Friday evening, Oliver sat on the couch, his mood had been bad ever since he came home from spending his morning with Zack. He had mostly talked about the trip to the woods, and all the things him and Clarissa was going to do. Oliver did his best to listen to Zack, but it was hard to share his enthusiasm. 

He had been excited about going to the Fall fest carnival, since it was going to be pretty big this weekend, because it was the last weekend of October, with Halloween on Sunday. There would be live bands and Halloween themed amusements. They were going to close it shortly after Halloween because of winter, where it would change into a winter theme carnival.

He was looking at the tv, not really watching the documentary going on, when Oliver took a cookie from a package, about to take a bite of it, when the doorbell rang. Slightly confused, he went to open the front door, since Jake was taking a shower, and got surprised seeing Casper standing there, as he opened the door. 

“What are you doing here?” Oliver asked confused and crossed his arms.

“I’m here to pick up Jake,” he replied. Oliver raised an eyebrow as he tilted a head. 

“Pick him up? What, are you going on a date?” he teased while smirking, since he knew Jake didn’t date guys and he doubt Casper was into guys too.

“Not really no, we are going to the Fall fest carnival,” Casper replied and for a moment, Oliver felt slightly disappointed, then that quickly turned into jealousy and annoyance, since he had wanted to go, but everyone he had asked, were either already going with their family, or had other plans, but he tried not to let it show.

Oliver nodded with a hum and stepped aside to let Casper in, and closed the door behind him. He went to the stiars while Casper stayed by the front door.

“Yo, bro, your ride is here!” Oliver yelled towards the top of the staircase, not knowing if Jake heard him or not before Oliver disappeared into the living room. 

He sat back down on the couch and picked up his cookie from before, munching on it while looking at his phone, scrolling through social media. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Casper stand in the doorway to the living room. He glanced at him, but Casper was simply looking at what was on the tv. 

After ten minutes of awkward silence, Jake came down and poked his head in to say goodbye to Oliver. He waved goodbye, chewing on his cookie, but he didn’t look at them as they went to the front door, then after a minute Jake came back in.

“Why don’t you join us?” Jake asked. 

Oliver stopped moving, his cookie halfway to his mouth as he turned to look at Jake, squinting his eyes in confusion. “Why?” was all he could ask. Jake never asked Oliver to join him for anything, so he was slightly suspicious. 

Jake shrugged, “I thought it was better than to stay at home, eating yourself sick with cookies and watching… whatever that is,” he gestured towards the tv, “but if you rather want to do that, then suit yourself,” he shrugged. “We are going to the cabins after, since someone are holding a party there,” he said then paused before he continued. “There will be booze,” he tempted, raising an eyebrow, a smile playing on his lips.

Oliver, for a moment, wanted to call off his bluff, but he realized that he wouldn’t bluff with something like that, not to Oliver. He looked at the tv, staring at the it but not really watching it as he thought, weighing his options. He then decided to turned off the tv and get up.

“Give me 5 minutes,” he said and left the living room and went up to his room. He could almost imagine the pleased smirk on Jake’s face but decided to ignore it. Oliver quickly went to find a long-sleeved black shirt to change into and then a black hoodie. On the way out he grabbed his phone and a beanie, along with his pack of cigarettes, not that there were many left. He would soon have to get another pack. 

Outside the late autumn weather was making the wind cold and it was biting, but Oliver kind of liked it. Jake and Casper were both waiting by the car and Oliver locked the front door behind him, before he went to meet the others.

They all got into the car, Casper in the driver seat, Jake on the passenger seat and Oliver in the back, sitting in the middle, since he liked to looks ahead when in cars, otherwise he could get car sick.

As they drove, Oliver felt like a third wheel, as Casper and Jake talked about studies and college, so he spaced out. He was watching the road in front of them, wishing he could smoke, but he had already gotten a no from both Casper and Jake once, when he had asked, and he wasn’t going to ask again. As they talked, he realized that the carnival would probably end up being boring, tagging along with them since he had nothing, he could talk with them about, as their interest clashed. 

As they arrived, the streets were packed with people and it was hard to find an open spot in the few parking lots accessible, but after driving around for 15 minutes, a spot opened up and they quickly took it. They parked, and the moment Oliver stepped out, he was happy he had his beanie on, because the cold wind was biting even harder by the lake.

Oliver leaned up against the car, as the others got out and grabbed their things. Oliver lit up a cigarette and closed his eyes, leaning his head back as he inhaled. He didn’t have plans on moving anytime soon, so he stayed put, And the others didn’t seem to mind, as they talked about the party.

When Oliver finished his cigarette, he grounded the butt under the sole of his shoes and dropped the butt onto the ground, but before Oliver could move, Casper stepped in front of him, pointing at the ground where the butt was.

“Really?” Casper said and gave a pointed look at him. 

“What?” He asked confused. Casper simply raised an eyebrow, clearly not impressed and Oliver realized what he wanted. Casper actually wanted him to pick it up and throw it away. 

“We can wait here all night,” Casper said, putting his hands in his pants pocket, looking contempt to wait, not moving out of his spot. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Oliver realizing that Casper wouldn’t budge so he let out a sigh, remembering why he still didn’t really like Casper, as he picked up the cigarette butt and went to a trashcan. 

He looked at Casper and exaggerated as he threw out, then made a gesture like “see, happy?”, both his hands pointing at the trashcan, before he stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked over to them, frowning. Jake rolled his eyes, but smirked, and Casper looked like he was suppressing a laugh, which made Oliver flip him off, causing him to chuckle and jokingly calling Oliver a good boy. This in turn made Jake laugh and Oliver shiver with disgust, yet for a moment, just a second, he felt a fluttering in him which also left him confused.  

They made their way through crowds of people, Oliver tagging behind the others, with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie to keep them warm. He kept his distance slightly, as he felt awkward and out of place with them. They went by a scene, live music playing of a local band. It wasn't Olivers music taste but it was cozy. They continued towards the food court area, where they passed different game stands, since they had decided to get something to eat first, since drinking later on empty stomach was not the best choice.

They reached the food court area, where there were different kinds of food stands they could choose from, but the tables seemed packed full, though Casper managed to get them a free table. He cleaned the table by pushing the trash left behind from those before them, to the other end of the table. Oliver had a feeling though, that Casper would take the trash with them, when they leave.

“Anything special you want?” Jake asked Oliver as he sat down. He shrugged, he wasn’t really picky, so Jake didn’t ask again as he and Casper left to get them some food. Oliver took his phone out his pocket, yawning a little out of boredom. 

  

Fifteen minutes went by and Oliver wondering how much longer it was going to take, since it was getting cold sitting there waiting, when Jake texted that they had ordered food and were waiting for it. 

As they walked towards the table with food trays in their hand, someone approached Oliver. It was a young man Oliver could clearly remember, from one of his many one-night stands. The reason why he remembered was because the guy was one of the good ones. But since his brother was on his way, Jake didn’t know about Oliver and him being gay, which he would like to keep hidden from him for as long as he could, so when the man approached Oliver, it was the only thing he could think of as slight panic arose in the pit of his stomach. Oliver didn’t want to talk with the guy, especially because he was not interested in hooking up with the guy again. It was a one-time thing, which he had clearly expressed to the guy back then.  

“Hey sexy” the man said, slightly drunk as he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to be seductive but he just came off as a creep. 

“Beat it,” Oliver replied coldly and stared at him.

“Come on, don’t you remember me? We had quite a lot of fun last time,” he grinned and reached out his hand towards Oliver, who scooted away. True, they did have a lot of fun, since he was one of the few who really could make Oliver feel good, but still, it was a one-night stand. 

“I don’t care, just get lost,” Oliver glared at the man, just as Jake and Casper reached the table.

“What's going on?” Jake asked cautiously, but also slightly confused by the tension in the air.

“What if…” before the man could finish, Oliver stood up and flipped him off, clearly pissed.

“I said fuck off!” he sneered and the man looked surprised but then glared back, clearly upset by Oliver’s attitude.

“Whatever whore,” he growled and turned around, but Oliver saw red. Being called whore in bed was one thing, being called whore in front of his brother, who knew nothing about it, made Oliver grab one of the drinks, Jake had bought, and was about to throw it, if Jake hadn’t stopped him, complaining that he had just paid for it. Oliver let him take the drink out of his hand, but kept glaring at the dude, fuming with anger, wanting badly to punch the shit out of him. The guy flipped Oliver off, muttering curse words under his breath. 

“What the hell is going on?” Jake demanded as he placed a hand on Oliver’s chest, holding him back before Oliver would run after the guy, and looked between them as he was clearly confused about what had just unfolded out in front of him. Oliver didn’t answer for a few seconds, doing everything in his power to calm down, before he moved Jake’s hand away and sat down.

“I’m fine,” he said, but didn’t look at Jake. Jake still stood there staring at him. Casper on the other hand were sitting down, munching away on his fries as he watched them both, content that he didn’t have to join in. Oliver could feel Jake’s stare at the back of his neck, he sighed. “Just forget it,” he insisted, slightly exhausted, as he took one of the drinks, looking like there was something interesting at the end of the table, clearly indicating he wants the conversation to be over, while he sipped his soda. Jake stood for a few seconds longer before sitting down next to Casper across from Oliver and sighed. 

“I don’t know what’s going on, but next time you want to throw your drink at someone, make sure you at least pay for it yourself. I didn’t work hard for you to just throw it away,” Jake huffed but started to pass out the food between him and Oliver.

Oliver took his wrapped burger, and side of fries with ketchup, before he unwrapped his burger and looked at the juicy beef with bacon and cheese. He smiled a little and remembered to thank his brother, before he took a bite. As he was chewing, he glanced to see what Jake and Casper had gotten. He saw that his brother had gotten the same as him, then he looked to see what Casper had gotten, only for their eyes to meet, Casper with a slightly amused expression. Oliver sat up straight and furrowing how brow confused.

“What?” he asked over the food in his mouth. Casper shook his head and shrugged, as he looked at his own burger with chicken and jalapenos.

“Nothing” he replied before he started to eat, a shadow of a smile on his lips. Oliver frowned confused but returned his focus on his food, since he didn’t want it to get cold plus he didn’t want to waste his energy interrogating Casper. 

After eating and cleaning up after themselves, not that Oliver wanted to, but he was forced to when both Jake and Casper told him to do it, they decided to walk around, looking at the different stands. Some of them sold cheap accessories, clothes or toys, others had Halloween decorations and some had games, everything from shooting games to ducks fishing. Oliver wondered if he should try any of the games, since he had his eye on one of the plushies of a skeleton cat. Oliver weren't the type to buy things that seemed cute, but he did enjoy halloween themed things and had a soft spot for cats. Would the others want to play the games?