A Bittersweet Mystreet

{Chapter 20}

{A/N: This episode is gonna be two chapters long. I got a lot of stuff I wanna put in. Anyways, here's New Years!}

TW: Alcohol consumption, mentions of drug use

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It was 7:00 A.M. and Laurance was wide awake. He always had to wake up early to maintain his good looks. He opened his door to go to the bathroom but was instead face-to-face with a book lying on the ground. Bending down to examine the book, he noticed the tag attached to the side.

To: Laurance

From: Garroth

His eyes widened. Turning his head to look at Garroth's door, he noticed the empty space where his gift was supposed to be.

"He already got it," Laurance spoke quietly to himself.

He glanced back down at the book. Garroth had actually gotten him a gift. Quickly, he picked it up and brought it to his room. His beauty routine could wait. Situating himself on his bed, he fully examined the book. It was obviously handmade, and Laurance was quite surprised by Garroth's craftsmanship.

Garroth sucked at arts and crafts.

Laurance carefully opened the cover and was greeted with a picture of him and Garroth in high school.

It was a photo album.

He took his time looking through the pages, admiring every photo that was taken. Even the one that was entirely blurry with the written caption,

"I fell into a lake..."

There was even a photo of the first day they moved into their apartment. Was it only because Aphmau was moving in next door? Yes, but that was the least of Laurance's worries right now.

He laughed at the thought before realizing this was a documentation of their friendship.

How long had he been working on this?

The last photo was taken right before he, Garroth, and Dante left for the Christmas party at Aphmau's. The happy feeling he had just moments before dropped to the pit of his stomach.

Regardless, he flipped the page. Instead of another picture, it was a note.

"You've been with me through everything. Always having my back even during the times I didn't deserve it. I'm glad to have been with you for so long and hope to continue being with you as the years go by. I trust that in the future we will be just as close as we are now. This is why I'm now comfortable with telling you-

Laurance's heart skipped a beat.

I'm pansexual."

His eyes started to water. He fucked everything up between them.

Even if he tried to clear things up between them with his gift, that didn't change what he had said to Garroth at the party.

If that hadn't happened at the party, Laurance would have found out today that Garroth was pansexual. It was something that Garroth had the right to do on his own terms, and yet he was forced to come out in a difficult situation.

Laurance blinked away his tears and finished reading the note.

"I understand we haven't been on the best of terms lately, but you are one of my best friends. So, even if you don't like me back, I want us to continue being friends till the end."

Yeah? Well, Laurance doesn't want to be just friends anymore. He may not be ready for a relationship just yet, but he knew how he felt toward Garroth.