ve never had a girlfriend?” Jughead’s roommate, Mark, sounds shocked but honestly he’s just being sarcastic, he’s known Jughead for just over a year now due to them living together in first year. “Like that’s a fucking revelation,” Jughead snickers, despite their differences, Mark taking Psychology and being a health nut, they actually get along quite well, their sense of humour is fairly similar too. “So, why?” At the question Jughead wants to die.

 He’s never being comfortable with his sexuality or anything. He usually just tells people he’s gay and leave it at that but it’s far deeper than that, he only admits to himself that, yes he’s homoromantic, but he’s asexual. Plus he still doesn’t know Mark well enough to tell him that he has no sexual attraction so opts for the easy way out, “I’m gay Mark.” The other just looks at him, eyes searching Jughead’s face to see if he’s joking or it’s serious and, yeah, it’s serious. “Shit dude, I didn’t know, sorry.” Mark’s apology is sincere and almost makes Jughead laugh, it makes him want to tell him that he doesn’t need to be sorry.

 “Well, you know I still love you dude.” It’s a complete ‘bro dude’ gesture but Jughead appreciates it. Mark checks the clock on the wall and groans, “suppose I should be getting to my lecture now then, although I think death would be a prefered alternative.” Jughead just laughs in response as he watches Mark gather his things into his backpack, all the while keeping the conversation flowing asking “so, you got a boyfriend then?” It’s casual and in the same tone as before, quite playful.

 Jughead’s laugh is lighter than before but he’s smiling when he sarcastically responds, “yeah sure.” He’s sure that’s the last of it but doesn’t expect for Mark to verbally corner him that night asking who his boyfriend is. “I won’t take no for an answer either, I need to know, I promise I won’t tell a soul if you don’t want me to.” Mark is insistent as he lounges on Jughead’s bed, Jughead himself is sitting on his desk with his feet resting on the chair.

 “Dude, I don’t-” He’s cut off quickly by Mark, “I don’t want any excuses I just want a name and I will let you be, I’ll leave you in peace.” Jughead sighs, resting his elbows on his knees and his hands covering his face, he knows there’s only one man that will pretend to be his boyfriend 100% because they’re like that, they’d do anything for each other but, god, does it make him think about all those things they’ve done. “Archie.” And it’s done. Too late to go back.

 “You mean the ginger music guy who you go home with for Christmas and summer?” Jughead’s not sure if it’s a rhetorical question but nods anyway, moving his hands from his face and he just knows that he’s blushing. “Man, he always seemed like, you know, a ladies man to me,” Mark adds, it kind of frustrates Jughead but he knows that he doesn’t know Archie like he does nor does he really want him too because he wants Archie all for himself.

 Yeah, shit, he may or may not have a huge school kid crush on Archie and now have to own up that he’s dropped him in it as his pretend boyfriend. “Ha, yeah, no.” Jughead jumbles a response, not wanting to really out his bisexual friend because that’s his life and really he should probably go see said best friend about this situation he’s gotten them into. So, he jumps up and grabs a hoodie that’s been discarded on the floor and puts it on.

 “Hey, woah dude, where are you going?” Mark quickly asks, Jughead’s certain that his friend is panicking that he’s crossed the line. “Chill Mark. I’m going to Archie’s, okay?” Jughead flushes slightly at the possible implications of the sentence, Mark just nods and smiles back at him. Jughead’s out of their house as quick as possible, fishing his phone out of his pocket and ringing the redhead.

 “Jughead? Why the hell are you calling me?” Archie’s voice sounds slightly worried but also laced with sleep, Jughead would bet money that he just woke Archie up from a nap. “Um, is it okay if I come over? I kind of want to talk to you,” Jughead’s voice is quiet and it wavers slightly, he turns the corner at the end of his block, Archie’s house is only a few streets away so it won’t take him long. “Okay, alright. I’m in the house alone right now, most of the guys have gone home for the weekend and James has gone on a date so just let yourself in man.” Jughead hangs up after uttering a quick ‘bye’, then putting his phone away again.

 Archie opens the door after the third knock, even though he was told to let himself in it doesn’t feel right, his hair is ruffled as are his clothes, and he gestures for Jughead to come inside. The brunet moves past Archie, making his way into the living room and Archie follows him, even sitting right next to him of the couch. “Jughead you’re kind of scaring me right now, what did you want to talk about?” Archie’s voice only raised in concern, his body leaning towards Jughead in an attempt to maybe prompt the latter into talking.

 “Okay, so I may or may not have accidently came out as gay to Mark then accidentally told him you’re my totally legit boyfriend, so, yeah that.” Jughead waits maybe for Archie to get mad at him or tell him off or something but he doesn’t. “So you want me to be your pretend boyfriend or are you going to own up to Mark?” Archie asked, yeah they were the only two logically feasible options he could pick from now, but honestly the first one didn’t sound all that bad.

 “Will you be my pretend boyfriend? Just for a couple of weeks then we can like, I don’t know, have a calm break up and pretend to go back to being just friends.” Jughead suggested, hoping to convince the redhead that it won’t be a long term thing (unless for some god forsaken reason he’d want to but that might just break Jughead’s heart). “Okay, I guess. But just be warned breakups are never easy, fake or not.” Archie laughed, lightening the tone slightly, but Jughead’s heart is still pounding, he knew exactly why but couldn’t stop the rush of affection he felt at being seen as Archie’s boyfriend.

 Maybe it’s easier than Jughead thinks. It becomes second nature to grab Archie’s hand whenever they’re close enough, and kiss his cheek when then pass, and call him ‘babe’ in the middle of a conversation. But, god, it’s not enough for him. He wants those stupid, long, lazy makeouts minus the alcohol so he can actually remember the feel and taste of the other’s lips in the morning, he wants to sleep next to him, and he wants it to be oh so real. It isn’t though. It’s all fake, just a lie, that they keep up outside (especially around Mark) but behind closed doors they’re the same, just Archie and Jughead, two bros that are just best friends.

 Jughead really wants to own up, he feels like he’s being fake to Archie as well as the whole College population who seem them. So he corners Archie in the lounge area between the computer suits and the English rooms on a Friday afternoon, Jughead’s just been waiting for Archie’s lecture to finish then texted him to meet him. “Hey, babe.” Archie approaches him, he’s conscious of his words because the people in his class are still meandering about. “Arch we need to talk about us, or at least I need to talk and you need to shut your mouth and listen.” Jughead pulls him down into the seat next to him by his hand, their fingers automatically interlace and stay there resting on their shared armrest.

 “I guess I should thank you for all this, you know, pretending to be my boyfriend for these past few weeks but I just,” he sighs, almost sounding defeated and unsure of what to say next, Archie inputs his assumption though, “do you want to break it off now?” And Jughead is certain he hears disappointment in his voice, and no he doesn’t want to break this off. “Not really, I mean kind of but,” he paused to sigh, collecting his jumbled thoughts as he stroked to back of Archie’s knuckles with his fingers, “I really, genuinely like you and not just in a friend way, I know I’m going to sound so fucking cliche but I like like you Archie.”

 It feels like a relief to get that off his chest but it’s quickly replaced by panic because Archie is deadly silent, this could be the part where Jughead not only loses this fake relationship but he could lose his friendship too. “Oh, I didn’t realise, I just, I mean, I-” Archie stumbles through an incoherent sentence which Jughead can’t help but smile at, “I like you like that too Jughead, I think I always have.”

 Jughead’s sure this is how he dies. He never thought Archie would return his feelings because, well, he doesn’t quite have a reason for it but because it’s him. “I should take you out,” Jughead blurts out, his mind racing as Archie’s hand is in his for real and his heart is pounding, Archie laughs lightly at the comment and waits for him to continue. “I mean like a date, a real one though,” Jughead explains and Archie nods his head, “yeah I’d like that a lot.”

 They stay silent for a few minutes, the world still moving around them as they can hear students moving and talking in rooms near them. “Can I kiss you? You know for real,” Archie asks, turning his body in the chair to face the other. Jughead just smiles, uttering a quick ‘yes’ before holding Archie’s cheeks with both hands and drawing him in for a kiss. Archie makes a noise, possibly of complaint or of enjoyment Jughead can’t tell, then cups one of Jughead’s hands on his face and his other goes to his neck.

It was a day like any other, except that Jughead woke up feeling loved and physically very warm. Forcing himself to open his eyes, it was 6:45am only 15 minutes before the alarm would sound. Jughead allowed himself those 15 minutes of relaxation in his boyfriends arms.

Said boyfriend - none other than Archie Andrews, Riverdale’s golden boy - is currently still asleep, head tucked in Jughead’s shoulder, only drooling slightly (Jughead would disagree). Jughead would be quite happy if he never had to move ever again and to just stay wrapped in Archie’s arms and the comfortably warm duvet. However, the growing pressure on his bladder disagreed.

Groaning quietly, Jughead made a sneaky escape from the bed and inched his way towards the bathroom. He spent considerably more time than he intended in there, deciding to start his morning routine washing his face and brushing his teeth.

He must have missed the 7am alarm as when he got back Archie was looking a lot more awake and less peaceful, Jughead could help but laugh lightly at the red head. “Not funny,” Archie groaned, sitting up from his position on the bed, “I’m so tired Jug.” His voice was low, evident that he had just woken up and Jughead allowed himself a few seconds to appreciate it.

Jughead turned to get his clothes, turning back to see Archie lying back on his bed and curled into the covers. “Archie c’mon, it’s Friday, please just get up.” Jughead made his way to the edge of the bed, prodding Archie with his hand till he stirred. “Okay, okay, I’m up!” Jug threw his arms up in defeat, backing away from the bed to allow Archie space to get up while he gathered the rest of his clothes.

“Ah! Fuck,” Jughead jumped, feeling strong arms wrap around his midsection and Archie’s chin resting on his shoulder, “I’m up,” Archie smiled into his ear. “Hmmm, I see that, now all you need to do is get ready.” Jughead pulled away, briefly pressing a kiss onto Archie’s cheek before leaving him to get ready.

“Morning Jug.” Fred Andrew’s voice greeted him as he reached the bottom of the stairs, “Archie up yet?” his newspaper laid out in front of him and coffee in hand, he barely looked up at Jug which Jughead found familiar and calming. “Barely,” Jughead’s sarcasm was a 24/7 thing, missing out the parts where Fred’s son possibly tried to attempt an initiation of morning sex as reward of getting up.

Jughead was sure that the whole neighbourhood could hear his boyfriend running down the stairs but he smiled fondly at Archie’s heavy footing. “Morning,” Archie announced, his head into the fridge before anyone could reply. “Morning Arch,” Fred replied, quickly folding his paper in half and standing up, “I’ll see you guys later.”

Archie was behind Jughead before the door closed, taking the same position as before, “Archie, what are you doing?” Jughead questioned his boyfriend’s actions, twisting his head to see him better. Archie just smiled and kissed Jug briefly on the lips then the cheek, “‘m just feeling affectionate today Jug, am I not allowed cuddles anymore?” his tone dropped in mock hurt but his smile remained.

“Hmmm I guess it’s not a crime just don’t get used to it,” they both knew it was an empty threat but Archie nodded in agreement and placed a last kiss on Jughead’s nose before moving away. “Ew Archie,” Jughead could only complain weakly, his face over exaggeratedly scrunched up in disgust to which Archie laughed at before biting into an apple.

“C’mon then we’re going to be late,” Jughead said, moving from his chair to pick up his backpack, “and lord knows that’ll annoy Betty.” Archie hummed in response, throwing the rest of his apple into the bin after taking hurried bites, then put on his own backpack before leaving the house.

As soon as Archie put his keys in his pocket his hand was reaching for Jughead’s, intertwining their finger Jughead pulled the redhead next to him. Stepping in time with each other, Jughead couldn’t help swing their hands back and forth a little.

Betty met them at the end of the block, still in fear of her mother criticizing her friend choice, her hands pulling at her ponytail and her clothes to make sure she looked perfect. “Aw, you guys are so cute,” he voice was high, almost sarcastic like which Jughead was impressed at. “I know right,” Archie’s smile was evident in his voice, and Betty began to walk alongside them. “Fuck off Betty,” Jughead resorted, still his face flushed from embarrassment.

They ended up a fraction of a second late, which Betty still complained about whilst running off in the opposite direction towards her classroom. “We’re definitely in the bad books,” Archie laughed, letting go of Jughead’s hand and putting his own on the brunet’s shoulder. “We? I think it was you who wouldn’t get out of bed, if she starts telling us off you’re taking the blame,” Jughead stated, his own hands placed on Archie’s hips, fine with the close contact in the deserted hallway.

“We should get to class,” Archie said but made no move. “We could… or we could totally skip today,” Jughead proposition hung in the air but defeated by Archie shaking his head. “I would love nothing more than just spending the day with you,” he placed a short kiss to Jughead’s forehead “but it is Friday, so I have all weekend to be with you, and maths won’t learn itself.” Archie leaned down to kiss Jughead’s lips, possibly longer than necessary since they’d only be apart for two lessons.

Not even ten minutes into second lesson Jughead’s phone vibrates, he deduces it can only be Archie and his suspicions are confirmed as he pulled it out of his pocket. The screen reading ‘Archie: Love you missing you already :’( <3 xx’ Jughead can’t help the smile that breaks out onto his face. He texts back ‘I love you too but you’re such a fucking sap x’.

“What’re you smiling about?” Veronica questioned him from across the table, he eyes seeming to pierce his very soul. “Nothing,” Jughead blatantly lied, Veronica was clearly not impressed with his inability to lie or that he was lying to her. “Okay Jug. Phone.” She demanded, holding her hand out across the table. Jughead huffed before looking around to see the teacher busy so handed his phone to Veronica.

“Aw you guys are just too cute,” Veronica gushed, scrolling up through his texts, “yeah, yeah, so we’re told by you and Betty 24/7. Now give me my phone back,” Jughead demanded, all but snatching the phone from the brunette’s hand. “You know, you are so lucky to have Archie, he really cares about you and I know that you really care about him too,” Veronica was using her sincere voice which guilted Jughead into not giving a sarcastic remark in response instead responding with “yeah, I know I’m lucky, thanks Veronica.”

The lesson continued, Veronica incessantly talking about Jug and Archie’s relationship, and speaking rather sorrowfully to which Jughead told her she needed to ‘get herself out there’ which was as far as his dating advice went. Then him and Veronica made their way to the common room, the rest of their ‘gang’ (were they in scooby-doo or something?) were already there.

Jughead instinctively sat next to Archie, their thighs pressed together and hands connected, conversation flowing as normal. Or was flowing. Until none other than Reggie fucking Mantle walks in, well walking Jughead would disagree and call it strutting but he was in no mood for an argument. And clearly neither was Archie, his eyebrows furrowed and he was glaring at Reggie, telling him to back the fuck off. Jughead was his boyfriend and if Archie needed to fight someone to keep him safe he would do it in a heartbeat.

Reggie got the message though, maybe he just didn’t want a fight on Friday and the weekend was so close Jughead could almost feel it. “Reggie’s such a dick,” Veronica stage whispered to the group, most of them nodding in agreement but not willing to spend any more conversation or gossip time on the man.

Jughead hadn’t realised he had zoned out until Archie squeezed his hand, he squeezed back in return and looked up at the redhead who just smiled and went back to the conversation at hand.

While Jughead had no idea what the topic of conversation was, although he nodded in agreement sometimes, his thoughts returned to his conversation with Veronica from before. The thought about how lucky he really was to have such a compassionate, caring boyfriend who actually wanted him and liked him for who he was not his outcast, alternative, loner facade but for the kid he had been and the young man he was growing to be.

The bell rang loudly throughout the school, everyone jumping up from their places and hurrying down halls, narrowly avoiding bumping into each other. “Guess I’ll see you at lunch,” Jughead spoke, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Archie due to his earlier thoughts he began second guessing Archie’s feelings for him but quick to assure himself he was wrong still he couldn’t shake the feeling.

“Yeah, are you okay Jug?” Archie questioned, his face contorted in concern, Jughead realised that he probably couldn’t hide these feelings from Archie for very long. “I’m alright, I’ll tell you later tonight, okay?” Jughead released Archie’s hand from his grip, “yeah, alright then.” Veronica appeared beside them, Betty and Kevin already having gone to their lesson, “come on lover boy, time to go.” She linked her arm in Archie’s, giving Jughead an over the top cheesy smile to show she meant no harm in being close to his boyfriend but Jughead just nodded in response and walked the other way to class.

Lunch couldn’t have come sooner in Jughead’s opinion, if there was one thing he hated (he hates a lot more than one thing though) it was teachers who gave unimportant, off-topic lectures about shit no-one cared about and would be no use to anyone ever. His eyebrows were crossed from frustration so he wasn’t surprised when he reached the table Betty asked what was wrong with him, to which he gave his own droaning lecture about teachers time wasting while everyone sympathetically nodded along.

He felt somewhat better after his little rant, but even if he hadn’t Archie’s leg linked with his own sure did brighten his mood considerably.

Jughead also paid little attention during lunch, Veronica and Kevin conversing deeply, hand gestures and all. He didn’t necessarily ignore them because the conversation was boring, although it wasn’t exactly riveting, but because Archie wouldn’t stop rubbing his ankle with his foot and casting him glances across the table.

“Will you two stop eye fucking across the dinner table!” Veronica snapped, her head turning to stare at the two of them. Jughead’s cheeks quickly heated up, focusing his vision anywhere but Veronica or anyone else that matter, and he could only assume Archie had that damn attractive faint blush on his face accompanied by a cocky grin. Jughead vaguely hears Kevin telling Veronica to ‘back off’ and ‘let them be’ but he quickly removes himself from participating in the conversation.

The rest of the day passes rather uneventfully, except for last lesson where Archie wouldn’t stop looking at Jug from the corner of his eye, giving him side glances and smiling when he got caught instead of being embarrassed.

Archie and Jughead left the classroom and school together, their fingers occasionally brushing against each other until Jughead decided it was a comfortable distance away from the school  to actually hold hands. They were walking alone, Betty staying behind to ‘finish off some work’ with Veronica but Jughead guessed they weren’t staying behind together for academic purposes. The thought of Betty attempting to seduce Veronica made him laugh lightly aloud to which Archie gave him a funny look.

Jughead disregarded his boyfriend’s stare and pulled him up to the house, waiting for Archie to open the door, then tugged him inside. Their lips met as the door slammed closed, it was brief and chaste but Jughead smiled into it. Archie’s face broke out in that seemingly ever present grin when they parted and opened his mouth to most likely say some sappy or stupid shit (or both), but Jughead cut him off with a peck of the lips then a smack to his shoulder.

The rest of the evening they spent eating junk food, courtesy of Fred - who Jughead described as an angel when he brought take away bags through to the kitchen - then playing video games and talking nonsense.

Then Friday was done. It was 1:07am on Saturday, Jughead and Archie lying in bed together. Archie had his head placed comfortably in the crook of Jughead’s neck when Jug spoke up, “love you, Archie.” His voice was so soft and quiet than Archie raised his head, having to look him in the eye to see what was wrong but finding little to nothing replied, “I love you too Jug.”

“No seriously,” Jughead twisted his head so he was leaning into strands of red hair, “I mean it, I love you so much even if you are a complete sap who can’t handle being separated from me for two hours but you just- I just- you make me feel so, so loved and- thank you Archie.” Jughead let out a sigh of relief, finally having said what had been bothering him.

Aristotle Mendoza has never ever been the type of boy who enjoyed parties, he hates the people, the small spaces, couples making out on every surface ever. So, he found himself on the children’s swing set outside, his lukewarm beer in hand, aimlessly swinging lightly back and forth. He’d done his fair share of awkward small talk and polite introductions to his peers as Gina and Susie paraded from room to room. Her loved those girls dearly but they could be too much sometimes, okay most of the time. But they were there for Ari, they were his friends.

 He could think of a million and one other places he would rather be than at the party, the desert always sounded appealing but right now, at this ungodly hour he just wanted to be with Dante. He sighed into the air, for no reason in particular he just wanted to feel sorry for himself again. The sound of muffled music and chatter was fairly calming, a contrast between the stillness of outside.

 The sky was a dark blue, few stars visible to Ari as he tilted his head towards the heavens, “too much light pollution” he sighed to himself quietly. The stars always reminded him of Dante, no matter how few of them there was, to be fair everything reminded him of Dante. Ari could feel excitement build up inside of him just from thinking of the other boy, a small smile graced his lips at his thoughts as the screen doors of the house opened then closed again.

 “Here’s my melancholy man! I was wondering how you escaped so easily.” Gina was practically bouncing over to him, her footing a little off from the alcohol making her look less graceful than usual. Ari just looked at her in response, “wait a minute are you… are you smiling? Oh my goodness! What’s got you in such a good mood?” Gina was almost giggling to herself, her own smile was wide which concerned Ari as he thought her smile might break her face.

 “Nothing,” Ari tried to play it cool, remain neutral, give no inclination of what he was feeling. He failed miserably as Gina sat down on the swing beside him, her hands wrapping around the cords and swinging herself like a child. “That’s not nothing, you’re smiling that’s a big deal in your books! You want to know what I think.” Gina wasn’t even facing him, her own head leaning back to observe the sky as she swung, “not particularly but I know you’re going to tell me anyway.” Ari knew that’s just the way it was with Gina she would just tell him all things and everything no matter how big or small, he liked that about her, it meant he did less of the talking.

 “I think somebody’s in love!” She didn’t stop her movements, neither did they falter, but Ari’s heart sank slightly. He didn’t really want to tell her the truth, or tell her anything at all, but over the years Gina’s got good at reading him and getting information out of him. “And how would you know that?” He shot back sarcastically, attempting to pretend that Gina wasn’t absolutely right.

 “You’ve got that smitten look, you’ve never look like that before but I reckon you’ve got it bad.” Gina came to a stop, her shoes digging into the dirt where the grass had been ruined through years of shoes landing harshly upon it. She turned to face Ari, the swing creaking slightly at the movement, but Ari refused to look back at her. “I’m right aren’t I? You’re not defending yourself or denying it or even giving a sarcastic remark. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?” That made Ari laught briefly and Gina joined him.

 “Best friend? Don’t let Susie hear she’s been demoted,” Ari commented, aware he was consciously avoiding the main issue and he was certain Gina wouldn’t leave it. “Don’t avoid the topic! Plus I love you and Susie equally, it’s like asking me to choose between my children.” Gina remarked, then it went silent. Ari didn’t reply, instead he took a swig of his beer, then another but Gina just started at him, cocking her head to the side and just waited.

 Ari couldn’t help but blush under her gaze and Gina gasped, “you are in love aren’t you?” she teased him, leaning her elbows on her knees to inch forward as if it would help her hear him better. “Fine,” Ari said defeatedly, “yes, I am. In love, I guess, I just-” he broke off to let out a frustrated groan, running his free hand through his hair. Gina stayed silent, waiting for him to find his words. “I fell in love with my best friend but… I was too fucking stupid, ignorant, I didn’t see it for ages.” He smiled fondly, speaking of Dante made him feel just as giddy as thinking about him.

 “But you’re good now?” Gina seemed genuinely caring and invested, not just gossip invested but ‘this is my best friend and I really care’ invested. “Yeah, we’re good now.” He finally looked back up at her, she was still leaning forward, her eyes fond, she looked like she was really thinking about something.

 “It’s Dante, isn’t it?” It wasn’t even really a question, it was a statement, she just knew. “Is it that obvious?” Ari spoke, still as sarcastic as ever which made Gina smile, she just nodded in return. Then silence again. It was a comfortable silence, Gina didn’t judge him (of course she wouldn’t) but Ari had a feeling she wasn’t done talking yet, she was never quite done talking.

 “It’s not too obvious, I wouldn’t have know if I didn’t know you so well and I didn’t know him. It’s just the way you talk about him, it’s so fondly but it’s rare that you talk about him. Almost as if he’s your little secret. It’s adorable really. God, I never thought I’d call you or anything you do adorable.” Gina giggled slightly at that and Ari couldn’t help but give a short, breathless laugh out. “Thanks Gina and I really mean that.” He had another swig of his drink, almost emptying it, it did make him feel slightly better talking about his feelings. But he did have a feeling that Susie would know by tomorrow so she would confront him on Monday which he wasn’t looking forward to.

 “Oh, plus, you hang around with him more than us, which is unfair but understandable,” she rambled on, the drinking incapacitated her brain to mouth filter more than usual so she just spewed out whatever she was thinking. “You’re just like Sherlock Holmes Gina, you never know one day I might formally introduce you two.” The smile didn’t leave his face as he spoke, Gina seemed to get excited over the prospect of officially ‘meeting’ Dante, her hands clasped the chains again meaning she swung slightly.

 “It must be nice though, so easy with him being your friend, you already know each other so well and it just really sweet.” She stopped to sigh, sounding defeated and almost regretful as she spoke again “I wish I could fall in love with my best friend.” She linked her hands together and looked to the sky again. It clicked for Ari, Gina was also in love. “I think you already have,” he murmurs, he knows it’s not his place to intervene but she got herself invested in his life too, plus it sounded like she really could do with some help.

 “Is it that obvious?” She repeats his earlier words, he smiles and responds “I wouldn’t have know if I didn’t know you so well.” They laughed at that, then silence overtook them but Gina sighed. “I just don’t know what to do Ari, life’s just so complicated.” She stopped to take a breath, reaching over to take Ari’s beer from his hand and finished it off then threw it to the floor.

 “I think I really love her Ari but I don’t know if she loves me or if she even likes girls.” Gina’s voice grew weaker, Ari was sure she’d start crying but she just sniffled and pulled herself together. “Gina, sometimes you just need to not think logically just think with your feelings. Ask her, if she turns you down I’m sure you’ll still be friends.” Ari knew he didn’t have a great way with words but Gina needed comforting and it seemed to work.

 She looked back at Ari, her eye no longer teary, “you know what, for once in your life I think you’re right.” With that she stood up but froze. “Gina, you alright?” Ari stood beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder, “I thought I was going to throw up.” Ari just laughed at her, “I think you’ve had enough to drink.”