by Anna Martin
When the three weeks were over, Cooper waited anxiously for another text from Drew telling him he was back home. But nothing happened. The same radio silence he’d endured for the past few weeks continued, and Cooper faced up to the fact that it was likely over.
Then he wallowed some more.
“You,” Alana said, poking Cooper in the ribs as they closed down for the evening, “are killing my vibe.”
“You have a vibe?”
“Yes. And you’re bringing it down.” She bumped her shoulder against his gently. “Come on. Why don’t you call him?”
Cooper stretched his neck from side to side, then sighed. “I don’t want to be that guy.”
“What guy?”
“The creepy stalker ex.”
She snorted. “But you said you miss him. So you should do something about it.”
Cooper pulled his apron off and hung it up on the back of the stockroom door. There was a mirror on the wall, put there so staff had the chance to straighten up before they went out to serve customers. It meant Cooper couldn’t avoid the deep, bruising bags under his eyes, the pallor of his skin, the way he’d clearly not been taking care of himself.
“Jesus,” he muttered under his breath. “Pull yourself together, kid.”
He walked back out into the store, dark and quiet now that the lights and the AC had been turned off. Alana was waiting for him by the door, thumbing at her phone and twirling her keys around her finger.
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
They set the alarms and ducked out of the building, double locking the doors before heading for the parking lot.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Alana asked, leaning against her car.
“Crying, mostly,” Cooper deadpanned.
“Well, don’t. Come over to my apartment at ten.”
“Fuck, no. Eleven.”
“Fine.”
“Where are we going?”
“To fix you,” she said, then slid into her car before Cooper could get anything else out of her.
It was a rough night, but a lot of them had been rough recently, and Cooper was getting used to surviving on less sleep than usual. It was stupid, in a way. He’d had breakups in the past and had never taken it this hard before. Ever since he was a kid, any disturbance in his equilibrium had meant a bad night’s sleep. He wished for those easy nights with Drew curled around him, Drew’s hot breath on his shoulder, the strength of Drew’s arm anchoring Cooper back against his chest.
He arrived at Alana’s apartment late but with two large coffees, hoping he’d be forgiven. She was already sitting on the front step of her building, cigarette dangling from her fingers as she tapped at something on her phone. Alana was always so effortlessly cool. Dark hair, dark sunglasses, I don’t give a fuck attitude. Cooper thought she was amazing.
She unfurled herself gracefully and slid over the hood of the car as she went round to the passenger door.
“Good morning,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
“Where are we going?”
“To get your man back.”
Cooper chuckled darkly. “I think that ship has sailed, sunshine.”
“We’re going to fucking Disneyland,” Alana said, propping her feet up on the dashboard. “I know you know the way, I scored some comp tickets from a contact, and I’ve been mentally preparing myself for days. Get on it.”
Cooper got on it.
His stomach tied up in knots as they made their way out of the city, fingers sweating, hands slipping on the steering wheel. Alana mostly ignored him. She wasn’t really one for small talk and was far more interested in whatever was on her phone.
He parked up in one of the guest parking lots, rather than the staff one Drew had taken him to, and tried to not be nervous.
Hah.
“Are we seriously doing this?” Cooper asked as they hopped off the parking lot shuttle and walked up to the now-familiar gates. Now October, the Indian summer had cooled considerably. Halloween was just around the corner, and the park had been covered in hundreds of glittery pumpkins. He could already smell that tempting popcorn sweetness in the air and hear the cheerful oom-pah-pah of the brass band music they had piped out around the park.
“I think you have to,” Alana said solemnly. “I’m willing to take a day full of children and unnaturally happy people to help you sort your shit out.”
“Can’t say ‘shit’ in Disneyland,” Cooper said mechanically. “In case the kids hear you.”
“You do know this is torture to me?” Alana asked. “This is so far from my comfort zone. But you are one of my best friends, and I’m sick of watching you moping around, and I want you to be happy.”
He reached over, took her hand, and squeezed it gently. “I appreciate it. You know he might not even be here, right?”
“He’ll be here. I called his housemate and checked.”
“You what?”
Alana shrugged. “Dan, right? The cute guy he brought with him a few times.”
“I never saw Dan at work,” Cooper said, frowning.
“Of course you didn’t. You were always making moon-eyes at your hottie. Dan and I have a date on Tuesday. He coordinated his day off for me.”
Cooper gaped at her.
“Oh, shut up.”
“I thought he was gay.”
“Well, he’s not,” Alana said. “He asked me out, and I have his number, and I asked him, and he said Drew is working today.”
The “so there” was left unsaid, but Cooper heard it. He wanted to press more and find out what was going on with Dan and Alana, because there was a new take on the original odd couple, but maybe, in some strange way, they would work. Alana was dark and Dan was sunshine, and together they could be awesome. It was a definite possibility.
Once they got inside, he took Alana’s hand again and tugged her through the crowd.
“Is there anything you want to see while we’re here?” he asked.
“I’m going to buy birthday presents for my nieces. Something horrible and glittery.”
He leaned over and put a careful kiss on her cheek. “You’re a wonderful friend, and I love you.”
She harrumphed.
“I think I know where he’ll be,” Cooper said.
They wound their way down Main Street, Cooper watching Alana and her reactions more than the path ahead. Was this how Drew had felt when he showed Cooper around the first time? It was hilarious, watching Alana’s jaw twitch, her face occasionally softening into awe and wonder, then her familiar, scowling mask coming back.
Cooper knew when Drew was in character, he mostly hung out at the back of the park, in Fantasyland, where the princes and princesses met little kids dressed up like princesses. Really, it was too much to expect Drew to be right there, somewhere obvious when they walked through. But there he was, standing on a platform next to Rapunzel with some stupid goatee stuck to his chin, waving and laughing and posing for pictures.
“Oh dear God,” Alana muttered under her breath.
“Shh.”
Cooper hung back, just watching as Drew picked up a little girl in a Cinderella dress, hitching her onto his hip and beaming for a photograph. He was, Cooper admitted, so good at this. It would be too easy to dismiss Drew as just another out-of-work Hollywood wannabe, counting down the time until his big break by being a big kid at Disneyland.
He wasn’t, though.
Drew made this more than a job. He gave every kid his full attention, joking and riffing with the girl playing his princess. He was so natural, so easy, even though Cooper knew it must be exhausting in the heat of the afternoon.
After ten minutes or so, Drew looked over and caught Cooper’s eye. For a split second, his character fell away, and Cooper was looking at the guy he’d fallen for over weird ice cream combinations and rainbow sprinkles. Then the character was back, and Drew waved, bright and alive, and turned to the next kid in line.
“He saw us,” Alana murmured.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“What now?”
Cooper looked at her. “I thought you had a plan.”
She shrugged. “I dunno. I just wanted you to stop moping around.”
Alana had chosen to wear a Grateful Dead T-shirt for her day in the Happiest Place on Earth, with black ripped jeans and her battered Chucks. Her dark hair was pulled back in an intricate braid and she was wearing purple lipstick.
“I’m taking you on ‘it’s a small world,’” Cooper said decisively.
“No, you’re fucking not.”
“I’ll stop moping….”
Alana scowled. “I’m never going to forgive you for this.”
Cooper pressed his lips together to hide his grin. “I’m sure I’ll survive.”
WHEN THEY got off the ride, there was a text waiting on Cooper’s phone.
“So, Drew wants to know what we’re doing here,” he said, letting Alana lead him over to a street vendor.
“Tell him we came to see him,” she said easily.
He quickly typed out a reply and clutched his phone in now-sweaty hands while Alana bought a huge bag of cotton candy.
“Want some?” she asked, shoving the pink, sugary mess at him.
“No, thanks. He says he finishes at three.”
“What on earth could we do to entertain ourselves until then?” Alana deadpanned, though the effect was slightly diminished by the pink fluff stuck to her chin.
“You’re going to have more fun than you’ve ever had in your whole life.”
“Doubtful. Very doubtful.”
They stuck to Fantasyland, because all of the pink and sparkle seemed antithetical to Alana’s whole aesthetic, and Cooper was man enough to admit he was endlessly amused by her attempts to not be entertained.
It wasn’t like Cooper was counting down the hours or anything… except he totally was, and they hadn’t paid to get in, and Alana had way too much fun on the scary Snow White ride. She was pumped full of sugar and a little twitchy, and Cooper decided she was the best friend he’d ever had.
Apart from Drew.
He wasn’t sure where Drew would come out from, so they stuck close to the doors that led “backstage.” It was a little after three when Cooper caught Drew wandering through the park in his regular clothes, just in front of the flying Dumbo ride. He looked gorgeous in khaki shorts and a white shirt unbuttoned enough to show off his toned chest. With his slick-backed hair and aviator sunglasses, he looked more like a rock star than a prince.
“Hey,” Cooper said softly as Alana melted off into a crowd.
Drew looked… nervous. He was a big guy but never intimidating. He managed to seem almost fragile, and in that moment, Cooper knew he was still desperately in love.
“Hey. Do you want to go sit down somewhere?”
Cooper nodded and let himself be led to a bench he hadn’t even noticed before, opposite the Mad Hatter’s twirling teacups, the perfect place to stop and watch the world go by.
“How was the movie?” Cooper asked. “You didn’t even tell me what it was about.”
Drew smiled tentatively from behind his sunglasses. “It was a low-budget horror,” he said. “Totally not my usual thing but a lot of fun. I think I got some good contacts out of it and made a good impression.”
“That’s awesome. When’s the big premiere, then?”
“Ah, it’s going to be released digitally,” Drew said, rubbing the back of his neck. “No premiere this time.”
“Next time.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
They fell into silence then, and Cooper wanted to cringe. He wasn’t sure what had happened to their easy, warm friendship that underpinned the romantic feelings he had for Drew. It felt like everything had just slipped away.
“I missed you,” he blurted, not sure what else he could say.
“I missed you too,” Drew said quietly. He looked steadfastly at his hands, clasped between his knees, not at Cooper. “I’m not really sure where it went wrong.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I want….”
Drew looked up then, and Cooper wanted to beg him to take the sunglasses off. He wasn’t sure if he could do this without seeing the expression on Drew’s face.
“Tell me,” Drew said.
“I want us to be together again.”
“Okay,” Drew said slowly. “If we do that, then there’s a few things we need to talk about.”
Cooper’s stomach pitched, but he nodded. “Sure.”
“Firstly, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you were less than anything. I’ve always liked you just the way you are. Secondly… I want us to be able to talk about things, the future, without being afraid. I haven’t ever had a proper boyfriend before—”
“Wait… what?”
Drew shrugged and tried to hide the flush in his cheeks. “No. Casual things, yes. But not anything serious with someone I care about. This is new territory for me, and I’m going to fuck up again, I’m sure of that. So I want to know we can be honest with each other without it turning into something we can’t find our way back from.”
Cooper reached over and pulled Drew’s hands from between his knees, then laced their fingers together.
“I’m sorry. I wish you’d told me. Of course we can talk about anything.”
“I want you to meet my mom,” Drew said in a rush. “I want to be able to take you home and show you off.”
“Did you think that was something I’d say no to?”
“Yes?” Drew said, making it a question. “I guessed you wouldn’t be okay with that at all.”
“I’d love to meet your family,” Cooper said softly. “If we’re together, then we’re together. With everything that goes with that.”
“Can I meet your mom too?”
“Of course you can,” Cooper laughed.
“And your sisters?”
“Yeah, them too. Though they’re all assholes and will absolutely tell lies about me. Just so you know.”
“I’ll consider myself warned.” Drew tentatively reached over and took hold of Cooper’s other hand. “I don’t want this to be another fight,” he said, rubbing his thumbs over Cooper’s knuckles. “But I just want you to know that I’ll support you, no matter what you want in your career. If that means staying at the Dreamy Creamery and you just getting better and better at what you do, then I’ll back you up. I mean it.”
Cooper nodded, then cleared his throat. “I don’t want to stay there forever.” He thought it was important to get that out in the open. “The ice cream truck… it’s been one of those pipe dream things, you know? Like when me and Alana are talking shit in the back room of the store, saying what we’d do if we won the lottery. She would say how she’d open up her own rock bar, like an alternative to the Viper Room. And I’d get my ice cream truck.
“I still have all of the same objections,” he continued after a moment. “About getting the licenses and figuring out taxes and all that shit.”
“That just takes research, though. I looked into it. You can get small business grants too, to cover setup. I can help. If you want me to.”
Cooper nodded slowly. “Yeah. Okay. We can look into it.”
“Okay.” Drew smiled one of his hundred-watt Disney smiles. “Is there anything you want?”
Cooper thought of a lot of things in that moment, most of them to do with Drew’s mouth. He forced himself to be practical.
“I want… I want to be able to take you out too,” he said after a moment.
“Okay.”
“This isn’t a criticism, because you come up with the most amazing dates and I love going out with you. But sometimes I feel like you don’t want me to spoil you. Let me have that too.”
Drew frowned, a little crease between his eyebrows that Cooper wanted to kiss away. “Okay,” he said slowly.
“I’m not saying don’t take me out,” Cooper explained, wondering if he was getting his point across at al
l. “I just want it to be an equal thing. You take me out. I take you out. Instead of it being your treat every time.”
“We can do that.”
Drew finally smiled again then. His fingers stroked through Cooper’s, over the palm of his hand, brushing his knuckles. They were finally figuring this out.
“You are extraordinarily easy to love. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
“Only you,” Cooper admitted.
“I’ll make sure to remind you more often. Where did Alana disappear to?”
“She’s around somewhere,” Cooper said easily. “I can call her if you like.”
“She’s going on a date with my friend.”
“I heard.”
“Is that going to be weird?”
“Nah,” Cooper said. “It’s double-date time now, though. I want to see Dan trying to take Alana on a romantic evening stroll through this place. She’ll hate it. It’ll be awesome.”
Drew laughed, then leaned over and kissed the corner of Cooper’s mouth. “Are you mine again now?”
“Yeah,” Cooper said immediately. He put his head down on Drew’s shoulder and let some of the tension roll away.
“Good. What do you want to do next?”
“Honestly? Take you home, put you in my bed, and not let you out for days.”
Drew chuckled, low and dirty. “I’m sure we can make that happen. There’s something else first, though.”
“Oh?”
“We need to find Alana and take her on Splash Mountain.”
“And make her ride in the front seat.”
“See,” Drew said decisively, poking Cooper in the shoulder. “I knew I loved you for a reason.”
Cooper fitted his hand in Drew’s and squeezed it. “Let’s do it.”
Epilogue
COOPER PULLED into his favorite spot on the Santa Monica beachfront, pleased that it was free. There were a few different places along the LA coast where he could park, but he always seemed to do best here. He killed the engine, rolled his shoulders, then hauled himself out of the driver’s seat.
