DOUBLE UPDATE (not really but let me live). Some of you wanted karaoke night with the boys so I did a little bit. It was supposed to be 500-700 words but oh shit it is a whole chapter? An Adam chapter? Hmmmm, big think.

Again, I'd like opinions on what ship should canon in this story; Shadam or Shallura?

I kind of think I know what I may go for but I'm unsure because I want outside opinions besides my own.
Thank you :)

It started with a simple awkward smile as the boy pulled out his ID to prove he was the age of twenty-one. Then, once he and his friends were served the alcohol, they looked at one another almost timidly as they lifted their glasses.

"To Wyatt finally turning twenty-one," Adam said with an unenthusiastic voice.

Only one of them were actually twenty-one and it surely wasn't the nerd guy staring at the alcohol as if he were afraid of his mother coming out from the shadows and place him into a choke hold for underage drinking and it also wasn't the one guy holding the cup of water with his hood pulled up over his head, doomed to be the designated driver for the night. It was the nearly drunk blonde man who was already throwing his head back to take the shot of whiskey like a trooper.

Wyatt coughed as he winced and placed the empty shot glass on the counter of the bar the three best friends sat at, "Oh holy shit, that's stronger than I thought it would be," He coughed even more as he took Adam's water from the dark man's hand and took a giant gulp from it, "Jesus, fuck me."

Adam's frowned was deep in his youthful face as he ordered water once more. "You'd think that the frat boy in this group could handle a piss poor shot of whiskey, right? I guess not," He grumbled in annoyance.

Matt rolled his eyes as he set down his full shot glass and got himself a water too, "Come on guys, we haven't gotten together like this since the start of the semester and already you two are being massive dicks!" He slowly rested his chin in his palm and heaved a little sigh, "You're never this crabby Adam, what's up with you? And Wyatt," He smirked smugly, "You're a frat boy, man up and chug this shit," He slid his untouched shot of whiskey over to his bigger friend.

Wyatt rolled his eyes and quickly pulled the shot glass to his lips and poured the dark liquid into his mouth before he drank the water he stole from Adam. He cleared his throat and made a gagging noise before he violently shook his head, "I drink watered down beer and rum and cola, not actual whiskey. Also," His blue gaze shifted over to Adam as he frowned, "Why are you so grouchy tonight? You went to the convenience store and since then you've been a sourpuss. What gives, man?"

Adam thanked the bartender as he and Matt received their glasses of water. He scowled as he kept his eyes fixated on his glass, "Nothing," He stated with annoyance. He really just wanted to be left alone and not get bothered by his friends, they didn't know about his past with Shiro so why spill the bean now? It was just something he wasn't going to get into while he was sober. "Nothing gives, bro," He grumbled.

Wyatt narrowed his eyes and ordered two more alcoholic beverages, "Something's eating at you," He sang. "Whenever something bothers you, you like to scowl and avoid eye contact."

Matt turned his brown gaze to the light haired man to his right and cocked his head to the side, "He's right, you know. What happened?" Matt asked. Despite being the comedic relief friend, he genuinely cared for the two people who stayed by his side during high school and even now in adulthood when he needed their support the most. "We want to help you," He urged.

Adam remained silent for a long while; his eyes watching the tiny ripples bounce about in his glass, distorting his pathetic reflection in the water. Where would even begin telling his friends? They didn't even know he was gay and yet here they were basically asking him to pour his heart out to the world. "I uh- I saw Takashi," His voice was hoarse as if he had spent decades in silence.

"Holy shit," Wyatt nodded slightly as he picked up his new shot and slid the extra over to a displeased Matt who picked his up as well, "How's that little prodigy doing? Has he finally gotten with that girl he was always pining over?" Wyatt questioned. He was always being the douchebag in the friend group but like Matt, he cared deeply about people who made an impact on his life like the two men sitting with him on his birthday when he had no family to spend it with. No, they were his family. Dysfunctional, but still, they were his only family in the crappy world they struggled to live in.

Matt's eyes lit up as he interjected, "He was actually at my house a while back with Pi- I mean Katie, well no," He fell into deep thought as he tried to figure out how to describe his little sibling's change without outing the poor kid against his will.

Adam perked up slightly as he finally looked up at Matt quizzically, "What did he say to you when he saw you?" He was worried if the young man had spoken of Adam to their friend; actually, he sort of hoped that his name had been brought up to the weird brunette. It would make coming out to them easier.

Matt thought about it for a second before he shrugged nonchalantly, "Eh, we placed Space Rangers and just talked about Allura," Matt tilted his head back and drank the whiskey nearly spitting it out as he struggled to gulp down the water he had been given. "Jesus! What is this liquid from the devil?" He sputtered, spitting a little bit of water out.

Wyatt nodded and threw back his head and drank the liquor with a little wince as the liquid burned his throat. He coughed once again and nodded slightly, "Yeah, Allura. He's with her now I guess. Proud of my boy," He raised his fist into the air as a little salute to their young friend.

Adam rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders as he pushed his glass of water away from himself, "Yeah well I'm upset because I'm in love with him still."

He had dropped the bomb on his two friends who were sipping greedily on their water. Wyatt spit his out in utter shock as Matt shrugged without really seeming to be surprised in the slightest. "Knew you and Shiro were a thing, no two heterosexual men spend that much time together," Matt stated bluntly. Then he swung his arm around Adam's neck and pulled his friend in close in order to ruffle his hair with a fit of laughter coming from the both of them, "Why didn't you say anything before, idiot?"

Wyatt was unable to form a proper sentence as he pointed to Adam and made little grunts as he tried to understand everything that was happening. Adam gently pushed Matt off and laughed, his cheeks red hot as he shrugged awkwardly, "Well I mean, being gay wasn't exactly okay in high school and I really didn't want to screw up my chances of getting a full ride into college. So uh, I just kind of hid it? Also," Adam frowned a bit as he remembered the time he had spent with the man he had fallen hard for, "Shiro didn't want anyone to know about us."

This time, Matt was the one who got choked up, not Wyatt who had finally whispered a little 'oh' from next to the short brunette man. "Wait," Matt stared at Adam, "Did you guys do gay things?"

Adam pinched his lips together and shrugged ever so slightly. He wasn't one to kiss and tell. He drank his water a little before he placed it back down onto the counter and rested his chin in his palm, "It doesn't matter what we did together, things change with time and he's with that girl now," Call him petty but her name wasn't one he could speak without feeling jealous of. She had the one person he spent years swooning over and she didn't appreciate him as much as Adam would. "We talked a bit and I convinced him to do something that would help with his uh- his mindset. I really think it will help him but I felt so happy when I saw him earlier that it physically pains me to never know when I'll see him again" He placed his hand to his chest and sighed deeply. The ache inside felt as if it were engulfing his entire heart right about now. He pulled his hand away from his body and ruffled his hair as he closed his eyes slowly, "Heartbreak's a bitch, isn't it?"

The other men remained silent as they stared at each other. Adam didn't expect them to really understand what he was going through. Matt's only interaction with a woman had been during a game of spin the bottle and the kiss didn't even last longer than two seconds while Wyatt just slept around for fun never wanting anything more than a fling. Neither of his friends had ever experienced what he had and they probably wouldn't for a while. It was depressing to say the least.

Matt smirked smugly as Wyatt ordered even more alcohol for the two of them. "Remember the last day of school and what we did? Summer of -" Matt began speaking but Adam flashed him a look of pure shock.

"Not that night," He said quietly, almost afraid to speak of the night he had spent with his two closest friends.

Wyatt smiled a toothy grin as he lifted his new whiskey shot into the air, "Karaoke night with them boys!"

Adam felt so disgusted as he drove the two drunken idiots to a convenience store after they got out of the bar so Wyatt could stock up of gross beer. The entire ride to Matt's house seemed like Adam's own personal hell as the two guys in the back seat and passenger seat were yelling along to The Land Down Under. He tried to concentrate on the road as Matt head banged and Wyatt punched the back of Adam's seat hard in order to annoy the darker man driving. It was working. He felt like one of those soccer moms with four energetic kids. He wanted to turn the car around and go home as a punishment for his children but sadly, they were already heading home so that threat wouldn't work that well.

When they arrived, they quietly brought the beer into Matt's room and avoided Colleen as much as they could. Once inside with the door shut tightly behind the trio, Karaoke night commenced. Adam wasn't sure how much time had passed when he cracked open his second can of beer and stared at his stuff in the corner of Matt's room. Was he already feeling a tad bit tipsy? The coke bottle just a few feet away from him tugged at his heart strings. Why was he feeling so heartbroken over a bottle of coke he had bought from his ex-lover, or whatever you would call Shiro at this point? Friend, lover, whatever floats your boat.

"Oops I did it again," Matt held his beer canto his mouth as if it were a microphone. His face red from dancing around so much to the music blaring over the stereo system he had. "I think I am in lo-"

Wyatt shook his head and waved his beer can around haphazardly, spilling a bit onto the bed, "It is I think I'm in love, not whatever the fuck you just said!" He slurred before he laughed a bit.

Adam crawled over to the nearly empty bottle in the corner and picked it up to hold in front of his face, "Shiro," He whispered.

Matt nearly threw his drink at Wyatt before he noticed Adam sniffling in the corner, "Whoa, are you drunk Adam? Look," He tugged on Wyatt's button up and used his beer can to turn the man's face over to their friend, "he's already drunk! That's so sad," He laughed a little bit before he hopped off his bed and stumbled over to Adam in order to look over his shoulder.

"Whoa, a coke bottle," Wyatt breathed on the other side of Adam as he slurped at the little bit of beer left on the top of the can.

Adam jerked his head away from the disgusting noise as he clutched the bottle close to his chest, "I'm not crying!" he exclaimed and pulled his hood over his head and tightened it so it framed his glasses and face in an odd way.

Matt blinked at his friend, speechless for a moment before he wiped his nose on his arm, "You are too crying, your eyes are red, what's up man? Still upset about Shiro?"

Adam nodded and sniffled as he drank the last bit of coke and then began to sob a bit as he held the bottle closer to his chest. "I miss him, I wish I hadn't let him go so easily," he whined like a child who lost his favorite toy.

"Do you miss his tight little ass?" Wyatt asked with seriousness.

Adam stared at the man for a moment before a wave of tears hit the poor man like the wind banging on a window during a hurricane, "Yes, I really do!" Matt pulled his friend into a hug and began to sing Whitney Houston to calm his crying friend down. "I miss everything about him; his smile, the way he laughed, that scar on his face, and even the warmth from his hugs. I just want to see him again!"

Wyatt stared at Matt for a second before he rolled his eyes, "Dude, your voice is flatter than your ass, let me handle this," He stood up and took a giant swig from his beer before he placed the empty can down onto the dresser full of them. He grabbed his phone as a very annoyed Matt kept rocking with his crying friend in his arms while Wyatt tried to find a song to play.

The drum beat began and instantly Matt held in a scream as Rick Astley sounded on the speakers. Wyatt turned around to face away from them as he began to shake his hips to the beat, "I'm going to show you what I do for my part time job buddy!" He exclaimed before he twisted around and thrusted his hips and winked at Adam. "We're no strangers to love," He walked forward a bit before he bit his lip and popped his collar up. He ran his hands down his body slowly, not breaking eye contact from a very confused yet amused Adam, "You know the rules and-"

Matt sipped the last bit of beer before he threw the empty can at his stripper friend letting it bounce onto the bed. "Put your whole soul into it!" He shouted.

"AND SO DO I!" Wyatt yelled as he fell to his knees and unbuckled his pants.

"Oh Jesus," Matt raised one hand into the air and grunted, "Voice so good I could fuck you this instant!"

Adam wasn't exactly sure what was going on but this little Magic Mike show going on made his tears go away as he tried to keep himself from smiling at his stupid friend. Wyatt shook his hands at Matt, "Hands off the merchandise," He stated before he pointed at Adam, "But you my friend, you get a free lap dance from daddy!"

Adam cringed slightly, "No need," Wyatt's body was one he did not ever want to come into contact with for many reasons.

Wyatt frowned as he tried to get back into it, completely missing a few verses from the little exchange between the friends. As he sang the chorus he ripped his shirt off causing a button to bounce off of Matt's glasses never to be found again. He rubbed his hands down his body before he began to grind on the floor then started crawling closer to his friends before he accidentally burped destroying the somehow amusing mood that Wyatt was creating that managed to stop Adam's sobbing. When Matt knew Adam was okay again he went back to singing with Wyatt, putting on a show for Adam with them two stripping to a song.

Adam sniffled as he listened to the chorus of cracking voices and whines coming from the two dorks. He may be slightly intoxicated but he knew that even if Shiro didn't love him like he did, the two men grinding on each other saying 'No homo fellow homosapien' were the ones who would love him no matter what. Even with this knowledge, it still didn't quite heal the broken heart inside of him.

(Art by MiMi)
Hope you enjoyed! It was sort of nice not having to do a whole giant chapter and I'm looking forward to getting back into this story. Thank you for being supportive and worrying about my health ❤

As always, take care of yourselves. Drink water and make sure you eat a good dinner or I'll be mad at you.

-Anri