Deep Breaths (Garcello x Reader) [Slow Updates]

Part 10 - Karaoke Night Funkin'

(F/S) = Favorite soda

~~~

"Calvin, I'm not sure this is a good idea--"

"Oh, come on!" he chirps insistently, grabbing you by the forearm and dragging you across the sidewalk, "It'll be fun! I even convinced Ashlyn!"

"So you're gonna make Ash suffer, too?" you grumble while struggling against Calvin's iron grip. For a guy with the figure of a typical nerd, he's got some magic super-strength. He scoffs at your sentence and continues to lead you to your destination.

"Don't be a party pooper, (Y/N)," he chides lightly, steering you around a metal sign, "Besides, if you really, really don't wanna be in the spotlight, you can just watch us sing."

"I'd appreciate that very much, thank you," comes your hasty, breathless response as you nearly trip over your own feet. You pause to rerun Cal's sentence through your head before confusedly turning in his direction. "Wait, 'us'? What do you mean by 'us'? How many people did you invite? Lord knows that Ashlyn isn't going to sing." 

"I invited a few people," he replies vaguely. He pointedly avoids your gaze when you start glaring daggers at him.

"Cal," you say in a warning tone, eyes narrowed, "Who did you invite?"

"Promise you won't yell?" he tries. A beat passes as you stare at him, frustration obvious on your face, but you eventually just sigh. His expression is unflinching. Curse him and his determination.

"Okay. Just spill."

"Hex, Annie, and Garcello," Calvin blurts almost immediately. 

"Oh, that's not so ba--" 

"And," he interrupts, oddly nervous, "And, and Boyfriend and Girlfriend."

"...You what." The sentence unintentionally falls on a deadpan tone. Your mind reels, replaying those words in your head repeatedly, at least until you're sure that they're burned into your brain. "You invited the Boyfriend and Girlfriend?"

"Yeah..." He winces. "That's... what I said."

"How???" You swear your voice squeaks an octave higher than usual.

"Connections?" Calvin murmurs to himself for a moment before clearing his throat and rephrasing. "Well, Hex had a singing battle with Boyfriend before, and they're friends now, so..."

"Are you kidding me."

You genuinely want to show more emotion than shock and pure deadpan, but you really can't bring yourself to right now. After a bunch of overworking at the store to pay rent and this, out of anything that could've happened, is the situation that you find yourself in. Just when you thought your life couldn't get any more eventful. 

"Well, at least you're not yelling?" Calvin says hopefully, curling his shoulders close to his ears. You inhale sharply and pinch the bridge of your nose.

"Calvin."

"Yeah?"

"When I regain all my energy from those overtime shifts, I'm going to skin you."

"Eh, that's fair."

~~~

You sit quietly on the edge of Calvin's couch, leg bouncing in anticipation. Ashlyn lounges next to you as she scrolls through her phone. Despite Ash's often asocial nature, she seems.... relatively undisturbed by the situation. Contradicting your nervous behavior, she casually taps her fingers along the screen of her cell, eyes scanning across what you assume to be a text message or social media.