Grayson started to rub at his temple before nodding. “I need help not liking him. A cute guy asked me out for coffee and I immediately compared him to Elijah. I hate this. And I know what you’re going to say –”
“I’m going to say that he gave you the fuck of your life and that maybe you’re jumping to extremes here –”
“Despite all of that,” Grayson interrupted. “I really need to get past this. There’ll be other sex, right? I don’t want to be the guy that can’t let go after a one-and-then-some night stand that I ended, checking up on the guy’s social media. I’m not him.”
Oscar was most definitely holding back a laugh. Grayson thought about swinging at him because of it, but he just didn’t have the energy.
“Listen, Sonny. You’re my best friend. Right now, the best thing for you to do is to get out of this fucking apartment,” Oscar told him. “Now, you may think I was lying, but I really need to use your laptop. Quick email check.”
Grayson opened up the laptop and decided to let Oscar on it since he came clean. There was nothing else to hide. “You go near pornhub.com and I’m telling your girlfriend to leave you.” He typed in his password and then closed out of everything, letting Oscar sit in his chair. He lingered for a while before walking away, but surely enough, Oscar went straight into his Gmail account.
“Where are you supposed to be going, anyway?” Grayson asked.
Oscar scrolled through his emails and clicked on a random one. “I think Eleanor wanted to go to Rough Trade tonight. Over in Brooklyn…”
He could hear as Grayson walked away and smiled to himself, continuing the conversation.
“And something that’s up your alley! They’re supposedly having some sort of open-mic night for performers. You might find that special someone for Millennium, bro. You should definitely come.”
Grayson opened his closet door and peered in. Rough Trade was a cool concert venue right in Williamsburg. He hadn’t been there in a while, but it was a great setting. They had a record store where you could get something in vinyl, and then go back and hear a band play live. And who knew, maybe he would be able to find someone.
“It was pretty cold when I stepped out. I want to wear this cardigan sweater over a t-shirt. What do you think?”
Oscar ignored him. Usually Grayson was able to have a pretty decent conversation with just himself before he realized Oscar was up to something. He gave an ‘uh-huh’ here and there as he opened Facebook up in a new tab. Luckily, the idiot forgot to sign out.
Beautiful.
“I hope Eleanor doesn’t mind me third-wheeling on date-night,” Grayson continued. He tossed the sweater he planned to wear on the bed and stretched a little. “I mean; I feel weird about it. You’re always dragging me to things with the two of you. I’m fine on my own, you know?”
Oscar went onto Elijah’s page and started to send a message, shielding the screen as he did so. “You know that Eleanor loves you, Sonny. And I like you a lot. We just want you to… not be in your room wasting your youth away. Even your dad has a life.” He quickly typed, hoping to God that Grayson would find something interesting to distract him in that huge closet of his.
Elijah,
I know I said that we shouldn’t be friends, but I realize now how big of an idiot I was. I’m extending an invitation that I hope u will accept. There’s this open-mic thing at Rough Trade in Brooklyn 2nite. I’m going to be there. If u want to hang, see u around 7? If not, sorry to bother u.
-Grayson
“Yeah.” Grayson was scratching his jaw. “You’re right.”
“I always am,” Oscar said with a smile. He closed out everything he was doing and stood to his feet, quickly turning to face his friend. “Now, you go and get ready, Sweet Pea. See you in twenty?”
Grayson smiled. “Thanks for this, man.”
“Oh, you’re very welcome…”
∞
It was always a struggle getting Lily dressed. She had the attention span of a fruit fly, and for some reason, she was incredibly hyper today.
Mark was on Elijah’s couch. He was playing a boxing video game on PlayStation and singing along to the Zach Evans song playing on the radio. Elijah gave his niece another Cheerio before buttoning up her shirt.
His weekend hadn’t gone to plan. He didn’t leave his place at all, not even for his scheduled performance at Amo Pasta. Elijah told Antonio ahead of time that something came up, and his boss was able to find a replacement. Elijah was grateful. He didn’t want to be in a place that would make him think any more about Grayson than he already had been.
Lily was a good distraction when she was awake. They watched movies together, drank apple juice, and sang songs. Mark came over about an hour ago, and though his friend hadn’t said anything, Elijah had a feeling he was there to snoop.
He got Lily ready and carried her over to the sofa, sitting her down next to Mark. Mark pressed pause on the video game and turned to high five her. Elijah rolled his eyes. She would’ve ignored him if he tried that.
“Josie will be over here in a matter of minutes if you want to go out somewhere,” he said.
Mark shook his head no. “I didn’t have anything planned, really. Not until tomorrow night. Her name is Allison, by the way …”
Elijah smirked to himself as he began to pack all of Lily’s things away. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks.” Mark smiled. “She um – I was so nervous. Could barely get out a coherent thought. I’m pretty sure her friends thought I was strange, but she smiled and said she hoped I’d come over and talk to her. We took it from there.”
“Won’t say ‘I told you so’, even though I did.”
“So how was your night with the guy on Friday? He seemed really into you.”
“It was okay,” Elijah lied. He put Lily’s annoying squeaky toy into her bag, but when she began to fuss, he took it out and gave it to her. “I mean, we didn’t really do anything, but…”
Mark scratched at his afro before picking up the game controller again. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I did see him come back into the club looking disappointed.”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “Then why did you ask, man?”
“I was curious to know if you’d be honest with me. So, be honest with me.” Mark’s eyes were glued to the screen as he played, and Lily’s were as well, the toy in her mouth as she watched him play. “Does this have anything to do with –”
“Grayson? Yes. It has everything to do with him.” Elijah sat on the arm of the couch and looked at the TV, too. “I spent a couple days with the guy and he’s like a drug for crying out loud! I wasn’t ready to walk away and it’s been messing with me ever since.”
Mark was smiling.
“How do people even do this?” Elijah asked; his tone full of frustration.
Even though Mark felt for his buddy, part of him still wanted to laugh at him. He knew that Elijah wasn’t used to liking a guy for reasons other than him having a pretty face, or at the very minimum, a nice ass. But Grayson was somehow held to a different standard. It obviously confused Elijah, but it was entertaining as hell for Mark to watch unfold.
Elijah sat down on the other side of him and picked up his laptop from the coffee table. Mark pressed a few buttons on the controller, and Elijah waited for his friend to start bothering him again. While Mark was much subtler than Fallon had ever been when it came to dealing with Elijah, he was still annoying about it. But, Elijah knew he needed to talk about this. Talking would probably help him to understand just what he was feeling towards Grayson, and you know, maybe he’d figure out how to deal with it.
“Can I ask you something very serious?” Mark spoke just above the volume of the television. He was generally a quiet guy, so this was in character.
Elijah nodded to him as he opened his web browser. He wanted to check Facebook just to pass the time until his sister showed up.
Mark looked over at his friend before returning his eyes to the TV. “Is there a possibility that
maybe you’d want more with Grayson?”
Elijah scrolled down his feed before realizing that a notification popped up in his messages. He hoped to the lucky stars that it wasn’t Tony. Ever since he deleted the boy’s number, it seemed like Tony was messaging him more.
“I don’t know what more is, friend.”
Mark shook his head. “I think you do. More refers to a little extra besides whatever it was you and the guy had been doing. So would you like to date Grayson, I guess?”
Elijah didn’t know if he was ready to admit that aloud. The answer was of course YES, but he couldn’t say it. There would be a disturbance in the universe. Shit would blow up. It’d all be his fault.
“I don’t do boyfriends.”
Mark laughed, still playing the game as Lily started to climb over him to get to her uncle. “You don’t have to play the badboy routine with me, Eli. I’ve known you for years, now. I’ve seen it. Just be honest.”
Elijah clicked on his messages before picking Lily up and sitting the rambunctious toddler down beside him. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just want to see him again. Can we take it from there?”
“No,” Mark said. Once more, he paused the game. “Because if we take it from there without being prepared, you two would rush in and fuck it up again. At least know what you want before going for it.”
“Fucking Dr. Phil,” Elijah mumbled. He was going to respond more intelligently, but his eyes went wide once he realized what was in his Facebook inbox.
Or more like who it had come from.
“Don’t use bad language like Uncle Elijah, okay Lily?” Mark said. He was about to resume playing the PlayStation when he realized his friend had gone a bit stiff next to him. “Um, Eli? You alright over there, buddy?”
Elijah shook his head no. “Read. Read this. Out loud.” He snatched the game controller out of Mark’s hands and forced the computer into his friend’s lap, gesturing repeatedly at the screen. “What does it say? I need to make sure I’m not imagining this.”
Lily’s toy fell on the floor. She struggled to get down, but eventually landed on the rug safely. Elijah looked from his niece, over to Mark’s face, scanning it for his reaction.
He was smiling.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Read it,” Elijah repeated.
Mark cleared his throat. “Elijah, I know I said that we shouldn’t be friends, but I realize now how big of an idiot I was. I’m extending an invitation that I hope you will accept. There’s this open-mic thing at Rough Trade in Brooklyn tonight. I’m going to be there. If you want to hang, see you around 7? If not, sorry to bother you. -Grayson.”
Elijah grabbed his computer back and clicked on Grayson’s profile. It was sure enough him. Grayson Paul. His profile picture looked like it was taken professionally, and he was wearing something that screamed ‘TRUST FUND BABY’, but boy, was this man gorgeous…
Mark looked down at the screen and rubbed his cheek. “Well… the guy that you can’t get out of your head just invited you out to a show with him, and instead of replying, you’re staring at his Facebook page. What in the hell is wrong with you, man? Tell him you’re going!”
“Pinch me.”
Mark hit him upside the head instead.
“What the – ouch!” Elijah rubbed at the back of his head before nudging his friend away. “What’s wrong with you?”
“This is real, okay? This is happening. Now do me a favor and go back to your message so he knows that you’re interested.”
Mark was an asshole for hitting him, but he was right. Elijah went back to his messages and read it a couple more times for himself. It still didn’t seem real, but the words were right there in front of him.
Grayson still wanted to be friends.
Grayson wanted to hang out with him.
This was his ‘in.’ Elijah could more than likely make him change his mind. He might be able to erase the ‘I’m a shitty human being’ rant he went on the other night and actually make something work with Grayson.
Possibly.
“Answer. The. Man–”
“Alright! Shit.” Elijah placed his fingers over the keyboard and slowly began to type. He stopped after typing in Grayson’s name.
“What do I say?”
Mark laughed to himself. “You’re hopeless, Elijah. I’m never going to forget this moment.”
Elijah rolled his eyes.
Grayson,
I’m happy you reached out to me. I wanted to see you again… just didn’t know how to ask, you know? Things seemed a bit final after last time.
I’ll see you tonight.
-Elijah
He read it over maybe 15 times. He changed it once, only to end up changing it back to what he originally had, but after reading it and deciding ‘to hell with it,’ Elijah hit send.
Shit. He was about to hang out with Grayson Paul. And this wasn’t simply Grayson Paul that he screwed last week, this was the Grayson Paul. He was a future record exec, and most likely had his own section in every club he’d ever gone in to.
Elijah had to find something to wear. He needed to comb his hair. And most of all, he needed to make sure that Grayson would not end up regretting this.
Four hard knocks on the door snapped him out of his thoughts, and Lily stood up to her feet right away. She must’ve known it was her mother. Elijah closed his computer and stepped over his friend who clearly had no intention of stopping the video game he was playing to open it.
“Hey!” Josie actually looked well-rested when her brother opened the door, despite the crazy hours she’d been working. Not having to stress about who’d have her daughter may have actually helped her in the sleep department. “Where’s my little bundle of sunshine? Mommy’s missed her!”
Elijah stepped back as Lily waddled over; toothless smile wide on her face. “She’s there.” He pointed. “Her coat is over there and her bag is right next to it. I’ve got to get in the shower. Love you both!”
He kissed each girl on the cheek and retreated to his room.
Josie stood there, slightly confused, and looked to Mark for answers.
Mark smiled. “Your little brother has a date tonight.”
Chapter 13
Oscar and Eleanor were doing that thing again. You know – the thing where they were being disgusting and cute while draped all over each other. Grayson sat across from them on the L train, drumming his hands on his knee caps. Part of him wanted to throw things at them, while the other part was happy that his friends were so in love.
It must’ve been nice.
The train wasn’t crowded. It was a Sunday night, after all. There didn’t seem to be any annoying delays, either. Thankfully, they were able to make it into Brooklyn in time for the start of the show. Grayson was adamant he saw everyone. If he missed a great act and ended up having to settle for someone mediocre, he’d never forgive himself.
Or Eleanor for taking an hour to get ready.
It was beginning to snow as they walked the couple blocks to Rough Trade. Grayson noticed that Oscar kept glancing back at him every few feet, and it was getting to be a little irritating. If he knew his best friend well enough, that was Oscar’s ‘I’m guilty of doing something stupid’ behavior.
He better had not put a porn-related virus on his computer.
There was a new bouncer that Grayson wasn’t familiar with. It made sense being that he hadn’t been here in a while, but even this new guy waved them through without a problem.
Oscar grinned, taking Eleanor’s hand and leading her into the concert hall.
The band that was playing sounded similar to Radiohead, and as Grayson walked over to the bar, he looked up at the stage to get a glimpse of these guys.
It was then that he felt someone’s hand sneaking into his coat pocket.
He turned around with a jolt, not in the mood to be robbed of his phone… or of anything, really, only to realize that it was his idiot best friend.
Oscar laughed a littl
e when he was caught. He playfully shoved Grayson and then started to unbutton his own jacket.
“I just wanted to see what time it was.”
Grayson glared at him. “You have a watch on.”
Oscar looked down at his wrist. Sure enough, the face of his fancy watch was staring back at him. “Oh yeah. Anyway, let’s go get a drink upstairs. You’ll be waiting forever down here.”
It was starting to become more obvious that something was up. Oscar looked as guilty as he ever did. Grayson reached into his pocket for his phone – something he told himself he’d try not to do since he was out with his friends (and also because looking at his phone recently only resulted in him Facebook-stalking Elijah) but as soon as he had the iPhone in his hands, Oscar snatched it and took off.
He literally ran off into the sea of people in the crowd and disappeared.
Grayson groaned. “What. The. Fuck.”
Oscar got through a large group near the back of the venue and walked into a doorway that lead to the second floor. He shook his head when he realized the wallpaper on Grayson’s phone was a picture of him in a terrible Christmas sweater. If he had time, he’d change it after he did what needed to be done.
The passcode to Grayson’s phone was 0-8-1-9-7-9, and Oscar knew that not only because he’d seen his friend typing it in as he peered over his shoulder countless times, but because that was the month and year that Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album came out. Grayson loved that album. As soon as he was inside, Oscar went straight to the Facebook Messenger app and read Elijah’s response.
Everything was a go. He smiled.
That was until someone pushed him from behind.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Grayson asked, picking up the cell phone where it had fallen and hitting his best friend again for good measure. He stepped over Oscar and walked the rest of the way up to the second floor, shaking his head when Eleanor looked down at the both of them like they’d lost it completely.
“Really? I can’t trust you two to make it upstairs without being idiots?” Eleanor asked.
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