Running From The Past

CHAPTER 9: CRUSHING ON A BOY

9.
Owen laid sprawled out across his bed as he stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought, which was weird considering it was him. He wasn't used to overthinking so much or doubting himself to such an extent. It was weird not having any idea what to do next and he despised the sick feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.

His phone buzzed on his bedside table and he sighed when he saw it was a text from Gavin.

Gavin: You still coming to the party?

Owen: I don't know. Probably not.

Gavin: I'll be there in 15 and drag your ass out of bed if I have to <3

He begrudgingly crawled out of bed, knowing that Gavin wouldn't hesitate to drag him out of it if he didn't comply.

Shrugging on a pile of clothes tossed carelessly on his floor, his mind wandered back to Conan. A common topic his brain wouldn't stop obsessing over the past few days ever since hanging out with the boy at the arcade.

Owen had been avoiding him but it wasn't like Conan had made any big attempts to talk to him either. Owen felt a little hurt that he hadn't even tried talking to him but he knew that was hypocritical of him. It was his own fault that he randomly left with no explanation. Obviously Conan wouldn't want to talk to him after that.

As promised, fifteen minutes later Gavin was barging into his home and into his room like he owned the place. "Gross." He made a face of disgust as he inspected Owen's filthy room. "Don't your parents have maids hired? One of them let me in. How is your room still this nasty?"

"I don't like having them clean up after me. I don't let them." Owen was brushing his teeth, his connected bathroom door slightly ajar so the two boys could still see each other.

"I don't know why you act like it's slavery." Gavin sighed and bounced onto Owen's king-sized bed. "They get paid good money, the job is optional, they're choosing to be here."

Owen's toothbrush slid over his teeth as he cleaned them, his voice coming out muffled. "Still don't like it."

"Whatever." His friend shrugged and flopped onto his side. "We're already late, can you hurry up?"

"I don't wanna go in the first place," he grumbled, spitting into the sink and wiping his mouth.

"What changed? Literally just the other day you were all excited about it."

Conan did. At least how Owen felt about him changed even if it wasn't he himself in particular.

"Doesn't matter." He grabbed his phone and ushered Gavin off of his bed. "Let's get going."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Don't tell me." Gavin rolled his eyes, knowing he'd squeeze it out of him later. He automatically tied the blame on Tara despite the girl not being the cause of his distress for once.

It was Owen's own fault for once.

He shut his bedroom door behind him as the two walked down the stairs. Owen's house was gigantic so he never even bothered trying to sneak out. His parents either didn't notice or didn't care if they did happen to pay him any attention. Probably a mixture of both.

They had to pass by the kitchen where one of Owen's brothers Luke was, skimming through the fridge. He had three brothers and two sisters. Out of all five, the only one he liked was Luke, the youngest.

"Gavin!" he exclaimed when he saw the pair walk through the room.

He hadn't seen much of Gavin lately because of the Tara situation so he was excited to see him.