"Are you okay?" asks Gary.

Winston, falling down on Gary's bed and tossing his head back with a quiet whine, shuts his eyes and breathes very calmly through his nose. "I'm fine," he says after a long second, pulling on the corner of a cotton blanket with his eyes still shut. The scent of Cheetos is in his nose, Gary sneaking snacks around his mother again.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Gary lays down beside him on the bed, adjusting the blanket until it covers the both of them. Winston turns toward Gary after a single second, sighing through his nose. "I think I really pissed Jason off."

"He's a pretty chill guy," Gary points out.

Winston laugh is strangely wet, "I know, but I acted like I was scared of him. Like I thought he'd hurt me."

"Did you?"

Winston inhales sharply His fingers entangle with the blanket. "No," he says at last. Does his best to ignore the unsteadiness of his own voice. Jason wouldn't hurt him, no matter how much Winston pissed him off. He's sure of this. Jason is a good person.

Gary says, "Then you have nothing to worry about. Jason won't hold it against you and he's not going to retaliate or anything. He's a giant teddy bear, and you know this better than anyone. Considering how much time you spend staring at him." At this, Gary wiggles his eyebrows.

"Oh my god," Winston giggles, turning onto his back again. He stares up at the ceiling until his smile fades.

Taking a deep breath, he's interrupted by the door banging opening and Liam, who's blatantly been eavesdropping, announcing, "You're a fool," only to then immediately slam Gareth's bedroom door shut. The whole room seems to shake from the force.

Winston blinks at the door. "Was he listening the whole time?"

"Probably, he's in a phase where he's trying to figure out how love works, but he's an awkward little bunny who doesn't want to actually talk to people. So he just tries to listen in when the 'atmosphere seems right'." At Winston's raised eyebrow, Gary adds, "Ignore him, he's in a mood because some girl wouldn't take his eraser in class,"

Gary clears his throat, coughing gently. "Let's go back to Jason Hill. You ran into him at the library. Did he say anything to you?"

"I have no idea."

Gary hums at that, looking at him and making a strange expression, mouth almost forming a pout but not quite. Winston shrugs, no answer ready to offer.

Gary picks his up his phone and sits up. Winston stays lying down, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Gary navigates to Samantha St Claire's social media page. Then Gary instantly sighs when he spots the newest picture of Samantha and someone else; Winston can't see who from this angle. "She dating someone?" Winston asks, a yawn on the edge of the horizon.

Gary puts the phone down again. "Not that she's announced, but they're in a lot of pictures together recently. I'm starting to think... but it doesn't matter. She doesn't even know I exist, anyway."

"You could tell her you exist," offers Winston.

Putting his head in his hands, Gary groans. "I can't," he mutters. "Do you have any idea how many times I've psyched myself up in the morning, ready to face her, only to crumble as soon as I see her? I just like her so much, she's so pretty, but as soon as I even think of talking to her I---" he groans loudly, flopping back on the bed. Winston is the one who sits up now, patting Gary's hair softly.

Groaning, Gary pulls the blanket up over his head. Winston's lips twitch, but he lets his friend hide, picks up his pwn phone instead. Stays seated beside Gary as Gary's hand sneaks out for his own phone, patting on the bed a few times until Winston pushes the phone into his reach. Then the hand and phone disappears back under the blanket and a soft light turns on, vaguely showing Gary's outline below the warm and very, very cozy blanket.

Winston shuffles around a few pillows until he's built a comfortable mound up against the wooden headboard, settling in and drawing his knees up to his chest. He pulls up the Solitaire app and starts a new game, quickly losing himself in the play.

When Gary's mom knocks on the door, Gary has pulled the blanket off his head but not moved another muscle, and Winston is hitting the reload button on the game's deck of cards like it'll magically make the right card appear.

"Winny, are you staying for dinner?" she asks, only her head through the doorway.

"Yeah, mom," Gary answers before Winston can say something. Not that he was going to say no, but---well. Something.

She smiles. "Alright," she says, waving at him and Winston waves back after a second. Her grin widens, and the door shuts again behind her. Silence falls over the room, and Winston breathes out, exhales slowly through his nose, and restarts his cursed game of Solitaire. Better luck next time.

A couple of more minutes and a successful play later, Gary tosses his phone aside and sits up, brushing his hair back from his face and sighing deeply. Winston lowers his own phone in turn and looks at Gary, waiting to see what his friend will do next.

Gary turns toward him, rearranging his long limbs so he sits cross-legged. "So Jason Hill, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You have good taste," says Gary, starting to grin.

Winston smiles---strangely softly---and looks down at the sheets, stretching out his legs and slumping against the pillows. "Yeah," he says again because truly, Jason is the best. He's the kind of guy that will hold a spider in his hands and release it outside while everyone else screams in horror. He shines when he's playing basketball, sheer joy wafting off him in droves, and he smiles and laughs freely when he's with his friends.

Gary's green eyes look him over and he drawls out a long hum. Pushing his tongue up into his cheek, there's a pause and then Gareth bursts into boisterous laughter. "Oh my god, no one's going to believe me," he says among the giggles, falling over on the bed.

Winston pokes his back with his foot, grinning, and says in a very serious tone, "Hey, you can't tell anyone. What if he comes after me in revenge or something?"

"Oh yes, I imagine Jason's revenge would be quite something."

Winston's eyes narrow. "Was that a euphemism?"

"I don't even know, dude," Gary giggles.

Finally, Gary's giggles subside and he gets his facial expression under control, coughing loudly. He takes a visible breath, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "Seriously though, you really like this guy that much? I thought it was more like me and Samantha?"

Winston's expression shutters, his gaze dropping right back down tot he blanket. He twirls the edge around between his fingers, getting thoroughly entangled. He doesn't know how to explain it. How does he put Jason's thoughtfulness into words without sounding like a voyeur? How does he explain Jason's kindness without seeming like a stalker? How does he properly convey Jason's joy and sheer life without seeming obsessed?

...And besides that he kind of doesn't want anyone else to understand. He kind of wants it all to himself—he's not sure if that's normal or healthy, but the desire lingers under his skin and he bites down on his words. Just ends up saying, "He's kind. And really handsome. Kind of ridiculously handsome." A pause, then Winston acknowledges the elephant in the room; "I'm pretty sure it's illegal to be that handsome."

"Well," Gareth drawls after a long examining look, "I'm not gonna argue about his looks."

Winston flushes, cheeks discoloring under that all too knowing gaze.