A Door That Closes Too Soon

28 - Me, Truly Me

Ew so im bad at plots and I don't know how humans work but um here we are

Jared woke up with a pounding headache. "Damnit," he muttered, sitting up. Unfamiliar couch, familiar people. Of course. Whatever the hell had happened the previous night must have been fun, Jared figured.

"You're finally awake," Zoe remarked, sipping coffee.

"How drunk did you get me?" Jared asked. He noticed Connor was the only one still passed out. Alana, Zoe, and Evan, on the other hand were wide awake.

Alana yawned. "I tried to stop you three," she said. Jared raised an eyebrow. "Murphys started it."

"Makes sense. Coffee?" Zoe just pointed to a coffee pot in the corner of the kitchen. "So, uh, where are we? I remember a beach and like, one shot."

Zoe snickered. "Lightweight." Jared glared as he made himself coffee. "Anyways, we're at some dumb place Dad was gonna take us, but he ran out of time, so I stole the money anyways. Well, I stole money from Connor."

Jared nodded and took a seat next to Evan. "Why are you a mess, Ev?"

"No sleep," Evan mumbled.

Jared looked Evan up and down. His hair was sticking out in different directions, the top button of his shirt was unbuttoned. "Really?" Jared asked.

"Mhm," Evan hummed. He blushed while Jared kept staring at him. "Quit it Jare, I'm telling the truth."

Jared shrugged. "Wanna help me wake up Murphboy? I was thinking maybe we draw on his face with sharpies first, of course, a nice mustache, maybe some blushy anime cheeks....Ooh! We could draw a pride flag on him, that'd be fun, he wouldn't kill us for that one."

"I'd kill you for that one!" Connor's voice yelled from behind, muffled by the floor that he was lying face down on. "Fuck you guys, who gave me alcohol last night!? Jared, I'll kill you!" Connor made his way over to the group. "Morning Ev'y," he said quietly, ruffling the boy's hair. Evan had his head on the table, looking like he wanted to die.

Zoe laughed. "It's noon, idiot." Connor rolled his eyes. "So, wanna check out sights other than our partners?" she asked. Connor and Jared shrugged. "Come on, we can go on a hike or something. Trees are...cool, right?"

Evan looked up quickly. "Trees?"

"We're going on a hike," Jared agreed. When he was met with questioning looks from the girls and Connor, he added, "I wanna see Evan fanboy over an oak tree."

"Frick off," Evan muttered. "Love you, though," he added immediately.

Jared laughed. "So when Connor says it, he just glazes over it, but Evan has to say he loves us? Come on Connor, we've been missing out on wittle Connie Murphy's love!"

"I love you," Connor muttered, blush becoming apparent on his cheeks. "Let's go on that hike or whatever," he said, keeping his volume the same, whereas his blushing only increased.

Jared nodded. "Let's go!" He and Connor started to run out, dragging half awake Evan behind them, but Zoe didn't like that idea.

"Not so fast!" Zoe exclaimed. The boys stopped in their tracks, Evan leaning into Connor's tall figure. "Breakfast! There are probably like...stale waffles or something in here right?" Everyone stared at her. "McDonalds?" The other four murmured their agreement, and all of them left the house, holding the hands of their respective partners.

** McDonalds? More Like McDehnalds **

"So...Alana Beck."

Zoe, Evan, and Jared were walking faster than Alana and Connor. Only problem, Connor and Alana didn't exactly have many good conversation topics. Which is why Connor decided on a classic, the "you're the most butch lesbian I've ever met and you're dating my baby sister, who deserves an amazing woman who will frolic in fields wearing flower crowns, don't you dare hurt her or I won't hesitate to put you six feet under in the same place my happiness and dignity went" speech.