*Garroth's POV*

~Beginning Of The Next School Year~

"Gah! Aphmau! I am so in love with him it hurts!" I threw myself backwards onto her bed.

"Sorry, hold on, let me just take a quick sip of my 'I Told You So' juice," Aphmau took a long drag from her mug, locking eye contact with me.

"Shut up," I groaned. "Guess what?"

"You're lovestruck and a dork?"

"Yes, but no," I chuckled, sitting up and swinging my legs. "Laurance and I went on like- basically- a ton of date over the summer."

"No!" Aphmau gasped dramatically, putting a hand over her mouth. "Tell me more!"

"Well, they weren't technically dates. BUT, he took me out to lunch and dinner more than a few times, and we watched, like, a ton of films together at the cinema." I blushed, feeling myself sinking further into Aphmau's bed. Who would have thought that I'd be this head-over-heels for Laurance Freaking Zvahl?

Literally everyone.

Shut up.

"No. Way. Gar', that is so..." She paused for a second, probably building up the right word. "...romantic! He's so in love with you, dingbat."

"Shut up, Aph, he's straight."

I chucked a pillow at her. She giggled, tossing one at me. Our back-and-forth pillow chucking led to an inevitable pillow fight, filled with giggles and super intense pillow-induced injuries.

Then, she went abruptly silent. I moved to whack the back of her head with my pillow, but found that she had been staring sadly and fiddling with the corner of the pillow in her hands. I froze, shifting backwards.

What did I do this time?

"What? What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I just," Aphmau paused again, sighing sadly. "I'm going to miss you, Gar'."

"I hate to break it to you, Aph, but I'm not going anywhere for a while," I chuckled weakly, lightly punching her shoulder. "I'm here with ya until you or your mom kicks me out."

"No, I mean... When you graduate," Aphmau tossed her pillow back onto the bed, shifting her legs up to rest her head between them.

Aw crap. I hate sad Aphmau hour.

It breaks my heart.

"Oh, come on. It's only the beginning of Senior year for me. We still got plenty of time."

"But what if we drift apart...and we never see each other again...?"

I tried to think of a way to lighten the mood and make Aphmau stop being sad. Of course, that's not a feat I'm the best at, because usually the situation is the other way around. Irene, what would she say to me?

Probably something actually helpful.

"Aph, just because I'm graduating doesn't mean that we'll never see each other again."

Hopefully the same cannot be said for Gene. My school year is already going great now that he's graduated. Hopefully I never have to see him again.

"I know...but what if we fall out of touch? Or-Or you go to a college that's so far away, and I don't see you, and then you get a sexy, college boyfriend and elope across the ocean! Or Laurance drags you away to some remote area in the woods by a lake, and the two of you become queer hermits!"

"Well, those are some crazy hypotheticals," I cleared my throat, blinking a few times. "But, Laurance and I couldn't become 'queer hermits', since we wouldn't be in solitude..." I paused, thinking about what the insane stuff I was correcting actually was. "And, I'm sorry, what? You really think that any of those theories are plausible, Aph? You're kidding me right? I mean, first off, "sexy, college boyfriend". Are you kidding me? I'd obviously be the sexy, college boyfriend. That's not even up for debate! I mean, have you seen how handsome I am? Men are going to be flocking to me, without any question about it. But, I'm not running away with them, they're going to be running away with me to that remote section of the woods by a lake to become queer hermits, with you of course. Because you're always going to be with me, Aph. No matter what. I love you, you big doofus. You're one of my best friends. I'm afraid you're stuck with me forever and ever."

Aphmau giggled and sniffled simultaneously, fervently wiping away tears. "Okay, babes. You got me there. I love you, too."

I reached over to give her an awkward, but loving, side-hug. We stayed like that for a moment, before Aphmau started to get a call on her phone. I pulled away from her and she stared in confusion at the caller ID.

"Kawaii~Chan?" She whispered and stood up, answering the phone. "Hey, KC, what's up...?"

I tuned her out as she talked on the phone to Kawaii~Chan. Instead I focused my attention on a small snowglobe on her bedside table. It was one that I had made for her back when we were younger. My brothers had made some, too. Vylad gave his to Dante, and Zane had used them to throw at walls whenever he wanted to amplify his tantrums.

I picked up the snowglobe, admiring the sloppy craftsmanship of pre-teen Garroth. Still, it was a cute snowglobe. At the time, it had romantic intentions behind it, hoping to convince Aphmau to go out with me so that I could pretend that I was straight. Then, it turned into just an endearing symbol of our blooming friendship. Now, it made me think about my conversation with Laurance before the summer. When he compared my mind to snowglobes.

I don't see my mind that way. Well, not anymore anyway. Not with Gene out of my life. I feel better now. And hopefully it will stay that way.

But, thinking about that conversation, and the original connotation behind Aph's snowglobe, makes me wonder when the best time would be to tell Laurance about my feelings towards him. I can't lie to him forever. It'll only hurt the both of us even more in the end. The best move is to just chuck the snowglobe at the nearest wall and hope that Laurance catches it, and cares for it, and that it doesn't just smash on impact with the wall, or that neither of us gets cut on the glass.

But we're too much of a child to just man up already and throw the damn snowglobe.

Because trying to clean up the mess will be disastrous.

Unless there is no mess to clean, and everything is alright in the end.

Like that'll happen.

"What?! Wait, Kawaii~Chan you can't just—" Aphmau's voice yelling at her phone disrupted me from my thoughts. She looked down at her phone, eyebrows narrowed. "Oh, dang it!"

"What's up?" I asked.

"Kawaii~Chan is coming over spontaneously, and she's bringing Katelyn! I-I mean, she didn't even ask me if she could come over! It was just supposed to be the two of us today. I'm sorry, Gar."

"No, it's okay, Aph. I can leave if you want me to."

"No, stay! Stay!" Aphmau sat back down beside me, patting my hand with hers. "I haven't seen you almost all summer. I've missed you, babe."

I rolled my eyes, agreeing to stay with her. When Kawaii~Chan and Katelyn arrived, however, I mostly kept to myself and let the three girls do their thing. Instead I found myself seated in front of Aphmau's closet, shuffling through her photo albums. There were lots of pictures of her and her mom, her and the girls, her with all of her various friends, and pictures of random corgis that she most definitely didn't own. There were also photos of me and her together growing up. It was sickeningly sweet how close the two of us were. But also, a bit upsetting how the more photo albums I looked at, that went into more recent years, especially after the entirety of the Gene incident, the less photos there were of the two of us.

Were we really growing apart? Or was I just distancing myself from everyone? Aphmau's my best friend. (Well, one of them. There's three.) Who's next to fall away from me? How much longer until I'm the one that's all alone?

It's a scary thought...

"Come on, Aphmau~Senpai, tell us~!" Kawaii~Chan was urging Aphmau on about something. Oh Irene, what have I been missing out on in my emotional brooding about the inevitably of losing all of the people I care about in my life?

"We were just talking about something personal with Garroth, okay guys?" Aphmau huffed, obviously trying to get Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan to back off.

"Oo~, something personal?" Kawaii~Chan inquired, cat ears perking up in interest. Oh dear.

"I thought pretty boy was gay?" Katelyn cocked an eyebrow.

"He—He is! Err," Aphmau looked flustered. I should probably intervene, shouldn't I? That'd probably be the smart thing. Except for the fact that I'm too socially awkward to come up with something actually helpful to say. "We were just talking a-about how he's a Senior and stuff, and—and stuff like that, and things that are happening with him with L—"

I sent Aphmau a glare, a subtle way of telling her not to say anything. Very few people are aware of my feelings for Laurance, and I'd like to keep it that way. If he found out through someone that wasn't me, the snowglobe is absolutely hitting the wall.

"Oh, him and who?" Katelyn, for one of the few times I've ever seen her, actually looked interested in something that was happening in my life. Damn it.

"Kawaii~Chan is really interested too!"

"Guys—" Aphmau tried to get a word in, but Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan overlapped, bombarding her with various questions. "Guys, please, it really wasn't anything that concerns you, okay? It was just about Garroth, and his feelings concerning Laurance, neither of which are either of you, so I think that you guys should just lay off—"

Aphmau froze, eyes wide. I stared at her in complete disbelief. I can't believe she really just said that.

Katelyn stood still, mouth gaping, and Kawaii~Chan let out an ear-piercing squeal. Oh, dear Irene, this can't really be happening. No, no, no. She can't have just outed my feelings for him like this! What the hell? That was like, the one thing I didn't want her to do! What sort of cliché drama is this?!

"For real?" Katelyn looked me up and down, smirking. "Lucinda's ex?"

"I—" I started, feeling my breathing hitch in my throat. Crap, crap, crap!

"Aww, that is so-o-o-o cute, Garroth~kun!" Kawaii~Chan clapped her hands together, her Meif'wa tail flicking back and forth rapidly. "Garroth~kun and Laurance~kun will be very, very adorable together! Kawaii~Chan ships it!"

"No, please, don't, I—" I took a deep breath to compose myself before I said something I regretted. Besides, I was too embarrassed and upset to say anything to actually alleviate the situation. "I—I should be leaving now."

"Gar, no, I'm sorry!" Aphmau jumped up from her spot on the bed to stop me, but I lifted my hand to stop her.

"I'm...I'm fine, I should just...go, bye."

And with that, I immediately stepped out the door, and made my way home as quickly as I could. Guess I was wrong about my year not entirely sucking.

*Laurance's POV*

"Oh, Laurance, be quiet. You know for a fact that you're going to miss me once I head to college in the next semester."

"Just because it's a fact doesn't mean that I'm going to admit it."

I chuckled, nudging Cadenza with my elbow. I still can't believe that the two of us are getting this old. Honestly, I think it surprised the both of us that we made it together all of this time, to reach this age, and actually have the opportunity to go to college. If I told myself all of that back before middle school, I wouldn't have believed myself.

"You're going to give my number to all of the cute girls you see there right?" I snickered, smirking a bit.

"Sorry, Laur', they're all mine," Cadenza snickered as well.

"Oh? I don't think your boyfriend will be too happy to hear that, Cad."

"Oops," she shrugged, shaking her head. "Nah, I'm just messin'. But you're not hooking up with anybody I meet in college, Laur'."

"And why ever not?"

"Because you've got plenty of people here already that are interested in you enough. You don't need to be an idiot and become a womanizer."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "You really think that little of me?"

"Yes Casanova, I do think you have the potential to fall down into the skirt-chasing rabbit hole if you don't start getting your act together."

"Ouch, you're cruel. I've only ever had one actual girlfriend, you know. That didn't even last that long."

"Yes, but it seems like every other day you're talking about some new lady who's made the list for 'I'm Laurance, and I'm a Pig, Here's Who I'm Going To Talk About In A Sensuous Manner Without Their Consent This Week'."

"Geez Cad, I really don't do that. I think you've got me mistaken for, like, Dante or Travis."

"That's also my point," Cadenza sighed, running a hand through her hair. "The guys that you hang out with. They're probably what's affecting you. I think Garroth's your only friend that isn't like that."

"Cadenza, really, why the sudden are you turning into a real b—"

"Speak of the devil!" Cadenza exclaimed suddenly, waving across the street. "Garroth! Hello!"

Garroth?

I spun around on my heel, to find Garroth trudging down the sidewalk and sulking. Oh no. What happened now?

"Garroth?" I called over to him, snapping him out of his trance and getting his attention. "You okay, buddy?"

He waved his hand in a small gesture, and I frowned at him. "I'm alright. Just...walking."

"Are you heading anywhere important?" I asked, Cadenza and I crossing the street over to him. "Cad and I were just heading home. You can come hang out at my place, if you're not heading anywhere."

"No, I'm not heading anywhere... Err, but I don't know if I should... It's kind of sudden..."

"You don't have to if you don't want to. But, I just suggested it because I just realized that all of the times we've hung out, you've never been over to my place. Just figured I'd offer."

"Um," Garroth scratched the back of his head, thinking for a moment. He then dropped his hand and nodded. "Okay, yeah, sure. If you don't mind, of course."

"Of course he doesn't mind!" Cadenza stepped in, smiling brightly. "You're always welcome at our place anytime!"

"Oh. Thank you."

"Come on," I grabbed his elbow, "we're almost there anyway."

*Garroth's POV*

I grumbled frustratedly, hitting my head against the back of Laurance's couch. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"It's not my fault that you suck!" Laurance laughed, triumphantly pounding his fist into the air. "Hell yeah, I'm the best!"

"This isn't fair!" I chucked the controller to the side of me. "I hate video games, and you know that."

"Oh, don't be so harsh," Laurance picked up my controller, setting down more gently on the coffee table. "I'm sure that there's some video game that you're good at."

"It's not that I'm not good at them, it's that they're stupid and I hate them!"

"Shh, he doesn't mean that," Laurance whispered to the case of whatever the hell that stupid game we just played was. "He's just a sore loser."

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes, whacking Laurance with a throw pillow... Like I usually do with Aphmau... Oh dear...

"But, we don't have to play video games if you don't want to. We can do...something else."

I stared at him in confusion, playing with the hem of my shirt. "Something else...?"

"Yeah, whatever you want," he smiled, shrugging. Oh Irene, do you love me or hate me? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

"Whatever I want, huh? That's a pretty open invitation," I teased. The closer Laurance and I grew over the course of these past few years, the more I feel like I can trust him and be more myself with him. It's scary how much our relationship has changed.

Laurance's smile switched to a smirk, and he leaned in closer to me. Oh. My. Irene.

"Any ideas, Gar?"

System malfunction. I am literally shutting down. Goodbye cruel world. He's literally going to cause me to explode with the nickname, this is not okay.

"Hmm," I hummed, leaning in closer to him as well. He's so close. It's like that night at the sleepover all over again. Only now...

"You got something on your mind?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

Tell. Him. Tell. Him.

The snowglobe is being shaken up.

"Laurance," I took a deep breath, steadying myself. Oh my Irene, oh my Irene, oh my Irene, I'm going to die! I'm going to literally die. "There's something I should tell you..."

"Oh?" Laurance moved even closer to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "What's up, buddy?"

And there's the wall. Waiting for impact.

Unless Laurance catches it.

What are the chances of that?

...I suppose you're right. You're always right. This is a bad idea, isn't it?

Oh yeah, it's a horrible idea.

Thanks.

But it deserves a chance. It can only go one of three ways from here.

Three?

He hates us forever.

The most likely option.

He runs into our arms and returns those feelings.

The outrageous, completely unrealistic option. That'll literally never happen.

Or he doesn't return the feelings, but he still respects our feelings and still remains our friend. No awkwardness, just acceptance.

One can only hope.

"Garroth?" Laurance pulled me from my thoughts. "You were saying something?"

"...Laurance," this is it. After all of this time. "I—"

"Laurance!" Cadenza called from the stairs. "Dad just pulled in the driveway!"

"Okay!" Laurance called back, pulling away from me. I sighed shakily. The snowglobe is still in my hand. "Sorry," he turned back to me, "what were you going to say?"

"Oh, I was just gonna say that we could probably, um, w—watch a movie or something."

"Cool. Sounds good. I've got a ton of movies in my room. You can pick." Laurance nodded, standing up. "But first do you wanna come meet Hayden?"

"Hayden...?" I inquired.

"My, um," Laurance scratched the back of his head, darting his eyes away from me. "My adoptive...father."

"Ah, yeah. Okay, sure."

"Great!"

Laurance started off towards the front door, following behind an eager Cadenza. I stood up, making to follow him, and mentally cursing at myself.

You're an idiot, Garroth.

For once, you're the one that's 100% right.

~~~~

A/N - It feels so good to be updating my books again, ya'll have no idea how much I missed lacking the motivation to write. I've missed all of you guys so, so, so much! Thank you for your patience! 🥰💜💜

Also! I was going to include a question here, but all questions I have from you guys are months (or even years 😬) old, so I feel like I should get some new ones! Go ahead and leave some questions for the characters/me here, and I'm going to start answering multiple per chapter (depending on how many I receive) because I love answering questions so much.

Thank you guys! Have a lovely day/afternoon/night you beautiful people! I love you guys with all of my heart! 💜💜💜