Milo could barely hear themself think. They'd found a coffee table in a mostly-empty room on the ground floor; a few people were chatting with their phone torches on, but that was about all the disturbance he'd get here.
Loud, shitty early 2000s pop songs blared throughout the house. The only saving grace was the occasional three-minute reprieve of In The Zone tracks, but the jackass throwing this party wasn't exactly a member of Britney Army. The fact that he knew the chorus of
Toxic
probably made his sexuality recoil in disgust.
Apparently a dude liking women in cute school uniforms was gay. Milo would never understand straight people. Like, that's not gay, it's straight and creepy, right? Whatever.
Somehow, Milo's friends had convinced them to show up to a college party just this once, and somehow, Milo had let them disappear in the crowd. They probably all had hookups already. Maybe they left without saying.
Maybe they were just dancing. They
had
asked Milo if they wanted to dance too.
Why were they so cynical? They just wanted to have a good time, but this was just loud - plus, bizarrely dark. Why were the lights off, anyway? Was that supposed to make an atmosphere? People were obviously stepping on each other's feet in the other room. People were using phone torches to get around. It was so dumb.
Ugh, I should just leave. Stick to clubs, Milo.
"Hey. You and your drink there having a good time?"
Milo looked up to see a slightly chubby figure with short curly blond hair looking down at him. They had a beer bottle in their hand and a cheesy grin on their face. They seemed friendly enough. And kinda cute, even if they were literally in trackie bottoms and a t-shirt. Was that a little stubble?
Milo didn't know what to say, so they just exhaled out of their nose and put the bottle down.
"No need to be shy. Why not come dance? You sure seem lonely." they continued.
"I dunno. I guess I'm tired," Milo replied, giving their best forced smile.
"Oh shit, you're a dude. Sorry, got the wrong impression." they chuckled.
"Uh. No worries, I get that a lot. Plus it's dark. Anyway, my friends kinda ditched me, or I ditched them I guess. One dance, why not?"
"Nah, you're alright," they grinned. "Word of advice: the hair is a little feminine."
"Okay, thanks for the advice?"
"Just trying to be helpful."
"You're actually being kinda insulting," said Milo. "At least of my self-awareness. Maybe I like my hair, femininity and all. It's literally just long and straight."
"It makes you look like a woman. Kinda weird if you're showing up to parties like that."
"Are you hearing yourself? I'm allowed to have long hair. Is this really a hill you wanna die on?"
"It's creepy."
"To have hair? Sure, whatever. I can see you put real effort into yours. How many tubs of gel do you use per month, ballpark? Look, I'm sorry I'm not the easy lay you were looking for, but in those tracksuit bottoms I really don't think anyone in here
is.
At this point you're harassing me. Do us both a favour and leave me alone."
"Y'know, I'm kinda feeling like the harassed one here." they shrugged. "Maybe you should apologise."
Milo scoffed.
"Really?"
They slammed their bottle on the table and leaned in close to Milo's face.
"Yeah.
Really
. I think it'd be real civil of you."
Their breath stank of beer - and something worse, but the beer overpowered it. Their eyes were wide with anger.
"
Jesus,
" muttered Milo.
"What's the problem?" they asked, their tone eerily calm.
"N-nothing, nothing," mumbled Milo. "Sorry."
"Great. That's what I thought. Now-"
A big hand gripped their shoulder.
"
Ow,
" they hissed.
"Sean, what the fuck are you doing?" asked a new voice from behind.
"Fuck, just having a chat with my friend here, loosen up! Liam, fuck! Come on, man!"
Liam yanked Sean's face away from Milo's.
Now, Liam might have been a jackass, but he was a jackass who played football. Milo had to admit, he was hot. He was Milo's height - 5'7" to be exact - but broad across the shoulders, with arms that weren't rippling with muscle so much as
thick.
His tight-fitting shirt didn't leave anything to the imagination either; his pecs were big, and his belly firm and bulky. He had
excellent
thighs, like goddamn tree trunks. His cheeks were pretty round, his face completely shaven, and his steely expression and thick eyebrows made him a handsome sight. There was a nice softness to his face. Not too intimidating to look at; just easy on the eyes.
"Didn't seem like a chat, Sean." he sighed. "Hey, were you just chatting?" he asked, looking at Milo.
Milo mumbled under their breath a little.
"I- yeah, I guess."
Liam released his hold on Sean's shoulder. Sean turned to face him.
"See?" Sean insisted. "Just talking."
"Convincing. Sean, get the fuck out of my house. I didn't throw this party for you so you could harass every pretty face you come across."
"What the fuck?"
"I'm telling you to leave. Don't be a dick about this."
"On my birthday? Wow. Some friend you are."
"Don't make me call the
FUCKING COPS
."
The few other people in the room went quiet, turning to see the drama.
Sean grinned in embarrassment and shook his head.
"Alright. Alright, motherfucker, whatever you want. I'm done with you."
He raised his hands in surrender and slinked out of the room.
Liam turned to me.
"You ok? You're Milo, right? Oscar's friend?"
"Yeah, that's me," smiled Milo. "Oscar's...friend."
"Ah. He sure does complement you a lot. That figures. Just a casual thing?"
"I guess. I don't know, haha. Oscar's a really nice guy."
"
Ouch
. I won't tell him, don't worry."
Milo grinned with embarrassment and looked down at their abandoned bottle.
"...yeah, thanks. I don't wanna upset him."
"If I can tell, he probably can too. Nothing wrong with meaningless sex, though."
"But I don't know if it
is
meaningless to him," sighed Milo. "And I'm too afraid to ask. What if asking gets his hopes up?"
"Tough one, tough one," nodded Liam with a grimace. "Law students are known to blow off steam though. And between you and me, I think Oscar's a bit of a player."
"Maybe I've got nothing to worry about then," Milo said, smiling softly.
"Maybe. Say, can I walk you home? Only if you want to go home, that is. You're more than welcome to stay."
"That'd be really lovely," said Milo, genuinely touched. "You don't have to do that for me, though."
"I want to," he smiled. "Meet you by the front door? Gonna grab my coat."
"Sure."
Milo was waiting underneath the street light just outside of the house when Liam stepped out. He wore a puffy tartan-patterned coat that only reached his waist, and a nice pair of black chinos. He patted his pockets down, gave a big thumbs up, and jogged down to meet Milo.
"Right. Lead the way, Milo."
"It's a twenty minute walk or so. Most of it's down main street, though." they replied, starting off down the road.
"Sounds fine. Now then, we haven't made formal introductions. I'm Liam, he/him. I'm a fella."
"Milo, they/he. Ditto."
"Nice to meet you properly, Milo. I've heard so much about you from Oscar."
Milo winced.
"Oh," he continued. "Not in a romantic way. All insults. 'Milo's way too good with his tongue, I'm finished before he's even started!'"
Milo's eyes widened, and they covered their mouth before a giggle could escape.
"I'm only playing with you," said Liam, reassuringly. "He keeps that stuff to himself. Mostly."
"I don't really care one way or the other," admitted Milo. "I'm not ashamed to have sex."
"Good way to be," said Liam, sticking his bottom lip out and nodding. "I guess I'm a little more private with things myself."
"Makes sense. It's personal stuff."
"Right," he agreed.
They were quiet for a moment.
"Say, I'm sorry you were dragged to the party. Your friends said you snuck away from them."
"I guess I did," Milo shrugged. "I guess I felt a bit out of place. It wasn't that bad."
"You were harassed, Milo." said Liam, tone serious. "Borderline assaulted. You're allowed to say you had a bad evening."
Milo shrugged, smiling.
Liam continued.
"You're allowed to say it was a bad evening, you're allowed to say you're mad that you got dragged along, you're allowed to say Sean was out of line."
Milo frowned.
"Sorry. Am I being intense? It's not a big deal if you say it's not." said Liam, softly. "I'll shut up."
Milo shook their head, frowning more. They stopped walking.
"Are we turning here?" asked Liam.
"It was scary," whispered Milo. "Really scary."
Liam shot them a look of concern, before nodding slowly.
"I didn't know what to do," Milo continued, quietly. Tears began to well in the corners of their eyes.
"Hey, is there anything I can do?"
Milo squeezed the bridge of their nose, shaking their head as tears began to roll down their face. Soon their face was buried in their hands, and they were sobbing.
"Hey," said Liam, his tone soothing. "Would you like to be held? It's ok if not."
Milo hunched their shoulders and walked towards Liam. Taking the hint, Liam took them into his arms, slipping his hands under their arms and holding their back gently. One hand slowly rubbed Milo's back as Liam soothed them with his words.
"There you go," he whispered. "Everything's ok. That was rough for you, wasn't it."
Milo nodded their head as best they could against Liam's chest.
"It's over now. You're safe here."
Milo sobbed into his chest at his words, now in relief. They gave Liam's arm a double-tap, and he released them from the hug.
"Thank you," they sighed, their voice a little hoarse. They dried their tears with a sleeve, breathing deeply.
"How're you doing?"
"A little better," smiled Milo. "Thanks."
"Not a problem. Wouldn't deny anyone a shoulder to cry on."
