𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐭 ☆ - 𝐃𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓.

𝟐 - 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫

༺༻

"Duncan, my man! Glad you could make it, dude!"

Geoff was just as Duncan remembered: vibrant, life of the party, and not afraid to hug his fellow dudes. Geoff had pulled Duncan into a tight, welcoming hug, nearly stripping the oxygen out of him.

"Hey, bud. Great to be here," Strangling out as he patted his friend's back, hopefully giving him a sign to let him breathe again. Duncan's request was met, the welcoming arms releasing their grip. He had just now noticed that Geoff was holding a solo cup, with what beverage? He couldn't quite make it out. Punch? Kool-aid? Beer? Oh man, he could use a drink.

"Oh, sorry dude. Come in, come in," Said Geoff, giving Duncan this look of some kind of approval to enter, like he was some dungeon master or guard of some sort. It was his apartment after all.

Duncan was quick to stepping in, trashy music, blaring flashy lights, and an abundance of conversation immediately punched him in the face. The overload made him take a step back from the whole thing. Sure, he remembered going to a ton of house parties in high school, but the lack of socialization he's received lately made everyone feel... off. Maybe he just needs a bit of a "pick me up," he was sure Izzy was probably smoking something, he'll ask her if he gets the chance.

Duncan moved toward the food stand, which let him get a nice view of the party. For a seemingly small apartment, everyone had quite a bit of wiggle room. He had assumed everyone was invited, and he was sure everyone would attend, so he was surprised everyone could fit in a room like this. Picking out people from the crowd, he noticed a few things. First, Izzy was in fact smoking, a blunt in her hand making that evident. She was having the time of her life, screaming all sorts of nonsensical nonsense and stumbling with an unamused Eva holding her up. Second, Geoff had invited his pal, Brody, from Don's shit show. Duncan didn't know if he should consider them friends or boyfriends at this point. Bridgette seems pretty fed up with Geoff, so he wouldn't be surprised if Geoff hooked up with Brody. Whatever makes the man happy.

The third thing Duncan had noticed was how hammered Gwen was. Was she still hung up on her failing love life? She was shuffling clumsily throughout the room with a bottle in her hand, taking occasional swings and breathing all up in other people's faces with drunken eyes. He almost feels bad, never knowing Gwen could result to alcoholism so heavily, and only fearing if this is now a common occurrence.

New looks, new alleged relationships, and new rivalry were the few things Duncan could pick up from the way everyone interacted in the crowd, but there was one thing he couldn't gather... Trent.

No matter how much he hated it, he really only attended for Trent. He wanted to catch up, see how he's doing, see if he still hates Duncan's guts. God, anything but that, not that he doesn't want that, but he just wants all their grudges behind them. Duncan could care less if Trent wanted to kill him, God he wanted to do things to him too. Not exactly kill but-what the fuck was he thinking?

From the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar friend sitting on the sofa, solo cup in hand while examining the crowd. Trent, he knew he was here. Before he made any kind of move, he was reminded to grab himself a drink, grabbing a solo cup and pouring some mystery punch into his cup. Giving the cup a few stirs with his wrist, Duncan glanced at the dark-haired boy while taking a sip. Bitter. Hardly fruity. This is awful punch.

Trent seemed to take notice to the penetrating stare from across the room, turning his head to find the source. Duncan kept his eyes on him as he stepped toward Trent, wearing a smug grin. Trent flashed back a soft smile, his whole face radiating a sort of chill energy. He was at peace.

"Trent, haven't seen you in a life time, man," Duncan quickly sat beside the other, of course keeping a distance since he respected the man's personally space, for the most part, "How's it been?"