.❤.

04. SAVED BY THE BICEPS

Thursday Night

"See what happens when you speak shit into existence?"

Despite the way that Tamia feels about Rory Carter, she didn't rain on Joshua's parade after he told her about what happened between him and Rory at the supermarket. In fact, Tamia hyped Joshua up, helped him pick out a nice outfit to wear to the party, and she even gave him money to buy condoms in the instance he found himself wanting to get frisky with someone.

"...it comes true if you believe hard enough," Tamia finishes. She grabs a handful of popcorn from the large bowl positioned between her and Joshua on the couch, neither paying much attention to the movie playing on TV. "Sucks that I can't go to the party with you, though. I have a very important dick appointment tomorrow night that I can't miss."

Joshua laughs, shaking his head. "Choosing dick over your best friend. That's just sad."

"Honey, if I were to let you have one night with the man that I'm fucking with right now, I guarantee you'd also choose the dick over me. It's just that powerful." Tamia laughs, later suggesting that Joshua take Lucas with him to the party instead. "You know his ass stays ready to turn up."

"Yeah, I guess." Joshua sighs.

He doesn't have a problem taking Lucas with him to the party, it's just... sometimes the ginger gets easily distracted when in the presence of hot men, doesn't matter if they're single or straight. Joshua knows that at some point in the night, Lucas will more than likely ditch him to go hookup with some guy whose name he won't care enough to ask for.

Lucas is a proud thot and has no shame admitting it.

"Anyway, I'm really excited about the party, but I'm also kind of nervous," Joshua confesses. "Me and Rory have never hung out in person before. What if he turns out to be the opposite of how I've always envisioned him to be? What if he turns out to be a complete jerk? I'll be devastated if..."

"If what? If he doesn't live up to the expectations that you set for him?" Tamia finishes Joshua's sentence. Joshua shrugs his shoulders in confirmation. "Well, in a few more hours you'll find out exactly what type of person Rory Carter is. And if anyone tries to come at you sideways at that party and Lucas isn't around to have your back, just text me the addy and I'll totally abandon the dick to come throw hands for you."

"You really are my ride or die, aren't you?" Joshua smiles, bumping fists with his bestie. He then directs his attention back to the television and they spend the next few hours eating snacks and watching movies until they get to the point where they can barely keep their eyes open. Tamia is the first to call it a night and Joshua eventually follows suit a few minutes later.

After Joshua enters his bedroom, he notices a flashing light coming from his cell phone which rests on the nightstand, letting him know that he has missed notifications to check. He ventures into his inbox first.

"Oh shit... Rory sent me a new text."

//

//

Overthinking what his response should be, it takes Joshua approximately eight minutes to reply to Rory's text.

//

//

Joshua falls onto the center of his bed, squealing and rolling around because of the winking face emoji that Rory had sent with his last message. Although it meant absolutely nothing, Joshua felt otherwise. Not to mention he's still high on the fact that he even has Rory Carter's number saved in his phone.

As nervous as Joshua is to step outside his comfort zone to attend this party tomorrow night, he's excited, nonetheless, because it means he'll have a chance to get closer to Rory. Just because the guy is straight doesn't mean that the two of them can't have a good time together.

Joshua is aware that he will probably never have a romantic relationship with Rory, so for now, he will happily settle for friendship instead.

...

Friday Night

"Goddamn! Do all the YouTubers live like this?"

Lucas gapes at the mansion that belongs to Rory Carter, never having seen such a beautiful house before. Lucas wonders if the interior looks as fancy as the exterior. Lucas repeatedly rings the doorbell, hoping someone will hear it over the loud music that's being played from inside.

Joshua stands idly by, beginning to feel less optimistic as the minutes pass.

The only reason why he showed up to this party is because he hoped to be able to spend some alone time with Rory. But, taking into account the full house that Rory has tonight, judging by how many cars surround the place, it's safe to assume that alone time isn't going to happen.

"My dumbass," Lucas mutters after catching Joshua on his phone. "I totally forgot you have Rory's number. You should text him and let him know that we're here."

"I already did—" Joshua starts, then pauses after the front door opens.

"Sorry, fellas! I'm not sure which asshole locked the door." Rory greets them both with a warm smile, giving Joshua a quick look over. "Hey, Joshua. Nice outfit."

"T-Thanks." Joshua smiles back, blushing. As always, Rory looks good enough to devour. He's wearing a fitted black shirt, ripped jeans, and the same white and black converse shoes that Joshua has on. Casual, but still sexy. Even Lucas agrees.

"Well fuck me sideways and call me Sandra... Now I know what all the fuss is about," Lucas accidentally says aloud, speaking before thinking. Rory chuckles in response and Joshua turns beet-red. "Holy shit. I so did not mean to say that out loud! Please pretend you didn't just hear that." Lucas laughs while extending a hand for Rory to shake. "The name is Lucas and it's a pleasure to finally meet the guy that this idiot next to me can't stop talking ab—"

"Okay, introductions are over! Shall we go inside now?" Joshua slaps Lucas' hand out of Rory's before he's able to finish that embarrassing sentence.

"Yeah, sure. Let's head inside." Rory can't help but find it cute at how jumpy Joshua is right now. Rory moves aside to let them into the crowded house, making sure to whisper low enough to where only Joshua can hear him. "By the way, I really like your shoes."

My shoes? But we're wearing the same pair...

Joshua looks down at his feet, then at Rory's, and then his eyes drift upward until they make contact with Rory's amused face.

Oh, wait, I think he's joking with me. Or is he flirting with me? No, can't be that. It wouldn't make any sense for him to flirt with me when he's...

"Great minds think alike, I guess." Joshua clears his throat before changing the subject, not liking being the center of attention. "You have a very beautiful home," Joshua calls out above the music as Rory gives them a quick tour of the first floor. "You must get lonely living here all by yourself. I know I would."

Rory shrugs his shoulders while guiding them through the crowd. "I'm not really that bothered by it. I work so much that I don't have the time to focus on being lonely. I barely had the time to squeeze this party into my schedule."

"Ah, you've got to be more careful. If you overwork yourself, you'll eventually burn out and that won't be good for your physical or mental health," Joshua says, voicing his concern. Rory smiles, appreciating how genuine he sounds. "Sorry if I sound like I'm preaching—"

Not having been paying any attention to what was going on in front of them–a playful tussle between two big drunk men–Joshua finds himself suddenly being yanked to Rory's side just in time before the two men go rushing past them in a hurry, nearly knocking all three of them over.

"Woah!" Joshua exclaims, his heart racing a mile per minute. "That was close."

"You okay?" Rory asks Joshua, one of his arms wrapped tightly around Joshua's small frame. Meanwhile, Lucas stands off to the side slightly pissed because there had been no one to save him from the drunk men's playfight. "Hey. Joshua. Can you hear me? I asked if you were okay."

Slowly registering whose arms he's wrapped in, Joshua looks up into the bright concerned eyes of his savior and he feels as if he had died and gone to heaven because never in a million years did he ever think that he would get the chance to be held like this by Rory Carter.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine. Thanks for saving me." Joshua's blush deepens in color after Rory brings a hand to Joshua's face, sweetly brushing a dangling curl away from one of his eyes. Rory successfully tucks it behind Joshua's ear and smiles. "Better?" Joshua whispers, unsure of what's reality and what's fiction.

"Better," Rory whispers back, his demeanor and expression are both cool, calm, and collected. But, on the inside, his frantic heart is beating faster than it ever has before. Rory carefully separates from Joshua before he leans down and... "Let's head out back and I'll show you guys the pool that I never use."

Standing this close to Rory and mentally reliving the moment of when his strong arms had been wrapped around Joshua, protecting him from harm, Joshua knew in his heart and soul that he'd follow this man to the ends of the earth if asked.

...

An Hour Later

Lucas is having more fun at Rory's party than Joshua.

They've barely been here for an hour and Joshua is already on the verge of calling it quits and going home.

After Rory gave a quick tour of the house, he quickly fell back into the heart of the party and Joshua hasn't seen him since. As for Lucas, he's been living his best life tonight. He's currently posted up in a corner making out with some guy that he met no less than twenty minutes ago. Joshua, on the other hand, sits alone on a couch with a beer in his hand, looking every bit of sad and pitiful.

Joshua finishes his second beer of the night and then places the empty can on the messy coffee table in front of him. Joshua has never been much of a drinker, but he thought that drinking a little bit of something would help calm his nerves, make him feel more confident like how everyone else around him seemed to be.

Instead, the alcohol had no effect on him whatsoever.

The loud music playing has become annoying to listen to. The people standing around him are too close for comfort and he's on the verge of catching a headache because of all the overwhelming smells currently polluting the air. Joshua's endurance for this party is dropping at a fast rate and he can only take so much more before his patience completely runs out.

Why can't I be normal like everyone else? Why can't any of this be fun for me? Joshua wonders while looking around at all the smiling faces of strangers he'll never see again.

Joshua hates how he is having such a tough time right now when what he should be having is fun. He hates that he can't be more outgoing and sociable like Lucas and Tamia. Unfortunately, this scene just isn't for him and he knew that from the beginning when Rory had asked if he wanted to come to the party. Joshua knew this party would force him out of his comfort zone, but still he came anyway. Not for the free food or free booze.

Joshua came for Rory... a boy that he's only seen once since he got here. 

After a couple crashes next to Joshua on the couch, he sighs in aggravation and hops up to take a walk. Joshua pushes his way through the thick crowd, headed for the stairs. While doing so, Joshua suddenly remembers that Rory had mentioned something earlier about not allowing company on the second floor. He's tempted to turn around and go back to the party, but ultimately decides against it, the need to have just a few moments of silence outweighing the need to respect Rory's wishes.

"Damn it!" The second floor must be where Rory keeps all his equipment because every room appears to be locked. Joshua sighs in frustration, finally giving in to the desire to give up and go home. Joshua turns around a bit too fast and loses his balance. He falls but never hits the ground because someone catches him just in time.

"What are you doing up here?" Rory asks after Joshua regains his balance.

"Uh, the bathroom," Joshua lies. "There was a line for the one downstairs, and I didn't know where else to go, so..."

"Gotcha. It's no problem. You can use the one in my bedroom. I came up here to change shirts anyway." Rory points to a huge wet spot on his shirt where someone had accidentally spilled their drink on him. "Follow me."

"O-Okay," Joshua stammers, doing as he's told.

END OF CHAPTER 4

...