"Hey Ker!" Bdubs exclaimed grinning. Keralis would be back tomorrow, he knew, but he was too excited to hold off talking about it any longer. He had finally had a chance to call in between family and traditions, and Bdubs was not going to waste any time getting to the point in the conversation, right after being polite.

"Hello swee-tface!" Keralis said back. It was a little cut-off ish inbetween, but what could Bdubs expect for the cheap wifi he paid for. At least it was better at work, where he usually was outside of school.

"How's your break been?" Bdubs asked. Again, polite.

"Fantastic, spanks for a-sking!" He could hear the smile in Keralis's voice. "Breaky for dinner, staying up late and watching movies, little things like that. It's so nice to catch up again."

"Oh that's great!"

"Plus I have some jams I will bring back." Keralis said. "I want to bring some to the party Ren texted about; I don't know if I will have the energy to even go! Ah well, we'll see."

"Yeah he mentioned it'd be chill. Hopefully he stays true to that this time." Bdubs chuckled.

"I think he will." Keralis said, "He will."

Bdubs hummed, and flipped over onto his back on his bed.

"So how's things been over there hmm?" Keralis asked, and even though Bdubs was just waiting for the chance to ramble he was now hesitating.

"Well uh-" Bdubs was grinning, but he felt really nervous for some reason. Normally he didn't feel awkward telling Keralis about the occasional crush, so why was it so different now?

"Yeaaas?"

"There's this person..."

"Ooh!" Kerais smiled. "Lemme guess lemme guess-"

"Uh." Bdubs should've expected that from Ker, but he was still taken off guard a little.

"Is it Doc again?"

"U-uh- no."

"Stressy?"

"No!" Bdubs quickly exclaimed.

"Gem?"

"No! What?!" That didn't even make sense! He'd barely talked with her, and there were no butterflies or lopsided grins forcing their way onto his face when she was around. She was great, but not his type.

"Hm-mm .... Brian?" Keralis was guessing random people now.

"No! Oh my god stop guessing!" Bdubs interrupted him. "It's Etho!"

The line was silent, and for a moment Bdubs wasn't sure if he accidentally hung up or not. It had happened before, especially with how much he was adjusting his potion while sitting on his bed so his arms didn't get tired.

"Eefo?" Keralis asked.

"Yes."

"The one that goes to our shop often?"

"Yes."

"Who's coffee I spilled?"

"Yes."

"With the white hair?"

"Yes! There's not many Etho's around here!" Bdubs said, slightly thinking back to the clone joke Etho made yesterday. He was soooo funny like that. Bdubs smiled a little more.

"Oh, I just didn't think you liked him?"

"Wel uh," Bdubs said, a little more nervous with his smile faltering. "I only realized last night that I liked him."

"Oh."

Bdubs hated that. The simple answer with no emotion to it. What- who-.. Why was Keralis acting like that?

Not one for secrets or hidden feelings, he plainly asked it.

"What? Wha's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing Bubbles, it's just..." Keralis trailed off.

"Yeah?" Bdubs pushed.

"You tend to rush into these things." Keralis spit out the truth.

Bdubs silence was enough of an answer to keep going for him, so he did.

"It's not bad, usually!" Keralis reassured. "It's jus' that. Eefo might not be the sort of pers-on to go so fast."

"Huh?" Bdubs all but whispered, and he wasn't even sure if the phone picked it up.

"I'm not saying you won't work sweetface." Keralis said, "Don't take this the wrong way. I just think you need to take it slower, and don't rush things between you two. I was talking with Shashwammyvoid-"

"About me?"

"Yes you, not-hing bad, but we both agre-e you're energetic and fun! It's just that..." Keralis paused, and sighed. The audio was breaking out more. "Eefo is not so- lively. He's wonderful, but you can't rush ahead and know he will be comfortable. Shashwam knows him better, but it's clear he's not as fast with relationships as you."

"Oh." Was all Bdubs said. He didn't really think about that; Rushing into a relationship like normal could scare away Etho or make him uncomfortable.

"Oh." He repeated, quieter.

"But don't let that put you off!" Keralis added quickly. "Just take it a little slower, sweeter y'know?"

"Should I call him sweetface?" Bdubs chuckled, trying to bring the conversation back to normal.

"Make your own nickname!" Keralis said, "I've already copyrighted that one!"

Bdubs giggled, and the tension was broken. He tried not to think about it so much as the conversation shifted to other things, but it kept lingering in the back of his mind.

Take it slow. He could do that.

He could try, at least.

----

Mondays were normally pretty dull, but Etho had made the smart decision (there's a first time for everything!) to take a break for the afternoon and give up on any plans of finishing work. He was mentally, emotionally, socially, and physically drained, and winter break was coming up soon anyways. He deserved the break. Plus, there was a significant amount of other students who had already left for the holidays so it wasn't really like he'd fall behind compared to them.

Beef was going to come over, as well as Ren, for video games at their place until one or more of them passed out on the couch and called it a day, and that sounded pretty much as good as it could get for a lazy afternoon.

But that wasn't for hours, and so Etho had time to think.

He was emotionally exhausted, but kinda in that good sore way honestly. He didn't workout much, but after a good run where he kept going until his lungs burned from the cold and he could see every breath before him- that kinda sore felt good.

How would you describe that for emotions then?

It was like-

It was like pouring your heart out to someone, and sitting in the balance between the reactions of outstanding joy or crushing sadness. You were tired, but it was a healthy-tired. One that made you look backward, flipping your previous doubts off with "Yeah, I just did that." and then made you look forwards, letting whatever happen, happen.

He was so tired, but he didn't mind it.

All that talking and flirting with Bdubs wore him out.

"Jeez, how do people do it?"

And he barely even really "flirted", if you even could call it that. He complimented his sweater, (so awkwardly, for some dumb reason) his smile, (to which Bdubs called him a hypocrite, fairly) and then risked his life to save him from slipping on ice (but he failed once, and Bdubs brought them close together the second time instead of him).

He was bad at this.

Ugh. There was the emotional drain then! Hopefully a night with the guys and videogames would clear his head, and unlike the not-guys, there wouldn't be any time to pry into his excuse for a love life (if you could even call it THAT) when they were too busy betraying each other in video games. Perfect plan!

The thing was though, as Etho laid in bed, mulling over thoughts and counting the minutes by on a clock, was that it was only the afternoon, and Beef and Ren wouldn't show up until much later.

Right.

So much later in fact, that he had plenty of time to, I dunno, say- run to the coffeeshop and back with too much time to spare?

Only a passing thought though.

He wasn't really planning on it.

I mean, he had plenty of other things to do!

Like homework- no. Etho said he wouldn't do that today.

Or uh- reading! Yeah nevermind, the only books they had were coding or goat ones. Not the best time waster.

He could clean? Ha. As if.

Falling backwards on his bed and groaning, he realized his mind was already made up.

There was a slight smile on his lips though, thinking of the cute barista waiting for him- "No, not for me. He works there."- in the cozy coffee shop.

Well, it didn't take much more convincing than that.

---

A skip in his step, a glow in his chest, a beat in his heart he hadn't noticed before- damn when did the world get so colorful?

He pulled up his mask, because it kept slipping down everytime he grinned too much, and kept going, determination in his stride as he made his way to the little coffee shop.

Gliding on the ice came so naturally to him he couldn't help but confidently speed up, completely unafraid of falling on his ass! He felt so free as he sped up while others were taking careful steps or just walking where leaves had fallen, and although he was still at a walking speed, he sped up a little more when he saw the cafe.

Grabbing the door handle stopped him from sliding past it, and he tried to calm down his smiling to act normal as he pushed it open. The little bell jiggled. It was music to his ears.

He noticed Ren there, trying to avoid staring at the counter by casually looking around first. (he is soooo normal. I swear. Like- the most normal. A+ in being normal.)

Ren caught his eye and waved, nodding once. Etho nodded too and kept walking to the counter while Ren talked to False, who only slyly smiled in his direction. He quickly looked away.

"She better not be telling Ren." Etho thought. "What was in Stress's house, stays there." He reminded himself. Now he had to hope False kept true to that. Ironic.

He took a deep breath, and really hoped it wasn't too noticeable. He almost felt sick, but like- in a not horrible way?

"Right, people call those butterflies." He remembered. "What a weird word for it. Poor butterflies. I'm like 80% sure my stomach has acid in it."

The joke eased up his nerves a little, and he strided over to the counter, trying to play it cool.

"Cool, yeah. I can do that."

But Bdubs was so hot, and his icy vibe was just melting away into an awkward pile of water before he even reached the counter.

"Oh snappers."

----

Bdubs wasn't super in the mood for talking when he got to work, and pushed off the responsibility of the cashier to Grian, because Scar was absent, taking Jellie to her last check up of the year. Grian had agreed without much more than an eyebrow raise, but Bdubs ignored that too, walking towards the cups ready for the first order of his shift.

Classes had been alright, he supposed, even if a little weird. He had only had 2 today because of the break coming up and some teachers leaving early and just posting minimal work online (or none at all, if he was lucky) leaving more time to sleep in and talk to Keralis in the morning.

Oh.

That had him feeling like this.

"It's not his fault." Bdubs thought. "Ker's right, and I needed to hear it. Better now than before I push Etho away."

He took a deep breath and pushed it all away. He had orders to keep track of and make, and his shift didn't get off for a few hours. He could sulk about it at home; He didn't want his friends to psychoanalyze his mood and question it.

The bell rang, but he didn't really pay attention to it, trying to just finish Ren's order without screwing it up.

"Anything else?" Grian asked the customer, and Bdubs couldn't help but listen at least white he struggled to fit the lid on the cup.

"Nope, just the mocha." Sang out a familiar voice, slightly more chipper than he was used to. Bdubs almost assumed it was someone else by the way it was said, but a quick glance over has he slid Ren's cup to the pick-up counter-

"Huh." Bdubs thought, slightly confused. "Why's he so happy today?"

Etho made eye contact, and Bdubs swore he'd been punched in the gut with the way he sharply inhaled, and stepped backwards.

"Woah."

He forgot to say his name, but Ren was in front of him within a second, blocking Etho from his view.

"Thanks man!" Ren said, effectively snapping him out of it.

Bdubs tried to smile and respond, but weirdly found that he was already smiling. He didn't remember doing that.

"No problem, paying customer." Bdubs joking, rolling his eyes lightly.

"It doesn't kill me to say thank you." Ren responded with a chuckle.

Etho was behind them now, uncharacteristically confident as he slipped into the conversation easily. Something had changed. Bdubs couldn't pinpoint what.

"You're coming to the party, right?" Ren asked, and Bdubs swore he had to peel his eyes away from Etho. Etho was looking at Ren anyways. It would be weird to just stare.

"Uh yeah." Bdubs said, "Planning on it."

"False already said she was coming, and few others have texted." Ren continued. "Tryna gouge the number y'know? It's a late notice so it'll be chill, but I think it'd be cool to get together before break. Unwind a little on Christmas eve-eve."

Etho wanted to ask about alcohol, specifically if there would be any this time, but he didn't want to be that guy, so he stayed quiet. He'd ask later.

"Yeah me too." Etho said.

"Cool! Well I'll see you dudes later," Ren winked. "This dog has a date with destiny."

That didn't make sense to either of them, but they didn't have time to ask as Ren turned towards the door.

"Oh, and see you tonight Etho!" Ren said, halfway through the door.

Bdubs only gave Etho a weird look before he started to explain.

"Guys night at me and Doc's." Etho said, then paused.

"Oh-"

"I mean uh- you could come of you- you want?" Etho awkwardly tried to invite him. "Like uh-"

"Oh uh- no." Bdubs declined with an awkward chuckle. "No thanks though. I'm busy, you have fun." Honestly, it was clear Etho didn't really want him there, and Honestly Bdubs wasn't sure he could handle it then and there.

"Right yeah." Etho said.

"Soooo.."

"So...?"

Bdubs was the first to break the silence with a laugh, and Etho soon followed.

"I'm so ready for Break." Etho said, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah?" Bdubs said. "Me too. I love my job, but the break will be so nice."

"Doing anything fun?" Etho asked.

Bdubs grinned; it was so nice to be asked that sometimes. The little things. "Mostly just hanging around, Christmas with family and new years with whoever. I'll see my brother again." Bdubs tried to keep it casual. He didn't want to overwhelm Etho with information, and wanted to look cool. "You?"

"Similar, but uh, not the family part."

"Oh-"

"Oh no, no." Etho said quickly. "Me and Doc have a nice time hanging around together. Sometimes I go to his family's place. They love me."

"Not hard to do." Bdubs wanted to say out loud, but he bit his tongue. Keralis told him to take it slow.

"Sounds nice." Bdubs said sincerely.

Grian came behind, and put a drink on the counter. Bdubs gave him a weird look and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Grian interrupted him.

"For you, Etho. White mocha."

"Thanks," Etho nodded, picking it up.

Bdubs was supposed to make that. He didn't know what to say out loud, but the look they shared answered it all. Grian shrugged nonchalantly and smiled a little, and Bdubs wasn't sure whether to take it as a nice gesture or a promise for minor revenge/owing him later. Well, he would find out eventually.

Etho pulled down his mask and took a sip, and Bdubs could finally see how much he was smiling. It seemed like he had been for a while actually, and something inside Bdubs just glowed with that information.

"I should probably get back to work." Bdubs said. "Can't force it all onto Grian."

Etho hummed. "I'll see you around Bubs." He said softly, pulling his mask back up.

"See ya,"

Bdubs sighed happily, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Hey." Grian snapped near his face behind him twice. "Did you hear a thing I said?"

"Uhh-"

"Medium Cookie crumble, extra whip, stat!"

"Yes sir!" Bdubs spit out, whipping around and going straight to the counter. He deserved that, probably. Grian looked smug.

----

Etho walked home with the warm coffee in his hand. He almost wanted to think it tasted better when Bdubs made it instead of Grian, but that was probably just some dumb place-bo adjacent phenomenon.

He liked talking to Bdubs more anyways, and wouldn't trade that for perfect coffee if he could.

Now he just had to get home, maybe throw some clothes onto a drawer instead of the floor, and pull out the chips for video game night!

And uh- try not to get distracted with his head in the clouds too much before they got here.

---

Beef got there first, plopping some soda on the table and lemonade for Etho. He also bought apple juice boxes to tease him, but Etho ended up drinking more of those than the lemonade.

"What? They're actually pretty good!" He had defended. "Plus these are better with chips than lemonade is."

Doc was caught drinking one an hour later.

Ren showed up after with a wink clearly not directed towards Etho or Beef, and Doc quickly scooted over on the couch (aka, scooting Etho off the couch) as they started up some good 'ol Minecraft.

After lots of screaming, dying, exploding, crying in the rain, gathering resources, trading items, throwing flowers at each other (gotta give the homies love) and rigging each other's houses with various traps and TNT, they had switched up the game to Mario Kart for a little more competition.

It hadn't taken long for chips to run out for the 2nd time, and Doc got up to grab more (Etho complained his old man-back hurt too much to stand up from the floor he was criss-crossed on) and Etho remembered he wanted to ask Ren something.

"So uh Ren. That party you mentioned," Etho started. It was a little awkward, but he needed to know.

"Yeah?"

"There's not going to be any alcohol, right?" His tone was casual, but he was mentally freaking out just a tad bit. Last time had been awful for the most part, and he really didn't want a repeat of it.

"No." Ren answered quickly. "No, nothing of the sort. Not even the eggnog."

Doc came in from the side, setting chips on the table. "I'll be making sure of that." He said, and instead of getting defensive like Etho assumed he would, Ren just chuckled slightly and looked up at Doc fondly.

"Helping me put up the tall stuff, hot stuff?"

"I thought you had a ladder." Doc raised an eyebrow. "I can't hang things up from the ceiling with that kitchen stool you have."

"We have a ladder!" Beef exclaimed, putting his hand on Etho's shoulder. "Right here!"

They broke out into laughter, especially Beef, finding his joke the most hilarious. Etho wasn't doing much more than a chuckle and a smile, but Beef could tell he found it just as hilarious.

"The party is the 23rd by the way." Ren added. "Christmas eve-eve so more people can make it."

"Cool." Etho said.

"I think I'll be able to stay longer this time." Beef said. "I'm not heading out until Christmas Eve morning, so as long as I get some sleep I should be fine."

"Ouch leaving on Christmas Eve? That has gotta suck."

"Oh it will, but at least it's a short flight." Beef said. "Not excited to maneuver the airport though."

"Have fun with that, Beefers." Etho said. "Get me a souvenir."

"Do you want a mug or a keychain?"

Etho though for a second. "Mmm... mug. A really bad one too."

Of course, of course. I'll get the best-worst I can find."

"You spoil me." Etho said dramatically, batting his eyelashes at Beef.

The atmosphere was calm and happy, and Etho felt so much more relaxed. Unfortunately for him, it didn't quite take his mind off a certain someone, and the empty coffee cup on the table he kept glancing at wasn't doing him any favors.

He just hadn't replaced the garbage bag yet, and was too lazy too. That's the only reason it was still sitting there.

Eh well, he had video games to win. Maybe he could play against Bdubs one day...

---

"Doc," Etho started, glancing away. "I don't know what to do."

The hangout had ended after a while. It was getting darker, and technically they had school the next day, even if it was the last day before break and no one really cared anymore. It was still smart to leave before it was midnight, even if the caffeine was going to keep Etho up for at least a few more hours.

"Talk me through it." Doc said simply.

"I like him. I like Bdubs! But I don't know what to do. The not-guys tried to help me flirt and look cool and stuff but like-"

"But it doesn't feel like it's working? Does it?" Dco finished for him.

"Yeah. I mean. I know I should take it slow, but Bdubs is such an energetic guy, and I don't want him to move on before I even get a chance."

"Then go for it." Doc said, keeping it straight (not really though) to the point.

"What?"

"You heard me." Doc said. "Shoot your shot. You can aim all you want but if you never fire, nothing will happen."

"What if I miss?" Etho whispered.

"Archers have several arrows for a reason Etho." Doc said with a slight chuckle to his voice, he wasn't sure how this metaphor of archers got caught up in their conversation. "You can use all of them to shoot towards him, or you can try with someone else, but you'll never get a better aim without some practice."

Etho chuckled, and slowly stopped. "Did you shoot your shot with anyone?"

"I'm assuming you know about me and Bdubs by now?"

"Yeah." Etho admitted.

"I hit the target, just the wrong one." Doc said. "No harm in that, it was a lesson for both of us in some ways. But I think I've hit the right one now. Dead center."

"Let's stop with the metaphor." Ehto offered.

"Agreed." Doc nodded. "I'm not sure how much more I have left in it."

"Who is it?" Etho asked. He had a gut feeling, but kinda wanted to be sure before assuming.

"You know him pretty well."

"Yeah?"

"You saw him today."

"Oh?" Etho didn't try to guess out loud. He didn't have all his energy too.

"I'll admit, there was a reason I didn't want you coming back without a warning that day you were at Stress's." Doc chuckled. "He was over. I think he hid in your closet."

"What?" Etho laughed. "Seriously?"

"Well it was the best he could do without an ahead-notice, man!"

"Wait, it is Ren, right?" Etho asked, just to be sure. He was pretty sure. But Doc was being stubborn about telling him, and he had to ask now.

"Yes, it is." Doc laughed, then it died down.

"But how we got together.." Doc trailed off. "I just went for it."

"Yeah?" Etho asked, a little hopeful.

"Yeah." Doc breathed out. "Sat down together, figured there was no point in waiting, and told him."

"Rest is history huh."

"Pretty much."

There was a comfortable silence for a few beats, both of them just sitting there.

"Take your chance while you have it Etho. it's not worth the stress of time and regret of a missed shot."

"Mm." It was a neutral answer, not an agreement nor disagreement. He'd think it over, at least.

Not much more was said after that. A few hums, a bit of time to let it all sink in... Doc felt slightly lighter to have the secret off his chest to at least his roomate, and Etho felt- well a mix of things. A little nervous, a little excited, a little hopefully and a little prepared for disappointment. Hmm.

Hopeless romantic. He never thought the title would fit him, but season's change, and something about just thinking about Bdubs had his face heating up with a dumb smile underneath his mask.

Hmm.

----

"So, the party is coming up, Grian." Iskall said, trying to hold a steady poker face.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"We have yet to make good on either bet, and I propose a sort of... extra wager?"

"Extra?" Grian raised an eyebrow. "Relating to the ones we have going on?"

"Yes."

"I'm listening."

"Double or nothing." Iskall said, giving up on the plain face and instead facing Grian with a confident smirk. Grian had a spark in his eyes, one that screamed the same sense of fiery competitiveness that Iskall was feeling.

"Now I'm really listening." Grian said, slowly grinning with a cocky look. "Both bets, I'm assuming?"

"Yep!" Iskall popped the p. "Double the rewards of each if they get together before or on the day of the party, and half if it's after."

The second part had Grian faltering. "What about after midnight? What are the logistics there?"

"We'll say until the end of the party, whatever time that is, but by then, if they still aren't making out on the sofa or feeding each other bites of food between kisses, either of us would be a sore loser to try."

Grian mulled it over, not totally sure. He wasn't blind- Etho and Bdubs had been getting much closer recently- but at the same time, this could be a great thing! Instead of waiting for the inevitable to happen and lose much against them, he could half Iskall's win just bye stalling the already oblivious two for one night, and Doc and ren were pretty much already living together with how often Ren was over; all he had to do was shove them in a closet together for a few minutes or something!

"Deal." He stated, shaking their hand quickly to seal the deal.

"Omega." Iskall answered with a smile. "Pleasure doing business with you, G."

---------

(4324 words!)

The title made more sense with my outline I think. It's supposed to be Bdubs trying to roll the dice on taking it slower and Etho was trying to just go for it! And then Grian and Iskall and their silly bets. Though, now that they have a date set for the bet, who do you think will win?

ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION. LOOK HERE!!!!VVVV

important!!! the next chapter will be the final (of this book) and i need help!!! 

who do you want to show up at the party? 

any shenanigans you want to ensue?

i'm not gonna say yes or no to anything for the sake of surprise, but i will read each one! 

thank you so much for reading! have an amazing day or night, and i'll see you with the next chapter!

(ps, the next one willl take a long time to get out because i want to be perfect, and i'm also doing a HUGE sweep of editing throughout the entire book after i write it so i don't miss anything i was going to add before.)