He'd woken up about three hours later with neck pain, and he'd managed to get up and fall asleep again in bed, at least. And although this only added up to about eight or nine hours of sleep for the last forty eight hours, it felt like enough to him. Especially since he'd gotten used to losing sleep over Alan for the last couple weeks.
So much lost sleep. But what he didn't lose, he spent dreaming of stars.
Shane finally got out of bed at about 9:45, his watch told him, which was alright for today. But he'd really need a coffee before he could start the day.
He left his room, thinking of what he should make himself today on his way to the kitchen, but paused when he passed by his desk. His phone was still sitting there, uncollected from last night. He probably needed to charge it-- it had to be nearly dead.
Shane picked it up in one hand while he reached for his desk charger, but paused just before plugging it in once he saw the screen light up. At some point that he'd been asleep, he'd gotten a message from Alan.
He opened his phone quickly to read it. It took several minutes, but only because the moment he got to the end of it, his gaze would go right back to the start. Shane wasn't sure when he'd started smiling, but by the time he was done processing Alan's words, his cheeks felt sore.
He typed back carefully-- but remembered to plug in his phone so it wouldn't die on him-- his smile still lingering.
Shane wrote:Sorry for the haunting, Alan. You did catch me sleeping soundly, but if it helps at all, I think I did get your dreams. I've been dreaming of stars all week long, and it's been beautiful. But they really looked brighter when you were there.
Our surprise is going to have us meet at campus at half past 3. Are you still ready? I can't wait to see you.
After he sent it, Shane checked the time. It was now 9:59, and he did some quick timezone conversions. It was nearly 7am in Seattle, nearly 9am in Chicago, and nearly 4pm in Rome. Leilan and Kaja were both early birds, and he knew they'd be up. Kasumi and Dawn were awake for sure.
He'd been hesitant to break the ice on their group chat, but this was a good reason to. He was sure he'd get the right reactions.
Shane wrote:Guess who's got a date?
With a playful grin, Shane then set his phone down and left to make his coffee. It didn't take long for him to hear his phone buzzing like crazy while he was in the kitchen, and he laughed to himself.
A few minutes later, he came back to his desk, hazelnut latte in hand, and checked his phone again. He now had 36 unread messages from that group chat. Well, he'd broken the ice, alright.
Leilan wrote:Shane???
Kasumi wrote:oh my god shane be so fr rn
Leilan wrote:That's so great!!
Kaja wrote:is it you, shane?
Kasumi wrote:you had better be about to tell us everything
Kasumi wrote:and by that i mean everything
Leilan wrote:Oh yes you better
Kasumi wrote:shane i HOPE you're typing
Kaja wrote:this is so great i get to make fun of you for having a crush
Leilan wrote:Kaja, be nice
Kaja wrote:*make fun of you n i c e l y
Kaja wrote:how about that leilan
Leilan wrote:It'll do
Kasumi wrote:SHANE WHERE ARE YOU
Dawn wrote:I'm here, what did I miss?
Dawn wrote:OH
Dawn wrote:This is exciting news!!
Kasumi wrote:SHANE???
Kaja wrote:did he really just drop that and leave
Kaja wrote:he really did didn't he
Leilan wrote:Shane this is hilarious but pleeeease come back
Dawn wrote:Okay, but it's a very effective hook.
Leilan wrote:I have to respect it honestly
Kasumi wrote:SHANE ISTG
Kasumi wrote:GET BACK HERE
Kaja wrote:shane if i don't get the news before my next class starts in 25 minutes i am flying to boston and then you'll see
Dawn wrote:Isn't it like 7am over there? What are you majoring in, torture?
Kaja wrote:funny that's what i call your major
Leilan wrote:Okay, Kaja's business classes are killing her brain, Dawn's a starving artist, you're both being tortured, we've been over this
Kaja wrote:says the man with four years of law school ahead of him after graduation
Leilan wrote:Actually good point, touche
Leilan wrote:And Shane's got grad school dreams too
Leilan wrote:Seems like Kasumi's the only one living her best life free of torture
Kasumi wrote:SHANEEEEEEEE HELLO???? FINE THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME ARE YOU HAPPY NOW
Kaja wrote:it's only her best life free of torture if shane doesn't kill her this way
Shane laughed, shaking his head as he scrolled through the chain of texts while sipping his coffee. Alright, he'd had his fun.
Well, almost.
Shane wrote:How's everyone's day going?
Kasumi wrote:DON'T YOU SAY THAT
Kasumi wrote:GIVE US THE DETAILS
Leilan wrote:Oh thank goodness Shane we thought Kasumi was going to die
Kasumi wrote:I STILL COULD DIE IF HE DOESN'T FUCKING START TALKING
Dawn wrote:Hey Shane! My day's been nice, how about yours so far?
Kaja wrote:dawn do not encourage him or else i'll have to fly to rome as well
Dawn wrote:Please do, actually, I miss you.
Kaja wrote:my threats just don't work on you damn
Dawn wrote:Threat? All I see is a friendly travel plan :)
Kasumi wrote:shane please see i've even turned off caps lock
Alright, now Shane had messed with them enough.
Shane wrote:Alright, alright, you win. I'll share.
Leilan wrote:Spill!!
Kaja wrote:brb getting my imaginary popcorn
Kasumi wrote:go go go!
Dawn wrote:This is going to be a novel, isn't it? I'm excited.
Shane took a deep breath, wondering what he should share. God, there was so much he could share about Alan already, and there was no way he could do him justice in a text message. Maybe he'd call Leilan sometime soon and talk to him one on one.
Shane wrote:I met him late August, at an awards ceremony. We got to talking, and the two of us clicked immediately. I can hardly describe it without sounding cheesy, but I swear, there was a spark. He's so brilliant, thoughtful, and passionate-- and super talented with music, too. We've already gone on several dates, and all of them were incredible-- the waterfront, dinner, a museum, under the stars to see the Perseids, and a few smaller meetups too. I'm taking him on a date later today, and I haven't been able to get him off my mind the entire time it's been planned. Hell, the entire time since I met him. Is there a sequel to Sleepless in Seattle called Sleepless in Boston? I feel like I'm going through that right now. It's crazy how he's doing this to me, but I have a feeling he feels the same way too.
Dawn wrote:Awwww!
Kasumi wrote:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kaja wrote:this is wonderful i'll be back from my class with so many new ways to tease you about your crush
Leilan wrote:Shane that's so awesome! I'm really glad you met him.
Shane wrote:Me too! Glad you're all as excited as I am - or actually, maybe that's not possible. But I'm glad you're all happy for me.
Dawn wrote:Of course :)
Leilan wrote:What's this next date?
Shane wrote:We're going to visit the Boston MFA and I'll show him around, but I'm also taking him to see a show. Kasumi can help with this one.
Kasumi wrote:i can?
Kasumi wrote:ohhhhhh i see what you mean
Kasumi wrote:yesss bring the charades on
Shane wrote:First clue, it's a Shakespeare play, set in the Mediterranean.
Kasumi wrote:oooh okay second clue please
Shane wrote:And it's got these two characters, Sebastian and Antonio.
Kasumi wrote:oooh easy
Kasumi wrote:wait
Kasumi wrote:that describes two plays
Shane wrote:The character of Antonio is a traitor who betrayed a duke, does that narrow it down?
It did not, surprisingly. Shane did very much like Shakespeare, but it was true that he wrote about similar things more than once in his comedies. Yet another reason he preferred the tragedies-- but it made for a good joke for his English major friend.
Kasumi wrote:that's still two plays???
Dawn wrote:I don't quite understand this, but I know it's got to be funny.
Leilan wrote:I do understand it and I can confirm it's very funny
Shane wrote:What about if I said Sebastian was shipwrecked?
Kasumi wrote:STILL TWO PLAYS
Kasumi wrote:WHICH ONE IS IT
Kasumi wrote:THE TEMPEST OR TWELFTH NIGHT???????
Shane wrote:Alright, I'll give it to you, it's the one where they're gay for each other.
Kasumi wrote:TWELFTH NIGHT!!!
Leilan wrote:I have the interpretation that they're kinda gay in The Tempest too but Twelfth Night is much gayer by far
Shane wrote:Both of you are so right.
Dawn wrote:Is Shakespeare really like this? Like those two plays have those exact things in common?
Shane wrote:Oh, he totally is.
Kasumi wrote:that's good twelfth night is the better one anyway
Kasumi wrote:not biased at all from my own performance in it nuh uh
Dawn wrote:Oh yeah, I remember now! You were great.
Leilan wrote:You were!
Shane wrote:Seriously, though, you're the standard I hold every Viola to in each production. That was amazing and I can only hope tonight holds up to that.
Kasumi wrote:oh my god stoooop guys i'm getting emo
And they went on chatting like that, while Shane finished up his coffee and absent-mindedly packed his bag. It felt good to have some activity in the group chat, especially since he still felt like he'd killed it. Maybe they'd be able to start moving on.
Just as he thought that, he received a text from Kaja-- who he figured was in class now, given her absence in the group chat-- in their own personal messages.
Kaja wrote:so, like, does this mean you're getting better?
Shane had to read it a few times before it fully sank in, and he felt that feeling of hope slipping away, replaced by a new heavy feeling of hurt. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe their friend group wasn't ready to go back to what they had yet.
And Kaja was still ignoring the message he'd sent her months ago to text him this instead.
Shane bit his lip before he left that chat behind. He didn't know how to dignify that with a reply, and he wasn't going to let this ruin his day.
With much better timing, a message from Alan arrived, and he tapped on that with a racing heart instead.
Alan wrote:It's a shame - I don't think you did get my dreams. If you did, you'd have seen yourself. I'm glad you had a peaceful night's sleep though.
Sounds like a plan. I've been looking forward to this for a while, but I think I feel that way before any time I see you. Where at campus do you want to meet?
Shane smiled-- a little more weakly than he would have if Kaja hadn't texted him before, he was sure, but it was a smile nonetheless-- as he typed back.
Shane wrote:I'll keep an eye out for them. But even after seeing you again, I think I'll still be sleepless for a while, so it may take some time.
Shane wrote:How about the library? I won't be studying, but you know where to find me.
Alan took a minute or two in answering him, but Shane was pretty sure he'd seen he had a class on his schedule during this time.
Alan wrote:You and me both. We can meet at the library, same spot.
Then another one after a half-minute:
Alan wrote:I can't wait to see you again.
That widened the smile on Shane's face.
Shane wrote:You and me both.
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