It was nighttime, and the four boys seemed intent on staying at Kyle's place, taking advantage of the fact that it was Saturday. Evan had planned to bring a few cans of beer to share with his friend while he told him about the confusion brewing in his head regarding a certain medical student a coworker seemed to know, and how he'd even had wet dreams about him. However, when Ryan pulled two bottles of fine liquor out of his partner's drawers, he replaced his initial intention of drinking a little with a full-blown drunken party. For a moment, Evan forgot they were a couple and was surprised to see the blond guy had some clothes in Kyle's closet.
He discovered that Ryan's family owned a large commercial corporation, and he had started a small video game company that was doing very well in its growth. However, he still always helped out with his older brother's technology and computer business, which had been his main source of income since high school. His older brother had always been passionate about computers and took over a family business that his parents didn't see much future in, but Ryan and his brother worked hard until they managed to catapult it to the top of the market.
Kyle and Ryan met at a convention, where the organizers invited the silver-haired boy to be a photographer. It hadn't been more than a year since then, but the blond boy was smitten with the silver-haired boy from the first moment and didn't give up until he accepted a date. On their second date, they were already in a relationship.
Evan remained silent for a few moments after they briefly explained the story. Was his friend very fast in relationships, or was he usually very slow? He found it hard to believe they were the same age, and even harder to believe that Ryan was a year younger than him and already sweating money out of his pockets.
At first, he thought he would feel out of place among them, but it was so easy to interact with Ryan and Liam, as if they had been old friends forever. After the initial shock, he felt right at home in that living room with his best friend and those two boys whose faces and names he barely knew that morning.
Kyle had always been a serious and reserved boy. The only thing he knew about his romantic life was that he used to say he preferred not to get involved in a serious relationship for fear of getting hurt after his first boyfriend had only used him for carnal interests in high school and then dumped him. Since then, Kyle preferred not to get romantically involved. That's why Evan felt immensely happy to see him smiling so sincerely in the arms of that tall blond man, who saw him as if he were the greatest treasure in the world.
"Go find a room, you two," Evan said in his crooning voice, clearly intending to annoy his friend, who instantly turned his face red.
"Well, our bed is in the next room," the tall blond said without a hint of shame, laughing. "But I don't want you guys to hear Kyle's sweet voice. That's just for me," and he sweetly kissed him.
"Aww. Long live love," Evan, clearly already a little drunk, began to applaud.
And in Liam's eyes, that blond, blue-eyed man was the cutest and most perfect person on the face of the earth. And that closeness they were beginning to feel reminded him of the old days when they were getting to know each other, and the actor's flirting drove him crazy.
Liam was a boy who was never interested in love or relationships, no matter how much his father insisted that he should allow himself to interact more with people. It was then that he met Evan, a man in a coffee shop, wearing a little hat, scarf, gloves, sunglasses, and a mask, along with an extremely cute face. He would always remember him as the cute snowman who got mad at him in the coffee line for not moving forward. It was the first time he confessed that he found someone 'cute' beyond a compliment; it was the first time he felt attracted to someone. After that, their paths began to cross more and more. It was the first time he began to feel nervous around someone or that he cared deeply about them. And it was completely illogical for him to have to analyze his symptoms of falling in love with the chemistry of a romantic brain in order to accept that he liked that boy with beautiful blue eyes.
"What are you thinking about so much, Liam?" When he reacted, he shuddered in surprise at seeing Evan so close to him, staring curiously in front of his face.
"Nothing important, cheap comedy actor."
"Huh? Why are you calling me that? For your information, I'm doing so well in the popularity ratings that you're calling my work 'cheap comedies'. And I also play dramatic roles."
It looked adorable in Liam's eyes when Evan complained.
He moped tenderly, his rosy lips twisting into a tender smile. Liam always loved mocking him with the same thing.
"And you, have some more. You never turn down good alcohol." With an innocent smile, Evan handed his glass to Liam, who nearly choked on the strong liquor as it went down his throat.
"What's wrong with you? Do you want me to get drunk or something?" He cleaned the alcohol dripping from his lips with the back of his hand.
Evan laughed.
"It's not fair that you're the only one sober."
Unfortunately for Liam, he didn't have much tolerance for alcohol, and it seemed Evan still remembered that fact because he kept annoying him about it and getting him drunk.
After a while, Kyle and Ryan went to sleep in the bleached-haired boy's room.
Since the oldest fell asleep first, Ryan acted as the host of the place, leaving them blankets in the guest room. And before they could even ask, he sped off to sleep with Kyle and sank under the influence of alcohol.
Then, Evan's dream returned to him, and his chest began to pound at being alone in that room with Liam. After spending the entire afternoon together, he'd opened up to him a little and found him to be a nice boy. However, there was still that minor detail: Ryan seemed to treat them as if they were a couple, as he'd forgotten Evan's amnesia under the effects of alcohol.
If it had been with someone else, he wouldn't have cared and would have jumped on the bed and driven away the other guy to the couch, but next to that college student, he just wanted to escape and run away.
"If you want, take the bed, Liam. I'll go to the couch."
He was grateful that his blush could be mistaken for the effects of the liqueur.
"No, you stay here, I'll go to the couch," the younger boy responded, equally nervous.
They tried to do that, but they had a slight problem. They only had a sheet and a blanket, and the weather wasn't exactly warm that night.
"Evan, lend me a blanket, it's cold," Liam said, stumbling back into the room, clutching the wall because of the dizziness.
"Never! It's so cold, and it's the only blanket! Ask Kyle for another one."
Evan was grateful for the effects of the alcohol, as he could feel less embarrassed by covering himself with the blanket.
"But he's already asleep! Besides, they closed the door. You must know where there are more blankets. You've known Kyle longer."
Evan thought about it.
"In the closet of his bedroom."
They both fell silent.
"You go, I'll go to sleep now. Good luck, Liam."
"What? You're a cheater!"
And unfortunately for Liam, when he dared to try the door, he found it had the lock on.
It can't be…
"It's locked."
"What?"
"The door. It's locked."
"Then I'll lend you the sheet."
"I told you it's cold!"
Evan rolled over in the bed, leaving half of it free, facing the wall, and covered half of his face with the blanket, turning his back to the younger boy.
"Just don't take the blanket away from me," Evan whispered.
"What?"
"Go to bed before I change my mind!" A blush rose to his cheeks. "But don't take the blanket away, I'll only share half of it. If you steal the whole blanket, I'll kick you."
When the younger boy finally understood, he laughed.
"Okay. Thanks, Mr. Star Actor. I promise not to cross my half of the bed."
Evan felt the mattress sink beside him, and they lay back to back for a while, both pretending to sleep to avoid any conversation, with the only sounds of his breathing and his heartbeats being heard in the room, trying to fall asleep and not think too much about the fact that they were sharing the same bed so close to each other.
That cold night was a little warmer that way.