Friends with the Babysitter (a Dear Evan Hansen Fanfic)

Ch 21--Ice Cream Makes it Better

Jared knocked on the Hansen's door. He never wanted anyone know, but he actually really cared about Evan. Evan was one of his first friends and as much fun as it was to tease him, Jared would do almost anything for him. Even if Connor hadn't blackmailed him into checking up on him, to make up for what he did the other day, he would have done it anyway.

Just don't tell anyone. It would ruin his image.

No one answered the door, so he tried again. He hoped Evan still wasn't mad at him. He'd understand if he was, but Connor had seemed really worried about him.

He heard shuffling footsteps from the other side before it went quiet.

"Evan? It's Jared." He called.

    The door was quickly thrown open and Jared walked in. Evan looked at him with tearstained eyes and Jared opened his arms for a hug. Evan launched himself into Jared's arms and sobbed.

    Jared kicked the door closed with his foot and led Evan to his bedroom, sitting down on his bed, Evan still in his arms. He let Evan cry it out, occasionally whispering soothing words. Once he calmed down, Jared spoke.

    "What's wrong, Evan?"

    "I...C-C-Connor..."

    "Yeah, he called and said--"

    "He b-broke up with m-me." Evan blurted out, more tears spilling over his cheeks. Jared looked at him in shock. He hasn't expected that. Especially since Connor seemed all concerned about him. "W-we st-started dating uhm, l-last week, and...and it w-was going s-so well! I m-mean, I th-thought it was..."

    "That's so bizzare." Jared knew they were dating, Ferb had mentioned his suspicions and after observing the two boys himself, it was rather obvious. But what didn't make sense was the fact that Connor blackmailed him into checking on Evan. If he'd broken up with him, he shouldn't care about how Evan was doing.

    "Y-yeah." Evan took a deep breath. "Th-thanks for b-being here, I...I n-needed a f-friend."

    Jared smiled and adjusted the glasses that were falling off his nose.

    "No problem, buddy. That's what friends are for. Now what do you say we eat all the ice cream in your freezer and watch The Office?"

    Evan smiled. That sounded perfect to him.

***

After Jared cheered him up, Evan was feeling well enough to get out of bed and go to school the next morning. He was ready to just forget about Connor and ignore him. Unfortunately that wasn't likely because they went to school in the same place and oh yeah, he was being paid to be friends with him.

    He'd have to figure something out for work, he couldn't keep texting Mrs Murphy and telling her he was sick, especially now that he was back in school. One of the Murphy children would see him during the day and he didn't want them to mention anything to Mrs Murphy because then she would text him and it would just get messy.

    He had to do something, though.

    His phone beeped, telling him he received a text.

    "Hi, Evan, Connor told me the two of you were dealing with something. Don't feel like you have to come over today if things are still rough between the two of you. I'm sure you'll resolve whatever the issue is and once you do, you can come back at any time. -Cynthia."

    She really was great.

    Evan sent a quick reply back, thanking her and letting her know he would try to resolve the issue soon. Even though that wasn't true, he would let Cynthia think they would work it out. Evan wasn't sure he'd ever feel comfortable around Connor again.

    He grew up not really having anyone. He had his mom, sure, but aside from Jared, who sort of stopped talking to him once they got older, he had no friends, no one he could really trust. Growing apart from Jared was really hard for Evan. He tried to make it seem like it didn't bother him much, but deep down he wasn't sure if he could trust another person again.

    And then Connor showed up in his life. He trusted Connor in an instant, and he wasn't quite sure why. It could have been that Connor seemed like a non-trusting person and he trusted Evan first, so that made it easier. It could have been that Connor knew just what to say to comfort him that he squeezed his way through the walls Evan built up without him realizing.

    Whatever the reason, Evan had trusted Connor a lot, and now he was gone.

    Now he had no one.

    With that uplifting thought, Evan grabbed his backpack from the couch and left the house for school.

    He had no classes with Connor, thankfully, but when they were friends/dating, they usually went to school a bit early to meet up, and met up in between classes when they were close by to each other.

    He really hoped Connor wouldn't be waiting for him today.    

    Evan made sure he got to school with only a few minutes until the bell so he would have no chance of running into Connor.

    Unfortunately, Connor also had that same idea because Evan almost walked in to him when he pulled the door open.

    Somehow, Connor didn't see him, instead kept his head down and scurried away, not even glancing at him. Evan wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or upset that he didn't see him, but the warning bell rang and Evan forgot all about his encounter.

    He made it through his first four classes, but then a new problem occurred.

    Lunch.

    For the past month he'd been sitting with Connor. Now he had no idea what he should do. What if Connor was sitting at their usual table, the one in the back corner Evan always used to sit in? He'd have to find somewhere new to sit. He also didn't want to sit alone, he'd gotten so used to having company that the thought of being alone for a whole half an hour made him sad, especially when he'd been alone for four days, moping about the breakup.

    He entered the cafeteria, gripping the shoulder straps of his backpack when someone waving caught his attention. He looked up and saw Jared smiling at him from his usual table. Smiling, Evan walked over to him.

    "Thought you wouldn't want to sit alone, so I grabbed us a table."

    Evan smiled and nodded, sitting down next to him.

    After a couple minutes of silence where Evan ate his sandwich and Jared pushed his food around the table, Jared spoke up, "Hey, you forgive me, right?"

    "F-for what?"

    "You know, the whole thing with Ferb? Me being a complete dick and leaving you to fend for yourself." Jared said quietly, not looking at his friend.

    "Of course I do, I never should have been mad at you in the first place."

    "You had every right to be mad, Evan. What I did was the worst and totally unforgivable and I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore, I can just go..." He trailed off when Evan started laughing.

    "Y-you're acting l-like me!" Evan giggled. Jared looked at him in shock before joining in the laughter.

    After that conversation, the boys forgot all their problems and enjoyed each others company.

    They didn't notice Connor slink through the shadows and sit at the end of Ferbs table, trying not to let anyone see him. Ferb did of course, but he didn't care. He was the one who caused all the cuts and bruises that Connor hid under a hoodie.

    It's all for Evan, Connor thought. I'll do anything for Evan.

***

Hello all! I'm back!! I hope you didn't miss me too much, but here's a chapter for ya :) I'll post another one mid next week sometime (maybe Wednesday or Thursday) and then I'll be back to my usual Sunday posting schedule. Have a good rest of your day I love you all ❤️

~hamilfan123987