BrottleShip (Ev/Gabe)

[Ashton Harper]

It had been what? A couple months since the most recent bro-off? Ash liked to think he totally won the bake-off, but Gabe simply couldn't choose a winner so they tied. Pfft, who cared anyway? It was just a fun thing to do with friends. Yup, not competitive at all, okay maybe a little. But Ash liked the competition because it made him better and it also helped him relax when he had so much stuff going on that he couldn't just get away from.

After just getting back from his little week-long vacation with Sophie, he was feeling refreshed, calmed and soothed to the bone. Things were finally good with him again, not thoughts of fleeing to Miami any longer. He'd all but forgotten his previous failed proposal and the girl that got away because he was happy with the one he had. Part of him wondered when his boys were going to find girls that kept their interest. Of the three of them, he was probably the most awkward, yet the one that got into committed relationships the fastest and easiest. With girls that were way out of his league, but still.

Ash was taking a break from rearranging furniture and whatnot and decided to just lay back for a while. He was waiting to hear from Sophie still, but she wouldn't be out of school for another hour or so, so he was all but ignoring his phone.

Until it started buzzing...and buzzing...and buzzing. Which signaled that he was being called. With a huff, he snagged his phone from the side table and flipped it open, not bothering to look at who was calling because his bet would be Flynn or one of the boys. "Hello, can I help you with something?"

Boy was he clueless.

[Everett Lilien]

That is not what Everett had been expecting when Ashton picked up the phone. "What kind of a greeting is that? I'm not calling customer service to get help with my Macbook, I'm calling my friend who apparently does not know how to greet his bro! Fuck man!" He finished his rant, taking a deep breath.

Okay, so he was bitter and that was a little harsh of a way to begin a phone call, but he still wasn't over what had happened in his own apartment, the apartment he'd extended to Gabe. Granted it was only a week ago, but Everett normally didn't hold grudges, but he really felt wronged and the images that were in his head were just horrible and he couldn't shake them from his mind. He hadn't had the heart to kick Gabe out and so they were oddly still living together and it was the most awkward thing he'd ever experienced, but he wouldn't talk to him, he couldn't even look at him and remind him about rent without getting angry.

"Have you talked to Gabe?" There was no way Gabe had gotten to Ashton first.

[Gabriel James]

Gabriel nervously tapped on his steering wheel. He'd been driving for a few hours now, and he was starting to get tired. The music was blaring, and he had stopped for coffee about a half hour before. It didn't wake him up enough- only gave him the jitters. It didn't help that he wasn't sleeping right. Between worrying day and night about his niece and the guilt he felt about what happened with Kiara, Gabe hadn't slept right in over a week.

He decided to drive down to Deleware to visit his niece, anyway. His brother actually said it would be fine, and Gabriel wasn't about to pass up the chance to visit the girl without his brother turning it into a 'you're such a bad influence' moment. He supposed Noah was overcome with worry, and less concerned with Gabriel. Understandably so. Gabriel was worried sick, and with Everett ignoring him, he wasn't about to calm himself by ranting. He hadn't even picked up his guitar in a week because he didn't want to piss Everett off more by playing late into the night.

Gabe's hands were beginning to shake more, and he felt like he was going to have a panic attack. He would stop off at a bar to calm himself, expect he had to make it to his destination. Drinking and driving was never an option. He had to talk to somebody, though. He felt like he hadn't heard his own voice outside of the classroom in ages. So he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed a friend who was conveniently toward the top of his contacts list. He turned the music off, put speakerphone on, and set the phone on his dashboard, listening to the dial tone and ringing nervously, like if Ashton didn't pick up he was going to turn off the road.

[Ashton Harper]

Ashton pulled the phone away from his ear as Everett went on his little rant about how he hadn't properly answered the phone, though he still had been perfectly polite. "Geez, what are you my mother? Calm down, I didn't know it was you," He rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced around the apartment. Seriously, what was with Ev, and what was wrong with his greeting. He quite liked the way it rolled off his tongue, it made him sound all important and professional, if not a little like customer service.

"Anyway, what's up, man? Haven't heard from you in a whi-," He was cut off by Ev's question and his eyebrows pulled together. Gabe? Why would he be asking about that? Ash shook his head, "Uh, no I haven't. Why is he okay er..." He trailed off, not entirely sure about what was going on because usually Ev was the one that saw and heard from Gabe the most. They both worked at Hammel, wouldn't he kind of know if Gabriel was okay?

His phone beeped signalling an incoming call and Ash looked to see who it was. And when he saw the name, he raised his eyebrows. What the hell. "Speaking of, Gabe. He's callin' right now, hold on a sec," And with that he pressed the call button and switched over to the other conversation.

"Dude, what's up? You okay?" He asked, still not quite sure as to why Everett would be asking him about Gabe.

[Gabriel James]

When Ashton picked up there was a hint of concern in his voice, which Gabe found weirdly out of place. It was like he thought Gabe was hurt or laying dead in a ditch somewhere. "Uh... yeah I'm fine?" Gabe said as more of a question than anything. "Listen I just needed someone to talk to and since me and Ev aren't really associating with eachother I was hoping I could vent for a minute. You got the time?" Gabe asked, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel again - the jitters hadn't quite left him.

Gabe had only assumed that Everett had already talked to Ashton. Ev was closer to the college student than Gabe was, simply because Gabe had only met Ash recently through his roommate. So in Gabe's mind it was a safe bet that Everett had already talked to Ashton about what had happened. "And it isn't about what happened with Ev I want to stay away from that if at all possible. Assuming you aren't pissed at me too," Gabe added, fully believing that Ashton was aware of the situation.

[Everett Lilien]

"It's called caller-I.D. I'm pretty sure your cell phone has it," Everett shot back, only offended because of his current state of mind, which was quite bitter.

After he'd mentioned Gabe, Ashton seemed confused, which meant that he hadn't heard from him yet, which Everett was kind of glad for. He really just wanted someone to talk to about this in an objective manner and it seemed that neither Gabe or Kiara wanted to blame themselves. "He's fine...I mean, whatever." That's not what he'd called to talk about. He was about to go on when Ashton practically cut him off after announcing that Gabe was on the other line.

"Ash! The fuck man?" But he was already gone. "I called you first!" he yelled into his phone, even though Ashton couldn't hear it.

[Ashton Harper]

Ashton snorted, "My bad, I don't always check caller-I.D. Seriously, bro, cool your jets. You're gonna turn into a big, green monster." Snerk, get it? Ash was a nerd, he knew this, but Everett was acting ridiculous and getting so defensive about random shit that didn't even matter! "Well then why are you asking me about him? Aren't you the one that works with him?" Simple, it was so simple! He was so confused as to what was going on.

He couldn't help himself when Gabe called, after all, if there was something wrong with him, then shouldn't Ash answer his phone in case he needed help? When Gabriel answered in equal confusion, Ash's palm met his face and he shook his head. What was going onnnn? He ran his hand through his hair and listened as Gabriel continued. He needed to vent? Okay this was all just getting crazy and he needed to know what was going on with his fellow bros. "Yeah I got time," He said in response because frankly he did.

Before he could say anything about Ev being on the other line, Gabe spoke again and he found himself more confused. "Wait, why would I be pissed?" He shook his head, "Hold that thought, I got someone on the other line." In all fairness, Ev had called him first and he wanted to know what was going on. This way he could split his time evenly between the two of them.

He switched back to Ev, "Sorry bout that. Anyway. Explain what the hell is going on, he wants to know if I'm pissed at him too. And I don't know why I'd be pissed..."