a/n: A bit of transphobia in this chapter—Use of Ray's deadname*. I have his deadname redacted.

*deadname: The birth name of someone who has changed it. The term is used by people who are transgender and elect to go by their chosen name instead of their given name.

"Hold on, hold on, let me get this straight... You've been dating de Lucía this entire fucking time—and you didn't think to tell me?"

"It's not that simple—"

"Yes, it is that fucking simple, you sexy fucking moron!"

"No need to throw mean names around—I think? That was mean, wasn't it?" Erin said, looking to Ray's friends for support, but the Idiot Trio was completely gobsmacked by the morning's events. Barry whistled low under his breath, impressed.

Charlie hit Sora on the shoulder, and then on the chest for good measure. Sora lost his breath on the second one and choked out, "Yeah, okay, I deserved that—"

"Ya think!" Charlie screamed.

The café was starting to thin out as the time drew closer and closer to ten, at which point Ray could be seen thanking customers for leaving tips and for staying and listening. Sora glanced over at him and some sane part of him was still stuck on the idea that Ray would be a perfect performer at underground parties—

Charlie hit him again.

"Ow! Fuck!" Sora groaned.

Erin cut between them, shoving them both away from one another just as de Lucía made his way over.

"Erin! You made it!" Ray said, beaming. He looked across the startled faces of all of his friends and said, "I'm so glad you guys could come! I—"

Before he could finish, Leo was on his feet and storming to the door. Huey half-stood to go after him, but Barry stopped him. Ray had only seen the very edge of Leo angry and this went beyond that. Worry pricked at his heart as he watched his friend escape the café. He looked back at Huey, who put his head in his hand and sighed.

"I-I'll go check on him," Ray said, hesitating as he put a hand on Charlie's shoulder and said, "Could you maybe guard my guitar for me?"

Charlie sighed and said, "Yeah, sure, whatever," as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and halt the impending headache.

Ray thanked him and jogged out after Leo. As he skidded out onto the sidewalk, he spied the back of Leo's fuzzy brown hair at the corner of the street, his hands tucked into the front pocket of his hoodie and his shoulders bunched up in frustration. Ray ran up to him, out of breath, and said, "Hey, what's up?"

Leo put a hand up to rub his eyes and, to Ray's astonishment, his tears. "Nothing," Leo muttered.

"Come on, I know you're lying," Ray said with a half-hearted laugh.

Leo threw his hand down and said, "For fuck's sake, Ray." Ray startled, alarmed at the venom Leo spat out at him in the form of harsh words. "How long have you been lying to me? Have you just been making fun of me this entire fucking time? I thought you were serious about—About hating Ikeda!"

What? Ray thought, floored. "I wouldn't say I hate him..." he started.

Leo let out a hollow laugh, turning to Ray, his eyes flitting everywhere but on Ray. "Yeah, well, clearly. Since you're dating the guy."

Ray could have laughed, and he did. "I'm—" he started, only to stop, his eyes catching on the café window where he could see Erin's brown hair curled to perfection. The only person who thought he was dating Sora was Sora's sister.

"Holy heck..." Ray whispered, a hand to his forehead.

"Yeah, and you've been seeing two different people? What the fuck, Ray? Why didn't you tell me you were poly?" Leo said.

"This is so out of control," Ray groaned, hands over his face in fear of his brain melting out through his nose. It was too much for him to comprehend, let alone handle.

"Well, get it under control," Leo snapped at him, and Ray flinched. "I'm not dealing with this bullshit. I can't believe you lied to me all semester. That's not what friends do, Ray."

With that, Leo stormed across the road, leaving Ray to linger at the curb, out of breath and out of his mind with what could only be described as pure, unadulterated grief.

Leo was Ray's first friend in over two years. He really did have shit luck keeping friends around, huh?

Ray sluggishly returned to the café, fully aware of the shitshow he was likely going to walk into given his current state of affairs. Everyone else was still there, loitering, which was to be expected. But when Ray appeared in the doorway, Charlie stopped bitching and Erin relaxed from where she was physically attempting to split Sora and Charlie apart.

Ray rubbed a hand over his hair and sighed, a dull but familiar ache resurfacing in his chest. Without a word, he went back to his stage to start packing up.

The silence and the look on Ray's face was enough for everyone in the group to become riddled with guilt. Ray never looked like that, which just proved that today was, in fact, a shitshow.

Huey and Barry left as Ray zipped up Melvin 2.0's case. Despite how Ray tried to ignore them and everything that was happening in the corner of the café, their wordless exit nearly brought tears to his eyes.

He couldn't imagine seeing Leo or Huey in class later. He didn't want to go to class. He didn't want to talk to them or anyone.

So when Charlie came up to him, he dreaded having to speak.

"Listen, Ray," Charlie started, and Ray ducked his head to avoid looking at him. "You can do whatever the fuck you want, all right? I get it. But I like to know these things."

Ray nodded, and came damn near close to crying when Charlie squeezed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. Ray tucked his forehead against Charlie's shoulder, his eyes closed.

"I'll text you later," Charlie promised before pulling away. He wandered to the door where, as he propped his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, he glanced back at Ray. Ray offered a meager wave, and Charlie was off.

Now thoroughly packed up, Ray shrugged on his backpack and carried Melvin 2.0 over to where Erin was cradling a latté at the countertop beside Sora. Sora was watching him as Ray put a hand to Erin's back and said, "Thanks for coming."

"Definitely! I wish I could have listened to more," she said, looking back at him with a brilliant smile. "I'll just have to come to the next one. You'll invite me, won't you?"

"Of course," Ray said, his smile genuine. "I'll see you sometime soon then."

He left without looking at Sora.

_______

Class was just as terrible as any other course Ray took at his old community college. Some desperate part of Ray wanted to believe that it would be fine, and that he'd walk in and Leo would be playfully annoyed at Ray but they'd continue sitting with each other through class, and then joke about it at the end.

It wasn't like that.

It went a little more like this:

After dropping Melvin 2.0 off at home, Ray drove to class where he lingered at the doorway, hoping to catch Leo's eye. Leo looked thoroughly angry, scribbling in his notebook. Beside him, Huey looked up. Ray offered a weak, hopeful wave.

Huey sighed and shook his head. He looked off to the side, away from where Ray's heart shattered.

A group of students walked in, and one of them bumped into Ray. He staggered, and he would have been fine with it had another student not done the exact same thing two seconds later and looked over her shoulder to make sure Ray knew that it was intentional.

Ray stared after her, and then at all of the attention was on him. Students who Ray had heard giggle and gossip about Sora were now glaring at him relentlessly.

A sweat broke out across his forehead. I can't stay here, he thought, panic gripping him by the throat.

As he went to make his escape, Professor Isaac walked in. Ray skidded to a halt as Isaac said, "Take your seats, everyone."

Ray hesitated. He lingered at the bottom of the stairs a moment longer before hurriedly making his way up past Leo and Huey's seats. As he did, someone at the end of the row slung their backpack onto the steps, nearly taking Ray out by the ankles. "Oh, sorry," they said.

He knew where Sora sat, and it seemed, everyone assumed Ray would now be sitting there, too. Word spreads fast, he thought, which further complimented how gossip spread at his old school. Unrelentingly fast.

Ray claimed second seat down from where Sora usually sat. As expected, Sora arrived just before lecture could start, and he garnered just as much positive attention as he usually did. Ray's bottom lip wavered as he avoided Sora's eye and looked to his hands.

He really didn't want to talk to his roommate right now.

When Sora took his seat, he dropped his backpack in his usual chair and claimed the gap Ray had intended to keep between them. Sora sighed, "They all know now, huh."

Ray said nothing.

Sora never wanted to punch himself as much as he did in that moment.

Sora ran a hand over his forehead and pushed his hair back as lecture began. It dragged on, dreadfully slow, and Sora could tell from the way Ray scribbled patches of black around his notebook binding that Ray wasn't paying attention in the slightest.

Sora hadn't taken actual notes since he was in high school, but he took some that day so that at the end of lecture, he tore them out and handed it to Ray.

Ray stared at them as Sora said, "Lecture notes, since you weren't taking any."

Ray sucked in a deep breath. Sora swallowed hard, watching pink gather around Ray's eyes. "I'm okay, thanks," Ray said before walking off and jogging down the steps. He left the lecture hall rubbing at his eyes, and Sora let his arm flop to his lap, the lecture notes abandoned.

"Trouble in paradise?" a preppy voice chimed from down the empty row.

Sora resisted the urge to groan. He turned a glare onto Alice, who beamed at him and came to rest a seat down from Sora, leaning her hip against it as the lecture hall emptied out.

"I take it you made a point to spread it around, then," Sora said.

Alice shrugged half-heartedly. "I hear it, I post it. You know how it goes," she said. "Nothing personal. I have no stakes in the matter, if I'm being honest."

"Right," Sora said, dryly.

"Ray's sweet, though. I do feel a bit of remorse for that one," Alice said, and before Sora could inquire about it, she walked off, saying, "Look forward to the group project!"

Wednesday came to a close after an uneventful studio session—and it was precisely because it was so uneventful that was what made it so unbearable. It was one of the few classes Ray didn't have with his friends, but generally, he was able to group up with people without issue. That day, however, he was excommunicated from the projects and, even when the professor lumped him together with a group of three, they left him on the fringes and finished the project on their own.

Ray sat in silence after several failed attempts to join the conversation.

He couldn't take it.

The moment he could, he scattered from the studio as everyone was still zipping up their backpacks.

He escaped from the building with a gasp, exhaustion seeping into his very bones. His head was clouded by his old community college and how It's just like last time—It's just like last time—It's just like—

"De Lucía," a familiar voice called from down the sidewalk.

Ray turned to it, only to wither internally. It was just Sora. As much as Ray wanted to whine, "What do you want?" or "Leave me alone!", Sora was the only person on campus who could wholly understand him right now.

They were in this together, dammit! and Ray wouldn't fuck it up just because he couldn't stand the sight of the guy.

"H-Hey Sora," Ray said, fists clenched at the sides of his navy slacks.

It's your fault Leo hates me! Ray wanted to scream. He wanted to scream it so loud, an astronaut in space would yell back, "Yeah, you tell him!"

Sora approached, cautiously, half-turned away like he was prepared to make a break for it. Ray could see his eyes scanning Ray's face for any hint of aggression, and it made Ray's face burn. "I... figured we could carpool. If you're okay with that," Sora suggested.

Back during their first week together, Ray would have jumped on that offer in a heartbeat. He had just wanted their living situation to be bearable. But now? Now all he wanted was to sit in his car and cry.

"I, um, I have some errands to run," Ray lied half-heartedly. He rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yeah, so I probably won't make it back before you need to go to work, so..."

"That's fine," Sora said. "Just figured I'd ask."

They stood in silence for a moment as Ray's soul left his body and descended as the weight of the days events dragged on. The door to the building opened and a group of girls from Ray's studio class stepped out, chattering until they saw Sora standing in front of a miserable-looking Ray.

Ray wondered if Sora could tell that he was two seconds away from crying, or if he just didn't want to blow their cover. Either way, Sora reached out to him and drew Ray forward against his chest. Sora's arms wrapped around Ray's neck, holding him securely and tightly and all of the above.

Ray loved hugs. He was a hug fanatic. And yet in all of his years of hugging, he never thought he'd find himself melting into Sora Ikeda's arms.

The seconds passed as Ray tucked his forehead against Sora's shoulder so he wouldn't have to see the girls from his class walk by. He wouldn't have to know if they were staring, which they weren't, thanks to the deadly glare Sora gave them from over Ray's tuft of dark, fuzzy hair.

After they were gone, Sora relaxed his hold on Ray, and Ray took the hint to pull away. Sora shoved his hands into his pockets and said, "I'm gonna walk you to your car and then get out of your hair."

Ray brushed the pad of his thumb under his eye as he let out a dry laugh and said, "Oh, so suddenly you're okay with being seen in public with me. Brilliant."

Sora gave him a dry look and said, "I never said I was comfortable with it. I'm just saying that I'm going to do it, so let's go."

"No need to be rude about it," Ray muttered as Sora started ahead.

Sora looked out at the road as he said, "Yeah, well, trust me when I say that I'm about as thrilled as you are about this."

"Oh, boohoo," Ray said with every ounce of annoyance he felt. It was startling, hearing that come out of Ray's mouth, and soon, Sora was giving him a weird side-eye that had Ray recoiling. "Sorry."

"No, what were you gonna say."

"Nothing. It wasn't nice and my ma said I shouldn't say mean things," Ray said.

Sora rolled his eyes and said, "You're talking to a guy who regularly calls Charlie a cunt, so out with it. You'd be surprised by how thick of a skin I've got."

Ray scuffed his foot on the concrete as they slowed at the crosswalk. The light turned white, though, so they were quickly back on track and Ray attempted to speed up so he wouldn't have to see Sora wandering idly behind him as he said what was on his mind.

"It was unfair of you to make all of these decisions without me. And now you've ruined my college existence, which wouldn't be all that terrible if it wasn't my second go of it. There, I said it." Ray bounded up onto the curb and, letting out a shaky breath, glanced at Sora.

Sora seemed unfazed. He expected as much, but certainly not that last bit. He had no way of knowing why Ray even transferred—he hadn't even thought of asking.

"To be fair," Sora said, and Ray hated every second of it. He hated how difficult it was to say his piece, only to have the very essence of his frustration countered. He wanted Sora to understand him wholeheartedly and not ask questions. He just wanted Sora to apologize. "You were the one who came up with the boyfriend thing. That wasn't me."

"Your sister came up with it—"

"And you went along with it. You didn't ask me then, and before you say you didn't have time... that same argument applies to me. We're both fucked right now, so don't blame it all on me."

Ray's eyes burned as his nails dug into the palms of his fisted hands. "You aren't the one who—No, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, because it's not like I have anything to win back by arguing with you. You torched my friendship with Leo and Huey and—and I don't expect you to understand because it's not like you have a shortage of friends and people who want to hang out with you. I've a-always had a shortage and it's no fair that you're so fine being on your own and I'm so—not."

As the seconds dragged on and Sora said nothing, Ray decided that he had said more than enough. He rubbed at his eyes again, beyond anxious about the heat building behind them. Sniffing, he hurried to his car and fumbled with his keys to unlock it as Sora lingered at the trunk, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes on the ground.

Sora swallowed hard and glanced down the lot, back towards the exit. It was quiet all except for the digital hum of the florescent lights over their heads.

"That isn't true," he said, and he wasn't sure what part of it felt like a lie. He only felt qualified to argue against what Ray had assumed about him, but he also found it hard to believe that Ray didn't have anyone.

The emotional part of Ray grew defensive about the vulnerability he had just given Sora. How dare he call that a lie?

"Sh-Shut up," he stammered, standing in front of the open driver's door. "I haven't had a real friend since—since—God, I miss elementary school when people weren't such dicks." With that, he ducked into the car and slammed the door.

Sora took the hint—finally—and backed off to avoid being backed into. Ray pulled away for a hasty retreat into the great abyss known as San Francisco's rush hour traffic. Sora watched after him for a moment before decided that he'd better figure out his bus schedule if he was going to make it home, eat, and get to work on time.

Meanwhile, Ray drove off of campus and searched for the first convenience store he could find. There, he paid for parking (like the good samaritan he was) and wandered into Walgreens for his first and only errand that evening.

Ray smacked a Ben and Jerry's onto the cashier counter.

"Just this?" the cashier said.

"Yeah. That kind of day," Ray sighed, and the cashier rung him up.

At the car, he pushed his seat back, dug through his glove compartment for a plastic spoon, and kicked his shoes off. With his one errand done for the day, he just needed to wait for Sora to leave the apartment, and the ice cream cup would surely burn some time.

Desperate college kids with roommates could find themselves, once in a while, yearning for five minutes in a place that belonged to only them. Ray wished he could huddle under the kotatsu that night with his ice cream and cry like the little bitch he was, but even his apartment didn't feel like the place to have a good cry. His car was, quite literally, the only personal space he had.

So Ray ate his chocolate-and-caramel Ben and Jerry's through the tears to expunge all of his negative energy.

___

Thursday passed by with less blatant hostility. Still excommunicated from his peers, Ray took his seat with a plain face and an even plainer demeanor. He may not have Leo on his side anymore, but he was still paying an unholy amount of money for this university.

At the end of his last class that day, he packed up and left before the rest of the students, so he didn't see the way Huey scrambled to chase after him, throwing his things in his backpack as fast as humanly possible.

Huey came darting out of the classroom with the speed and agility of a USFC track star, and at the foyer of the building, he called out to Ray, who was just then exiting through the door.

Ray turned back, startled, and stared wordlessly as Huey slowed to a jog.

"H-Hey Huey," Ray stammered, throat tight. "How's it going?"

Huey studied him for a moment before seeming to realize that he ran all this way for a reason. "Good. Good, yeah, I, um... I just wanted to let you know that I'm not... I'm not mad at you. Or anything like that."

Ray swallowed hard and said, "O-Oh. Thanks," in a feeble voice. After a moment of silence, Ray let the door close behind him so he could turn to Huey and ask, "And... what about Leo?"

Huey put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Still pissed. Yeah, I don't... I don't know how long he'll hold that grudge. I wouldn't hold your breath, if I'm being honest."

It felt like Ray was holding his breath for the entire past two days. Perhaps that was why he was so dizzy now.

"Are you... are you actually dating Sora and Charlie?" Huey asked.

Ray cursed internally, and externally—and Huey heard it.

"What was that?" Huey said, leaning in.

"N-Nothing!" Ray cried in a panic. He knew what lying got him—Leo's ire and the #1 spot on his class's hit list. "N-No comment!"

Flushed and flustered, Ray scattered from the area. Huey stared after him, confused, and cried, "Wait, what does that mean?! Ray! You do realize I'm on the track team, right? I can always catch up with you!"

Ray spun around quickly to shout, "Don't follow me!" before jogging away.

Huey snapped his fingers and cursed, "Fuck, he got me," and stuck his hands on his hips. Now it was only a matter of figuring out what the hell Ray was on about. Even if Ray wasn't dating Sora and Charlie, the guy still somehow got Ikeda on board with it. And who in the world could get Ikeda to do that?

I guess I'll just have to tell Leo about this, Huey thought, and headed back into the building to do just that.

Much would spawn from this simple conversation, as Ray would soon find out in approximately two hours.

The events went as follows:

Upon informing Leo of Ray's bizarre response, Leo and Huey grew skeptical. Something wasn't right, and as much as Leo wanted to grumble and mutter about Ray's betrayal, there was clearly something else afoot—and he wanted the facts.

"I'm gonna text him," Leo said, only to stop with a groan. He really didn't want to be the first to crack. He needed an inside man to get the scoop, and Huey had already cracked and talked to Ray. "No—you gotta text him."

"Me? Why me?" Huey said, startled.

"Because I have an image to uphold," Leo.

Huey glared at him. "You mean a grudge?" Leo shrugged, indifferent. "Ray's really upset, you know. I think he really misses you."

"It's been, like, two days."

"Two days is a really long time to go without your best friend," Huey said.

Flattered, Leo tapped his chin and hummed, "I was his best friend, wasn't I... But texting isn't significant enough. I wanna see the rat bastard beg for his life—I-I mean our friendship. Beg for our friendship."

And so it was decided: Leo and Huey would take a trip to Ray's flat and get everything sorted out. They'd interrogate Ray, get the truth, and Leo would decide for himself whether or not the truth warranted the termination of his grudge.

Across campus, Sora was already on a bus back to their apartment for the afternoon. When he arrived, there was a cool breeze passing over the Bay area despite the break of sunlight that warmed Sora's jacket. He started to shrug his jacket off as he reached for the front door to the complex, and as he did, there was a stranger waiting in the limbo between the front door and the locked foyer door.

"Hey, you want me to swipe you in?" Sora asked. He had only seen one person linger there, and it was because they forgot their keys.

The guy looked up from his phone and offered a calm smile. "Nah, man, I'm just waiting for someone. Thank you, though."

Sora didn't think much of it aside from the mental note he took of the guy's smile. It was charming in a relaxed sort of way, like he reserved that smile for special occasions—straight, pearly white teeth and soft cheeks that indented with deep dimples.

Cute, Sora thought, and that was the end of that train of thought.

Since it was so nice outside, when Leo and Huey came to loiter outside of the apartment complex, Leo lingered out on the sidewalk and tried to see into Ray and Sora's apartment window. He sheltered his eyes from the sunlight and squinted up, but it was no use. Dusk was upon them, and, so it seemed, was the reflection of the sun. There was no way for him to know that Sora was sitting at the kotatsu reading a book for class until Huey started buzzing the apartment relentlessly.

"Damn, he's not answering," Huey said, and that was because Sora could see that it was indeed Huey on the security camera.

Maybe if I don't answer, they'll go away, Sora thought, and went back to his book.

Huey put his hands in his pockets and looked like a total bro as he gave the stranger in the foyer an acknowledging head-nod. The stranger returned it and watched after Huey as Huey regrouped with Leo outside of the apartment complex.

"No luck?" Leo asked.

"Nada," Huey sighed. "I don't think he'd ignore me. Maybe he isn't home yet?"

"Maybe..." Leo sighed. He just wanted answers, and he'd wait all night for them if he had to.

Leo took a seat on the curb and sighed, letting the weight of the past two days seep into his bones. Huey joined him, and together, they waited for Ray to come home.

Ray, on the other hand, was eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream again in a dark alley somewhere to avoid going home. He wanted to wait for Sora to leave first, and to do that, he needed to buy some extra time until eight that evening. When seven-thirty rolled around, he tossed his empty ice cream cup away and, feeling substantially heavier with sugar, made his way home where Leo was rolling around on the concrete fake-sobbing while Huey threatened to text Ray right then and there to let them in.

It was a miracle Ray even entered the building from the front. The back door was blocked by a couch someone was attempting to move in, which got stuck in the entryway.

"Do... y'all need help or...?" Ray offered weakly as he watched three buff guys trying to shove the couch in.

"Nah, we're good. Better take the front door, though," one of them said, gesturing with his thumb around the side of the building. Ray thanked them and wished them luck as he rerouted to the front, swinging his keys around his finger.

He strolled around the corner and, upon facing the direction of the front door, became acutely aware of Leo lying on the ground.

"L-Leo!" Ray stammered, eyes wide.

Leo popped up and, likewise, Huey bolted to his feet. The three of them stared at each other in silence. A discarded plastic bag floated over the sidewalk like a tumbleweed in the wild west.

Leo pointed at Ray and said, "You've got some explaining to do, mister."

Ray let out the breath he was holding. "I, um, I can explain—It's just that—"

Huey put his fists in the air and screamed, "What did you mean when you said 'No comment'—!" He brandished his fists in a low fighting position, like they were in a Pokémon game about to square off.

"I-I need to talk to Sora first!" Ray insisted, panicked. "But Leo—I—"

Leo glared at him, eyes sharp and annoyance even sharper. He could have cut Ray's heart to pieces right then and there.

Ray slumped, breathless. "I never intended to lie to you guys. And I never thought of it as... me making fun of you for liking him. I would never do that, and even though we've known each other for, like, a couple weeks, I hope that you can just tell that I'm not that kind of person."

Leo begrudgingly crossed his arms. He grumbled to himself for a moment, glaring across the street. Ray took the opportunity to leave the corner of the street to join them in front of the apartment complex. He fiddled with his hands, nervously, as he approached. He glanced at Huey, who looked between Leo and Ray, as if waiting for someone to spring.

"Are we okay?" Ray asked.

Leo pouted, giving Ray a sharp side-eye. "For now. But you're on thin fucking ice, buddy."

Ray let out a relieved sigh. "I'm okay with that. I'll explain everything soon, I promise."

"You better," Leo said.

And Ray did—explain everything soon, that is—because in the next moment, Sora was leaving the apartment to head to work, his duffle under one arm, and his mind on the fact that that good-looking stranger was still chilling in the foyer.

And then Sora skidded to a halt in the open doorway, staring at Ray, Leo, and Huey as the three of them turned at the sound of the door. Ray went pale instantly.

"S-Sora!" Leo squeaked, pink in the face.

"Fuck," Sora whispered. He looked to Ray, who flinched as Sora said, "What the fuck, Ray?"

By this point, the stranger had seen all four of them. He focused on Ray, though, and through the glare on the window, recognition flitted across his eyes.

"Wait, are you ▢▢▢▢?" the stranger said, stepping behind Sora to meet Ray's eyes.

Ray had never experienced a visceral reaction like that before. It felt like his skin was crinkling up like tissue paper being sucked into a vacuum, and the sensation crept its way up his spine. He was flung back to the day last semester when one of the guys in his dorm dug up his deadname from an old Facebook post a relative of his had made and tagged him in.

"▢▢▢▢?" Huey repeated, and Ray flinched. Huey slapped a hand over his mouth and said, "Oh, fuck, sorry—" Leo elbowed him in the gut.

"I'm—I'm not—" Ray started, fingers going numb. Sora was standing there in front of the guy, looking like he wasn't sure whether or not to hold him back, but then Ray got a proper look.

When their eyes met, a very familiar smile stretched across the guy's lips, and Ray's sinking heart took a 180 flip.

"Xavier!" Ray screamed, yelping with a giddy laugh and a hop in his step as he bounded to the door. He crashed past Sora, who startled, eyes wide, as Ray leapt at the stranger for a strangling hug. "I didn't recognize you!"

Ray thought plenty of times, especially over the past few years, about Xavier—the last real friend he had before moving to the States. He hadn't seen Xavier since the guy was a pudgy, seven-year-old kid with glasses. No amount of puberty, however, could get rid of that smile.

But as kids, the internet wasn't something that was on their minds. Ray hadn't joined the social media scene until freshmen year of high school, and by then, he had "friends" and didn't even consider reconnecting with anyone from Mexico. They were all kids back then.

A lot had changed.

Xavier laughed, squeezing Ray around his torso and giving him a shake. "Natalia gave me your address," he explained, his accent lilting and reminding Ray of his aunt and grandma. Xavier hesitated, only to roll his eyes and reiterate, "Well, Natalia gave my abuelita your address, which she gave to me."

Ray's feet touched the ground and, giggling, he brushed his hands beneath his eyes and said, "O-Oh, right, I forgot they still talk."

He looked up at his friend, now thoroughly astonished that he was even able to recognize Xavier. Xavier, with the amber tones in his brown skin and his unwielding black curls. The sides of his head were buzzed, so all of his hair collected in a dome atop his head.

Xavier glanced at the other three people watching. Ray startled, only then remembering that they had company. Xavier put a hand out to Sora first and said, "Hey, Xavier, ▢▢▢▢'s friend from Mexico."

Sora hesitated, glancing at Leo and Huey. He took Xavier's hand and said, "Sora. Ray's boyfriend."

Xavier opened his mouth, an eyebrow raised, and Ray let out a panicked, squeaky sound. He never wanted to strangle a person as much as he did right then and there, watching Xavier and Sora muscle-off via an aggressive handshake.

Ray desperately dragged Xavier by the arm over to Leo and Huey. "And these are my friends from USFC! Leo and Huey."

Leo looked sick as he shook Xavier's hand and said, "Yeah, Ray's friend."

"Yeah, Ray's friend," Huey repeated, nose up and an air of superiority swept about him. Ray went beet red as Xavier gave him a confused nod. Huey's handshake could have broken fingers, but rather than be alarmed, Xavier pointed to Huey's USFC track hoodie.

"Track, huh?"

"Discus," Huey said, and Ray felt the hovering threat of a discus to the face.

"Oh, cool. Pole vaulting," Xavier said, pointing to himself. "Just transferred to USFC for it."

"U-USFC?" Ray stammered, voice cracking.

"Transferred?" Leo repeated, pale in the face.

"Pole vaulting! Wow!" Huey cried, amazed.

"Jesus..." Sora said despite himself, and when attention turned to him, Sora looked down at his nonexistent watch. "—Christ, would you look at the time? I... gotta get to work."

a/n: I don't like leaving chapters on cliffhangers and the last chapter was a MAJOR ONE so I felt the need to alleviate the stress lol ALSO I just read a really terrifying horror novel and this is my means of coping lol this is FLUFF compared to what I just read XD

Also of note: I won't be revealing Ray's deadname mostly because I never thought of one. It feels more respectful to just not even consider its existence hehe so PLEASE DON'T ASK WHAT IT IS! For Ray's sake! In this household we love and respect Ray's chosen name!