Ollivander groaned, covering his face with his hands.
"He's just too friendly to trust."

"Too friendly?"

"Yeah... if someone's rude to you, you know they dislike you. If someone's rude to everyone but you, they like you, but if someone is friendly to everyone, then you don't know what they think of you. It's common sense." Ollivander explained as he rubbed his forehead in an attempt to relieve his headache.

"Have you given him a chance?" Brad asked softly, finishing another short braid. Ollivander's best friend was the life of the party, the class clown, and the lovable idiot. But, that wasn't how he was around Ollivander. The two had been to Hell and back together, leaving no room for false niceties. They were real to each other, honest, and occasionally affectionate. If Brad didn't have a girlfriend, most would've assumed they were together. Some still do.

"I don't want to...." Ollivander mumbled, grabbing a pillow from the foot of the bed and burying his face in it. This was too much for his exhausted, both physically and socially, mind. But, as much as he wanted to go to sleep and ignore all the drama, people, and awkward situations in his life, he knew what Brad was saying had a ring of truth to it.

"Ollie, you have to try. You're going to be living with this guy for, who knows, maybe years. You two have to get along." Brad poked Ollivander's side, earning a slight ticklish squirm from the boy.
"Plus, even you have to admit he's pretty cute..." He teased with a smirk.
"I'll admit that and I'm super straight."

Ollivander glared at his best friend, pinching his calf in response to Brad's comment.
"Super straight? You have a man laying across his lap. Also, stop, you're starting to sound like a girl, which is an offense to womankind."

"Hey! Rude...." Brad pouted, crossing his arms as he glared down at Ollivander. They sat there with eyes narrowed at each other, two best friends not caring about anything other than the other's stupidity. Unless he was on Death's doorstep, Ollivander would never admit how much Brad meant to him. He was always seen as some cold-hearted bastard, which he didn't mind most of the time simply because that's what he was, but having these occasional moments of freedom... Well, they were what he lived for.

That moment, of course, didn't last long as Ollivander rigidly sat up upon hearing Callan's footsteps briefly pass the bedroom door. His jaw set as he turned his eyes away from Brad.

Brad sighed. "Look, I know you've been through a lot of shit, even if I don't know exactly what," Ollivander glanced at him, lips pursed, "but you need to let someone in. It won't matter what you've done, or experienced, because that's not who you are anymore. And I think the real reason you're being rude, is 'cause you are scared that you'll let someone in, and they'll take advantage of you, or betray you, or some other shit like that."

Ollivander leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed in thought.
As much as Ollivander wanted to shout that there was nothing wrong with him; that he didn't need 'help', he knew very well that Brad didn't mean it like that. Bradley understood that he could take care of himself, but that didn't stop him from worrying. Brad may be an idiot sometimes, but he wasn't stupid. He always recognized when Ollivander was struggling. The least he could do to repay Brad was this.
"I'll try, but no promises..." He finally said, letting out a groan of defeat.

Brad grinned, glad he had won once again.
"Good, because I don't appreciate you making me all sappy."

——————
*the evening after*

The sun slumped low in the sky, flirtatiously caressing the Earth as breathtaking colors danced circles around it. From the rich Tyrian purple skirting the outside to the magnificent flare of candlelight leaping pirouettes innermostly, the sky, for a brief spell, cast a tranquilizing quiet that blanketed as far as the whispers of light could touch.

It made Ollivander want to shout.

The scenery wasn't any less stunning to him, not at all, but the serenity and peace that the entire world, except him, seemed to revel in, caused anger to squeeze its grip on his heart.

He took another long, throat-burning drag on his umpteenth cigarette.

What happened earlier this morning... it wasn't fun, especially since Brad got caught up in it. For once, he wished they weren't as close to each other, because how he would explain him and his sister's relationship, he had no idea. Brad deserved more.

Within minutes of the sun setting, his breaths looked akin to the puffs of smoke he released; he clutched his arms against his chest.
A small click behind him was soon followed by a breeze of warm air, and Ollivander knew that Callan stood precariously behind him.

The dirty blonde quietly leaned against the rail next to him, watching Ollivander smoke with a face full of unspoken words.
For once, it wasn't him that broke the silence first.

"You ever feel like jumping off a cliff or something?" Ollivander spoke quietly, his eyes reflecting an orange tint as he glanced at Callan, who stood less than a foot away from him. "Not because you want to die, but because you want to feel that adrenaline rush of living?"

Staying reticent for once, Callan studied the harsh lines and details of Ollivander's lean face. There was a thin white scar running through his right eyebrow, a matching one aligning with the corner of his opulent rosebud lips. Long, dark eyelashes framed his glossy sea-green eyes, and the familiar dark bags beneath contrasted considerably.

It's a surprise he doesn't have a girlfriend, Callan thought, but I suppose his constant frown and rudeness scares them away. It's kind of sad that they don't try to get to know him, because occasionally he isn't so bad. Plus, he's definitely easy on the eyes.

Callan tore his eyes away from Ollivander, watching streetlights turn on to illuminate the dark streets below.
He understood what his roommate said, he'd felt that way for a long time.
"Even if it's only for a moment? Because you feel as though everything around you is moving forward while you're just stuck?"

The two met eyes, and for a split second, Ollivander let down his guard and smiled. It was a genuine smile of relief, however minuscule or measly, and because of that, a single brick was removed from the indiscernible wall between them.

Callan grinned back, no longer feeling the bite of chill nipping at his bare arms.
"Come on, let's go inside." He tilted his head towards the sliding porch door.

Ollivander's smile withdrew as he nodded, but Callan could tell that, for now, his expression was more reposed than angry or blank. It was an exultant change.

The two of them walked inside, and Ollivander nearly pinched himself for being so ridiculous. Just because Callan understood some of what he was feeling, didn't mean he could just go around and say shit like that to just anyone! For all Ollivander knew, Callan was just a pretty face with a fake smile.

Callan cleared his throat, turning to Ollivander once the two of them were indoors.
"Hey, I know you probably have more important things to do," Ollivander didn't, "but you wanna watch a movie? My head may still be killing me, but I'm in the mood for some sort of nostalgic kids movie."

Ollivander did not want to. Watching kids movies with his acquaintance when he should be preparing himself for work tomorrow. There was no way he would waste time like that
"Yeah, I guess I could."

Callan wasn't nearly as surprised as Ollivander was.
—————

"Okay, I've got popcorn, candy, ramen..." Callan listed, with a goofy grin. "Now, we can finally get this movie started!"

Ollivander scoffed, sitting up from his spot on the couch to give a pointed look towards the dirty blond. "What do you mean "finally"? You're the one who's spent half an hour gathering food like a damn hibernating bear!"

Callan jumped on the couch, setting his feet on the coffee table as he flicked through movies. "I'm going to ignore how you just related me to a bear because I'm a good person. Now, how 'bout- Ooooh! Despicable Me 2! God, I loved that first movie as a child!"

Ollivander watched the gleam of childhood happiness light up Callan's expression. It was amusing, seeing how little it took to get the grown man beaming. It took a moment to realize Callan was looking at him expectantly, and Ollivander racked his brain to figure out why. Ultimately, he just nodded and hoped whatever he had agreed to wasn't to be regretted in the future.

For now, though, the grin of delight on Callan's face was enough. "Yes! I have been dying to rewatch it! Don't you remember how great it was as a kid?"

Ollivander glanced towards the screen, seeing an unfamiliar Disney movie staring back at him. Well, the movie with a dragon, and a weird-looking cricket. He shook his head, "Nope, never seen it."

Callan, looking extremely aghast, gasped with such vehemence that Ollivander pondered for a moment if he had done something horribly wrong.

"What do you mean you've never seen Mulan?! I might be a guy, but that doesn't mean I can't support the badass that is Mulan. I think that's the one thing that my girlfriend and I can agree about."

Ollivander paused for a moment. Girlfriend? I mean, he shouldn't be surprised that a man like Callan had somebody, but he was confused as to why he hadn't heard about her before. You'd think she'd be hanging out with her boyfriend more.

"Yeah, I didn't watch movies as a kid," Ollivander replied, slightly dazed. He sat up properly, sitting with crossed legs and hands sitting in his lap. Callan gave him a peculiar look.

"You're weird. That's all I have to say to you. Talk to the hand." He held his hand to Ollivander's face and turned away comically.

A ghost of a smile twitched on Ollivander's face at that, and he found himself struggling not to play along. "Hello, hand. Nice to meet you." He quipped.

Callan clutched his sides as his body shook from the convulsions of laughter. The response itself may not have been the most humorous, but the unpredictable wittiness of Ollivander had been farcically hilarious in itself.

The raven-haired boy turned away, frowning as he attempted to cool down his burning cheeks. His first time bantering with someone whom he hadn't known for years, and he was already embarrassing himself.

But, for someone as "antisocial" and "callous" as Ollivander claimed to be, he was savoring these moments of happiness; he found himself leaning forward instead of away. Perhaps, things were looking up after all.

-------------

A/N

Hey, I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous one, but originally this and chapter 6 was one very long chapter and I decided to split it in two. Wow, two updates in as many days... Gosh, I love writing. It seems more and more likely every day that I will begin updating Monday, Wednesday, Friday.....
I'll keep thinking about it.....

Also, for those of you who may not understand the time skip: This is set in the evening after the night they spent drinking; there was a scene in the morning that I used to include before this chapter, but instead I'm including it later in the book.

Anyway, you'll still be getting an update on Friday (or perhaps tomorrow, haha), don't worry!

I hope everyone is having an amazing day!! And don't forget to vote and comment what you think!!

Word count (excluding author's note): 1839 words