The next day, it was pouring down and Oliver cursed, as he smoked from his open window, keeping his distance so he wouldn’t get hit by the rain. His plans for practicing on his skateboard was cancelled, so he had decided to go to the mall. He crushed the last of his cigarette into the ashtray, and closed the window before he picked up his keys, and phone, and headed downstairs.

“I’m going out” he called out and his dad emerged from the kitchen.

“Oh, where are you going?” he asked curiously, holding a soapy sponge in his hand, since their dishwasher had  decided,it didn’t want to work anymore, and a dishtowel over his shoulder. 

“The mall,” Oliver answered as he took on his shoes, not bothering to untie it as he slipped his feet in them. 

“Oh, can you take the trash out then?” his dad asked. Oliver sighed but agreed to do it, and took the trash bag before he hurried out the door. He quickly disposed of it and rushed to the bus stop, where he waited under a half roof. Luciky he didn't have to wait long before the bus came.

The mall wasn’t as packed as the day before, and Oliver decided to head to the arcades, where he looked for an arcade game to play, when he noticed Casper a bit away. He was standing with two other guys, laughing, and he wasn’t in uniform, which meant he was there on his day off. 

Oliver didn’t mean to spy on Casper, even though it was looking like that, and when Casper turned in his direction, Oliver quickly hid behind an arcade machine. He had no idea why he was hiding; it wasn’t like he was embarrassed, to get caught, but he didn’t want Casper to think, he was spying on him. Oliver quickly glanced around him, trying to pretend he was only there to play a game, and luckily the machine next to him was free. 

Caught up in the game, he didn’t notice when someone approached him, until Casper spoke.

“Nice high score,” he said, which surprised Oliver and made him loose his game. 

“Fuck,” Oliver cursed and glared at Casper before he wrote Oli, as his gamer tag, and turned to look at Casper. “Thanks dude,” he sneered, a little annoyed that he lost. 

Casper looked apologetic at him, with a tight lipped smile and awkwardly shifted on his feet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you like that,” he apologized, but Oliver just scoffed and turn to walk away. Casper scurried after him and tagged along, walking side by side.

“Let me make up for it,” Casper suggested. “What do you say? A large chocolate milkshake, with fries?” he asked, trying to tempt Oliver to forgive him. Oliver realized that Casper had noticed, what kind of milkshakes he liked, so he glanced at Casper, still annoyed but decided truce was in its place, since he wasn’t going to say no to free food. 

“A large fry and then it’s a deal,” he crossed his arm, with a raised eyebrow, challenging him while smirking, as he wondered if Casper would agree to it. 

“Deal,” Casper quickly agreed, without hesitation, and they headed over to the food court. Oliver walked side by side with Casper while looking around, Casper was along, and he wondered where they others had gone to. 

When they reached the food court, Oliver sat down at a table, as he watched Casper going over to order their food.

“Where are the others?” he asked, when Casper came over to him with their orders, carrying two large milkshakes, a large fry, and a hotdog, and placed the tray on the table. 

“They had something else to do, so they had to leave, when I saw you playing on the arcade machine,” Casper replied, as he sat down and took his order, then passed the tray to Oliver. Oliver didn’t say anything as he took his milkshake, eyeing Casper. 

“So, why are you here alone?” Casper asked before taking a sip of his milkshake. 

Oliver couldn’t help but laugh, “are you trying to pick me up or something?” he smirked at Casper, wiggling his eyebrows. Casper coughed a little, as he choked on his own milkshake, his cheek flushed.

“That’s not what I meant, you idiot,” he said, though he smiled, “I just wondered, since I don’t see Zack,” Casper looked questioning at Oliver. 

Oliver shrugged, still with a smile on his lips, and took a sip of his milkshake before he answered. 

“His sister are having her first tennis tournament today, so he is there as her cheerleader,” Oliver took a piece of the fries and dipped it in ketchup before eating it.

“Huh, I didn’t know he had a little sister,” Casper said surprised and took a bite of his hotdog as he thought.

“She is 12, so you probably wouldn't have met her, since she would have been 6 at the time,” Oliver replied, leaning back in his chair, munching on his fry. Casper nodded while chewing. Oliver took another fry as he looked around. They sat in silence, eating, since none of them didn't knew what to say. When Casper finished his hotdog and picked up his milkshake, he leaned back in his chair.

“Do you drink any other milkshake then Chocolate?” Casper asked.

Puzzled by the question Oliver replied. “Well, I like chocolate, but I do try other milkshakes,” he answered. Casper nodded but didn’t say anything else and then Oliver realized, he was trying to make small talk. 

“You know, you don’t have to talk to me, actually, I would be happy if you didn’t,” Oliver said, yet he didn’t sound so convincing. Casper looked at Oliver, then sighed.

“Do you hate talking with me that much?” Casper asked and leaned over the table. “I thought after so many years, everything would be fine.” Oliver clenched his jaw as he furrowed his brow, scoffing.

“Fine? You thought 6 years would make everything okay between us? You bullied me and beat the shit out of me,” Oliver growled slowly losing his temper, “and you think just because 6 years has gone by, it wouldn’t matter?” he repeated.

“No,” Casper started, putting his milkshake on the table, with a serious look on his face, “what happened back then, I should have known better, but you were the one who started the fights, not me,” Casper said as a matter of fact. Oliver growled and leaned forward.

“The fuck are you talking about?! You were the one always bullied me,” Oliver reminded Casper. Casper looked confused at him and shook his head.

“Did you hurt your head or something? You always started the fights, for no apparent reason. I only defended myself and fought back,” he explained and they stared at each other for a few seconds, before he continued, “I know it was wrong, since I'm older and should know better, which is why I tried my best to keep my distance, but you wouldn’t stop,” Casper said. “Remember the snowball fight, the one where you broke your nose?” Casper asked and Oliver frowned as he tried to remember it. 

The snowball fight was when Oliver was around 10 years old. Jake and Casper were outside, playing in the snow. He went out to join them, but Jake told him to get lost and told Casper to just ignore him, and it pissed Oliver off so he jumped on Casper, hitting him. He fought back and his elbow hit Oliver on the nose by accident, breaking it. 

Oliver looked at him and nodded, “yeah, I remember you and Jake having a snowball fight,” Oliver started. Casper nodded and crossed his arms.

“And all the other times? When Jake and I hung out, playing video games or watching movies?” Casper mentioned. “You would always barge in, wanting to join, but Jake told you to get lost and threw you out of his room. You got so angry and instead of going for Jake, you went for me,” Casper gave him a pointed look. Oliver looked back while thinking. He hadn’t realized that, Jake was the trigger for Olivers jealousy, and he let it out on Casper.

“You know, the only time I bullied you, was because you either annoyed us and kept pestering, or because Jake had done it and I followed along,” Casper leaned back on the chair, “don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make an excuse for what I did, but what you remember are different from the truth.” Casper took a sip of his vanilla milkshake as he looked at Oliver. 

Oliver avoided looking at Casper, annoyed by the whole situation, but also embarrassed and confused because he slowly realized, that he had always thought Casper was the one who would bully him, but it was actually Jake. 

“So, you see, this is why I was confused by your reaction towards me,” Casper tilted his head, looking at Oliver. Oliver glanced at Casper and when their eyes met, there was something gently by the way he was looking at him. 

“Well, I didn't remember it like that,” Oliver said, a weak excuse for his behavior as a kid. “But” he paused hesitantly, “it's going to take some time to accept it,” Oliver shrugged and looked away again. He couldn’t get it out of his head. Had he really been remembering it all wrong? The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got. He started to feel guilty, that he had treated Casper so badly, simply because he hadn't realized he had been jealous of Casper spending time with Jake, and Jake rejecting him. 

Casper didn’t say anything but nodded, acepting it for now, before he went to finish his milkshake, Oliver following suit.

They cleaned up after themselves, and Oliver though they would say goodbye and go their separate ways, but Casper lingered, like he had decided to hang out with Oliver. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, and stood there awkwardly, while he looked at Casper.

“So, umm, what now?” he asked a bit hesitantly, slightly unsure.

Casper smiled and shrugged. “Well, what do you normally do at the mall?” he asked. 

Oliver frowned a little then shrugged. “Play arcade games, wander around and just hang out. It’s not like I have a lot of money,” he answered. 

“Well, what do you say to go bowling? I got a membership there, so I can tag you along for free, you just have to pay for shoes,” he suggested, and Oliver looked at him, slightly confused.

“You got a membership? For the bowling alley? What are you, 70?” he teased, smirking while trying to suppress a laugh.

Casper shook his head while smiling. “Some of us actually enjoy bowling, plus it’s fun and cheaper in the long run."

Oliver nodded, still with a smile on his lips. “Sure grandpa, then let’s go,” he teased and they left the mall. 

Casper parked his car by the entrance of the bowling alley, and they rushed, inside since it was still pouring down. Inside sounds of music and bowling balls hitting bowling pins filled the room. They went to the front desk, where they were met by a tall lanky guy looked at them, his expression clearly saying he was bored. They paid for their shoes, and changed into them, and got themselves sodas, before they walked over the lane with their names on the screen.

Casper started and picked up a ball, and Oliver sat down sipping on his straw, subconsciously checking Casper out as he got ready. 

Casper’s jeans weren’t skinny, yet they wrapped nicely around his ass, and Oliver couldn’t help but admit, that he was good looking. He noticed a couple of girls nearby, who clearly thought the same as they checked him out. They were whispering to each other, and he could swear, they were drooling. Oliver kept his focus on Casper as he finished his round, walking over to Oliver and picked up his soda.

“Your turn,” he smiled and they switched. He went over to the balls, trying to find one to use before he got ready. As he stood there, getting ready to roll the ball, he noticed the girls were inching closer to Casper, almost like lions on the prowl, blushing but also excited. 

He sighed a little and kept his focus on the pins, before he got ready and roll the ball, watching it roll down on the track. It didn’t hit all of them, but left two behind, standing next to each other. Oliver turned around to get another ball, when he saw two of the girls had made a move, and was talking with Casper. He decided to ignore them and focus on his next throw, which sadly missed, and he groaned frustrated. 

He turned and headed towards Casper. “Your turn,” he said, slightly louder than necessary, which surprised the girls, who looked at him with a frown, clearly not happy with being interrupted. Casper on the other hand, gave Oliver a warm smile, as he got up from the chair, which surprised Oliver a little that he stopped in his track.

“Thanks,” Casper said in a hushed voice as he moved past Oliver, probably appreciating getting away from the girls. 

“Sure, no problem,” he replied quietly, still puzzled by the smile. He shook himself and moved towards the seats, where he sat down on the spot Casper had been sitting. He glanced at the girls, who were all watching Casper and he got annoyed by their presence.

“Sorry, but you are disturbing our game,” he said harshly. The girls turn their focus on him, ready to glare, but they faltered as he glared at them, telling them to get lost, and they quickly moved away, whispering amongst themselves frustrated. 

When Casper came back, he glanced at the girls then at Oliver, sighing relived. 

“I tried to tell them that we were in the middle of a game, but they didn’t seem to get it,” he sat down before picking up his soda.

“That’s because you are to kind, I mean, you were smiling kindly at them, that they probably didn't get the hint,” Oliver replied as he got up. “Or maybe they thought, you were playing hard to get?” He teased, smirking.

“Guess it’s just a habit of mine,” he shrugged, in a what can you do kind of way. Oliver nodded, smiling as he went to pick up a ball. The girls were watching, still whispering, so he looked at them. They froze in their spot, like a deer in the headlight, since he had caught them watching him. He then smirked at them, before focusing on rolling the ball. The ball rolled all the way down in a straight line and hit the pins spot on, clearing them all. Strike was flashing on the screen as he returned to Casper, who looked pretty impressed, as he flashed Oliver a grin and fist bumped him.

“Impressive, I feel like this won’t be an easy win,” he said, though it didn’t seem to worry him. Oliver smirked before he turned to pick up a ball, hoping for more points. This time he hit half of the pins and nodded pleased with it. 

Throughout their game, the girls kept watching, while they were playing two lanes over, but they kept their distance, Oliver made sure of that. Casper ended up winning though, by twenty points, but Oliver was pleased with his score. 

“Let me drive you home,” Casper said as they stood outside under the half roof, watching the rain pouring down. Oliver frowned a little and shook his head.

“Nah, I’m fine, I got plans,” he said and looked at Casper, “but thanks for the game, next time though, I won’t go easy on you,” he smirked. Casper laughed, and bumped his shoulder into Olivers gently, before he ran towards his car.

“As if I would let you win!” he yelled, then waves his hand in the air. Oliver watched him enter his car and drive off, before he moved from his spot. He looked at his phone, as a message popped up with an agreement to meet  and the amount of money. Oliver then hid his hands in his pocket, putting his phone away and made sure he had his pills on him, before he went into the rain.