The good, the bad, and the worse (1x1 w/ mywashingtonromance

[synastry]

Gabriel Waters;;
Pretending to ignore Alex, Gabe had a feeling the other boy knew Gabe didn't hate him. Maybe at the beginning of the day, but Gabe saw a side he guessed few people got to see.

Blushing profusely at Alex's comment, Gabe lied "How many times must I tell you I'm not gay?" He knew it was probably no use trying to lie about his sexuality to Alex, but he still did anyway, just to see what would happen. Shaking his head, he said "No scorpions." Catching what he said, Gabe didn't really know what to say. After a few moments of silence, he replied "Go on, don't let me hold you back."

"Yes you are!You're literally the brightest thing in a mile radius right now. And good lord, if you dye your hair any color I'll think of a name. Don't go green though, otherwise you'll be leprechaun. Blue... hmm, gotta think of one. But my favorite color?" After a few moments of thought, he said honestly "Black."

[mywashingtonromance]

Alexander Carmen
-
Alex shot him a look, and considering no one else was around, he honestly responded, “you can tell me as many times as you want. I’m not going to believe you. I don’t pay attention in school, Gabriel, I spend all my time figuring everyone out.” He paused, shaking his head while pulling out a cigarette from the carton in his pocket and placing it to his lips. He mumbled through it, “what are you so afraid of?” before lighting it and giving Gabe a questioning look with his eyebrows raised. Glancing around to scope out the area, he spotted a secluded bench that he started to head towards.

He pinched the cigarette with two fingers to pull it from his mouth and blow smoke away from Gabriel. He kept holding it after, letting it burn in favor of responding. “Black? Dark side, huh? I could dye it black, but the jocks would start calling me Edward Scissorhands again, and that stopped being clever after about the first month.”

[synastry]

Gabriel Waters;;
Sighing, Gabe looked down, and since no one was around, he took a breath and said "Yeah. I know, you don't see a point in me hiding it. But like, everyone..." He paused for a moment, thinking his words over. After a moment, he continued. "I guess I'm scared of what people will think? My parents have always been supportive of me, no matter what. But mostly some of my friends I guess?" Looking down, He found a tree next to the bench Alex was heading towards, upwind of him.

Taking another breath, he looked down at his feet, starting to blush a bit. The first person he came out to was someone he'd only known for a few hours. Now that was insane.

Giving a small laugh, Gabe said "Nah. Keep it white. It suits you." Kicking a stone, he sat in silence for a moment. Then he asked an incredibly stupid question. "You flirt with everyone, or is it just me you like to make blush?"

[mywashingtonromance]

Alexander Carmen
-
Alexander perched himself on top of the bench, refusing to sit normally as usual, and blew smoke upwards towards the sky. He turned towards Gabriel to tell him, “listen, I’m sure there are still plenty of bigots out there and everything. But most people our age, they don’t really care. Even the football players only bug me about being gay because it’s just one more thing for them to dunk on me for, not because they actually care. I’m sure your friends will be fine. And, not to be cliche or anything, but supportive parents are really good. Important I mean.” He paused, taking a deep breath before admitting, “I wish I had that.”

He ran a hand though his hair and took another drag before continuing. “I’m not trying to force you out of the closet, you know. I’m just telling you it’s not so bad. And if it’s not bad for someone like me, who’s super in your face about it, it definitely won’t be bad for you.” Alex then offered Gabriel an actually genuine smile; small, but certainly meant to be encouraging.

He started to inhale the cigarette again, but choked on it laughing as Gabriel asked the question. After calming down, he responded, “I definitely don’t flirt with everyone.” He paused, amending. “In fact, I don’t even talk to anyone. Just you,” he confirmed, before smirking and casually saying, “you’re cute when you blush.”

[synastry]

Gabriel Waters;;
Gabe looked up at Alex as he spoke, and this time, he didn't know what to say. After a few moments, Gabe went back to looking up at the trees, before continuing to listen as Alex spoke. His tone came off as a bit sad, but he wasn't too sure how else to put it. "With that, actually, everyone..." his sentence didn't completely make it out, and he shook his head.

"Well, when you put it that way, you make it sound like I'm trying a new food or something."

Seeing Alex's smile out of his peripheral vision, his head whipped towards him when he heard him choke. Glaring at him when he realized he was only laughing. About to ask why just him, just to get an answer out of Alex, Gabe couldn't help but retort "You sound like a girl right now."

Looking at Alex, Gabe sighed, then checked him watch again. 1:10. Time was going by so slow... he felt incredibly awkward now, and wasn't sure what to do in the silence.

[mywashingtonromance]

Alexander Carmen
-
Alexander looked intently at Gabriel until he cut himself off; Alex watched him for a few more seconds, waiting for a continuation, but simply shrugged and looked up to the sky when there wasn’t one, deciding not to push him. Alex put the cigarette out on the bottom of his boot and thought for a few moments. “That would’ve been a good metaphor. Food, I mean. I should’ve done that,” he joked, with a small smile on his face. He apologetically continued, “I’ve never had to, like, help someone with this, or whatever. All I’m telling you is I’ve been out for a while, and honestly, I’m glad I am.” He shrugged, flicking the cigarette onto the concrete not too far from them.

“I do not,” Alexander argued, sliding down from the backrest to sit on the bench normally. “I complimented you. Shut up.”

He paused, kicking lightly at the ground and fiddling with his rings before asking, “why didn’t you like me? Before today, I mean.” He quickly amended, “I mean, you might still not like me. But you really didn’t like me before today.”

[synastry]

Gabriel Waters;;
Sighing at Alex's words, he said "Yes you do. And I'm pretty sure complimenting someone then telling them to shut up is a bit contradicting."

Gabe had been wondering how long it would take for Alex to ask him that question. So, he told him the truth. "I didn't like you... I didn't like you because I thought you were, no offence, an idiot. You're late to class, you just didn't seem to care about school, and you seemed extremely rude and sarcastic and just mean. You'd practically ruined your high school experience, and I guess that made me think of you as below me." He hoped his words hadn't come off as too harsh, mostly since Alex had asked the question.

"I also didn't like you because I always had a feeling that someone in the school knew what I was hiding. And, since you're so open about it, I just figured it was you. I guess I just didn't want anyone to know, let alone someone I despised." Sitting down at the base of the tree, facing Alex, Gabe thought for a moment. "As for now? You're arrogant, overly flirtatious, and a bit short tempered. But... I don't hate you. You just make me annoyed." He said the last part with a smile, but he hadn't told his partner that Gabe didn't care what Alex did, and that he had slowly grown to appreciate him.

[mywashingtonromance]

Alexander Carmen
-
He shrugged, chuckling at Gabriel’s comment, but not responding, instead listening to him continue about why he didn’t like him before.

Alexander paused, mulling over Gabe’s words, an impassive look on his face. “I figured.” He thought for a minute before continuing, “I always liked you. Well, not always. Freshman year I thought you were a giant pushover.” He ran a hand through his hair, which was becoming increasingly curly with humidity. “But tenth grade I tried to figure you out a little bit more, and then I liked you.”

He took a pause again, strategically pulling out a pack of gum and taking a piece before offering the pack to Gabriel. He chewed thoughtfully for a bit before admitting, “most of it is for show, you know that? I’m not as arrogant or mean or disinterested as I pretend to be. I am all of those things.” He blew a bubble and snapped it loudly. “Just not that much. I just wanted people to leave me alone.”

[synastry]

Gabriel Waters;;
"I'm not that bad of a pushover... right?" Gabe tried his absolute hardest not to blush, but his cheeks still turned a little bit red. Taking the pack from Alex and picking out a strip, he passed it back up, and said "If you didn't want people to bug you why not just stay away? Or just completely avoid them in the first place?"

Smirking, Gabe added "As for the arrogant thing, you'd be lying if you said you weren't" Checking the time again, he saw it was 1:15, and said "1:15. Wanna start heading back?" It wouldn't take very long to go back to the bus; 5 minutes at most. But Gabe was feeling extremely awkward with the knowledge that a guy he'd misjudged had liked him since they were sophomores. He suddenly felt bad, and blurted "Sorry, by the way. For misjudging you."

He was rather surprised that no one from their school had found their way down the path, especially since they weren't all that far from the gift shop. Eyebrows furrowed, he couldn't help but feel that something was up.

[mywashingtonromance]

Alexander Carmen
-
“You’re not. No one is ever really what they seem like,” Alex told him, before laughing and saying, “that’s very cliche.” He took the pack and put it back in his pocket, blowing a bubble and letting it deflate before responding. “I try to avoid most people.” This was true; Alex was always alone at school, when he was there. “But it’s not like I can go forever without talking to anyone. And I definitely couldn’t drop out.”

Alexander stood up and took a few steps towards the tree, smirking and offering Gabe a hand. “It’s okay. It’s a facade; it’s not meant to be seen through.”

He started to walk towards the bus, looking around, his brows furrowed as well. “You alright?”