Chapter 23
Dorcas was sure of one thing when she entered Evan’s house again.
She was never going to leave Marlene and Evan alone again.
‘Dor I’m stealing your girlfriend!’ Evan yelled excitedly from his place on the floor beside the couch where Marlene was sitting. She was wearing a big smirk and was holding a guitar that was formerly placed in a corner of the room.
‘You found out she plays, huh? It was supposed to be kept a secret from Evan ‘falls in love with everyone who can play a guitar’ Rosier, but okay.’ Dorcas shook her head, laughing silently and sitting down besides Marlene.
‘Let’s hear it. What can you play for me?’ Dorcas asked, earning a soft smile from her girlfriend before she started plucking at the guitar and a familiar tune filled the space. She smiled at Dorcas who smiled back at her. Velvet ring. Of course.
‘Someone, who, perhaps, has a very nice voice, should really sing along,’ Dorcas said, giving Evan a pointed look, who was staring at Marlene’s hands in awe. ‘What? No, I can’t sing Dor, you know that,’ Evan said, softly shaking his head.
‘I don’t care. Sing along, for me? Please?’ Dorcas asked, flashing her smile and big eyes at Evan she knew he never could resist. He sighed deeply and motioned for Marlene to begin again. Dorcas grabbed her phone and laid it down on the side of the couch casually as she hit record.
Chilled in the kitchen of a city tomb
The light would flicker like a violent womb
The night was thicker than a smokey fume
Eliza waited in her room
Dorcas’ smile grew, as Evan stared at the guitar to keep himself on track with Marlene, his soft accent slowly coming back as he struggled over some of the quicker words.
Ben, he loved her like he loved no one
The way she laughed and held a smoking gun
The way she always said
‘What’s done is done’
And he is not the only one
Dorcas’ eyes fell on Barty who was staring at Evan from the kitchen. His eyes were big, mouth parted in shock and awe. His cheeks were tinted pink and the glass he was holding looked close to being dropped from his hands.
Love is a gentle thing
Yours is thicker than a velvet ring
Your is thicker than a velvet ring
Regulus joined in on the watching from his place on the sofa in the living room, putting his book away and smiling when Dorcas motioned for him to join in and he did so reluctantly. Because it was Dorcas asking, and no one said no to Dorcas.
A victim here with a sharp, sharp blade
And ben, he know how she was getting paid
Her water broke and they would have to wait
Evan and Regulus locked eyes. Evan raised an eyebrow, Regulus let loose a reluctant smirk.
And when he knew that she was fooling
He face the mirror to avoid the thing
We’re out of money and we’ve sold the bling
And I just wanna take you home
Evan’s eyes fell from Regulus, to Marlene, to Dorcas, to Barty, where they stayed.
I just wanna take you home
Love is a gentle thing
Yours is thicker than a velvet ring
Yours is thicker than a velvet ring
And I’m wondering
Ring
And I’m wondering
As Marlene played the last few notes, the calm atmosphere broke and Evan blinked. He looked away from Barty, back to Dorcas with a small smile. ‘There you go. Enough ‘Evan singing’ for the rest of the year.’ He coughed and stood up.
‘Ev, no. Don’t go. We were going so good,’ Marlene complained, but Evan ignored her and made a beeline for his bedroom door. ‘Where are you going? What are you gonna do, Ev?’ Dorcas asked, but Evan only slammed his door as an answer.
With these dudes it’s always one step forward, three steps back.
If only they just got their shit together.
Dorcas heaved another sigh and stood up. ‘Excuse me, I need to slap some sense into a blonde haired prick. Be right back,’ she muttered, making her way to Evan’s room and walking in, because the idiot wasn’t smart enough to even lock his door.
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Evan heard his door open, and secretly he wished Barty was the one who entered his room.
He knew it wasn’t him though. The idiot wouldn’t dare do something as stupid as care for Evan.
Evan looked up and saw Dorcas, walking over to his bed and sitting down on it beside Evan who had buried his head in his pillow again. Dorcas huffed. ‘That’s awfully childish to do, little rose,’ Dorcas said softly, though Evan could basically hear her eyebrow raise and unimpressed look. ‘Idon’twannatalkaboutit,’ Evan muttered, so quickly that he wasn’t sure if Dorcas heard it. ‘Nuh uh,’ she tutted. ‘We’re definitely talking about it, Ev. Get up.’
Evan groaned and sat up, facing her with pale cheeks and light green eyes. ‘I don’t even know what to say, Dor. It’s weird. He’s being weird. I know he’s been screwing Regulus, too, but they’re acting as if it never happens.’ Dorcas’ eyes widened slightly at Evan’s words. ‘How’d you figure it out?’
‘The hickey in his neck when Regulus brought me to the hospital? The hours Barty wakes up and sneaks to the ‘bathroom’ which is conveniently beside Regulus’ room? The constant looks between them? The weird vibe? Oh, and Regulus sleeps beside me. It’s not like my walls are soundproof for fucks’ sake,’ Evan said, a bite to his tone that made Dorcas wince.
‘You’re mad?’ Evan gave her a confused look. ‘Of course I’m fucking mad, Dor. Barty can’t get his shit straight! He tells me he loves me, then he fucks Regulus. I ask him to stay, because I miss him, he fucks Regulus. He kisses me.’ Evan didn’t finish his sentence. His face was twisted from agony and anger and sadness and confusion. He didn’t know what to make of any of it. Was kissing really not important enough for Barty? Did he have to fuck him for Barty to stop fucking Regulus?
‘I shouldn’t have broken up with James. He was so good to me. Barty is only ruining me like this,’ Evan muttered softly, his eyes meeting the dark brown ones of Dorcas. The disapproval in them he knew he’d see. ‘That’s not why you should stay with someone. It wasn’t love, so it wouldn’t be right.’
‘Yeah well maybe I don’t wanna be right! Fuck Dorcas! Being right does nothing for me! Being good only ruins my life! This is my last real summer and Barty ruined almost all of it!!’ Evan yelled, standing up and letting his anger flush out in warm tears that fell over his face. Evan hated it. He hated himself for crying, he hated how he felt. He hated the look of pity in Dorcas’ eyes, the words ‘I know it feels like shit right now, but it’ll be okay,’ that she tried to tell him so he would calm down.
It wouldn’t.
It wouldn’t be okay.
Everyone with a brain knew that. Evan would become just like his father, because he had no other choice.
Dorcas sighed deeply and grabbed his shoulders. Evan didn’t know when she’d stood up. He also didn’t know when he stopped crying.
‘You know what? We’re going out tonight. All of us. One night without all of the drama. Just like old times. Tomorrow we’ll act like it never happened, but tonight you’ll be free. You’d like that?’ Dorcas asked, and Evan did like that. One night. Just one night without drama. Yes. Yes, he wanted that. He wanted that so badly.
‘Yeah. Yes. Please,’ Evan asked desperately. Dorcas smiled at him. ‘Get ready then. Take a shower and then we’re leaving for food before clubbing.’
So Dorcas left his room, to presumably tell her plan to the rest of them and Evan stripped his clothes to step into the shower. He let the warm water fall on his head, only thinking about tonight and drowning out his feelings and thoughts for a few minutes.
He stood still until the water ended up in his nose and he sneezed it out again, which of course hurt like a bitch. ‘Fucking hell,’ he muttered, softly touching his nose and grimacing. He was happy to wash his face after a week of using a cloth to do it, because the cast couldn’t get wet, but now he regrets it.
He stepped out of the shower with a throbbing feeling behind his eyes, presumably from his nose. He looked at the wet strands of his hair, noticing a few strands that were naturally curling. He was getting a perm when he was back in Britain. He loved his curls now that he knew how they looked.
‘Finally done with showering?’ Evan turned to face Regulus who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. ‘Regulus, I just turned the shower off. What’s wrong with the other shower?’ Evan asked, also raising an eyebrow and putting his towel around his waist.
‘I’d rather see you butt naked than see Dor and Marlene fucking, thank you very much.’ Regulus scrunched up his nose. Evan huffed out a laugh. ‘Okay that’s fair. You need to shower too?’ Evan asked, but Regulus shook his head. ‘Just freshening up my curls before we’re going.’
Regulus walked over to the mirror where he plugged in a diffuser. Evan watched him in silence while Regulus opened up a few cabinets and grabbed some products he then opened up and started scrunching into his curls.
‘What?’ Regulus asked, not looking at Evan because his head was upside down. ‘No, nothing. Just interested.’ Regulus looked up a little bit and hinted at a smile with his eyes. ‘You want me to help you with your curls?’
Evan smiled brightly and nodded quickly. ‘Wait, I’m putting on a shirt and then I’ll be back,’ Evan said, already walking into his room. ‘Grab two!’ Regulus yelled, so Evan did.
When he walked back into the bathroom, Regulus’ curls were being diffused right side up again. They were almost dry now, and Regulus shot Evan a small grin. ‘Ready to have the best curls ever, Rosier?’
‘I’m most certainly ready for you to transform them. Your curls are like, perfect,’ Evan said, while Regulus shut off the diffuser and chuckled. ‘They are, yes. One good thing I learned from Sirius.’ His small smile disappeared and he shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts. ‘Now get over here so I can fix your hair.’
‘Beware of pulling my hair. If you do, I may fall for you,’ Evan said, only half kidding. Regulus did manage a snort though. ‘Yeah yeah, mister hair-pulling kink. I know you’re a little freaky.’ Evan laughed at that, while Regulus gently guided his head upside down and started putting stuff in it.
‘How do you even know that? We both know I’ve never… You know,’ Evan said, his cheeks flushing red. ‘I know. But you’ve done plenty of other things, haven't you? I just have a feeling about stuff like that,’ Regulus said, taking a small pause. ‘And most times, I’m correct.’
Evan huffed out a laugh. ‘You’re just saying that because you’re freaky and you think I’m the same as you,’ Evan said. Regulus raised his eyebrow and softly pulled Evan’s hair as if to prove a point, which he did when Evan closed his eyes and tried to stop himself from reacting to it. His body did react to it though, and Regulus started laughing while Evan’s cheeks flushed red. ‘This proves nothing, Regulus. We had already established that I have a kink for that,’ Evan huffed while Regulus grabbed the diffuser. ‘Yeah yeah.’
The boys were silent after that. Regulus finished Evan’s curls, which looked so good that Evan was almost envious of himself. ‘Holy shit, Reg. Open up a hair salon or something, this is awesome,’ Evan said, looking at Regulus with his mouth hanging open. ‘I thought your hair was just so good because of your good genes, but it’s good because you’re so good, wow.’
Regulus shook his head. ‘Nah, I didn’t even do much. I Learned it from Sirius, as I said.’
Evan rolled his eyes. ‘Doesn’t matter, you’re just so fucking good at it,’ he told Regulus again. Regulus sighed and huffed again. ‘Alright, sure. Here,’ he threw the spare shirt, which was now wet, at Evan’s face. Evan ducked just in time and the shirt landed perfectly against the wall, falling down and landing in the toilet.
‘Reg!’ Evan yelled, grabbing his shirt. ‘What?! You ducked!’ Regulus yelled back, looking at Evan confused. Evan and Regulus stood still, just looking at the shirt before both of them burst out laughing.
God, Evan missed this.
Just laughing with his best friend. He loved moments like these.
‘What are you wearing?’ Regulus asked, when their laughter had faded away and they walked into Evan’s room. Evan shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’
Regulus hummed and threw a dark blue shirt at his face. ‘Stop throwing stuff at my face, Reg,’ Evan said, but there was no bite to his words. ‘Yeah yeah. Put that one on with your light wash baggy jeans. Simple but efficient,’ Regulus said while he went for the door. ‘Regulus?’ Evan asked, which made Regulus turn his head to look at him.
‘Wear that dark green top you have. It brings out your eyes.’ Regulus’ eyes crinkled at the sides as a form of a smile and he nodded before leaving the room.
Evan sighed deeply and sat down on his bed. He clicked play on his spotify playlist, not really knowing which playlist started, though he was content when he heard ‘poison poison’ playing from Reneé Rapp.
After another few minutes (half an hour) of admiring his curls in his mirror and singing along to music, Dorcas declared that they were going.
They, of course, ate dinner at the Italian place. Luckily no irritable thieves were working tonight, so Evan didn’t have to deal with that.
Dorcas, who was in a glittery, golden dress, was laughing loudly at a stupid joke made by her girlfriend when Evan noticed James walk in. He looked away quickly, but couldn’t help himself from looking back again, intrigued. Evan’s eyes widened with every step that James took. He was walking to their table. Sirius and Remus were with him, though they looked like they were too busy in their own talk to really pay attention as to where they were walking.
‘Hey beautiful ladies,’ James said, bending down to hug Marlene and press a kiss to Dorcas’ hand. ‘And good evening handsome lads,’ he said, though he only nodded at Barty and ignored the confused looks from Regulus and Evan.
‘Dorcas, what-?’ ‘Nuh uh. A night without consequences, Evan. Marlene wanted to have her friends over,’ Dorcas interrupted him. Evan shared a look with Regulus before both of the boys sighed deeply and sunk deeper into their seats.
They weren’t alike though. Not at all.
A few minutes later they were joined by the girls, who came in with big smiles plastered on their faces. They pulled up a few extra chairs.
Emmeline, who was wearing a short, dark blue jumpsuit, sat down beside Evan. ‘Hiiiiii.’ She dragged out the hi until Evan started smiling at her. ‘Hey Emmeline. The blue looks good on you,’ he said, motioning towards the jumpsuit. She winked at him. ‘Gotta keep the style up to find maself a man, Evan babes,’ she said, which made Evan laugh.
‘So what were we talking about?’ Lily asked, seated between Barty and James, which luckily brought more space between James and Evan’s raising heartbeat. He was uncomfortable, okay? Nothing else.
‘We were talking about how fit your abs are, James. Seeing as we have multiple eyewitnesses at our table here,’ Marlene teased, making Evan’s head snap up to meet her eyes. His cheeks reddened while James punched out a surprised ‘oh’. When Evan turned to look at Regulus, he saw a similar redness on his cheeks and neck.
‘Booooriiiing. Let’s talk about actual fun stuff,’ Mary said, diffusing the situation before either of the boys had to react. ‘Short and sweet. Absolute banger. Coincidence is my song, thank you very much,’ Mary said, smiling proudly at herself. Lily’s face lightened up at the mention of the album, but she looked aghast when Mary announced her favourite of the album.
‘What about you Evan? We know you love a good Carpenter moment,’ Alice asked, earning a soft smile from Evan. ‘I loved slim pickins and bed chem, but we all have to agree taste is the most iconic one,’ Evan said, earning agreement all around the table.
‘I’m sorry, must’ve missed something? Short and sweet? What’s that?’ Barty asked while he frowned. ‘It’s Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, Barty,’ Regulus snapped, not making eye contact with him.
‘Oh. Right, because all of a sudden everyone knows the polly pocket girl,’ Barty muttered irritatedly while crossing his arms. The table fell silent and he looked around confused, his eyes lingering on Mary for a second longer than the rest.
What was going on there?
Was something going on there?
‘Barty, that’s something only a Sabrina fan is supposed to know,’ Mary said, frowning at him. He looked away and coughed. ‘A girl I slept with kept talking about her. Kept calling her polly pocket, too.’
And he said it like it was normal.
Evan scoffed, which got him a hurt look from Barty.
‘Okay, let’s just go alright?’ Lily said, clasping her hands and standing up.
One night.
No consequences.