[Come Back to Earth by Mac Miller (rest easy, mac)]
word count: 2940

-

Dalton Jones was one of the most perplexing people I'd ever met in my life.

One day, he would be asking me out and wanting to kiss me, the next he avoided me like the plague. It was safe to say, he'd been doing it on purpose following our date. At some point, I'd asked Claire for advice, as she was the only sibling that knew... about boys and -more importantly- about me liking boys... and talking to Quinn about it didn't seem right, she was more Dalton's friend than mine anyways. Times like these, I wished I had friends but my only friends were either half-mine or boys that I couldn't shake my feelings off... I still hadn't told Wyatt that I was gay and maybe I should've since he was the only friend that'd been around long-enough.

But my friendship with Wyatt Stevens wasn't so much the friendship you would hear about in stories, he was someone I hung around occasionally and we had deep conversations but he just wasn't an everyday friend. He could be, I knew that but with that crush I was trying to get over, it felt a little wrong to speak with him on terms of my sexuality or things that were too personal.

I was officially stuck and it had officially been a week of Dalton being aloof. He hadn't tried to strike up any conversation with me in Chem and if I did, it often ended after two short replies, I wasn't very good at keeping conversation going let alone starting it, maybe that was why I was drawn to Wyatt, maybe the fact that he knew how to keep me intrigued had a lot to do with my infatuation.

And maybe Dalton was the exact opposite.

His headphones would be in each time I would try to talk or he would be jotting notes and I felt too awkward to try and engage when he'd be distracted. Dalton wasn't a note taker though, that much was obvious, he hadn't started taking actual notes until he decided anything was better than talking to me.

Sick of tip-toeing and guessing, I'd mustered enough courage to meet him at his locker during a class change. It took the periods beforehand to psych myself up enough and my body was doing this fight or flight thing where I nearly had to dig my feet into the ground in front of him in order to not run away and never speak to Dalton again. I didn't think I could handle the ice-cold stare and that was if he even spared me a glance, what if he ignored my presence completely?

"Why'd you ask me out?" My voice was a traitor and it came out softer than intended, I was never very strong when talking to him, always timid, always submissive. It took me a while to realize that that was one of the things he really liked about me, I hadn't had much courage in the face of confrontation.

Sending me a fleeting glance, he paid more attention to changing out his books, another thing I'd rarely seen him do, "Huh?"

Still, I waited until he was done with that, tried to be patient as we still had around five minutes until the bell rang and we were both going the same way. I waited and I rocked on my heels, trying to not seem as if I were rushing but once he'd closed his locker, his dull eyes were then overly-occupied with his phone and I didn't have time to wait for that to be over too. "Why'd you, ya know?" My air was caught in my lungs and I tried to articulate exactly what I was asking but he still hadn't looked up.

His phone was in his hand, a cool light-gray and I tried not to address how much that suited him; Wyatt's phone had a beat up case with band stickers and chipped sides.

But when Dalton spoke, everything I had in my head about the almond-eyed boy had vanished and it felt like my brain were doing somersaults to keep up with Dalton Jones, to figure out what was going on in that head of his.

"You were there for me." The boy in front of me's voice barely lingered, he hadn't even looked at me and in a way, that felt worse than any scenarios I'd thought up. A small, uninterested shrug followed and a half-smile that felt a bit empty considering his eyes were blank. I wasn't really sure if it was towards me or whoever was texting him but I didn't like it, I hated the lack of energy he had. "Plus, you're kinda cute."

"Oh, shut up." Despite how careless those words sounded, my cheeks flushed and I tried not to make my smile too wide. Dalton Jones, the boy with ashy-blond hair and mystery behind his pale-flesh, he had thought I was cute.

And he finally looked up at me with those icy eyes, me turning away in order to not stare a little to long, he had eyes that could mesmerize you and I was trying to speak without becoming a puddle. "You are." I was already smiling and I had instantly forgotten about the week of cold shoulders he'd spared me. "We should grab a bite."

That sounded so happy, like he really looked forward to spending time with me and it was sweet but I'd told Wyatt I'd go to the planetarium with him at some point earlier that week during a lunch conversation. "I'm kind of meeting with Wyatt."

"Oh." And we were back to Dalton's stare, the smile had wiped from his face almost instantly. "I see."

The face he'd given me after that was one that I'd never seen before but later on, I'd see a lot of. I wasn't sure what that meant or even what he meant but it didn't sound good in the slightest. "You see what?"

"Nothing, Gabriel."

And he'd taken off after that, not even waiting for me on the walk to Chem and throughout the class, he'd kept his attention on anything but me. To make matters worse, we were supposed to be discussing the material with our lab partners and everytime I so much as looked at him, he'd tune me out. After trying twice and realizing he didn't want anything to do with it, I laid my head down and buried myself in the periodic table of elements.

He'd dashed out of class as soon as the bell rang and I was stuck trying to decipher what I'd really done wrong until the end of the day.

It was almost as if a switch had been turned and he was back to avoiding me and I was back to chasing after him. I'd spent my lunch on the tennis court, ignoring the way Wyatt had sat down right beside me and that was difficult when he'd offered half a sandwich and a smile. I didn't speak much but he didn't seem to mind and all that was on my mind was the boy with stormy eyes.

Fifteen to three was when I'd caught up with Dalton, again he was at his locker and again, he was ignoring my presence. Was this the new normal? "Are you mad at me for something?" I'd questioned a little too loud when I'd finally gotten the balls to speak up. Almost instantly, I shrunk into myself at the notice of a few eyes glancing over at my outburst. Dalton had both the ability to infuriate me and make me melt which also, in a way, infuriated me.

Watching him roll his eyes, my hand had crept up to shut his locker, him catching it just in time and looking at me as if I were insane. "Are you off ya head?"

That hit, self-consciousness eating at me and I wasn't sure how to respond. Was that weird? Was it weird to be confused as to why he was brushing me off? "No? Y-you're angrily stuffing things in your locker and-" I'd trailed off when he'd became more preoccupied with pulling the last thing out his locker and closing it.

And I thought he'd look at me at least but no, he simply turned and started to walk away as if I didn't exist. "Dalton." He kept walking.

Keeping up with the long-limbed boy was a challenge but that didn't stop me from walking a little faster in my vans, spinning around in front of him when we'd reached the front of the school, busses were already loading but our bus was second load that day and I was sure he didn't have anywhere to go anytime soon.

"Are you okay?"

He'd gritted his teeth, mouth stretching into this forced smile and his voice came out agitated as he tried to brush past me again, "Peachy."

"Dalton-"

He must have gotten tired of me trying because he'd actually listened to my calling out to him. We were near the entrance, although no one was there anymore and I'd have to rush to make it to the car park before Wyatt got bored of waiting for me. "Does it even matter?" And the boy in front of me had turned to me then, his chest so close to mine and his figure wasn't tall enough to loom over me but his eyes suddenly seemed darker, his voice lower and he was looking at me in a way that intimidated me beyond belief.

"You have plans with him, you're keen on him."

And this was my fault, it was one-hundred percent my fault. "This is about Wyatt?" He was jealous and I was starting to understand the anger. Dalton wasn't like most, his jealousy wasn't hidden in smart remarks, he was good at making me feel stupid and with good reason. It made sense that he would be upset about Wyatt and I hanging out, I wouldn't be too fond of him hanging out with an attractive guy, but he was still ignoring me before I even told him about Wyatt.

When I hadn't spoken any more, Dalton's eyes had softened and he briefly took in his surroundings before hesitantly pushing his hand into mine. With a more gentle approach, he'd tilted his head to look directly into my eyes and he spoke softly. "I just, I kind of thought that we..."

He didn't finish that statement, pulling my hand up and placing a kiss on my fingertips, lingering a little longer than necessary but it caused a buzzing feeling to rip through my skin.

And then, "Hey, Gabe, you ready to go?"

Pulling away from Dalton quickly, I felt him throw my hand down, turning quickly to the source and there was Wyatt with his camera bag slung over his shoulder over his backpack strap. His bottom lip was in his mouth, tan button-up short-sleeve unbuttoned to show the thin silver chain that held his emerald stone he'd shown me once before.

I could basically feel Dalton tensing behind me but he had nothing to worry about. Wyatt hadn't seen anything and even if he had, I knew Wyatt Stevens; he was one of those people you read books about, one of those boys who were too sweet for their own good.

Wyatt was caring and thoughtful and beautiful and-

"Um." That was all I could say, especially sandwiched between them, I never thought I'd be in this position, ever. I'd never experienced a love-triangle before -or at least that's what I thought it was even if Wyatt didn't seem as interested in me- my little sister, Sammy, would often mention books she would read in which the main character had to determine which boy she would end up with.

In those books, the main character was a beautiful woman; in real life, I was a contradiction of both of those things yet still, I found myself comparing Dalton and Wyatt in that way.

Normally, a plot twist would throw the main character a curve ball, one of the men wouldn't be as great as they claimed to be or -quite frankly- evil. If only, life was a movie, I'd been stuck between an amazing boy and an amazingly mysterious boy and I wasn't sure which one intrigued me more.

"Gabriel?" Turning my head at the sound, I locked eyes with Dalton's disbelieving ones, instantly regret had coursed through me. He was speaking and I wasn't paying attention, my eyes had been on Wyatt and I'd trying to form sentences. "Whatever."

He'd rolled his eyes at that and I couldn't help but think of the waves.

I thought of the way tides would rise; the water would gently kiss the surface of sand, wetting the toes of an innocent child. I thought of the way that same kid wouldn't be aware -couldn't be aware- that the very thing that he adored could swallow him up, engulfing him in its beauty and stealing its breath. Ignorance was bliss in instances like those, one who'd see swimming as a past time wouldn't understand nor see the violence lingering beneath the surface.

Dalton Jones was like a wave.

And Wyatt was looking at me again but maybe I'd only noticed because of all the times I'd spent looking at him to notice he hadn't noticed me. I'd been pinning after this boy for so long and when he'd finally noticed me, all I could think of was the one behind me.

The one who was on his way towards the door, arms stiff near his sides and his jaw clenched so tight I could basically hear it cracking. Hazel eyes had flickered past me, "Is he okay?" And I shrugged at the confused look on his face. Wyatt was so caring even when he didn't know who he was caring for. "Okay... I was thinking we could get something to eat and then go-"

I'd spoken before I could think further about what I was giving up, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Um, alright, we can eat after?" There was a laugh in his voice and he seemed pretty excited, so excited that I didn't want to continue.

But the busses were almost there, second load was near and part of me knew that if I didn't cancel, Dalton would never speak to me again. "I can't- I can't hang out with you today."

"Oh." Almost instantly, his brows had furrowed, voice losing that laugh, confusion replacing it. "Can I ask why? I kinda had the planetarium lined up, already bought the access passes... they're non-refundable..."

That made me feel bad, especially the awkward smile he'd given me, no teeth on show and bottom lip tugged into his mouth. Wyatt looked nervous.

"It's just some... Personal stuff, yeah?" He didn't seem convinced and I understood... among everything else I was bad at, lying was one. "I'm really sorry."

And the way he tried to keep up his smile even as he looked down had broken my heart. The way he stuttered out a response as well, "O-okay. Um, I'll just ask Mari to go or something." But there was something there, he sounded kind of... disappointed.

"Wyatt..."

"I'll catch you later, then."

By then his smile was more solid, and shifted to hike his camera bag back up his shoulder, thumbing the strap absentmindedly and his smile had faltered at my, "Sorry."

"It's fine." Nodding, his eyes flickered back behind me, to the door that had already shut. In the most empty voice I'd ever heard, he'd spoken soft, eyes not connecting with mine again. "Good luck with your things."

-

Finding Dalton was easier than expected, he'd been sitting on the curb, jaw still locked and approaching him took all the courage I had left after cancelling with Wyatt.

My heart was in my knees and so were my lungs apparently because when I'd bent them to sit down beside him, I'd lost my breath. "Hey..." it came out soft, not exactly a whisper but almost as if my intention wasn't for him to hear it.

But he had and his voice was almost as bitter as the coffee Quinn had offered me that morning. "Don't you have some space thing to go to?"

"I cancelled," sighing, I watched as a small smile had graced his sullen face and it has skyrocketed my confidence. "Where do you wanna go?"

At that moment, I had chosen Dalton Jones over Wyatt Stevens and it hadn't quite sunken in how permanent that choice was. He'd nodded at that, the aforementioned boy barely cracking a smile as if he didn't see it that way. His skin was warmer than his eyes, maybe that was why I'd allowed him to tug my hand into his softly, holding me as if he were scared that tightening it would alert everyone. As if the pressure of his hand being placed in mine determined life or death.

And even if he did pull away almost as quickly as our fingers intertwined, it gave me reassurance that this was what he'd wanted and he was grateful.

His perplexity had dissolved in moments like those. In moments like those, Dalton wasn't the cyclone he could become, he was a gentle tremor... he was simply a tropical disturbance and I didn't mind the delay.