"Come on, you're standing in front of the mirror for ages." Maddie pulled at his sleeve. "You look fine."

Rory sighed. It wasn't like he cared very much about his looks, but today his hair really was a mess. Normally it didn't bother him, but today there was a chance that he would see Emilio again and because of that, he hadn't been able to sleep for two days. Since he met the guy, it had been impossible not to think about him. He had been to Mickey's house twice, but he hadn't seen the guy. Tonight, however, Mickey had organized a LAN party for all the guys in the building, and friends were invited too, so Rory had responded enthusiastically when Mickey asked him to come. Once he had done so, he had practically begged Maddie to come with him, terrified that he would do something unbelievably stupid when he would see Emilio. Like being too chicken to ask his number and regret it for two more weeks. Once more, he raked his fingers through his hair, then he gave up and left his bedroom. 

"Man, I'm so nervous," he muttered as he put his laptop in his bag. "Stupid huh? I'm gonna be so disappointed when he's not there and I'm gonna freak out when he's actually there."

"But that's why you have me," Maddie said. "Come on Rore. If he's not there, it will be fun too. There's more in the world than that guy."

"Yeah, I know." He felt ashamed of himself, but he didn't really know what to do with his thoughts and feelings, especially because it had gone wrong so many times. He hadn't told Adam about Emilio. Maybe because there was almost no chance that Emilio would like him and well, Adam was a really nice guy. Deep down however he knew it wasn't fair. He would never be happy with Adam when he didn't call up the same heavy feelings that Emilio did. He shook it off. Worrying about one guy was enough. Grabbing his bag, he left the apartment. 

Rory was having a mini heart attack when he dropped his bicycle close to a Harley. For a moment he kept staring at it; he hadn't seen it since he had left this building two weeks ago. Immediately, images of that night flashed before his eyes. His stomach whirled around. 

"That's his," he whispered to Maddie, without knowing why on earth he was whispering. Maybe because he didn't want anyone else to hear. "The left one."

The other Harley looked amazing too and he wondered if it belonged to that friend at whose place he was crashing. 

Maddie nudged his shoulder. "See? That's one thing less to worry about."

Rory rang the doorbell, waited until the door was automatically opened, and stepped into the hallway. 

Seeing that bike didn't have to mean anything. He might not even be a gamer — although he definitely looked like the type of guy who would love it. Nervousness spread through his veins as they ascended the stairs to Mickey's apartment. He heard music and voices. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, feigning nonchalance, although his heart almost jumped out of his chest. 

Here we go, he thought while nearing the door which was already open. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed the fingers of his right hand into a fist. Then, he went inside. His glance fluttered across the room — and there he was, sitting at a table. Even though the others were talking, Emilio was the only one who already looked concentrated at his laptop screen. Rory swallowed, then he forced himself to walk further. 

"Hey!" He turned towards Mickey to greet him.  "I'm Rory," he told the guys he didn't know. "And this is Maddie."

Nervously, his eyes flashed to Emilio. He was startled as the guy looked him right in the eye and he felt his stomach contract. The corner of his mouth was trembling, yet he still managed to smile at the guy who had been on his mind for days. 

Emilio didn't show him the grin that had set him on fire before, instead, he returned his gaze to his laptop and he played along as they had never met. 

Rory's shoulders slumped down. Disappointment made his eyes stung and he didn't know what to say or do. Quickly, he focused on Mickey and the other guys, hoping nobody had noticed his hurt feelings. 

"Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Juan," a boy said. "Grab a chair and something to drink!"

Rory went to the kitchen, filled two glasses with soda, and gave one to Maddie. He avoided eye contact, but he was sure that she could sense how he felt. And she probably knew who Emilio was too, for he was the only one who hadn't introduced himself. Had Rory been the only one who felt that connection? Turning his back towards the guy, he tried to join in conversations about studies and work.

. . .

Emilio could even hear his heartbeat echo through his skull — he even wondered if others could hear it. Not for a moment, he had thought of the possibility that Rory would be here today too. He had recognized his voice from the very first tone and it had shocked him so badly that he almost knocked over his bottle of beer. Immediately, he thought back to the things that he had told Juan. That he had met a guy he couldn't stop thinking about. For some reason, he didn't want his friend to know Rory was the one he'd talked about. The last time Juan had been drunk, he hadn't been in control of his tongue anymore and he was terrified that his friend would say something about his possible crush on a boy. Especially now Rory had taken a girl with him. She was probably his girlfriend. Emilio felt incredibly stupid. His concentration was completely gone; he aimlessly walked around in the map while trying no to think of the many times that he had fantasized how he would bury his fingers in Rory's blond hair, how he would kiss his lips, how his hands would slip across his naked upper body and how that fierce little guy would leave heated hickeys in his neck. His breathing sped up and quickly he drank from his beer to cool himself down.

. . .

It didn't take long before his glance wandered off to Emilio. He obviously didn't enjoy the social aspect of LAN parties... Rory hesitated. Would he just go to him? He didn't have anything to lose anyway. Maybe his sullen attitude had nothing to do with him; something might have happened to him which made him not the merriest human being around. He walked around the table and stood still behind Emilio. His shadow fell upon the screen, the boy must know someone was standing behind him. 

Fuck it, he thought. When someone treated him like shit, he was allowed to do the same. Grabbing the edge of the chair, he pulled it back. Not so far that the guy would fall, but enough to shake him up. Cursing, Emilio turned around, his fist clenched. Rory was startled by the darkness in his eyes, yet he didn't let it chase him away and he showed the boy a grin. 

"Ignoring someone so bluntly is rude, man. You know I'm going to blast you to pieces in every game we play, right? Whether you're my teammate or not?"

Emilio grabbed the table and pulled back his chair so the four legs were back on the ground. The fright still streamed through his veins, although he didn't know if it was because of the fear to fall or because Rory stood suddenly so close. Usually, everyone stayed away from him when he was in a mood like this, but Rory seemed not to care.

He had no idea what to say. Turning around and continuing the game felt the most natural, but he was sure the boy would knock over his chair. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders, muttering something that wasn't actual words. 

Rory sat down next to him. "Why are you going to a LAN party if you don't want to talk to people? You might as well have stayed in your room."

Emilio huffed, annoyance creeping under his skin because he was asking such a blunt question. "That I don't want to talk to you, doesn't mean I don't want to talk to people in general."

"So... who is it you do want to talk to?" Rory sat sideways on the chair, his elbows leaning on his knees and his chin resting upon his fists. Since he was leaning forward, the neck of his shirt hung down so he could see a few black lines. His throat felt dry as he tried to picture the tattoo that was hidden under his shirt.

As he caught himself staring, his glance shot back to Rory's stormy grey eyes. The boy didn't look away but kept his glance. Emilio felt hot, he was afraid that his skin was reddening. Quickly, he searched for an excuse for his stupid behavior. 

"I just have a bad day," he muttered. "Everyone else knows it's better to ignore me." Although they opted to stay away from him when he wasn't cranky too. "It ain't personal," he lied. "Told you last time — I'm an asshole."

"Yeah — an honest asshole," he said with a grin. "Well — I don't ignore people when they feel like shit. Making you laugh is my mission for tonight."

Something fluttered in his stomach. 

Something he wanted to beat to death. 

"I'm sure there are nicer people to waste your time on."

"Well, I think you are a nice guy," Rory answered, giving him a wink. "And a greater challenge than everyone else here."

Emilio almost choked on his spit. Was that guy flirting with him? Or was he just trying to mess with him? "Well — thanks, I guess."

Rory smirked. "Lemme get my laptop. Looking at your awfully low score, you can use all the help you can get." He got up. 

Emilio couldn't help it; when Rory walked away, Emilio's eyes scanned his back and rested upon his ass. 

With a grunt, he snapped his head in another direction as he caught himself thinking he had a nice ass. Focusing on his laptop screen, he rubbed his face. What the fuck dude. Act fucking normal.