What's in a Name
Summary: This would be Wiatt's first lunch joining his boyfriend (BOYFRIEND!!!) at his usual lunch spot with his usually lunch mates, which is to say that he was re-meeting Lewis's best friends with the context of dating Lewis. This was basically make or break it as far as Wiatt was concerned. Just had to make a good impression. No pressure. Right? Riiiiight.
(Also available on AO3)
Wiatt was nervous. This was his first time seeing having lunch with Lewis as his boyfriend. What's more, this was his first time having lunch with his boyfriend and his boyfriend's best friends. Wiatt knew how important the two friends were to Lewis. One was practically a sister that Lewis had grown up with and the other rounded out their energetic ideas and was a kind glue that smoothed out the edges and made the three closer than the two were before. He treasured these friendships and if either of them thought he wasn't right for Lewis or just didn't like him, well, a boyfriend of two days vs a pair of best friends for over a year? He was pretty sure who Lewis would choose, and honestly? Was Wiatt even that much? What did Lewis even see in him?
He had to make a good impression. He had been introduced before, but something about today felt more real. Oh, fuck! What if he got their names wrong? What if he forgot them? Asking them to repeat their names after he had known of them as long as he had known of Lewis? He was going to seem like such a careless jerk. Wiatt nervously jiggled the cord of his headphones and winced at the slight static sound it caused. He would have to put Coldplay on pause in a moment, but he let the tempo of 42 guide the beat of his footsteps as he scanned the area for a sign of blonde, brown, or orange hair.
Eventually, he spotted Lewis's beanie and made his way to one of the blue mesh metal tables with an umbrella. Next to Lewis was a girl with long brown hair. She was munching on baby carrots from a purple striped lunchbox with the Cheshire Cat on it. What a shifty character to pair with someone eating in a shifty way. Just carrots? Plain? No ranch? No hummus? As if sensing his judgment, she plucked a grape out of the bag and took a bite into another carrot. What a monster!
Next to the food fiend was a boy with slightly unkempt red hair and sunken green eyes. Wiatt's Wikipedia-scavenging heart went out the boy he clocked as a fellow insomniac.
Lewis looked up from his cafeteria soggy spaghetti and meat sauce and a beaming smile lit up his face. That smile could give solar power a run for its money, but instead it sent a charge to the butterflies in Wiatt's stomach, especially when his lips parted to sing out his name, "Wiatt! Darling! Come, join us."
At the sound of his harmonious voice, Lewis's friends looked up at the lunchtime interloper. Right! This was the make it or break it moment. The brunette was closer, so he offered his hand to her.
"Hi, Sara." Her name was a bit easier to remember because after their introduction he had the song “Que Sera Sera” stuck in his head.
Sara didn't take the offered hand. She just stared at him, as if challenging him to try and mess with her. Fair enough. He didn't need to talk to her. Let her resume her food crimes.
Time to greet the other friend. Right. His name had something related to plants, right? Oakley? Ash? Forrest?
“Wiatt!” The other boy exclaimed. Then he made a face like he was worried he said something wrong. Or maybe he was worried he said it too loud? Well, Wiatt would just up the energy and try to calm this guy’s nerves. Besides, he remembered the boy’s name. They were in World History together.
“Hey! Good to see you, Basil!” Wiatt cheered and gave his own smile.
Basil took the offered hand and smiled back, then paused.
“Yeah! Wait.”
Sara started to cackle. She leaned over and gave the redhead a noogie. “He sure is! It’s my bestest buddy, Basil.”
“Saaaraaaaa,” the boy whined.
At the same time, Lewis cleared his throat, stood up, and guided Wiatt to sit next to him. “That is Oliver, Darling.”
Oh. Oh. Oh no.
Wiatt covered his face. “Oh my god. Oliver! I am so sorry! Oh no. Hnnnngh!”
Lewis chuckled and pat Wiatt’s back. “It’s quite alright, Darling. We could tell you were nervous.”
“You sit next to me in World History.”
“I am really sorry!”
Sara took a breath to calm her laughter. “He’ll forgive you, don’t worry. I, however, will not let you live this down.”
“Noted.” Wiatt deadpanned.
“For the record, you got my name right, at least. But I am telling you now it is spelled S-A-R-A. No H.”
“Got it.”
“Do you want me to write it down? I can get a pen.”
“If I offer half my cookie will you forgive me?” Wiatt sighed.
“You may buy my silence for the moment.” Sara agreed cordially.
“I was asking Oliver.”
“Are you sure you don’t mean Basil?”
“I really don’t mind. Wiatt.” Oliver finally spoke up. Wiatt held out half the cookie to him nonetheless. Oliver gamely took the treat, broke it into thirds, and passed a piece each to Lewis and Sara.
“Aww! A sweet from a sweetheart!” Sara cooed in thanks. She then retrieved a bag of…more grapes??? from her lunchbox and passed the plastic bag to Oliver.
“You just don’t want to eat the olives,” Lewis chided
“Yes, and?” Sara retorted
Oliver looked at the bag, smirked for a moment, and held the bag out to Wiatt. “Want some? As a pneumatic device?”
Wiatt let out a nervous chuckle and plucked one of the offered namesakes. “Thanks.”
From there, things went a bit more smoothly. Aside from the occasional teasing from Sara that petered out after a while, the name mishap was forgotten for a while. At least, it seemed to be.
-Around a year later-
The three best friends looked over their new employees. To think, they had employees , now! People were relying on them for instructions and paychecks. The nerves!
Oliver was surprised to see some familiar faces. It felt weird seeing people he knew from school when they were now in a different city. Sara leaned over to inspect the list of names and photos to go with the names.
“Oh, no way! Lewis?” That was Andrew. He was in a study group with Sara as well as the art club Lewis had to drop once they started the project that led to them founding the Dreamworld facility.
“It’s good to see you, Darling.” Lewis greeted.
“Is it just you or is…Oh! Hi, Sara.” Andrew was bouncing on the balls of his feet. Then he turned to look at Oliver. “I didn’t get to know you as well as Lewis and Sara. Oh! But now I have the chance to know you more, too! I look forward to working with you, Basil!”
“Oh, um,” Oliver was caught off guard by Andrew’s enthusiasm, but his words registered after a moment. Oliver let his face fall into his palm, “Darn it, Wiatt.”
Sara patted his shoulder. “Not even here and the plus one is still causing trouble,” Sara laughed.
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