brooks & hale ✔️

hale

enjoy the random gif of snow falling to set the scene, seeing as it's summer (for me anyway) + things aren't feeling wintry enough :)

*

eight ;
h a l e

"TWO CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKES, THREE slices of cheesecake and two packets of salt and vinegar crisps," Will said, rattling off the order with the accuracy of someone who'd thought this through very carefully. "Well, that's me done. What do you guys want?"

The waitress laughed like he was making a joke, and trailed off uncertainly when Will looked at her with complete seriousness. When it came to food, Will did not mess around. Hale wasn't even kidding when he said Will ate for an entire army on a daily basis, and he somehow managed to stay skinny as a stick. Maybe it was all the practises he attended that managed to shave off all the extra calories, or maybe he was just a genetic anomaly.

"Ignore him, he's a fat shit," Alec said, with a wink at the waitress. "I'll have the blueberry pancakes and your number, please."

Will mimed throwing up behind the laminated menu card, earning chuckles from Hale and Elliot, but the waitress swallowed up Alec's shitty flirting with a deep blush and fluttering eyelashes. "I'll be right up with that," she giggled, taking up their menus with a coy smile directed at Alec. "Hope I don't keep you waiting too long."

"Barf," Will said conversationally, as the waitress sashayed back into the kitchen. "Can't you try and get laid without an audience?"

Alec looked smug. "But it's so much more fun with an audience."

"The rest of us didn't even get to order," Oli sighed, with a sad look towards the kitchen. "She was too busy flirting with Alec."

It was a crisp afternoon, snow falling in fluffy white bits outside the window, and Juniper's Cafe was packed with students and adults alike hiding out from the cold weather. The place was mostly frequented by school kids from the two closest schools, Woodway and Lexus, chattering and laughing in groups or pairs around the booths with steaming mugs of the hot chocolate that the place was famous for.

Hale and his friends were packed in the usual booth tucked in the corner by the window, with a few of the seats empty. The guys had just had football practise but the girls had bailed on them, helping the school council set up for the February charity fundraiser. Dylan had ditched them in favour of staying late for extra practise with Lewisham, because unlike the rest of them, football and lacrosse were more than just pastimes for him.

"I have a bone to pick with you, Hale," Elliot said, narrowing hazel eyes at him across the table.

"Yeah?" Hale yawned into his hand and unwound the scarf from around his neck. Juniper's was heated and blissfully warm after their too long practise in the ice cold. "Hurry it up, I'd rather get it done before the food arrives."

"You totally ditched me in chemistry, and it wasn't even to chat up a cute girl," he said accusingly. Of course, Elliot would have gladly given up the seat if Hale had done it for a girl, shooting him sly looks the whole time. "It was to sit at the front with what's-his-name. No, seriously," he insisted, when Hale just rolled his eyes, "what's his name? The beer pong guy?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember him." Will ripped open a sugar packet and upended the contents onto the table, for no particular reason beyond boredom. "The one who totally destroyed Dylan and Markov in beer pong. Benji? Billy?"

"Brooks," Oli supplied.

"Yeah, that's it. Brooks," Elliot said, raising an eyebrow at Hale. "What's all that about?"