Call Me Yours [BL]

Chapter 13 Part 1

Valen 8:10 AM

You can bring your roommate.

Ardyn's still sleeping when the second text comes.

Valen 9:40 AM

There's going to be a lot of people.

Prince pauses when he walks into the kitchen and finds Ardyn wearing a cooking apron. Kiss The Chef looks ridiculous on him as he wields a toilet scrubber with the tag still on and beats the kitchen sink. "Prince—hey." Ardyn spins in his direction and breathes deeply. He hits the toilet scrubber on the sink, visibly winded but his chest swollen with pride. "I got that stain out."

Prince is impressed enough to say, "Good job."

"And I made pancakes."

Prince levels a look at the mini stack of three pancakes sitting on a plate. "Those are from the freezer, and I bought them."

"I also organized your video games."

Prince appreciates this one. "Thank you."

"And I did the dishes."

"Before or after you put a toilet scrubber in our sink?"

Ardyn scowls. "It's new."

Prince eyes the wilting tag. He asks, "...What did you do?"

The scrubber suddenly looks like a weapon when Ardyn bats his lashes. His hip c***s and his sleeve falls down to his wrist. Prince thinks he looks equal parts ridiculous and right on the cusp of tempting, but he could just be a little biased. "Why do you think I did something?"

"Because," Prince says slowly, taking a step back when Ardyn approaches. "You did this exact same thing when you stepped on my COD disk."

"You left it on the floor—" The words die, he shakes his head, and then he tries again. His smile is as alluring as it is fake. "I just wanted to do something nice for you."

"Ardyn—put the toilet scrubber down."

Things escalate quickly.

Prince limps in an unknown direction as he tries to shake off Ardyn's grip on his ankle. The toilet scrubber gets lost somewhere in the living room. Prince drags him through the hallway.

"Absolutely not," Prince says. "You could not pay me to go to your sugar daddy's birthday party."

"Our sugar daddy!"

"No."

"Please."

"I'd rather take a gun—"

"Please."

"No."

"Please."

"Fine."

Ardyn rises with a happy noise of celebration.

"You're so fuckin' annoying."

Ardyn smiles as he pulls out two forks and stabs into room-temperature pancakes. He extends the other one to Prince.

Prince chews slowly, eyeing Ardyn with disdain, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say Ardyn was using his crush to win his way. He had a poor, unknowing habit of doing that, always bending Prince to his will.

"Oh." Ardyn perks. "And it's tonight."

Prince snatches the plate and walks to his room.

_____

Ardyn contemplates the cologne sitting on his dresser. He goes back and forth endlessly until he ultimately sprays it twice. He feels immediate embarrassment after the cologne settles on his sweater and it's too late to take it back. He spent too long picking out his clothes. It was an endless battle of too much, and not enough, and how do you dress for your sugar daddy's birthday party?

He settles on a loose gray sweater, textured and loose in the neckline to expose the beginnings of his chest. It took him a painstakingly long time to find the only pair of slacks he owned. Black and lighter on his legs than he remembers.

The cologne was too much, he internally groans.

He has no time to wallow in regret. There's a knock on the front door, so gentle he almost doesn't hear it.

Ardyn's heart races.

He passes Prince in the hallway, who's coming out of the bathroom. His eyebrows raise in surprise from Ardyn's hurried steps. And if Ardyn wasn't in such a rush, he might've taken the time to appreciate the effort Prince put into getting ready.

The black jeans he wears hug him to perfection, not too tight and not too loose. A sleek black belt cinches his hips, drawing attention to his lean physique, and pulls the simplicity of his outfit together. Tucked into the jeans is a crisp white t-shirt, creating a contrast that makes him look all the more captivating. His silver earrings match the buckle of his belt.

"How do I look?" Ardyn hisses, barely managing to not knock Prince over.

Prince drawls a hum and looks over Ardyn with a slow drag of his eyes. They click up and he smirks. "I thought it wasn't a crush?"

Prince is, evidently, no help.

Ardyn waves his hands around with a grunt, silently telling him as much, then quickly pads to the front door.

He expects Valen.

He doesn't expect Clementine to be standing beside him.

"Hi," Ardyn says dumbly, standing in the doorway and awestruck by Valen. His heart races and he's almost scared it'll beat right through his chest and make a mess on Valen. And that would be horrible, Ardyn thinks. Valen exudes elegance in his crocheted maroon polo and black slacks. Ardyn eyes the slit in his collar, intentionally revealing his chest and layered with a gold chain.

"Hi," Valen replies, smiling prettily.

Ardyn wills his heart to calm down before he ruins all their outfits.

"Wow," Clementine marvels, bending down to peer into their apartment. "It's so cozy."

"I'm sorry," Valen immediately says. "He doesn't think before he talks."

"I like it," Clementine insists, frowning.

Ardyn opens the door wider and welcomes them in. His eyes dart around nervously, trying to find something he missed in his rush to clean up, but he finds nothing. Nothing besides their broken shoe rack, and their closet that was missing its door handle, and the chipped paint that was coming off their cupboards. Ardyn cringes as insecurity swirls in his stomach.

He stands in front of the shoe rack as if that will hide it. "Prince is coming..." he says into the silence. He mentally wills him to hurry, so he can stop overanalyzing Valen looking around his apartment.

He turns and finds Ardyn's eyes. He smiles. "No rush."

"Prince?" Clementine asks.

"My roommate," Ardyn explains.

Prince exits the bathroom as he's stuffing his wallet into his jeans.

Clementine's jaw promptly falls to the floor.

Prince's eyes settle on Clementine first, taking in his impressive height, before they turn uninterested and move to Ardyn. "Ready?"

"You are the most attractive person I've ever seen in my entire life," Clementine blurts.

Valen reels back and stares at his little brother like he's an i***t.

Ardyn feels just as shocked.

Prince is the only one who doesn't visibly react to the abrupt confession. His gaze rises to Clementine, the subtlest hints of interest glinting in his eyes, and he fully takes him in for the first time. From Clementine's incredulous height to the rich, dark locks framing his face, and the deep brown of his eyes that watch Prince with blatant attraction.

Then, Prince laughs. It cuts through the room softly. "That's a pretty bold statement. In your entire life?"

"Yes," he immediately says.

"How old are you?"

Clementine's tail wags with Prince's sudden attention. He's eager as he replies, "I'm 20."

"Too young," Prince dismisses, then turns back to Ardyn. "Should we go?"

The car ride is spent with Ardyn unsubtly ogling the right side of the car. Clementine sits in the passenger seat, Prince behind him.

Ardyn eyes Prince with disbelief. He can't help but pull out his phone.

Ardyn 8:34 PM

what the fuck

Prince only replies, dude, and nods at Ardyn.

"It's nice not seeing you behind a counter for a change," Prince says, setting his phone down so he can watch Valen through the rearview mirror.

Valen meets his stare in the mirror and Prince holds his gaze, waiting as Valen contemplates a response, and it's odd seeing them interact. Ardyn watches with an out-of-body experience.

"Likewise." Valen smiles.

Clementine twists around to talk to Prince again, but Valen turns him back around. "Directions, Clem."

The rest of the car ride is spent with Clementine's advances that Valen easily deters. Prince finds it amusing by the time they get to their destination, Ardyn can tell. There's a smirk on his lips, and it's a little mean when he gets out of the car and says in passing, "Too bad we didn't get a chance to talk."

Their destination is something short of a mansion. Ardyn takes it in with a bewildered look. A two-story house sitting on a lake, secluded from the nearest house miles away. It's lit with lights streaming across the porch and thrums with music from inside. And Valen was right, there are a lot of people. Rows of cars park in the gravel beside Valen's.

He hears the gravel crunch under Valen's loafers when he approaches. "It's for his birthday," he explains softly, "But it's mostly for his staff. Getting approved for Fashion Week is a big deal for them."

Ardyn swallows his fascination. "Right."

Valen peers at him and Ardyn's heart races from the teasing glint in his eyes. "I also didn't tell him you're coming."

Ardyn sputters the whole way up the driveway, and Valen giggles at his rapidly-paced questions. He doesn't know? Is that okay? What—and I brought Prince. Oh my God—

"Relax," Valen soothes, smiling with amusement. "You're supposed to be my present."

"Present?"

"I'm running out of things to get him," Valen explains with a serene lilt. "All you need is a little bow, huh?" He eyes Ardyn's neck and Ardyn's mind flashes to the white collar he wears for them. He's blushing when they walk in together.

Kahili immediately turns. It's as if he senses the air's disturbance with Valen's presence, so naturally attuned to his husband and the charm that envelopes the room when he's there.

Kahili breaks away from the stranger with a polite smile and heads in their direction. "Hey." He dips and kisses Valen in greeting, his arm wrapping around his slim waist in familiarity. It stays there as he greets Ardyn. "Hey."

"Happy birthday." Ardyn smiles shyly.

Kahili grins at him in ways that make Ardyn's stomach flip.

"You said you were picking up Clem," Kahili accuses his husband. "This is much better."

The insult goes right over Clementine's head. He's too busy staring at Prince.

"I can get you a drink," Clementine offers. "Two drinks."

"Yeah?" Prince muses. "And what if they card you?"

Clementine takes the teasing with a flush, but he's insistent. "You could come with me then."

Prince eyes Ardyn as he gets lost in conversation with Valen and Kahili. It makes him consider the younger Tine with a thoughtful hum. "Alright. Lead the way."

"Really?" Clementine perks, his tail beginning to whip back and forth.

"Unless you weren't serious? I can get my own drink—"

Clementine takes Prince's wrist and starts leading him to the kitchen.