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“Brah, you are supposed to wear masks like this during a sleepover!” Shitty explained as he slathered more goo on his face, mustache and all. Jack tried to prevent the grin that was slowly crossing his face as he took in the sight of his friend, a friend whose face was now completely covered in goo, and failed miserably. Shitty held the container that held the goo out towards Jack, and from what Jack could tell from beneath all that green gunk, there was a pout and puppy dog eyes aimed at him.
“Fine! Okay! But, remember this sleepover is for my birthday, Shits. Don’t I get any say in what we do?” Jack asked, reaching for the container that held the gunk. Shitty gently smacked his hand away.
“Allow me to do the honors, beautiful birthday boy. And yes, you do get some say. But you have never had a proper fucking sleepover before. We are going to do this right. Pillow fight included,” Shitty explained, and then he began to slather green stuff on Jack’s face, and it was cool to the touch and smelled better than it looked.
Jack had had sleepovers growing up. He had pointed that out to Shitty when his friend suggested this one. He had billeted with families in the past and he had lived in a frat house with Shitty for years! But Shitty had pointed out that living with other families, and then living in the hockey haus did not count.
Jack also had to admit that he had missed sleeping with Shitty in the room nearest him. He missed waking up to find a hungover and mostly naked Shitty spooning him. They had both graduated back in May, and Jack had not fought too hard when Shitty suggested the sleepover. It would be a small thing. Just Shitty, Lardo, and one of Lardo’s new friends. Jack could do this.
You only turn 25 once, right?
“How long do we keep this stuff on for, Shitty?” Jack asked once Shitty finished and sat back.
“Like twenty or so minutes, brah,” Shitty said, and he wandered into Jack’s kitchen to set the timer on the oven.
Jack had been about to say something when his door opened and in walked Lardo, juggling what looked like a box of art supplies. Following closely behind her was a blonde man in the shortest pair of red shorts that Jack had ever seen. He quickly tore his gaze away from the man’s thighs, hoping no one noticed. Lardo was busy with her box of art supplies and calling for Shitty. The man with the shorts, Jack now noticed had a few pie containers in his hands.
“Lardo! Bitty!” Shitty exclaimed as he bounded out of the kitchen and instantly helped Lardo with her burden. Jack, realizing he ought to do something, moved to help the blonde man.
“Oh! You must be the birthday boy,” the man said as Jack took a pie from him. His voice was sweet like honey with a southern accent.
Suddenly, Jack was grateful for the green goo on his face. It definitely helped hide the red that blossomed on his cheeks.
“Euh, yeah. I’m Jack,” Jack introduced himself and awkwardly stuck a hand out.
“Eric, but most people call me Bitty.” He said, taking his hand. Jack felt some callouses as they shook hands.
“Bitty bakes the best fucking pies in the universe, Jack.” Shitty gushed.
“Oh,” Jack said, feeling dumbstruck.
It was midnight and Jack’s phone vibrated on his bedside table. He found himself grinning as he reached over to grab his phone. He knew who it was before he even looked at his phone.
Bitty: Happy birthday, Jack! :) :)
Jack: Thanks, Bits.
Bitty: I’m really bummed that I can’t make it tomorrow :(
Jack: It’s okay. You can miss one sleepover. Shitty won’t cry too hard about it.
Bitty: But you only turn thirty once! And our friendship only turns five once.
Jack: I know, and we will make it up. You can’t miss this opportunity, Bittle. Speaking of which, you should get to bed.
Jack: Put away whatever pie you are baking and get some sleep.
Bitty: I just wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday!
Bitty: And my pie is almost done.
Jack: You were the first.
Jack: Promise me you will get to sleep soon?
Bitty: I promise.
Jack: Goodnight, bud.
Bitty: Night! :)
If Jack reread that brief exchange of messages a few times, with a smile on his face, it really meant nothing. Over the past five years, Bitty had become one of Jack’s best friends. Only rivaled by Shitty and Lardo. Sure, he was disappointed that Bitty had to miss the sleepover tomorrow night but he knew they could celebrate together another day. Opportunities like the one Bitty had tomorrow did not come by very often.
Jack’s heart ached a little at missing his friend, but he was used to that ache when it came to Bittle.
With a sigh, he set his phone back down on the table, and then closed his eyes to get some sleep.
Jack’s face, clean of green goo, was now being pummelled with pillows from all sides. Shitty had suggested they start the pillow fight in Jack’s room, preferably on his bed, but Jack had put his foot down. Instead, they were in his living room, anything that could be broken had been safely placed out of pillow-thwapping distance.
Except for Jack’s face. That apparently was fair game.
Shitty had shed most of his clothes save for his boxers by this point. Everyone else was in pajamas and Jack really tried not to notice the shorts to Eric’s pajamas. Noticing that was what had led to his being hit by three different pillows at the same time.
He broke away from the fray and managed to whap Shitty upside the head.
“PENALTY SHOT!” Shitty shouted and Jack hoped his neighbors would not complain about the noise level.
“You just hit me in the head!” Jack pointed out.
“Yeah, well--...” but whatever Shitty was about to say was cut short by the sound of music playing loudly from Bitty’s phone. Bitty let out an excited little squeak, and dropped his pillow before scampering to pick up his phone.
“It is John, let me take this.” His cheeks were flushed and Jack wondered if it was from the exertion of the pillow fight or the man calling him. He watched as Eric walked down the hall towards the guest room.
“Who is John?” Jack asked just as Lardo hit him in the back of the head with a pillow.
“His boyfriend. They are long-distance,” Lardo explained, and then she was squealing as Shitty tackled her onto the couch.
“PENALTY!” She shouted while Jack tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment in his gut over Eric having a boyfriend.
“I can’t move,” Shitty groaned as he threw himself bodily onto Jack and the couch. Jack grunted but made no effort to shove the mustachioed man off of him. He missed Shitty cuddles. Adulthood was a strange beast. Hockey season always kept Jack busy and even in the off-season he had a lot going on with events and staying in shape. Shitty was busy and being a lawyer meant he had no real off-season.
“Aw, my heart.” Lardo had her phone out and Jack knew she was snapping a picture. “Bitty will love this.”
“I miss Bitty,” Shitty said, hugging Jack even tighter.
“Didn’t you just see him the other day?” Jack teased, even though he himself missed Bitty too.
Ever since his twenty-fifth birthday, it had become a thing for Bitty, Lardo, and Shitty to sleepover at Jack’s apartment on his birthday night. They would eat too much food, have pillow fights, try new facial masks, and fall asleep to bad horror movies. They always made time for it, and Jack really was disappointed that Bitty had had the out of town gig. But, they had managed to do this four years in a row without anyone missing, it was a good record, especially for busy adults. They could start afresh next year.
Jack disentangled himself from Shitty’s embrace to make room for Lardo, but she surprised him by plopping down on the chair nearest the couch. She raised an eyebrow at him.
“I get Shits cuddles all the time. Enjoy,” she said, with a shrug.
“Jaaaaaack come back to me,” Shitty whined, and Jack rolled his eyes before settling back into a more comfortable position with his best friend. Lardo had the remote and she began flipping through the channels.
“Have you heard from Bitty yet?” Jack asked as he lazily began to play with Shitty’s hair. He was pretty sure that he heard a purr come from his friend. He also idly wondered what product Shitty was using in his hair these days. It felt nice.
“Nothing,” Lardo and Shits said at the same time.
“You both are getting too insync with one another,” Jack pointed out with a laugh.
He tried not to worry too much about no one hearing from Eric most of the evening. He was probably exhausted after his day at work. He was just used to receiving more text messages from him. It was part of their routine. Eric sending him messages when he should be working, and Jack chirping him about it. He could feel that familiar ache in his heart when he thought of his friend.
Jack had always had something of a crush on the blonde from the first moment he saw him. Sometimes, Jack felt like the feelings he had for Eric were returned. But, they were a bit like ships passing in the night. One of them always seemed to have a partner. Jack had been single for over a year by this point, his last breakup happening just before his twenty-ninth birthday and Eric had been single for about six or so months. And Jack… well, he felt like their chirping these days was borderline more flirting than anything else.
And some large part of him had been hoping that he would be on this couch with Bitty tonight instead of Shitty, no offense. But, alas, it was not meant to be this year and Jack knew he had to get his head out of his ass. And focus on enjoying the time he had with Lardo and Shits. It was still special and maybe confessing his feelings towards Eric would be better done on a different day.
Lardo had finally settled on a movie and it was not long before Jack heard Shitty snoring.
It was quiet. Lardo and Shitty had fallen asleep curled up around each other on the couch. Jack had looked over at Eric, and through some silent agreement, they both stood up and went out to Jack’s balcony. The humidity from the day had died down some, and it was not so stifling hot out. Eric was seated on a chair across from Jack, nursing a cold glass of water.
“How did you meet Lardo?” Jack asked, his voice sounding almost too loud in the quiet air.
“We met at my job, actually. I work at the bakery near Samwell. I go to Samwell,” Eric said, looking a little shy all of a sudden. “I actually tried out for your hockey team, but didn’t make it. I was not sure how I was going to pay for Samwell because out of state tuition is expensive, but Mama, Coach, and Moomaw surprised me and scraped together what money they could. Loans are helping out of course, and my job…”
Eric continued to talk and Jack found himself wondering how nice it might have been if Eric had been on the hockey team. He looked like he might be speedy on the ice. He also looked like he kept in shape still, and Jack wondered about his workout routine for a moment. Wondered too about his diet given the fact he worked at a bakery and seemed to enjoy baking pies on his free time as well (and his pie really had been the fucking best in the universe).
“It’s a bummer you didn’t make the team,” Jack blurted out once Eric had finished talking.
Even in the dark Jack thought he could make out a flush on Eric’s cheeks, or maybe he was just reading embarrassment in the other man’s body language.
“Oh well, aren’t you sweet? No, it is probably for the best that I didn’t make it. I’ve seen some of your games, and Lord do you boys hit hard. I’m not the greatest with contact.” Eric said, waving his hand. “But, I did find a rec league, so I do get some ice time still.”
A rec league? Then maybe there was still a chance that Jack could see Eric playing hockey after all.
“Tell me about your team?” Jack asked, and Eric looked at him.
“Are you sure? It might get boring for you.”
“No, tell me. Please?” Jack said, and he found himself attempting to give puppy dog eyes like Shitty had done on him earlier. Eric laughed, and it sounded like music to Jack’s ears. He had to remind himself not to get so gone on the other man. He had to remember the name John was attached to a real person and that person was attached to Eric.
Eric filled the silent night with stories of his hockey team, and his co-workers from the bakery. Jack surprised himself by readily filling in any gaps in Eric’s talking with stories of his own. He could not remember the last time feeling so comfortable when meeting a new person. He enjoyed the way their conversation flowed, and how yes, silences did happen but they never felt uncomfortable. Jack never felt like the silences were just because he could not figure out how to talk. Words came to him easily, even though he did prefer it when Eric was doing the talking.
He surprised himself even further by asking Eric for his number.
It sounded like the boy would need help with French in the upcoming semester and it would have been rude of Jack to not offer his help.
Jack could not sleep. As was tradition, Lardo and Shitty had fallen asleep during the movie. Jack had disentangled himself from Shitty’s grip. He had then found a couple of spare blankets to cover his friends up. He left the television volume down low and made his way towards the kitchen. The stove clock read that it was a quarter to midnight. His birthday was almost over. Jack reached for his phone and frowned when he saw no messages from Bitty.
It was unusual for Bitty to go this long without texting. Jack had just opened up their messages when he heard his door opening. He did not feel panicked, though his heart had begun to race, he felt excited. His feet carried him towards the entryway.
And there was Bitty, trying to close the door as quietly as possible.
“Bits,” Jack said, quietly. Though he really doubted their friends would wake up even if he had spoken louder. His lips quirked into an amused smile when he saw Bitty jump. Startled, most likely, from the sound of his voice.
“Lord, Jack! You scared me. You need a damn bell. You move too quiet for a lug your size.” There was a softness to Eric’s voice, and his face, as he spoke.
Silence lapsed between the two of them as they just stared at each other for a few seconds and then Jack found himself breaking it.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, I finished earlier than I thought I would, so I decided to head here to see if I could make it to the sleepover. Seems like I missed all the action though,” but Bitty did not sound too upset at finding Shitty and Lardo asleep.
“I am glad you made it,” Jack said, softly. Then he reached for Eric’s hand, and Eric took it. He led Eric through the living room and out to the balcony. It was not the first time that they had held hands like this. It was not often they did, but sometimes, leading one another through crowds of people, it made sense to hold hands. Not that there was a crowd of people in his living room or anything, but Eric had not seemed to mind.
“This is just like the night we first met,” Eric said, once they were outside.
“Everyone asleep but us two, eh?”
“Out on the balcony,” Eric said, and he looked distracted. Like he had something on his mind. Jack noticed they had not let go of each other’s hands yet, and he gave Eric’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“What’s wrong, bud?”
“Trying to build up the courage to do something,” Bitty said, looking up at Jack but not quite making eye contact.
“Do what?” Jack asked. He wondered if he asked too quietly because Bitty said nothing, just continued to look at Jack.
“Happy Birthday, Jack. You’re my best friend in the world.” And then Bitty was closing the distance between them and Jack found himself moving without really thinking. Call it an instinct or something. They seemed to meet about halfway, and then they were kissing. Soft and sweet. Jack’s eyes fluttered close.
Then Eric was pulling away much too quickly and Jack found himself following those lips with a pout.
“Been wanting to do that for some time now,” Bitty said, with a breathy laugh. He was smiling, though. Looking happier than Jack had seen him in awhile.
Jack had a smile on his own face, he could feel it. He could also still feel the ghost of that first sweet kiss.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first saw you,” Jack admitted. “You had on really short shorts.”
“Jack!” Bitty looked shocked, “did you really?”
“I did,” Jack said, nodding his head to emphasize the point. Then he gently tugged Eric against him for another kiss. This one a bit longer. When they broke apart from each other, they did not pull away too far.
“Boy am I glad you wanted me kissing you,” Bitty said, laughing again.
“Want to head inside before Shitty and Lardo wake up?” Jack asked, not that he minded kissing Bitty on the balcony. His bedroom seemed more comfortable though, and they would have a door to close that was not all glass. They could talk and kiss some more.
“Too late,” Bitty said, with a tiny groan as he pointed over Jack’s shoulder. Jack turned around to see Shitty and Lardo with their faces pressed against the glass of the door. Shitty was giving them thumbs up and cheering now that he had their attention. Lardo gave a thumbs up too, before she began to drag Shitty away from the window.
“Let’s give Lardo five minutes to get Shitty into bed and then we’ll go inside,” Jack suggested.
“Sounds like a plan, and I think I know what we can do for those five minutes.”
Bitty then crowded into Jack’s space and Jack had no complaints about that as they kissed once more.