Bad Decisions

It was Saturday afternoon and Kellin was in the passenger seat of his best friend's car, the pair were currently speeding down the highway towards Vic's family party. It was the first time he was going to have to face him since they called things off, and he couldn't help but feel a slight swelling of nervousness in the pit of his stomach.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Kellin voiced his thoughts to his friend, peering over at him in the driver's side. He could always count on Matt to give him an honest opinion.

"No." He stated blatantly, his eyes never trailing away from the road. "I think this is an awful idea if we're being real, but I never pass up a good chance to party." A chuckle escaped Matty before he looked over at Kellin's worried face and frowned. "Oh come on, Kell. It's gonna be fine."

"I don't know, I just-," Kellin sighed loudly, unsure of where exactly he was going with this. "I don't want to show up and look like an idiot in front of everyone. I mean, when was the last time you showed up knowingly to somewhere your ex was going to be?"

"Never, but you said it yourself, you guys are friends. Stop worrying so much, okay? Even if things are weird at the party, I'm going to be there. So, at least you won't be all weird by yourself in a corner somewhere." Even if his words weren't the most encouraging, Kellin could feel himself relax somewhat.

It wasn't long before they arrived, Kellin's eyes scanned the cars lined along the block looking for the one that he knew belonged to Vic. He took a moment to collect himself when he didn't see it, maybe he wasn't here yet.

"You ready to do this, man?" Matty questioned after he pulled the car into a parking space. Despite his playful and cool demeanor, he was always caring and considerate for Kellin when it came down to it. He wouldn't force Kellin to do this if he wasn't really up for it.

"Yeah, I'm good." Kellin nodded after a moment, pushing his door open and heading towards to front door of the house.

There was a distant sound of music that could be heard from the house as Kellin approached, he took one last glance at Matt for reassurance before reaching his small hand up to knock on the door. There was a moment when he thought that no one had heard the knock, but when he went to knock again, it opened.

"Hey, Kellin." A small wave of relief washed over him when he saw Mike's smiling face peering back at him. That was one Fuentes who he always knew would always truly be excited to see him. "You brought a friend." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Oh yeah, this is Matty." Kellin pointed to the man standing next to him, an almost guilty look on his face. "Matty, this is Mike. Mike is Vic's younger brother." There was a small awkward silence where the two seemed to just be eyeing one another.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. A friend of Kellin's is welcomed here." Mike broke the silence, clearing his throat. He turned his attention back to Kellin and nodded his head to the room of people behind him. "People have been asking about you." He smiled, stepping aside to let the pair in.

Kellin stepped into the home and looked around, he saw a few familiar faces, people he had met from previous parties he had gone to with Vic. Some greeted him with smiles and waves, others with strange looks and mild glares. He could only assume that word was out about Kellin no longer dating Vic. It wasn't like he expected everyone to still want him around.

"Vic's not here yet." Mike murmured from beside Kellin, startling him for a moment. "He said he'd be stopping by later after he took care of some things." There was an odd tone to Mike's voice, Kellin couldn't put his finger on it, but he was willing to let it go for the time being. "Come on, let's go to the yard. My parents have been looking forward to seeing you again." He rolled his eyes as only a son would.

Kellin had to admit that he was glad to escape the confines of the house, the attention he was getting from those around him was almost suffocating in a way. There weren't as many people in the back, and those who were didn't seem to give him a second glance, aside from Vic's parents. They were as happy to see Kellin as they always seemed to be. Thankfully they didn't mention what was going on, it was just the same normal questions as always.

"Sorry about them." Mike mumbled as he walked Kellin and Matty, who had no problem finding the alcohol, to a table that was set up in the yard. "You know how they get."

"It's fine." Kellin assured him, smiling widely. He was feeling much better about being here now that he realized his thoughts earlier were just his anxieties acting up again. They had a habit of getting the better of him. "Your parents are always great to be around."

It was a good while into the party, Matt had gone off to hit on one of Mike's cousins, much to his disapproval, while he and Kellin still sat and chatted. There still had been no sign of Vic, but Kellin had stopped looking for him a long while ago, in all honestly he had just about forgotten whose family this was.

"So, what's the deal with this tool?" Mike questioned, shooting an annoyed glance at Matty, who was still going for Mike's cousin despite having been turned down. "You're not like, dating him, or anything are you?"

"No." Kellin shook his head quickly, almost weirded out by the idea. He had been friends with Matty for so long there wasn't a chance he could ever consider him to be anything more than that. "He's my friend, I've known him for a really long time. I brought him along today because I wasn't sure what to expect."

"You're still welcomed here you idiot." Mike shot him a look, shaking his head as he spoke. "At least by me you are. Things are different, yeah, but you're still my friend Kellin. It's obvious my parents are still crazy about you. Stop acting like such a dummy all the time."

There wasn't a chance for Kellin to respond before a familiar voice was ringing out calling greetings to the people in the yard. Vic had arrived, and he wasn't alone. There was another male hanging off of his arm, smiling away like he'd won the lottery. The sight was enough to stir up some odd feelings in the pit of Kellin's stomach, he had to look away.

"I knew I should have said something earlier." Mike sighed, reaching a hand out to touch Kellin's shoulder. "I guess I just kind of hoped that you would have already known about him. If it helps, we don't like him nearly as much."

Kellin shook his head quickly, forcing a smile to appear on his lips as he looked up at Mike once more, "No it's fine, I just- didn't think he'd move on so quickly. It's weird, that's all." It seemed like Vic was slowly making his way towards where the pair was seated, Kellin took this as a cue to find Matty. "I'm going to go find Matt, I'll catch up with you later, Mike."

Standing from his chair, Kellin hurried to where Matt was standing and picking at some food laid out on a table. It seemed the girl was talking to had long since abandoned him and wandered off elsewhere.

"Vic's here." Were the first words that flew from his lips, gaining his friend's attention from the food. "He's with some guy." There was a slight look of hurt, maybe a hint of jealousy, that crossed his features as he spoke.

"Oh yeah? Guy moves fast." Matt commented, spinning around to see what Kellin was talking about. Sure enough, there stood the tan-skinned male, looking as happy as ever. "Well, fuck him y'know? Not literally, but there's no way he should be able to just jump onto someone else like that. You guys dated like two years and broke up like two weeks ago. It ain't right."

"I guess you're right." Kellin agreed, yet still couldn't help but feeling a bit bummed about the situation. It was when he felt a nudge to his arm that he saw Matty's solution, drinking. "Nah man, you know I don't drink much." Which was true, Kellin never touched a beer, and if he did he was a lightweight.

"You're really gonna sit through the rest of this party sober, watching your ex all over some douche like you never existed?" Matt's words struck him quick, almost like a slap to the face. It was enough to convince him to take the beer though.

Matty merely smirked in victory, working on his own beer without hesitation. It was a short moment before the pair was spotted by Vic and his new 'friend'. As they drew closer, Kellin could see the look of confusion that crossed Vic's face as he spotted Kellin drinking.

"Jeeze at least act like you're enjoying yourself." Matty murmured, elbowing Kellin in the side with a little more force than was probably called for. "Come on, I'm not letting this ass get the best of you." He pulled a smile on his face and started laughing like they'd be in the middle of a different conversation.

Kellin had no choice but to go along, laughing along with him and taking an occasional sip from his bottle. It was then that Vic reached the pair, his confused look was gone and replaced with a friendly smile.

"There you are, I was talking to Mike and he said that he was with you earlier." Vic explained, eyeing Kellin's hand as he spoke. "I just didn't think I'd find you over here, I know you don't usually drink." His voice trailed off.

"Yeah well, Kellin's been doing a lot of new things lately." Matty spoke before Kellin had the chance, making his presence noticed. "He's a free man and all now, so I've just been showing him what single life feels like."

"Matt, I forgot you and Kellin were still friends." Vic was still smiling, but his voice had taken on a whole new tone. There was always a bit of tension between the two, mostly because Vic didn't like the things that Matt always tried to talk Kellin into doing.

"So Vic, uhm, who's your new friend?" Kellin interjected before a fight broke out between the two, which was the last thing Kellin wanted. However, the answer to this question was probably a close second.

"Yeah, this is Jaime. He's not exactly a friend, we've been kind of dating." Vic explained, clearly feeling awkward by the situation. Jaime, however, didn't seem to understand what was going on and offered a friendly smile to Kellin.

"It's nice to meet you Jaime." Kellin nodded, biting back the things he wanted to say, mainly to Vic, he couldn't exactly blame Jaime for anything. He quickly topped off his beer and signaled for Matty to pass him another, this wasn't going to be easy.

"It was great talking to you guys, but I promised Mike I'd head back over to him after I got my beer, which obviously was a bit ago." Kellin held up his new beer, looking towards where Mike had been seated. Thankfully the younger brother had remained at the table and was watching the situation unfold from a distance.

"How many of those have you had so far?" Vic asked, his brows furrowing in what looked like concern. If anyone knew Kellin's limit, it was going to be Vic.

"Not enough." Kellin laughed, despite his statement being completely serious. Grabbing one more beer to take back with him, he nodded at Vic and Jaime before walking away from the awkwardness of the situation.

"Did you see his face? You definitely showed him, Kell." Matty laughed, walking next to his raven-haired friend. It was clear he got a kick out of seeing Vic squirm. Oddly enough, so did Kellin. There was a slight smile on his features as he thought of something quite devious.