"Ava?" Confused, he looked around and didn't immediately recognize his surroundings. "Where am I?"
He heard laughter from several directions and turned to see two other people beside Ava. Embarrassment set in quickly when his memory caught up with him.
"You okay?" Jessica smirked down at him.
Zyan drew his eyebrows together and followed Jessica's gaze when she looked up. There was Ava, her arms folded on the backrest next to Zyan's head.
"You know, Ava?" Jessica went on. "I'm not sure he's capable of getting himself home safely. Maybe you two should crash here."
Ava's smile spread quickly across her face, but before she could reply, Zyan shot up. "No, I'm fine," he said quickly. What he needed right now was distance. Some time to himself, to think. Too much had happened, and he needed time to process. "Just give me a moment to wake up." He rubbed at his eyes.
"Fine." Jessica sighed. "What about you?"
"I wanna make sure he gets home okay," Ava said.
Zyan scoffed. "Come on, Ava, I think I'm old enough to walk myself home."
"Age won't save you from a gunshot," Ava replied.
Zyan tipped his head back to look at her and cocked an eyebrow. "And you think what? That if you're with me, I'm gonna use you as a shield?"
"I'd take a bullet for you."
Zyan felt his jaw drop but wasn't sure how to respond. "Well, I wouldn't let you, so get that thought out of your head."
"I'll still walk you home, so stop arguing."
Zyan frowned at her persistence. That was, until he remembered what he'd promised her. Of course. She wanted the details on what happened, why he'd come here, what had made him change his mind. "Fine," he surrendered.
Ava shot him smile. "All right, then! Take your time waking up."
He watched her walk away, Jessica on her heels, until they stopped by the door. They talked in lowered voices as they gravitated toward each other until their lips met in a kiss.
Zyan looked away to give them their privacy.
"Are you okay?" Carter asked.
Zyan jumped at the sudden appearance of the familiar voice. When he looked up, he found Carter with a glass of water in hand. He must've been in the kitchen when Zyan woke up. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Carter shrugged before he sat down, leaving only a few inches of space between them. "No reason." He looked over his shoulder at Ava and Jessica. "They remind you of anyone?"
Zyan threw them a glance before he looked back at Carter. "Should they?"
"I don't know." Carter met his eyes. "Incredibly infatuated, constantly getting lost in their own little world and each other's eyes…"
Zyan ducked his head to escape the intensity of Carter's gaze. "Nope, doesn't ring any bells."
Carter chuckled. "Okay."
Zyan let his eyes wander to the now-switched-off TV. "So when do you think you're gonna move back into your place?"
"Soon. Probably tomorrow."
"Okay. Cool."
"'Cool,' Zyan, really?"
Zyan felt the smile tug at his lips. "Don't judge. I just woke up."
"You ready, Zyan?" Ava called from the door.
"Coming!" Zyan replied. He looked back at Carter and met his eyes. "I'll see you soon?"
Carter nodded.
Zyan got up, but as he rounded the couch, he couldn't help but lean over the backrest. "And by the way, we were never like that." Carter drew his eyebrows together. "We were so much worse."
The smile Zyan was met with was brighter than it had been all day.
*~*~*
"Are you seriously raiding my fridge right now?" Zyan asked when he entered his kitchen and found both Jessica and Ava digging through his food supply. He was honestly not even surprised anymore. "And you think I am rude," he muttered, grabbing an apple for himself. He watched them for another beat before he shook his head and left them to it.
He'd just gotten comfortable on his couch when Ava flopped down next to him and forced him closer to the armrest to make room for Jessica on her other side. Zyan only huffed indictment.
"How are we gonna keep ourselves occupied until Carter gets here?" Jessica asked. "We can't start a movie without him."
"Technically, we could," Ava said. "Considering how old he is, he's probably seen them all, anyway."
"Carter has never been all that invested in movies," Zyan told them. "I've always been the one that kept up with this kind of thing and technology. Carter stuck with music and literature. Which is interesting, considering he's the one who insists on blending in with the modern society by going out and mingling with the mortals."
"You're so old," Ava said.
Zyan nearly choked on his apple when he laughed.
"Do you guys really refer to us as 'mortals?'" Jessica asked. "Sounds a little degrading, don't you think?"
Zyan shrugged. "Would you prefer 'muggles?'" he teased.
"Remind me again how you two became friends," Jessica shot back, making it sound more like a statement than a request.
"He was there for me when I got dumped," Ava said.
"Vicious break-up," Zyan commented.
"I was heartbroken," Ava stated.
"It was really sad."
"She cheated on me."
"Such a heartless bitch," Zyan said.
"I thought we'd get married one day."
"She wouldn't make for a good wife."
"She was the first person I'd opened my heart to after that guy I dated in college."
"Not the best decision you've ever made."
"Okay, Zyan, thanks for the commentary!" Ava shot him a look.
Zyan shrugged and took another bite of his apple. Ava turned back to face Jessica.
"I keep hearing terrible anecdotes about your exes," Jessica said. "Have you ever even been in a healthy and loving relationship?"
Zyan hummed. "Not that I know of."
"No one asked you, Zyan!" Jessica burst out.
"Apologies."
"I don't have a good track record," Ava told Jessica. "I think I fall too fast and too hard. After my fifth break-up when I was eighteen, I started to think something was wrong with me because they'd always leave me without fail. I never called it quits, not once. They called me pathetic and clingy, said the only reason they didn't break up with me sooner was pity. I always cried. It always hurt. Zyan has been left to pick up the pieces ever since I met him. He was there after my worst break up and metaphorically—"
"And physically," Zyan added. He knew what she'd say next. She'd told this exact story before. He just couldn't remember to whom.
"—held me back by the hood when I rushed out to buy big one-month anniversary presents, or tried to ring up exes when I was drunk and miserable. If it weren't for him, I'd have died of embarrassment a long time ago, instead of being here with you."
"They always wanted to change you. All of them," Zyan said. "They didn't appreciate you for who you are, but who they thought they could turn you into. I'm not even sure any of them wanted a relationship for any other reason than being in a relationship. They were lonely, and you ignored the red flags because you always see the best in people. None of them were willing to build the foundation for a long-lasting and healthy relationship."
"And you're an expert on those, right?" Ava replied.
"I was with Carter for up to sixty years at a time, just so you know," Zyan grumbled.
Ava ignored his comment and snorted at something she'd just thought of. "Oh god, do you remember Jenny?"
Zyan frowned. "Who?"
Ava rolled her eyes. "Armpit girl?"
"Ooh," Zyan made. "Her."
"Who's 'armpit girl?'" Jessica asked in bemusement.
"She was one of my exes," Ava explained. "And she tended to shave her armpits…rather violently."
"She drew blood on occasion," Zyan elaborated.
"Her armpits were always incredibly sore and irritated, but she'd still shave every single day. I don't know why. She was pretty nice, though," Ava ad
ded.
"She cheated on you with your cousin after claiming you'd cheat on her eventually," Zyan reminded her.
"Distant cousin," Ava corrected him.
Zyan drew his eyebrows together. "And that makes it better how?"
Ava ignored him again. "But yeah…she was really biphobic."
Zyan leaned forward to look at Jessica. "What about you, Jess? Any gruesome stories about bygones?"
"Bygones?" Ava repeated.
Zyan waved the question aside as he took another bite of his apple.
"Not really," Jessica answered. "I mean, there were exes, yes, but only two, and the first one was a guy from high school, when I was still too far in the closet to see the light, and the second was a girl from college, who was in her 'experimental' phase. She left me after she realized vaginas were apparently not for her after all. Her words, not mine."
Zyan wrinkled his nose. "Rude and mildly transphobic. Sounds like a lovely person."
"But if you're not only talking about failed relationships, but also failed dates, I can tell you a lot more," Jessica continued.
"Do tell," Zyan said.
Jessica shuffled closer to the armrest to get more comfortable. "Okay. There was that time in my life where a friend of mine had signed me up for a dating website—"
"Oh no," Ava muttered.
"And I got my fair share of messages and invitations, so I looked through all the profiles and picked out a few I wanted to hit up. Some of them already turned out to be huge douchebags pretty early on."
"Why? What did they say?" Ava asked.
"A lot of the lesbians turned out to actually be heterosexual men. And the few actual women either stood me up when we decided to meet somewhere, or they were nice enough but just didn't click with me."
"Ah."
"During one of the dates, we even got interrupted by the husband of my date, who apparently hadn't even known his wife was also into women, and they then proceeded to fight in the middle of the restaurant," Jessica went on. "She demanded a divorce when he started spewing homophobia."
"Damn," Zyan muttered.
"You could say that." Jessica said and looked back at Ava. "What about you, though?"
"What about me?" Ava asked.
"Have you ever tried online dating?"
Ava snorted.
"You have no idea," Zyan added.
Jessica crinkled her nose. "Biphobia?"
Ava nodded. "Oh, yes. About ninety-five percent of the men I talked to invited me over for threesomes because apparently being attracted to more than one gender is synonymous to wanting sex with multiple people—sound logic, right? Fucking idiots.
"Then there were the folks who immediately ignored me when they realized I wasn't just interested in hooking up. And the ones who only messaged to tell me it was okay for me to come out as a lesbian because of course bisexuality is only a way for closeted homosexuals to begin their journey to accepting their attraction to the same gender. And then there were the lesbians that seemed lovely and sweet…until they told me they could never date a bisexual because they'd be afraid they'd get ditched for a guy. And also the guys who thought they'd get ditched for a girl."
Jessica patted Ava on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Twix."
"Twix?" Zyan asked, but he was ignored.
"It's all right," Ava said. "I've got you now, right?"
Zyan could hear the smile in Jessica's voice, though he couldn't see either of their faces. "Yes, you do."
They leaned in for a kiss just as the doorbell rang. Zyan only spared them a glance before he got up and headed toward the intercom fixated on the wall by the front door. "Hello?"
"Your pizza's here."
"Um…I didn't order—" He cut himself off. "Hold on a minute, please." He took his finger off the speaker button and leaned back to look at the couple on his couch. "Did you two order pizza before you got here?"
Ava looked up at him, head only halfway visible over the backrest. "Uh, yeah, I did. You don't mind, right?"
Jessica said something too low for him to understand that made Ava burst into a fit of laughter.
Zyan sighed. "Come on up," he said into the intercom.
Less than a minute later, there was a knock at the door. Zyan opened it, wallet already in hand, and paid the delivery person before he said his goodbyes. He put the two boxes on the coffee table and was just about to sit down.
There was another knock. "For fuck's sake," he muttered and provocatively grabbed a slice of pizza before he went back to the door. He took a bite as he turned the knob with his free hand. "Did you forget some—Carter."
"Um, this pizza delivery person was just leaving, so I…" Carter trailed off, his thumb still pointing over his shoulder.
Zyan took a step back. "Uh, sure. Come on in."
The shift in the atmosphere was instant, and while it wasn't exactly awkward or unpleasant, it was certainly loaded with tension and possibility.
Carter nodded and shot him a smile before he brushed past. "I see the delivery was for you."
"Not me," Zyan replied. "Ava. She didn't even ask, and then she had the audacity to make me pay for it."
Carter snorted a laugh on his way to the sofa, where he took a seat next to Ava.
"And now you've taken my spot," Zyan muttered, more to himself than anybody else. With the couch now fully occupied, he was left with the armchair usually reserved for holding a stack of folded blankets.
He quickly rolled up his slice of pizza and shoved it into his mouth to free his hands before he picked up the mountain of blankets and dumped it on the floor beside the kitchen doorway.
"—think, Zyan?"
"Hm?" He'd just sat down when he heard his name and looked up to find everyone looking at him.
"Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings marathon?" Ava summarized.
Zyan shrugged. "I don't care either way, to be honest."
"That settles it, then," Jessica said.
"Harry Potter it is," Carter declared.
*~*~*
The Prisoner of Azkaban was still playing but had been abandoned by his guests in favor of discussing theories about an Alternate Reality that would most likely not even exist if there was such a thing as Alternate Realities.
"I think I'd be a Slytherin," Jessica said.
"You think?" Ava asked. "Then what about Zyan?"
All three turned to stare at him. He only raised an eyebrow in response. "Stare at me a second longer and I'll manhandle all three of you out the door," Zyan threatened.
They all looked away, but not for long. After only a few seconds, Carter made eye contact, a question in his eyes. Zyan wasn't sure about the meaning, but he automatically shook his head a little as an answer.
"I'm thirsty," Carter announced and pushed to his feet. He threw Zyan a glance. "Can you help me find everything?"
Zyan nodded and followed him into the kitchen. He could feel the others watching them but decided to ignore it.
"You okay?" Carter asked. His voice was low enough to be drowned out by the TV.
Zyan busied himself by grabbing four glasses from the cupboard. "Sure. Why?"
"You seem…distant."
"Hm," Zyan made. "I guess I'm just not that invested in Hogwarts Houses."
"You were already distancing yourself before that."
"Hey, you were the one that took my spot."
"You sure that's all there is?"
Zyan met his eyes and found genuine concern. He tried for a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, Carter, I promise."
Carter returned his smile after a second. "Okay. Then why don't you come sit on the couch with us? There's enough space for all of us."
Zyan shot him a look. "It's a two-person couch, Carter," he said. "There's not even room enough for you three."
"You didn't use to shy away from physical contact," Carter recalled as he looked into the fridge. "Alcohol?"
"Juice and water," Zyan replied. "Maybe not with you. But with others, I've never been a tactile p
erson."
"I feel so special." Carter picked up two cartons of juice and a bottle of water.
"Don't flatter yourself. I just wanted to get into your pants."
Carter gasped in feigned shock. "How dare you?"
Zyan chuckled. "Just grab the drinks and let's go."
"No alcohol?" Jessica asked when they returned to the living room. She sounded disappointed.
"If you think I'm about to deal with any of you drunk, you're very much mistaken," Zyan replied.
"Killjoy," muttered Ava, but she poured two glasses anyway, and handed one off to Jessica.
Carter fell back into his spot on the couch before his hand reached out to tug Zyan down by his wrist. It took some maneuvering until he could get comfortable squished between Carter and Ava, but once Carter had pulled back his arm to place it over the backrest and give him more space, Zyan froze. That position felt entirely too familiar. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. "What Hogwarts House have you decided on for Carter?" he blurted out for the sake of starting conversation back up.
"Oh, I was thinking Ravenclaw," said Jessica.
*~*~*
It was 2 a.m. by the time the fifth movie had finished, and somewhere along the line, they'd all gotten deep and philosophical. Their conversation had shifted from inane and lighthearted to more serious while the movie kept playing on low volume to serve as background noise.
"I can't even imagine all the things you guys must've seen," Jessica said, her eyes staring, unfocused, at the screen.
"We missed out on a lot of it due to traveling and objectively bad timing," Carter replied. "But, yes…I've—we've—seen a lot. And I wish I could forget a large portion of it."
Ava pulled her feet onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her knees. "But there's also good stuff, right? I mean…you've also seen humanity's advances in medicine and technology."
"The thing about the human brain is that it tends to focus on the bad things," Zyan said. "The bad usually overshadows the good, especially when you happen to already be feeling down. I can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I've been with humanity over the years."
"What a lot of people often forget," Carter said. "Is that history is anything but consistent. It's never been just progress and improvements. There are set-backs all the time, but people prefer to skip over those."
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