After Evan returns with three cups of tea, Leilani is calmed enough to launch into profusely apologizing to him for interrupting, "I really am sorry, Evan. There was a lot going on and I just needed Dae to do his stoic yet bleeding heart, comforting yet quiet emo kid thing, you know?"
A small scoff escaped Dae's lips, and the combination of the two led to Evan laughing lightly, "Honestly, no harm done. But I will say, I'm glad you chose to hang with us. I wasn't ready to give Dae up just yet..."
Realization seemed to flicker onto the redhead's face, but he quickly managed to cover it. Dae was not as gifted at hiding his emotions so quickly, meaning when Leilani glanced in his direction, he opted to look away to hide the blush on his cheeks. Leilani let out a small chuckle, "Well, you promised me shitty movies, so how could I not join? Let's get it started!"
Feeding into Leilani's ridiculousness, Evan saluted and the two began skimming through the movie catalogs until they found one they thought would be perfect to watch. After nodding his agreement, Dae watched as Leilani and Evan sat next to each other, a pang of jealousy weaseling its way into his heart, and jumped right into eviscerating the movie.
Almost immediately the two tore the cold open apart by commenting on the overacting from the actress who had met her demise. Dae couldn't help but chuckle at the antics of his best friend and his...well...Evan. He wasn't sure what Evan was to him, or what Evan wanted to be to him, but he also was trying to avoid putting labels on things. Dae wanted whatever was going to happen between them--if anything was at all--to progress naturally.
His attempt to downplay any feelings he was having toward the redhead was interrupted by the sound of Leilani and Evan in a playful argument. "Hands down, Becky. She's so emotionless in every scene; worse final girl ever. How can I root for her, when I long for her to die?!"
"I don't know about that; she had that one moment where she felt something, Not sure if it was the intended emotion, but it was...something," Evan said with a laugh, holding his hands out in front of him innocently. "But hear me out, Chad is the laziest dude I've ever seen in a movie. Like I swear he's reading from a script that someone is holding offscreen!"
"No way!" Leilani shakes her head furiously, her messy bun bobbing wildly. "They wouldn't have cast him if he didn't even bother to remember his lines."
"I'm serious! He's definitely gotta be someone's hot older brother. Tasked with playing the stereotypical bad boy romance option." Evan chuckled, taking his time to purposely stare Dae down. "What do you think, Dae?"
In response, Dae holds up his middle finger and stuck his tongue out coaxing a groan from Leilani and a laugh from Evan. "A brilliant review, don't you think?"
Evan nods with a smile on his face, "Groundbreaking, indeed."
"Don't encourage him," Leilani playfully hit Evan in the shoulder. "He'll start to think he's a comedian, and neither of us wants to be there when that happens..."
Dae clutched his chest in an exaggerated motion, "You wound me, Lei. Here I thought we supported each other uncontrollably."
Evan laughs again, slowly getting to his feet and gathering the mugs, before heading towards the kitchen. "While you two hash this out, I'm gonna go get us some refills."
Leilani slides closer to Dae as Evan disappears into another room and throws her arm over his shoulder. "All jokes aside..." Leilani swallowed and looked away before meeting Dae's eyes with a small smile on her lips, "Thank you for this. Every time I'm overwhelmed, you bring me back."
Dae looks away, a little flushed by the praise. "Thanks...but this time it was all him..."
As Dae nodded towards the kitchen a strange look settles onto Leilani's face. She bites her lip for a moment before nodding to herself and turning to look Dae in the eye again, "Speaking of Evan...what's going on?"
"What?" Instantly, Dae's mouth feels dry. He tensed up and knew that she had definitely felt him do it. "What are you asking...?"
The arm around his shoulders just pulled him closer to her while Leilani's other arm circled across his chest, and Dae found himself in her embrace. Hugging him tightly, she finally offered an answer. "I'm not stupid, Dae. Just surprised. I haven't seen you crush on someone this hard since--"
"She's not important. He's nothing like her." Dae interrupted, not trying to relive his past relationship. He was met with a moment of silence from Leilani. "And besides...this isn't like that..."
"Well, it's not your usual M.O. either. You'd have bedded him already...Which means--" Leilani cuts herself off to squeeze Dae harder, a soft smile on her face, "there's something more here. You like him."
A soft chuckle from the doorway of the kitchen interrupted any chance Dae had to respond. When both Leilani and Dae glanced toward Evan, he was standing in the doorway with a sweet smile on his face, three cups of tea in his hands. A small blush filled the redhead's cheeks as Leilani tried to clumsily cover for their previous conversation. "Oh, hey Evan. We were just--"
"Don't worry," Evan's eyes never let Dae's face and after a moment he winked, "I like Chad too. He's kinda hot and he's grown on me."