The Truth About Drew

s e v e n

Kai stood awkwardly by the door. He had had this dramatic plan to come charging in boldly, claiming all the glory as a hero and have Drew fall over his feet and apologize for his every misgiving, but actually being here....

His plan flew out the window.

"Hi," he said uncomfortably. Were his shoes always this interesting? He had some nice laces. Yeah. Laces. Very... blue and... stringy.

"Um... hi," Drew said finally. Just that simple reply raised Kai's spirits. His head shot up.

"How are you doing?" He gathered up his courage and stepped inside the room, taking a seat far away from the bed. He wasn't here to tease Drew and make him mad.

"Fine, I suppose. That experiment really blew up in my face."

Kai let out a short laugh before quickly cutting it off.

"That was a joke," Drew said drily.

Yeah. The humor is leaking off you.

Kai looked up and blanched. He hadn't looked at Drew for fear of making him uncomfortable, and now wished he hadn't. A white bandage covered a good portion of the left side of his face. Worse still was his eyes. His bright blue eyes had faded to a sickly shade of grey.

Anger at himself had been building up, and looking into Drew's dull eyes was the straw that broke the camel's back.

He slammed a fist into the wall, and Drew jumped. "What the heck?" He said, looking around blankly.

Kai rubbed his sore knuckles. He sighed deeply, massaging his temples. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Sorry?" Drew said. "Why are you sorry? I'm under the impression you saved my life, which is weird because I've pretty much been a grade A ass to you since you got here."

"Because I didn't get to you quickly enough!" Kai ground out. He stood up and paced around the room.

"Didn't get to me quickly enough? I'm amazed you got to me at all! Apparently even my own teacher forgot about me," Drew replied.

"But I did remember you! So why didn't I get to you quicker? I could have stopped... this." Kai rested his head on the wall, next to the crater he had caused in the plaster.

"I don't even know what's wrong with you! I didn't ask for you to protect me!" Drew argued.

"Exactly!" Kai yelled. Drew shrunk back from the voice.

"Why are you even still here?" He said quietly, "I thanked you. What, do you want a medal? I'll be sure to put you in for citizen of the year."

"Why am I still here?" Kai asked.

"I don't know, why the hell are you asking me?"

"No! Why am I here? Why do I feel like I need to protect you because you're right: you are a freaking asshole." Kai groaned and clenched his hands.

"Well, now that we've established how much of a dick I am, feel free to contemplate your freaky little mysteries elsewhere," Drew sneered, turning away from his voice.

Kai took two long steps up to Drew's bed and grabbed his face in his hands. "What makes you special?"

"Let go of me!" Drew shoved his hands away, the bright colors of Kai's shirt making his head spin.

"You make me want to protect you like you're something precious that nobody can have but me. Why?" Kai stared intently at Drew's face, or what he could see of it. He let go of his face and turned away.

"What? What's your problem?" Drew asked, sounded genuinely scared, but curious.

Kai shook his head. "Forget it. You're right, you showed gratitude, so I'm out of here. See you later."

Drew grabbed his sleeve, or at least he was pretty sure it was his sleeve. "What are you talking about? You come in here and start spewing nonsense. What's your deal?"

Kai removed Drew's hand from him. "Nothing. Just a feeling I got. I'm going to go now."

"Not until you tell me what you meant."

"Stubborn, aren't you?" Kai said, a trace of amusement in his voice.

"The most."

"Pity you can't actually stop me from leaving."

"What? Don't you dare! Kai? Kai! Come back here, Kai! Kai!"

Kai stood in the very corner of the room, watching Drew look around, yelling angrily for him to come back. Yeah, it was a dick move, but he wasn't quite ready to leave yet. He still had too much to think about.

"Well, screw you, Kai!" Drew muttered angrily. He pulled his knees up to his chest, and winced sharply. "Ah," he said quietly, rubbing his side.

Drew awkwardly smoothed out his blankets as best he could, playing with his hands and humming little songs to himself. 

Kai sat quietly for about ten minutes, smiling softly as he watched how Drew behaved when he thought no one was around. Surprisingly cute, which sorta pissed him off, because apparently Drew wasn't a total dick unless he was talking to Kai.

Afterwords he left, a strange pain in his chest.