tate lee

“Man, do you hear yourself?” Maia was disappointed on what she was hearing. “Your sanity is worth way more than hurt feelings. Remember that.” She said pointing to him.

the question takes him by surprise. see? again, not equipped for this. daniel sighs, really pauses to think about it. “well, if this person is now my friend,” he starts, “i guess i would go. it would feel awkward, sure, but not unbearable if i see them only as a friend. i wouldn’t want to potentially upset a friend on their wedding day.”

finn was surprised by the sudden motions, but didn’t hesitate to grab the sweater. he unbuttoned his own shirt, and, once it was off all the way, he extended it to tate. “thank you, thank you, thank you!” finn cried out, patting the other guy on the shoulder. “here, take my money! buy yourself an ice cream, a new car, i don’t care! just buy yourself something.” he reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out the five dollars, throwing it towards the other man.

harley managed to maintain his look of hurt through tate’s change of heart. the water actually helped dampen his allergies, but tate could live without that knowledge a little while longer. “nope, i’m puffing out literally right now,” he said, wiggling sudsy, demonstrative fingers at tate. “just kidding, you baby, it’d take more than soap to kill me. but i am pruning.” harley shook his head, the ghost of a grin betraying his pretend-disappointment. he started to get up, only pausing to shoot tate a look. “and that sounds dangerous? how do you even fall– never mind.” maybe it was a writer thing, or just a tate thing. “if i go out to grab dry towels, can i trust you to stay awake and hold back the kraken?” his gaze slanted towards lolli.

theo sighed when he noticed tate’s facial expression and put his phone down properly. “listen, tate,” he said, trying to be somewhat comforting. “if you feel like you’re gonna have fun and not feel like shit, just go. like, maybe it’ll be cool. but just, like, make sure you’re not gonna regret it afterwards. cause, like… it’s still your ex. and yes,” he smirked a little, breaking the seriousness of the conversation a little. “those dance moves will definitely stun him. i mean, you learned from the best! and those moves are all your work, by the way. you have, like, some talent in you, dude.”

“thanks, man,” sawyer said with a smile. he wasn’t sure if he was ready to every one of his little secrets to tate, but this was sure to help, he thought. just knowing someone was there was doing wonders for his state of mind. leading tate into the pet establishment, he asked the worker if they could pet a few of the cats, and soon enough, they were surrounded by all kinds of cats. 

“something that really shows your ex what they’re missing out on.” mariana said, digging her phone out of her pocket. she pulled up her instagram and scrolled for a moment, tapping on a photo of herself in a gold dress and showing tate. “i wore this to my ex’s wedding. she just about shit her pants when she saw me.” she grinned. “as for arm candy, take a friend!”

harley laughed, an unholy, gleeful sound, and he kept laughing until bath soap was suddenly in his mouth. “oh my god,” he sputtered, hacking it out and prompting a small hiss from a particular cat caught in the crossfire. harley swiped at his eyes, glaring at tate across the tub. “tate. this soap,” he began indignantly, scooping more up and shoving them at tate’s face in return, “this water, they’ve touched a cat, are you trying to kill me.” he landed a particularly satisfying one right on top of tate’s hair, but the cost was a sizeable wave of bath water that sloshed and spilled out. 

it prompted harley to pause mid-vengeance to check over the side of the tub. the towels padding the floor were visibly soaked through. “i think we’re flooding your bathroom.”

     tate’s eyes widened as harley spit out some of the bubbles that ended up in his mouth. for a moment tate really had forgotten that harley was allergic to cats. and there definitely was a cat in here. the glare he gave him made tate feel awful, and he gasped. he didn’t even care that he got more bubbles in his face. “harley! no! i don’t want to kill you!” he said, going to reach out and grab the other’s elbow. “oh my god, are you okay? you’re not like... puffing up or anything? oh no, i don’t want to my friend.” the poor boy was genuinely worried. 

“huh,” oakley said, before shrugging and opening the wallet. he pulled out a driver’s license and saw a name and face he didn’t recognize even in the slightest. “do you know this person?” he asked the other, holding the card up.

“i think you should go, and look better than whoever it is they’re marrying,” jace said bluntly with a shrug. “show ‘em what they’re missing. did you just get a save the date? or a real-deal invite?”

with every word tate says daniel feels less and less like he should be giving advice on the matter. he can’t think of a similar situation to empathize better with the boy. he can, of course, but that’s in the field of imagination and not true experience. “well,” he starts, “then i think you gotta ask yourself what’s gonna bother you more. not going and missing the celebration or going and feeling weird.”

“You could just ask a friend. Or download a dating app. Probably hire somebody weird from Craiglist. The first option being the safest of all, obviously – absolutely wouldn’t recommend Craigslist,” Fawn clarified, generally nonplussed as she pushed hair behind her ear. “You also, uh – I mean. I know I’m not being entirely helpful. But. You know, you really don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.  You can just say that, like, your grandma is sick and you can’t make it or something. There are, uh. More amicable ways to deal with it.”

“Don’t go, I don’t care how well intentioned that person seems, you do not go.” Maia said sternly to Tate. “It’s a set up. You’ll always feel bad no matter how happy you feel.”

“I heard someone else say it before, can’t take credit,” Solomon told Tate, but pride surged in his chest anyway at the waterfall of giggles. He’d caused them, regardless. “Well, you should probably try to do that. I mean, if it’s your job and all. Unless you want to do something else. At least one of us should chase our dreams. And, you know what? If traveling is your dream, you should just do it. Fuck capitalism!” He declared, banging his beer on the table. He was hardly tipsy, but it didn’t take much for his life’s frustrations to spill out.

“look, at least you have a long shirt that will cover the tear in my pants!” he argued, pointing to the other man’s sweater. “my shirt was not meant to be untucked, calvin klein would snipe me on sight if he caught me doing anything but a tuck or french tuck.” he could feel tears welling in his eyes from the embarrassment. “please, i’ll give you anything, i’ve got five dollars in my wallet… i just, i need some new pants!”

“don’t go, duh,” theo said, putting down his phone and looking tate in the eye. “i mean, i don’t know how bad the breakup was, but if they’re anything like my exes, just, like… do not,” he sighed. “if you do go, make sure to absolutely stunt on them. like, you have to look better than everyone else there, because otherwise… what is the point?” finally, something theo could have a proper conversation about. this was great.