for forever; tree bros

12. "here's to getting drunk."

the next week was bittersweet. evan spent his lunchtimes in the company of connor, sharing sandwiches and jokes. every day, he felt like he was starting to know connor better. he knew that connor's favourite colour was dark red, that he loved indian food but hated pizza, he had a weird obsession with snakes, and even got him to reluctantly admit that he'd cried at the end of 'friends'. connor had also been helping evan with his math, and in turn evan would help ("help, i'm not going to write them for you") connor with some of his english essays. he'd often read connor passages from the books they were studying in class, between bites of his lunch, and connor would smile so much that evan wondered if he was even listening.

however, evan's heart couldn't help but ache whenever he was near the taller boy. every time connor came up with a good idea for one of his essays, or taught evan something in math he'd never been able to get the hang of before, or even smoked a cigarette behind the bike shed, making sure he blew the smoke away from evan's face so he wouldn't cough, evan just wanted to kiss him. but he couldn't.

aside from hanging out with just connor, the two of them and zoe would get coffee every morning before school, alternating between costa and starbucks (zoe's choice) and quirky cafes hidden down side roads (connor's choice). the murphy siblings were getting closer and closer. often evan felt almost excluded during their coffee runs, but he was so happy that connor and zoe were mending their relationship that he didn't care.

jared was in the majority of evan's classes, and had somehow managed to convince everyone evan sat next to to swap with him. so now evan had jared's constant whispers in his ear as he was trying to learn - but he couldn't complain. someone actually wanted to sit with him.

even alana beck would sometimes talk to him in the halls. she told him that she'd be delighted to come to his halloween party, and he just about managed to stutter out his number to give to her. later that day, she made a group chat of the five of them. connor never texted in it, zoe and alana would flirt "subtly", evan used it as an excuse to send the many scenic nature photos he took on a daily basis, and jared spammed them constantly with memes.

after school ended, evan would usually walk home alone. he liked to have a bit of time to think by himself. at home, he'd do his schoolwork - he was trying really hard to raise his grades as it was his last year of high school and he'd like to get into a good college next year - and listen to music that connor had recommended him. he didn't really like any of it, but he pretended he did. he was also working on a playlist for connor, full of evan's favourite soft, acoustic songs.

eventually, halloween rolled around. the day before, evan took a trip to the dollar store and spent just about all his savings (eight dollars and sixty three cents) on cheap decorations. heidi helped him put them up in the living room and they grinned at each other when they were finished. a large bowl of candy lay by the front door, and outside were two fake pumpkins. there were orange and black balloons on the floor and cobwebs hanging over the sofa.

heidi turned to her son. "so, it's just the five of you?"

"yes," evan nodded earnestly. at least that wasn't a lie.

"and there won't be any drinking? i can trust you?"

evan hoped his face wasn't bright red. somehow, he managed to look his mom in the eyes. "you can trust me. no alcohol -" he crossed his fingers. "- promise."

when connor arrived at seven, ten minutes before heidi was due to leave, with a litre bottle of vodka in one hand, a large crate of cider in the other, and two more bottles that evan couldn't quite make out under his arms, evan's eyes widened. he grabbed the alcohol from connor's hands and shoved him up the stairs before heidi came to say hello. connor watched, confused, as evan quickly and quietly hid everything under his bed, and the two went back downstairs.