"I mean it! Nothing happened between me and Rory at the party.”

"And next you’ll tell me the sky is green and grass is blue.” Lucas loses his smirk and gets serious after Joshua’s eyes begin to water. Lucas quickly jumps to the assumption that Joshua’s night hadn’t ended as well as his own had. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk. I'll back off, only because you look like you're going to break down at any second and I’d rather not be the cause."

Breaking down is exactly what Joshua feels like doing right now.

The desire to clock out and go home so that he can lock himself in his room and cry until he finally gets his shit together is soaring high. Joshua is mad at himself for feeling so pathetic and on edge when Rory, on the other hand, appeared to be completely unbothered when he walked into the store. He didn’t look as bad as Lucas had claimed, more so tired. And that’s probably because he’d been up all night with his girl Hailey. Lucky her.  

"I-I'm not going to break down," Joshua mutters after Rory disappears down an aisle, Joshua’s broken heart following the man like a little lost puppy. “I’m perfectly fine.”

"You can say it in a hundred different languages and I’ll still know you’re lying," Lucas says. With no one around to yell at them for not doing any work, Lucas wraps an arm around Joshua and pulls him in for a hug. The friendly embrace is everything that Joshua hadn't known he needed, and he immediately hugs Lucas back, quietly sobbing.

"I don't know what’s going on with you today, but whenever you feel comfortable enough to talk about it in detail, know that I'm here for you, okay?" Lucas says.

Joshua nods, waiting until he's all cried out before pulling back and apologizing for having left a wet spot on the front of Lucas's shirt. The latter shrugs it off, thinking nothing of it.

"Last night… it was kind of a shit show for me," Joshua says, his head hanging low and eyes glued to the ground. " I-I was on the verge of hooking up with this guy that I like, but before anything serious could happen, he said something that completely killed the mood. Everything kind of fell apart after that. I shouldn't even be this sensitive about it because we barely know each other, but I was still hurt. My feelings were crushed."

"Give me a name and I promise I'll punish the fucker that made you feel this way," Lucas replies, not at all joking. "No one messes with my best friend and gets away with it. I swear I'm not afraid to go crazy and cut a bitch. Just say the word, have my bail money ready, and I'll make them wish their mother had swallowed instead of—"

"Lucas, calm down!” Joshua turns beet-red while laughing, frantically waving his hands for Lucas to stop talking. “This guy isn’t worth the trouble, I promise."

"Nor is he worth your precious tears," Lucas adds, pinching Joshua's cheek. This time he doesn’t swat Lucas’ hand away, doesn’t even scowl. “Damn. This guy must really have you deep in your feels because you never let me baby you. I demand a name and address,” Lucas says. “I just want to talk to him…I totally won’t slip and punch him in the throat or anything.”

Joshua chuckles, playfully rolling his eyes. “Thanks for having my back, but I’m not giving you his address. I won’t have you out here getting locked up because of me.” 

“I’ve been to jail once before, so it isn’t like it’ll be my first time,” Lucas says. Joshua stares at him in shock until an explanation is provided. “I had an old sugar daddy who tried to play me. He didn’t want to pay me what he had initially promised, so after our third date, I accidently tripped and broke the windshield on his car.”

“And how on earth did you do that?” Joshua asks.

“I may have allegedly picked up a brick nearby,” Lucas clarifies, “which then went flying after I accidently tripped. Long story short, the cheap fucker didn’t end up pressing charges and I was eventually paid what I was owed. So, yeah. If you need someone to go out and get their hands dirty for you, I’m your bitch.”

“Wow,” Joshua says, amused. “You are so much more dramatic than I thought.”

Joshua decides to take an unscheduled break, hoping to pull himself together so that he'll be able to make it through the rest of his shift without watery red eyes and a dark expression that'll surely scare customers away. The last thing he needs is his supervisor yelling at him.

Five minutes later, Joshua has to force himself to walk back to his register after he sees Rory standing in his checkout line talking to Lucas.

Joshua doesn’t acknowledge Rory’s presence, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward as he stands next to Lucas to bag Rory's items, all things used to cure a hangover. Joshua doesn’t mess around; he bags and carts Rory’s items at the speed of light, wanting to get him out of the store as quickly as possible. Maybe then Joshua’s pulse will return to normal.

"Thanks again for the invite. I had such a blast last night,” Lucas says to Rory. “What about you? Did you get to enjoy yourself, or were you too busy playing host?”

"Honestly, last night is a giant blur to me, but I'm glad to hear that you had a nice time," Rory replies, lying smoothly as he redirects his attention onto Joshua. He's normally upbeat and smiley, but today the boy looks tense and is frowning. "Hey, Joshua. How are you holding up this morning? Didn’t party too hard like the rest of us, did you?"

Joshua doesn’t say a word; his body speaks for him.

What the hell? Why are his little hands trembling like that? I’ve never seen him get this nervous around Rory before, Lucas notes after glancing over at a mute Joshua. It takes a few seconds until the lightbulb above Lucas’ head goes off. Wait a minute… Is Rory the guy that he almost hooked up with last night? But Rory is str…or maybe he isn’t. Holy shit fuck!

"Oh, don't mind him! Joshua can’t speak because he lost his voice," Lucas says, coming to the rescue. He gently pushes Joshua aside, practically shielding him from Rory’s view. "After we left your place last night, we decided to hit up another party being thrown by a friend. Shit got pretty wild for the little one here. Anyway, your total is $38.67. Cash or credit?" Lucas finishes with Rory and then promptly sends him on his way. "Have a fantastical rest of the day!"

Rory didn’t want to leave.

He had so much to say, had so many questions for Joshua, but at the same time, Rory knew this wasn't the time or place for such a thing. Instead, he said his goodbyes and left the store feeling even more anxious than when he had first walked in. On the drive home, Rory can’t help but wonder if he had been the only guy that Joshua had fooled around with last night.

The thought that maybe he wasn't made Rory feel something that he hasn’t felt in a long, long time—jealous.