Chapter Text
Fartem is sitting on his musty couch, depressingly scrolling his phone, reloading his messages over and over, waiting for Slav to reply. He’s been doing this too much, especially lately. His damn internalized homophobia kept getting to him, so before he got a chance to confess, the love of his life… He got a girlfriend. And Leya’s a nice enough girl, but… he really hates her.
Slav’s status has been on ‘busy 🥀’ for almost two hours at this point, and Leya keeps posting pictures of them on her story, all the way on the other side of town. Fartem might be grasping at threads here, but he just can’t help but notice how Slav is frowning in all the pictures— though, Slav is nonchalant and constantly mewing, so he can’t really tell.
He opens Leya’s newest story for the third time, staring longingly at his best friend, then jealously at Leya, a heartwrenching and familiar pain welling up in his chest, like an old, festering stab wound. He sighs and lays back, staring up at his cracked, yellowing ceiling, fantasising about Slav. ‘Why can’t he just see I like him already…?’
His phone buzzes.
Fartem’s heart basically jumps out of his chest.
It was a notification.
From Slav.
What if…? What if they broke up!? And Slav's finally realised that what he needs is what's been in front of him this whole time… What if he's coming over? Fartem almost jumps at the thought, but he checks the message before he gets too excited.
It's just a “lol.”
Fartem stares at the bland text for a long time, trying to find some flavour in it, like it's some kind of secret message. Does it mean he was laughing at Leya? Does it mean he missed Fartem? Or is it just… a regular lol?
Fartem throws his blanket dramatically over himself and whispers into the dark, “He's got to break up with her soon, right? No one other than me understands him, after all…”
He falls asleep that night stressing about his unrequited love / best friend, phone clutched painfully in his hand, held close to his heart.