The whole situation started with a sentence.

"I have a date this weekend."

It was said with mock confidence. Too loud and with a voice too wavering to not be nervous about this statement. Colby Brock stopped tapping his fingers loudly across his laptop to look up at his flatmate and best friend, Sam Golbach, who had spoken. He'd heard him loud and clear but for some reason, he found himself raising a brow, dumbly asking, "What?"

Sam cleared his throat, the uneasy look on his face only growing. Colby couldn't pinpoint what it was that was making him so...afraid. He was, after all, his best friend. Right? He shouldn't be worried in the least about telling him about this date. Sam was quieter this time, looking sheepish as he fiddled with his hands, "I have a date on Saturday."

Okay. So, he had heard him correctly. His eyes lulled lazily down from his friend's face to the floor, and he breathed in slowly through his nose. A date. His gaze snapped back up to Sam, a broad smile decorating his features, "Okay. That's great. I hope you have fun." Colby then resumed typing on his laptop. In his peripheral vision, he saw a confused look on Sam's face before the man smiled, muttering a happy, "Cool, thanks.", and resuming his own scrolling his computer.

Colby wouldn't say it out loud, but he felt a painful pang in his chest in that moment.

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"Woah." Colby is a bit taken back as Sam enters the lounge wearing a neatly ironed button up and what looked like new jeans, his fingers frantically brushing as his fringe. His gaze is now on Colby instead of attempting to look up at his hair, and he's got a bit of pink to his cheeks.

"Good or bad?" He asks, teeth worrying at his bottom lip.

"Good," Colby gives him a thumbs up and suddenly he seems to deflate as if someone has released most of the tension from his body. "So, you never did tell me who you're going out with tonight. I didn't even know you were talking to anybody."

"Oh," Sam begins, sounding a bit guilty, "Her name is Katrina. We met at the shop and I don't know, we talked a lot and then she asked if I wanted to get coffee so we did and...it was nice. We traded numbers and then we met up last week at Starbucks again and I asked her on an official date. Like, the one tonight."

Colby laughed quietly at the last comment, making his friend a bit flustered, "Obviously."

"Shut up."

"You're too nervous."

"I can't help it!" Sam huffed in annoyance, "I haven't been on a date in years. Plus, I really like Katrina."

Colby's smile faltered a bit, and he mumbled. "Is that so."

Sam noticed the change in the air and shifted his weight from foot to foot. He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it deciding to check the time instead. He still had time, but the tension in the apartment was heavy and near suffocating all of the sudden, and he didn't like it. "I gotta run. See you later tonight!" He exited the lounge briskly, only getting a noise of acknowledgement from Colby and a teasing comment of "Don't have too much fun on your first date." before he was out.

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The date wasn't brought up the next day.

Sam didn't push it and Colby didn't bother to ask. It was mildly annoying to both for different reasons; Sam didn't understand why Colby wasn't at all happy for his best friend, and Colby didn't understand why the very thought of this Kat girl made him sick. He was sure she was lovely-she had to be to have caught Sam's attention.

As content as Colby was with never hearing about her again, he was also curious as to if the date was even successful. Sam hadn't brought it up on his own so maybe it wasn't that great.

The brunette sighed, combing his fingers through his hair. He set his laptop aside, "Sam" His flatmate looked up from his phone, "So...tell me about your date."

At that, Sam beamed and begin to ramble about every detail from last night. Colby, she was wonderful. She looked so pretty. It went smoothly. We have so much in common!

Colby felt sick.

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A few days after the first date, Sam went out again.

He had been going on date after date with this Kat girl until Colby begin to lose track of how many times he'd heard his flatmate say he was going to spend the morning or afternoon with her.

He didn't like it at all.

It had been going on for at least a month now, and Sam had officially said she was his girlfriend. The word made Colby's head spin.

That night, Sam came waltzing into the lounge, dressed up with neat hair and new clothes once again.

"Are you..." Colby stared, eyes raking up and down his friend for a moment, "Going out with her again?"

Sam nodded, smiling brightly as he grabbed his things, "We went for dinner last time and now she wants to see a movie. It wasn't going to be a date, but then she called me an hour ago saying well, why go alone when you have someone to go with!"

"...Right." Colby turned his attention back to the video he was editing, glancing down at the time. "Its already ten at night, Sam. How late are you going to be out?"

"Er...I don't know. Katrina wanted to see a late showing. She said it was better for the mood." He laughed and Colby resisted an eye roll. "We may grab something to eat at an all night place afterwards...Either way, I'll be back before you've even thought about sleeping. I know how your sleeping patterns are."

Colby smiled faintly, "Okay. Have fun, then."

He waved Sam off, watching as he left in a bit of a hurry. Once the door closed, he let out a loud and angry sound. He covered his face with his hands, dragging downwards slowly in frustration. "Fuck," He whispered, "I think I'm jealous."

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Around one in the morning, Sam finally found himself trudging up the steps to his apartment. He was tired, but a happy feeling was swirling around inside of him and he couldn't help but smile. He unlocked his door, stepping inside and breathing out a sigh of relief. He couldn't wait to get to his room and crash.

"Colby?" He called out with a yawn. When there was no reply, he dragged himself into the lounge. "Col- oh." His friend was sleeping in what looked like an uncomfortable position- he was sunken into the sofa cushions, his head drooping to the side, and his laptop threatening to slide off his lap.

Sam suppressed a small laugh, walking over and shutting the laptop and setting it to the side. He shook Colby by the shoulder gently, "Colby, hey, wake up." The boy's eyes fluttered open slowly, and he glanced up at Sam with a dazed look, mouth hanging open slightly. He pressed his lips into a flat line, bringing a hand up to rub his eyes gently. Sam stepped back, grinning a bit at the boy. He sorta looked...precious.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," He mumbled tiredly, rolling his head to work the cramping in his neck out. "What time is it?"

"About one thirty in the morning." Was the response.

"Shit, you were out so late."

"Well, it was a long movie. Then we grabbed something to eat really fast. Just like I told you." Sam dropped his phone onto the table, removing his jacket.

"Still," Colby muttered. He was tired, and his mind was muggy. He knew somewhere in there that he shouldn't do this, but all he could feel right then was anger and irritation.

"You should've tried to wrap it up sooner. You actually have things to do rather than lollygag around with some chick, y'know? You have a job, things you have to do here. You don't have time to be going on stupid play dates in the middle of the week."

Sam was shocked by the sudden change in Colby's attitude, turning to look at him. He had his hands clenched into fists, and his brows were furrowed together. "You're really mad at me for going on a date?" Sam felt his own anger mix inside of him, "Last time I checked, I was adult who was allowed to do things he pleases. Everything I needed to do for my job has been done, thank you." He stepped a bit closer to the brunette, who began to sink back into the sofa, looking a bit worried. "Also, Katrina is not just some chick."

They stared at each other, Colby not being able to hold the gaze any longer as he turned his head. "Sorry," He whispered bitterly, standing from his spot on the sofa and shoving past Sam up to his bedroom. The sound of a bedroom door slamming ricocheted off the walls, ringing in Sam's ears.

"What was that all about..?"

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After their argument, Sam and Colby found themselves avoiding each other. They hardly spoke to each other, unless they absolutely had to, and Colby was always locked away in his bedroom or out somewhere. Sam continued to go out on little outings and dates with Katrina, coming home to a glare from his flatmate before the boy retreated back to his room.

Sam was equally irritated and upset. He missed his best friend, and after nearly two weeks of dancing around each other, he decided he needed to do something. He made his way to Colby's bedroom, gently rapping his knuckles against the door, "Colby?" There was no response and Sam held back a sigh. "Colby, please. We should talk."

He heard a groan and some shuffling before the door opened a bit, "What?"

"I'm sorry- for yelling at you. It was really out of line. I'm sure you were just worried about me- I'd be worried about you, too."

Colby's gaze softened and he opened his door more, looking down at his sock clad feet, "No...it- it's okay. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. At all. You did tell me you were going out...and it's none of my business when you come back, or anything. So, I'm sorry, too." He looked back up to see a smiling Sam. He grinned back a tiny bit.

"Well, I'm relieved now."

"Me too."

"Anyways, I have no plans tonight. Wanna play a game or something?" Sam jerked his thumb in the general direction of the lounge, and Colby's smile widened.

"Sure. You want to turn it into something interesting?" Colby asked as they begin to make their way into the lounge. He started to set up the consoles as Sam thumbed through some games.

"And by that, you mean?"

"Drinking game!" Colby cheered causing Sam to utter an 'oh no'. It only took a little begging and persuading for him to cave in and his friend danced into the kitchen to retrieve the alcohol. He returned, immediately pouring a drink.

"So, what are the rules of this game?" Sam asked as he took a seat on the sofa, watching as Colby flopped next to him with a drink in his hand. It was a wonder he didn't spill it.

"No rules. I just wanted to drink."

Sam clicked his tongue as Colby handed over a drink to him, "Classy."

Colby smirked, "Shut up and start the game."

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The two lost track of time and as their gaming progressed, so did their drinking. By this point, they were quite smashed, the TV blurring and their scores dropping. "Fuck!" Colby yelled in frustration, letting his controller drop to the floor. "This is too hard, I can't- I can't concentrate." He slurred.

"Me either," Sam said, rubbing his head. "Wanna stop?" As Colby nodded, he turned the game off, switching it back over to regular television. He checked the time. "It's one in the morning. You tired?"

Colby shook his head, "No. Not really. Wanna talk?" He asked, leaning into the cushions behind him.

"Sure," Sam giggled.

It was a big mistake to suggest that.

They drunkenly spewed about topic after topic and it had all started innocent, until Colby brought up something he didn't really wanna hear about, but he knew it'd keep Sam from sleeping just yet, "Um, how...are you and Katrina, then?"

Sam hummed, "Good. She's still amazing, we still have fun. But I'm a bit frustrated."

Colby had began to down another glass of whatever they were drinking, only to stop at his friend's last confession, "And why is that?" He asked slowly, going back to sipping at his drink.

"We haven't had sex."

Colby coughed, choking on his drink and nearly spilling it on himself. He whined at the burning in his throat and nose, fanning his face. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Sam asked, patting his back and using the sleeves of his hoodie to wipe the dribble of alcohol from his friend's chin.

"Yeah," Colby breathed, "I just- wow, okay. I wasn't expecting that. You're a little more open when you're drunk, huh?"

Sam shrugged, "Maybe, but you're also my best friend. I figured I could tell you." Colby nodded, and he decided to continue. "I'm not a prude, I'm not going to ask her for anything sexual. It has only been a month. And, um, two weeks or something. But I dunno, it's hard to have a pretty girlfriend and not have that-um, urge."

"Well, fuck," Colby racked his brain, trying to find a response in his drunk state. "Use your hand?"

"I have," Colby swallowed hard at the confession, "But it's just not doing anything for me anymore. I can't...get off."

Sam looked down at his lap, a blush rising on his face. Colby stared at him, going over his thoughts over and over again. He was trying to form some kind of response that would make his friend feel better. Despite all his thinking and analyzing in his mind, what he said next came out without a thought, and he nearly screamed after he said it. "Let me help you then."