Luke Reynolds
"CO-CAPTAINS!" I scream at the top of my lungs once the three of us are walking back through the car park.
Trevor manages a slight smile; Adrien tackles me into a choke hold and ruffles my wet hair, laughing as I try to push him off.
I really have missed this.
For the first time in forever, I actually feel okay.
Trevor seems a lot lighter now too, the tension between his shoulders seems to have disappeared.
Sometimes a good cry is what you need.
Adrien lets go of me, and wraps an arm around Trevor's shoulders, pulling him into a hug.
"Wanna come over to mine?" I ask as we get into Adrien's car.
Adrien looks over at me, his 1000-watt smile on full display, "Hell yes man!"
I can't help but also smile, it's good to see him happy.
We both look at Trevor expectantly.
He's silent, looking from Adrien and then back to me. I'm about to tell him it's okay if he doesn't want to, but he beats me to it.
"Yeah, I'm in," He replies quietly.
Adrien beams at him and I can't help but also smile widely, it really is like old times.
"Video games and junk food?" I suggest as I'm buckling my seatbelt.
"Sounds good to me, what do you wanna play?" Adrien asks.
"Ma got me Gotham Knights, we could try that?"
"I thought that was 2-player?"
"They added an up to 4-player co-op."
Adrien, "Hmms," in response whilst tapping along to a Lewis Capaldi song playing on the radio.
"You okay with Gotham Knights?" I ask Trevor.
"I don't mind."
We spend the rest of the car ride in silence, with shitty songs playing in the background.
I'm starting to feel hella nervous about when we get to mine. What if it's awkward? What if Trevor decides to leave? What if we don't have anything to talk about? What if it's not like what it used to be? What if it's too different and they decide to never hang out with me again?
Maybe this wasn't a good idea.
"Hey wanna stop and grab snacks?" Adrien asks, watching me through the rear-view mirror.
I shrug in response.
Adrien raises an eyebrow at me and then glances at Trevor, who hasn't stopped staring out the window since we got in the car.
A confused look passes over Adrien's face before he masks it with a small unsure smile.
Yeah, this is gonna be an awkward evening.
Adrien pulls into the car park of a small convenience store.
"Want me to get snacks?" Adrien asks tentatively.
"Nah, we'll come too," Trevor says getting out of the car, I quickly follow.
Adrien gets sour cream pringles and peanut m&m's. Trevor grabs original pringles and crispy m&m's. Whereas I grab myself jellybeans, Starmix, and Supermix Haribos.
I'm already halfway through the bag of Supermix before we reach mine, this is why I always get two bags.
"There's leftover chilli in the fridge for dinner," I say as I walk into the kitchen.
"Do you want to have it on its own or with something?" Trevor asks following me.
"I'm craving it in a potato."
"Alright, I'll put the oven on."
"That good with you Adrien?" I ask noticing that he's oddly quiet.
He nods quickly, "Yeah, yeah. You eat meat now?"
I shrug nonchalantly, "Yeah guess so."
He nods before asking, "Is Ma at work?"
"Yeah, she's on night shift tonight," I say double checking my phone just to be sure.
I can't wait for Monday when Ma's finally working the day shift. I hate knowing I'm home alone on a night.
"I don't mind sleeping over tonight if you want?" Adrien asks hesitantly.
I can't help but smile, it's been so long since I've had any company whilst Ma's on nights, "Yeah, I'd like that."
Adrien smiles back, "Awesome! Are you staying the night too Trevor?"
I can't help but internally cringe. My body tenses waiting for his reply.
"Yeah, I can stay."
My head snaps towards him, our eyes meet and he shoots me a small smile.
Is this because of our talk earlier?
I can't help but smile widely back.
This is good, this is progress.
My stomach rumbles loudly, "I'm fucking starving," I walk over to the freezer and grab potato waffles.
"You're gonna ruin your appetite," Trevor warns like a parent.
"Don't worry, I'll still have room," I say putting two waffles in the toaster.
I grab the chilli container from the fridge and warm some up in a bowl.
"Are you seriously going to eat potato waffles and chilli?" Adrien asks.
"Yes. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, nothing," Adrien replies but I see and hear the judgment.
"This is coming from the guy who survives on microwave meals."
"They're nutritious."
I can't help but laugh aloud, "on what planet is an abundance of salt nutritious?"
"Maya always gets the low-sodium meals," he says quietly.
"Salt and sodium aren't the same thing," I correct as I take out the waffles and put two more in.
"Well salt is made up of sodium, so it basically is sodium. And it's the sodium in salt that's bad for you," Adrien argues back.
"Still doesn't take away from the fact that ready meals have like no nutritious value whatsoever."
"Yes they do, have you ever read the ingredients and nutrients table on the back?"
"That's nothing compared to a freshly made meal."
"But it still is something. And look at me! I'm healthy."
I glance at him, he does look a lot more muscular than before. Just how much time is he spending at the gym? Is he still doing his stupid two-hour workout in the morning?
I don't bother replying as I take out my waffles, popping them on the plate with the other two, and then pouring over the warm chilli.
Trevor puts a tray of potatoes in the oven whilst Adrien watches me silently.
"What? How is this any different than what we're about to eat?" I point at the waffles, "potato," and then point at the chilli, "chilli."
Trevor hold up his hands in defence, "I didn't say anything."
I grab cheese and dump a load on top.
"You know I'm just winding you up, potato waffles and chilli together are more common than you think," Adrien says sitting next to me, "I've missed annoying you, it's so easy sometimes," he laughs.
I ignore him and continue eating.
Before I can stop him, Adrien steals a waffle.
"Hey!"
"What? I'm hungry too, and you didn't offer to make me any," Adrien says taking a massive bite, already having eaten half.
"You know where the waffles are, you know where the toaster is. Make yourself some."
Adrien smiles before getting up, "You know, potato waffles and chilli are actually pretty good."
"Dude, you better not get full on waffles," Trevor warns.
"Stop worrying man. Do you want some waffles?"
Trevor glares at him before shaking his head.
"So apparently Gotham Knights haven't added the 4-player co-op yet," Adrien says, looking up from his phone.
"We can just play something else," I shrug.
"Yeah I'm not fussed either, Trevor you're picking," Adrien says, smiling up at him.
I swear he's purposely winding us up at this point.
Trevor glares at him for a few seconds before shrugging, "Alright." Guess he's decided not to entertain him.
"I'll pick the movie we'll watch after," Adrien announces happily.
"No." Trevor and I both respond immediately.
"What? Why not?"
"I'm not in the mood for a horror or thriller," I state.
"Oh come on! We've still got the third conjuring movie to watch!"
"Oh hell no," I say shaking my head.
"Very fitting seen as it's called the devil made me do it," Adrien responds over dramatically.
"Yeah definitely no," Trevor responds shaking his head, Adrien gives him puppy eyes making Trevor add, "Come on you know we don't mess with the whole devil and religion thing man."
Yeah, making puppy eyes really doesn't work on Trevor. Charlie was the only one that could get one over on him.
"You seriously going to make me watch it alone?"
I vigorously nod my head whilst Trevor replies, "Mhmm."
"Only psychos watch horror films alone."
"Wellllll...." I say looking him up and down.
"What?"
"I mean you kinda do fit the category," I say shrugging it off.
"You're calling me a psycho?" Adrien asks and I hear the edge in his voice, Trevor seems to too as he takes a step towards me.
As violent as Adrien is, I don't think I've ever been afraid of him. I know he won't ever hit me.
"You did put Matt and Nicki in the hospital. Completely ruined their chances of getting a scholarship."
"That's different."
"Do explain."
Adrien runs his hand through his hair a few times before replying, "They put Ethan in the hospital first, two fractured ribs, a busted leg, and a concussion."
Fucking hell, and he's still attending school?
Well, I guess it's better than staying at home for him.
Trevor nods in understanding but doesn't say anything. I look at him in confusion.
"And so what? When have you ever cared about Ethan before?"
Trevor looks at me discreetly shaking his head whilst giving me the I'll explain later look.
"I care about Ethan," Adrien mutters quietly after a moment of silence.
I can't help but raise an eyebrow at that, "Since when?"
And why? I add silently. I'm not even trying to be a dick here, but no one cares about Ethan. Everyone in this tiny ass town stays the hell away from him and for good reason - his racist, bigoted, homophobic, slimy-ass psycho of a father.
He's quiet, pondering for a while before answering, "I don't know."
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Quite a range of different sides of Luke in this chapter, what did you think?