Times Change, Friends Leave and Life Doesn't Wait for Anybody

Gerard entered the diner at the same time he always did, but this time there were two other people with him. The first was a tall boy with blonde hair that Kellin couldn’t help but notice looked vaguely similar to Gerard, the second a short boy olive toned skin and cropped dark hair.
“One at the back’s Frank.” Laila muttered to Kellin as she walked past to serve the group. Kellin nodded and smiled at the three, all of whom returned it, although the tall blonde one appeared to be a bit lost in his own mind.
“Hey, Kellin,” Gerard said. “Um… This is Mikey, he’s my brother,” Mikey looked up and nodded to Kellin by way of introduction, “and that’s Frank.” Gerard pointed to the short boy, who grinned at Kellin, and stared at him wistfully for a moment before sifting through his pockets for the money he needed to pay for the food. “Guys, come on, I don’t have enough for all this.” Frank and Mikey mumbled under their breath as they dug around in their wallets to help Gerard to pay for the food they’d ordered. Mikey and Frank wandered off to find a booth, and Gerard lagged behind, leaning forward to mutter to Kellin, “Thanks for not saying anything.”
Kellin nodded, and just as Gerard was about to leave, caught his arm. “So you do like him?” He asked quietly.
Gerard looked at him nervously, before his eyes flicked to Frank and Mikey and then back to Kellin. “…Yeah.”
“Alright. I hope things work out for you, man.” Kellin said simply, gently punching Gerard’s shoulder as he walked away.
During his first break, Kellin wandered up and down the high street, in search of something interesting. He and Vic had been in New Haven for just over a month, but they’d been so busy they hadn’t really had a chance to look around. He walked for almost ten minutes until he came across a small record shop, something that he had been desperate to see since his arrival. He always needed to have access to a good supply of music, and he knew that Vic felt the same way. Yet another reason that the two were so good for each other.
He entered the shop with a smile playing on his lips, the rows of CDs somehow managing to make him feel happier. He walked up to ‘Rock’ section and began to flick through the CDs, happy to see a selection of every Foo Fighters record to date. He continued walking up until a voice drew him out of his reverie.
“Can I help you, sir?” Kellin snapped his head up to see a short girl with tousled, dark hair smiling at him.
“I’m alright, thanks. I’m just looking.”
“You’re like my boyfriend. Well, fiancé now.” She said, waggling the fourth finger on her left hand.
“Oh… Um, congratulations?” Kellin said awkwardly, reminding himself of what Vic’s father had said to the couple when they first admitted their relationship.
“Thanks,” she laughed. “But he always does this. He’ll be like, let’s go to some record shop, and we’ll go and look around for an hour because there isn’t actually something he wants to buy.” She snorted and picked up a Lower Than Atlantis CD. “I’m Valerie, by the way.”
“Kellin.” Kellin responded, smiling at Valerie, who grinned back. “And I probably need to get back to work…”
“Oh, that’s cool. Swing by again sometime, okay?” Valerie smiled when Kellin nodded and as he exited the shop again, now having found a new favourite place to be.
____
Kellin had to stop himself from snarling when he got back from work that afternoon. He stepped into the kitchen to see Vic sitting with a pile of books in front of him, and another boy, probably their age, sitting next to him. And Kellin instantly knew that it was Beau.
“Hey, Kellin,” Vic smiled and beckoned him over. “Beau and I were just doing some of our homework…” He trailed off when he looked t Kellin’s facial expression. He could tell that he was glaring at Beau, feeling proud when the smile the new boy was offering him slowly slid from his face, replaced with a slightly confused and somewhat hurt expression. “Kellin…”
“What?” He replied hastily, still glaring at Beau.
“Stop it.” Vic hissed.
“What am I doing, Vic? I’m not the one inviting random guys home when my boyfriend’s out.” Kellin snapped harshly. Vic sighed and stood up, gesturing for a now shocked looking Beau to follow suit.
“Maybe you should go.” Vic mumbled, helping Beau to pack up his books.
“Hey, man,” Beau directed to Kellin, still wary. “I’m sorry if I…” Beau trailed off and turned away, thanking Vic and suggesting they finish the homework off another day as he left.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Vic demanded when he shut the door.
“Absolutely nothing!” Kellin shouted back. “What about you? You didn’t even tell me that he was going to be here-“
“Why does it matter? All we were doing was some fucking homework for God’s sake! And I don’t understand why that’s a problem! You’ve hated Beau for absolutely no reason ever since I mentioned him at the beginning of the year, and you’d never even met him! What is your problem?”
“Maybe it’s the fact that you’re hanging out with random guys when I’m not there!” Kellin replied angrily.
“Are you kidding me?” Vic asked, his voice dropping dramatically in pitch. He didn’t sound, or look, angry at all anymore. In fact, he looked amused.
“What are you smiling about?” Kellin snapped, still feeling irritated and a little bit threatened.
“You’re worried about me cheating on you with Beau?” Vic continued.
“Not… Not you cheating on me, but him making a move.” Kellin defended himself stiffly.
“Him? Oh my God, Kellin you’re so stupid!” Vic snorted. “Beau is like, the straightest guy I know. He has a girlfriend he’s been with for like, four years. Christ, he’s engaged. There’s no way I’d be cheating on you with him.”
Kellin, although still feeling slightly angry, felt himself fill with relief when Vic comforted him that he and Beau weren’t doing anything. As much as he trusted Vic, it was difficult to imagine that no one was showing an interest in him, being as beautiful as he was. “Oh.” Kellin said dumbly. “Well, I’m sorry…”
“You’re an idiot.” Vic rolled his eyes and stepped forward to pull Kellin into a hug, which he gratefully and happily returned. He hated it whenever he and Vic argued, no matter how few times they did.