Chapter Text
Part I
Evan Rosier
– – –
Evan always wondered what it would be like to live in a bustling city. Walking into stores and seeing strangers, having new classmates every school year, hell, even being able to go somewhere without being recognized. Evan longed for that privilege. Unfortunately, he did not have that privilege.
It hadn’t bugged him till he reached secondary. It became very apparent how small their little town of Vaudrille, England, was now. He would walk into a party and could recognize every person there. He could know the entire room’s drinking habits, whether they were a drinker or a stoner, if they preferred vodka or beer, and even who they had hooked up with in the past month. That’s how small Vaudrille was. And it bugged him to no end.
Even now, at 19, he resented his small town for being, well, small. His reputation had been tainted years ago. He had always been Pandora’s twin brother, the suck-up who actually tried in school. As he got older, he became Regulus’s odd bodyguard, or Dorcas’s attempted wingman. But the latest title was Barty’s boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend now.
They had broken up two months prior, the result of screaming matches and a few overturned chairs, followed by Evan going home and sobbing into Pandora’s arms till daylight.
It was the opposite of daylight now, and two months later. Evan walked, a cigarette lazily hanging from his lips, down the dimly lit streets. Pandora and Regulus were at some house party, while Dorcas and her new girlfriend, Marlene, were at some band gig. Both groups had invited Evan, but he turned them down. He felt stupid saying that both places felt like Barty’s territory. He was bound to run into one of Barty’s many friends there, or even Barty himself. He wasn’t sure what he’d say if he did, and he had been putting off finding out for the past two months, so he sure as hell didn’t wish to know just yet.
However, he was getting bored with his aimless wandering. There’s only so many times you can walk up and down the street before boring yourself to death, or getting the police called on you.
Evan glanced at his phone, checking the text Pandora sent him earlier. Maybe tonight he put his big boy pants on. There are only so many places Barty could be, and maybe Evan would find out that he didn’t need to let Barty sour every place in existence. He shot back a quick text and headed to the house.
– – –
The house was hazy and smelled like shit. Evan got nauseous too easily and knew that whatever smoke was filling the air was bound to stuff up his lungs soon.
He pushed through clumps of people and hopped over two kids making out on the floor in an attempt to find Pandora and Regulus. He spotted his twin’s blonde locks on the couch next to Regulus’s recognizable figure. He slipped beside the two, catching them mid-joke.
“Evan!” Pandora squealed, kicking her legs and knocking the coffee table, “You came!”
“Hey, Pan,” Evan laughed, “Did you not see my text?”
Regulus piped up from the arm of the couch. “Pan lost her phone again. It’s God knows where at this point.”
“How the hell do you even manage that?” Evan looked down at his twin, seriously questioning her abilities.
Pandora simply burst into laughter and started telling Evan all about the people she had observed in the past hour alone. One of Pandora’s favorite pastimes was observing people. She would watch them and slowly dissect them, finding their thought processes and intentions. Admittedly, it freaked everybody out, but it was also quite impressive.
Evan cut Pandora off mid ramble about some blonde bloke making out with his girlfriend in an armchair to Regulus’s left.
“Yeah, yeah, Pan. I’m getting a drink.”
Regulus shouted after him to grab him one, which Evan promptly did not acknowledge. He was going to get him one anyway, and they both knew it, but Evan found joy in being the occasional bitch.
Evan slipped into the kitchen and began gathering bottles. He never had a plan when it came to drinks, that had been Barty’s thing. Now that there was, for lack of better words, no more Barty, he just had to experiment until it tasted somewhat right.
He was on his third attempt when he huffed and set everything back down. This was testing his patience, a patience he did not currently have.
“What the fuck is that?”
Evan tensed at the voice, a familiar smooth sound that made his shoulders tense and his heart race.
Barty looked the same as before. The streaks of vibrant green in his jet-black hair still seemed freshly dyed, his button-up shirt still unbuttoned to showcase his collarbones, and his stupid smirk still stretched across his face. Evan almost wished he would look more dishevelled, or unpurposefully dishevelled, but he was still his stupid ego-filled self.
Evan opened his mouth to snap at him, but suddenly the warm pads of Barty’s fingers were pushed against his lips.
“Let me at least speak peacefully, Rosie.” Barty cocked his head, seemingly a mixture of curiosity and challenge.
“Piss off, Crouch,” Evan spat, shoving Barty off him.
Barty frowned, clearly displeased. “Come on, Evs. You can’t seriously be acting like this right now.”
“We’re broken up! I don’t have to talk to you!”
Barty’s demeanor dimmed, and Evan saw that he had hit him hard. Evan knew the chink in his armour and intended to stuff his knife in and pry it off piece by piece.
The two had been best friends before they ever started dating. It wasn’t hard for them to become friends. They both were fiercely protective of Regulus, which seemed to push the two together. The switch from best friends to boyfriends was subtle in the way that they already loved each other before. Barty hated being reminded that they weren’t two high school boys who could sneak onto rooftops and talk for hours, or that they could skip class to go smoke in parking lots. Maybe it was codependency, or plain obsession; the line was hazy.
The two stood, staring at each other. Evan’s mind was still spinning as his retort had his intended effect, and Barty looked like his world had just been flipped upside down.
Barty moved first. He grabbed a cup and began pouring shit inside. Evan tried to protest, unwilling to accept that he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, but Barty quickly shut him down. Well, damn.
Evan soon accepted the fact that he was going to be given this drink, whether he wanted it or not. When Barty was done, Evan held out his hand, waiting for Barty to hand it over. He did not. A smirk slowly began to crawl across his face again as he shook his head.
“Fuck does that mean?” Evan scowled.
“Say, ‘Ahhh.’” Barty instructed.
“I’m not fucking–”
“Ah.” Barty grasped a fistful of Evan’s hair. Not enough to hurt, but enough to control his movement. Evan was aware he could easily pull his way free, but he didn’t. Instead, he let Barty gently tilt his head back and stared intently as he did.
“Ahhh,” Barty muttered. Evan obliged, opening his mouth slightly. Barty did the rest. His fingers pried his lips apart even more before pouring the drink down his throat. The movement was oddly familiar to the two, even though Evan recalled doing this maybe twice.
Evan swallowed, a pleasant mix of some form of gin and lemonade making its way down his throat. He hummed contentedly.
He looked up at Barty, who looked satisfied. Too satisfied. The situation hit Evan suddenly. Barty, the ex he hadn’t spoken to in months, was standing too close, and Evan hadn’t pushed him away.
Shit.
“Barty, what the hell are we doing?”
Barty’s smile immediately slipped. He tried to reach for Evan, but Evan twisted out of the way. The clustered kitchen suddenly felt too small, closing in around him, making his heart race.
“Come on, Evs–”
“No, Barty,” Evan fumed. “You can’t act like nothing is different between us!”
“It doesn’t have to be!” Barty interjected.
Evan’s chest tightened. How could Barty act like everything was normal? Evan felt everything was anything but normal now. Barty could hook up with girls and date boys without blinking an eye, without it lingering in his soul. But Evan? Evan didn’t get that luxury. He knew he loved too hard. He let people wiggle past his ribs and burrow into his heart. He pushed people away, not letting anyone in, because he selfishly wanted to keep his heart to himself. But Barty came in, finding an entrance, not knowing Evan could feel it all in his bones. Barty might be able to go back to being friends, but Evan couldn’t, not after that.
“Leave me alone, Barty.”
Evan managed to tear his gaze away from Barty, letting his feet take him back into the crowds. He returned to find Regulus and Pandora in the same spot, Pandora giggling still, and Regulus looking up at Evan with slight confusion.
“Weren’t you getting drinks?”
Evan glanced down at his hands, being reminded of the lack of drinks. “Uhhh…”
Regulus shook his head and stood. “It’s fine, Evan. I’ll go grab us some real quick.”
Evan watched Regulus walk away, puzzled. Before he could mull over Regulus’s sad gaze at him, Pandora yanked him down to settle where Regulus was sitting.
“You seem pretty sad for a boy at a party,” Pandora hummed.
“I’m fine,” He knew the words sounded fake, and his voice came out quieter than he would have liked.
Pandora hummed again. “Bullshit.”
“Look,” He sighed and turned to face his cousin. “Can we drop this, Pan? Please.”
“You can’t be at a party and sulk, Evs,” Pandora mused, tilting her head back to rest against the back of the couch. Evan shifted so that her long blonde hair wouldn’t tangle with his own.
“Then I won’t stay,” He announced suddenly. He knew he was being a petty arsehole, but his head still felt underwater.
He turned to storm out, nearly running headfirst into Regulus, who had returned with their drinks. Regulus glanced between the two cousins, one unnaturally pale and the other quite flushed.
Regulus knew both of them well enough to get a grasp of the situation fairly quickly. He simply sighed and fished out his house keys.
“Stay at my house for the night.”
“But–”
“Jesus, Evan,” Regulus scoffed. “No buts, okay? You’re staying at my house tonight, end of story.”
Evan sighed, knowing he couldn’t argue with Regulus. Regulus dropped the keys into Evan’s outstretched hand with a satisfying clink.
Evan turned to leave once more, but Regulus stopped him again, this time looking less sure.
“I’m here if you need anything.” His voice had softened as he scanned Evan’s face. “Got it?”
“Got it.”