Evan was out with Regulus and Pandora when Barty’s name popped up on his phone. He hasn’t heard from Barty in a couple of months so the fact that he was texting him was odd. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the text message.
Hey, I know it’s been a while, but if you’re free soon, I would like to meet up. I miss being friends with you, Ev.
It was a simple text message, one that had no business practically sending him into cardiac arrest when he read it. Evan stared at his phone, eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide, causing Regulus to wave a hand in front of his face.
“Earth to Evan, are you okay mate, you look like you just had a stroke,” Regulus asked when Evan finally decided to look away from his screen.
“Is everything okay Evan?” Pandora asked, looking at him concerned. Evan thought they were being a little dramatic, but they had every right to be concerned since he was staring at his phone like someone died.
“Yeah, but you’ll never believe who texted me,” Evan said, snapping out of his little trance, making a mental note to reply to him later.
“Was it your dad?” Pandora asked, causing Regulus to snort and Evan to scowl.
“Fuck no, my dad made it clear that I was no longer welcome in the family when I came out. You know he’s blocked, Pandora,” Evan said, taking a sip of his beer.
“Sorry, but you never know,” she said, tipping her glass towards him, causing the boys to roll her eyes at her. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, it was a plausible option.”
“Yeah, I love you, but no the fuck it wasn’t,” Regulus siad, turning his attention back towards Evan, as Pandora scowled at Regulus. “It was probably Barty.”
“But I thought he was also blocked for Evan. He’s supposed to be blocked. Ev, you still have him blocked don’t you?” Pandora asked, eyes wide like she just got the worst news of her life, which to be fair, Evan unblocking Barty was some really bad news for her. Evan grimaced, flashing the pair the best guilty smile he could manage.
“Well, in my defense-” Pandora and Regulus both groaned at that- “he was blocked for a while. I was going through my block list and decided it’s been long enough.” Evan just hoped he looked as guilty as he felt. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea to unblock him, but he was also drinking whenever he did, so he felt like he had at least some excuse to why he did. “If it makes you feel any better, I unblocked him when I was drunk, so I completely forgot I did it until just now.”
“So you drunk unblocked him but didn’t drunk text him?” Pandora asked, disbelief written all over her face. “If you’re going to unblock him drunk, you might as well have drunk texted him. At least make it worth it.”
“Evan, I mean this in the most sincere way possible, but what the fuck is wrong with you? Why would that make us feel better about this?” Regulus asked in disbelief. “James is going to hear about this,” he said, pulling out his phone, causing Evan to panic. He was already embarrassed and ashamed enough, he definitely did not want Regulus’ stupid boyfriend to know.
“No you can’t tell James because he’s gonna tell Marlene who’s going to tell Dorcas who will absolutely murder me. He’s not allowed to know,” he said, snatching Regulus’ phone, or well attempting to, causing Regulus to slap his hand away.
“Good, maybe that will teach you not to hook up with your ex. The one who broke your heart at that,” Pandora said, pulling out her own phone, probably to text Dorcas herself.
“Woah woah woah, who said I was hooking up with him? I only see him as a friend,” Evan said, furrowing his eyebrows at the blonde girl.
“Yeah, a friend with benefits maybe,” Regulus deadpanned, causing Pandora to let out a snort.
“Can a guy not be friends with his ex without it being subjective?” Evan asked, glaring at his two best friends. He knew there was no convincing them, but he was not going to let these two ruin his peace of mind about them being friends again.
“No they can, just not when said dude is still in love with said ex,” Pandora said, giving Evan a pointed look. Evan gave her a dry look and sighed, debating against arguing with the pair.
“I’m not in love with Barty anymore, and I haven’t been in a while. If I did go to his place, which I’m not, nothing would happen. Besides, even if I was still in love with him, which I’m not, he doesn’t want me, and he made that quite clear when we broke up,” Evan said, running his hand through his hair. He knew what he was saying was a lie, but his friends didn’t need to know that.
“If Barty doesn’t want you, then why is he texting you?” Regulus asked, raising his eyebrow at the blonde boy. Evan gave Regulus a look that said don’t . He was already giving himself false hope, he didn’t need anymore from his best friend.
“Because he misses being friends with me,” Evan said, looking down at his phone, as if expecting Barty to double text him. “Which, speaking of, I should probably respond shouldn’t I?” Evan said, unlocking his phone, staring back at the text message, racking his brain what to say.
“So you do want to meet up with him?” Pandora asked, smirking at her best friend behind her glass. Evan gave her a blank expression in response.
“I told you I want to be friends with him again. You know, what we were before anything ever happened.” Regulus couldn’t help but roll his eyes at him. Evan knew his friends knew he was lying but he’ll be damned if he didn’t at least try to prove them wrong.
“But something did happen. Things might not go back to the way things were Evan, you have to know that,” Pandora said, taking a sip of her drink. “Should we order a round of shots because we’re gonna need it if Evan gets involved with Barty again.” Evan rolled his eyes at the dramatics of the situation. He shrugged and looked down at the text message.
“I think that’s a fantastic idea, Pandora,” Regulus said, getting up and heading over to the bar. Evan didn’t know why he went over to the bar, when they had a perfectly good waiter, but Regulus Black is nothing but impatient most times.
“ When and where?” Evan typed the message, his finger hovering over the send button. He knew he looked sad and desperate, but he couldn’t help it. This is the love of his life they're talking about, though everyone else would disagree with him. He sighed and pressed send, deciding to put his phone face down, so he wouldn’t get distracted by him again.
“You texted him didn’t you?” Pandora asked, giving the blonde boy a blank look. Evan couldn’t help but give her a small smile.
“Maybe,” he whispered, causing Pandora to groan, as Regulus came back to their table with a round of shots.
“Reggie, he’s hopeless. He texted him back. I’m going to shoot both of them, starting with Barty,” Pandora said, instantly downing the shot that Regulus gave to her, causing Regulus to sigh.
“Of course he did. You’re pathetic, you know that?” Regulus asked, handing Evan his shot with a disappointed scowl. Evan just looked sheepish as he downed his shot. “He’s hopeless,” Regulus said, as Evan’s phone began buzzing on the table. “And now he’s calling him. Wonderful.” Regulus laughed dryly as Evan picked up his phone, seeing that Barty is, in fact, calling him.
Evan excused himself, stepping outside to answer his phone, with Pandora and Regulus both booing him, until his friends were out of sight.
“Hey Evan, what are you doing right now?” Barty asked, the second he answered, causing Evan to squeeze his eyes shut.
“Barty! Hey, I’m just out with Pandora and Regulus right now, what’s up?” Evan could feel his heart beat faster, as he tried to keep his cool. He felt like he was about to pass out and the only thing keeping him calm was the comfort that he could randomly hang up whenever he pleased. Not that he was going to, but it was comforting.
“I recently got a new apartment and I was just calling to see if you wanted to come check it out. It has hardwood floors so it’s really easy to clean up messes and other things,” Barty said, ever so casually, causing Evan to suck in a sharp breath. Oh yeah, Barty is definitely going to be the death of him.
“That’s cool. Who’d you get the place with?” Evan asked. Oh he was so pathetic and everyone knew it too. All Barty had to do is send one simple text and Evan would be on his knees for him. Evan deserved better, but there’s no better than Barty Crouch Jr. At least not to him.
“No it’s just me living here. Regulus and Pandora have already seen it, so I believe you’re next on the list. Come over, I’m sure Pandora and Regulus wouldn’t mind,” Barty said, causing Evan to roll his eyes. He knew Barty knew that wasn’t true, but he said it with such confidence that he didn’t doubt him for a second.
“Yeah sure, send me your address and I’ll be over there in an hour,” Evan said, before he could stop himself. He could practically see Barty’s smile, and that thought alone is what makes him not regret a single thing up until this point. In fact it makes him smile at that thought alone. Evan is quite pathetic when it comes to Barty Crouch Jr.
“Perfect, I’ll see you in an hour, Evan,” Barty said, before hanging up on him. He gave Evan no chance to respond, probably afraid he would take it back given the chance. Evan knew he should take it back, but he couldn’t help the feeling that came over him as he saw the address to Barty’s new place.
Evan put his phone back in his pocket, and made his way back to the table, where there's another round of shots waiting for him. He picked one up and downed it, smiling sheepishly at his friends.
“I’m about to call an uber and get out of here,” he said, taking a seat back down. Regulus and Pandora both groaned, downing their shots as well.
“I cannot believe you’re ditching us for dick,” Pandora grumbled, taking a bite of the chips and salsa they ordered for the table while Evan was gone.
“Who said I was going to his place? For all you know, I could be going home,” Evan said defensively, pulling out his phone to order an uber.
“You could be, but you’re not. You’re going to Barty’s place,” Regulus said, giving Evan a pointed look. Evan held his hands up in defense and grabbed a chip of his own.
“Yeah I’m going to Barty’s place,” Evan laughed, causing Pandora and Regulus to let out a collective groan once again. “What, we’re just going to be two friends catching up, that’s all.” Evan knew he was lying. He knows he’s going to end up sleeping with Barty again, but he can’t bring himself to care right now. After a drink and two shots, Evan feels like he can do anything. Well almost anything.
“You’re a horrible liar. You owe me for our drinks and the chips and salsa for this,” Regulus said, causing Pandora to giggle.
“Great idea Reggie. I think we should order one last round of shots, so Evan has the courage to say no to Barty.”
“Yeah in our dreams,” Regulus snorted, turning around to flag down the waitress, causing Evan to roll his eyes at them.
“Yeah good luck, we might get cut off before that,” Evan said, pulling out $20, and handing it to Regulus. “Here you go you spoiled bastard. I’ll send you the rest later,” Evan said, standing up and putting on his coat. Regulus took the money with a smile and thanked him.
“I still cannot believe that we’re getting ditched. For Barty of all people. I’m going to yell at him the next time I see him. You better make this shit worth it, Evan or I swear to god I’m going to kill you,” Pandora said. He knew she wasn’t kidding, so he just gave her a small salute, said his goodbyes and made his way outside.
Evan sighed as he gave his driver Barty’s address, wondering if he should actually go through with it. He wishes so desperately that he could make Regulus eat his words. He wishes that he had more self control when it came to Barty Crouch Jr. He wishes for a lot of things, but he just can’t seem to care at the moment. Barty finally moved out of this old apartment complex that seemed way too sketchy for Evan’s liking. He also noticed that his place is on the second floor, which is a lot less stairs than at his last place. He knows he’s helpless, but he figured that’s a problem for his therapist.
He sent Barty his “I’m here” text, and got out of the car. He had half a mind to just turn around and tell Barty that something came up, and maybe he’ll come over some other time, but he figured it was too late for that. Evan ran a hand over his face, and looked up, making eye contact with Barty, who was smiling at Evan, making sure that the door didn’t close. Right then and there, Evan decides he is done for, and decides to make the most of his night.