RED [BXB]

FOUR

Mason stuck close to Luke, ambling quietly into the night. His eyes were glazed over, looking almost starstruck as he took in the lights and the surroundings and the people. Mason had been in the city for quite a while now, but he still wasn't accustomed to all the flashing lights and loud noises.

It was already getting pretty late, but the streets still roared with life; people went in and out of shops, looking all sorts of bizarre. In the town he and Luke used to live in, everything and everyone would fall asleep by 8:00 p.m., and, so, it was understandable that he was taken aback by the volatility and the liveliness.

Luke watched him with amused eyes, thinking it absolutely adorable how awed Mason looked. He radiated an air of innocence, of excitement and buzzing adrenaline, of forbidden desire and insatiable wanting: just like a little kid in a candy store.

"You don't usually come here at night, do you?" Luke broke the silence, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes.

Mason watched him, eyebrows raised in slight shock as Luke fished out a cancer-stick and lit it effortlessly. "You smoke?"

"Sometimes," he replied ominously. Although, from the way he expertly inhaled it into his lungs, Mason was willing to bet he was a regular.

"Well," Mason reached out his palm. "Hand one over, then."

Luke's eyes widened just the slightest bit. With a smile, he plucked the cigarette dangling between his lips and passed it to Mason, but not before taking another drag.

They walked in silence for the next ten minutes, wordlessly passing the cigarette between themselves. It was about half a mile later that Luke slowed to a stop in front of a dimly-lit café.

"We're here," he announced, turning to Mason with a wide smile.

The latter didn't bother to reciprocate, wanting to let Luke know how uncomfortable and discontented he was at being forced to tag along. However, the smell of freshly-brewed coffee that assaulted Mason's nostrils as soon as they stepped inside helped alleviate some of his grumpiness.

It was one of those artisan cafés, with cheap art hanging off the walls and hipsters with man-buns vaping in every corner. The cloud of smoke that enveloped the stuffy room made Mason's face scrunch up in distaste, and he had to bite back a cough.

Luke didn't seem to mind the atmosphere, his eyes rapidly scanning the room until they stopped, his face beaming even brighter. Abruptly, he grabbed Mason by the arm and dragged him farther inside.

They halted at a table with three other people, all of them looking up at the two newcomers. "'Sup, guys?" Luke greeted happily like the perky sunflower he was. "This is my roommate, Mason."

Said boy smiled sheepishly, waving an awkward hand at them. "Hey."

The first to respond was a man with shoulder-length brown hair and a lumberjack beard. "Hey, I'm Eric."

Eric looked to belong exactly in a cafe like this. He was one of the hipsters, especially with both his arms fully tattooed. Mason hated to stereotype, but he wouldn't be surprised if Eric was a stoner, one of the chill guys who thought popping pills and getting shit-faced made them cool and different.

"Veronica, but everyone just calls me Nicky." She was an incredibly skinny girl, with her bleached-blonde hair in a short bob. She was wearing black lipstick, and that alone made Mason believe she was one of those not like other girls, who took pride in being quirky.

The final person at the table looked to be the tamest and most natural of them all.

She was tall, almost as tall as Luke, who was only a few inches shorter than Mason. Her natural—unlike Nicky's—blonde hair fell to the middle of her back in perfect waves. She had pretty blue eyes, accentuated by a bit of makeup, and her thin lips were coated with a beautiful, deep burgundy.

In no way was Mason attracted to her—or any girl, really—but he could appreciate beauty when he saw it.

She got up from her chair, walking over to Mason and taking his hand in a shake. "Nice to meet you; I'm Zoya," she smiled.

Then, she walked over to Luke, cupped his cheeks, and pecked him quickly on the mouth. "Luke's girlfriend."

Like he did in every other situation, Luke smiled; this time, however, it didn't reach his eyes. His gaze searched Mason's face, looking for a reaction.

Having perfected the art of controlling his emotions, Mason let absolutely none of his shock seep through the mask. He smiled back at the couple carelessly.

***

The farther they got into the night, the clearer it became that Luke and Zoya were that couple; the pair that spent all their time lost in each other, the ones that had no trouble showing PDA all the time.

For some reason, though, Mason kept feeling Luke's eyes flitting towards him, his gaze intense and scorching. Mason tried his best to ignore it.

Surprisingly enough, the outing wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting. Though he'd made the mistake of judging Eric and Nicky far too quickly, without even giving them a chance, they turned out to be really cool people after he'd chatted with them.

Dare he say it, he might've even left the café with a lifted spirit.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel somewhat pissed at Luke. He'd practically made Mason come, only to ignore him the whole night for his girlfriend. Mason knew he was being a little bit childish and slightly stupid, but he couldn't help it.

That being said, it still provided no answer to the one question that'd been blaring through his head the whole night:

Why the hell was he so disappointed?