Finding You

3 🦅

"Alright, have you played any sports?" We sat in the parking lot in front of the movie theater playing Twenty-One questions, though we had well surpassed the twenty-first. Aku-no tilted his head to look at me, awaiting my answer. I sipped on my smoothie, almost laughing at him.
"Do I look like I've played a single sport? Ever?" He chuckled, placing his empty smoothie cup in the cupholder. Aku-no fixed his leather jacket and rested a hand on the wheel, glancing at me for his question. "Chill out! I'm thinking!" I bit my straw, glancing at him. "What's your sexuality?" I said under my breath, looking up at him as I rested my knees on the dashboard. He smirked and started the car,
"Bold question, Kaito. What do you think?" Aku-no placed a hand on my thigh, making me jump.
"I was just making sure!" Visions of last night flashed vividly in my mind, distracting me from the present world completely. He was the best one in a while. "God, your turn! Your turn!" I quickly changed the subject, kicking my feet against the underside of the dash. Aku-no thought for a moment while backing the car up.
"Would you go back in time if given the chance?" he eventually said once we were on our way home. I immediately went quiet and thought about the second I met Grayson through a friend I used to have. He seemed so nice and sweet back then, just like Aku-no was. I wondered if he would turn out the same way.
"I would," I responded, glancing out the window at the passing cars, clouds, and trees. My answer intrigued him.
"How far back would you go? Why?"
"Far enough to prevent myself from meeting somebody. It's not you, don't worry about it." Our game of A Million Questions ended there, and the majority of our ride back to Aku-no's house was quiet. I shut my eyes and listened to the car, another callback to last night. If I hadn't met Grayson, would I still have met Aku-no? I would hope so. We met yesterday, yet I knew him better than any of my friends, and I felt closer and more safe around him too. I didn't get that feeling around anyone anymore. I fantasized about running away from my shitty shared apartment with my fake friends and living with Aku-no, making yesterday last forever. Nothing is more permanent than the passing of time. I'd stop time if I could live in the heaven I felt I was living in.
I knew I eventually had to go home and face Grayson, but I somehow had a hope deep down inside that maybe I wouldn't have to. Maybe a miracle would happen and I could leave him for good. I was only around him for the money that my minimum wage job didn't supply, and I was so close to having enough saved up to move.
Aku-no pulled into his driveway and put a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. I realized I had been gripping my cup the entire ride home, the smoothie inside completely melted. I cursed under my breath while Aku drove into the garage and turned off his car.
"We're back," Aku-no laughed. "You were so zoned out. What were you thinking about?" He leaned on the steering wheel.
"Nothing important," I lied, unbuckling my seatbelt. I watched Aku-no reach back and grab the bags of clothes we shopped for on our date.
"Shall we go back inside then? Try these on?" I followed him inside for a short dress-up session. He, of course, looked absolutely stunning in all of the slacks and shirts he bought. My personal favorite was a black turtleneck shirt under a tan trench coat, paired with tight jeans and Doc Martens. I had to conceal my awe in order to tell him he looked amazing in a timely manner, but I could have gawked over him for hours. Aku-no bought me assorted skirts and cute tops to match after minutes of us bickering. I argued that he didn't need to buy me clothes since I was already having a great time, which was true, but he clearly wasn't budging. I caved.
Aku-no bought me pleated skirts of different colors, and all high quality and luxurious. It was almost like I was becoming one with him. The shirts matched the skirts for a monochromatic look, and were more tight-fitting than the ones I already owned. If there was one way to buy my heart, it was through clothing, so Aku-no had bought my love in the span of a day and a half. I was forever in his debt for the clothes. My phone rang when I walked out wearing the last outfit, instantly taking away any feeling of happiness I had left in me. It was Grayson, of course. I stood in front of Aku-no, smoothing my skirt and pretending not to hear the annoying ringtone.
"Shouldn't you take that?" he laughed, unplugging my phone from the charger and handing it to me diligently. I grit my teeth and mustered a fake smile, staring at the screen in my hand. Taking a deep breath, I turned my phone completely off and threw it at a pillow on the couch.
"How does it look?" I said, forcing Aku-no's eyes off of the couch and back onto me. He was obviously dumbfounded, but still complimented the outfit on me.
"I think this one's my favorite," he said, grinning when I twirled around to give him a full view.
"Isn't it so cute? Seriously, I'm forever in your debt. I've been needing new skirts for so long, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy any with my sad salary." I sat down on the couch next to my phone, picking at the shattered screen. "I think I've got to go home," I dejected, looking up at him with sorrow in my eyes. He shrugged, sitting on the arm of the couch.
"Today was great. It had to end eventually. I'm glad I was able to go on a date with you," he smirked at me. "You seem very interesting, Kaito. I want to know more about you." Aku-no handed me his phone, implying for me to give him my number. I typed it in along with my name, which I made sure to put a heart beside. After he called me, I made his contact name set as "Moneybags."
"Let's take a picture!" I said eagerly, my camera already open. He looked just as good on camera as he did in person. I would never get over how handsome he was. "Man, you could've looked worse. Save some pretty for the rest of us," I groaned. He smacked me in the back of the head, angry at my depressing humor. I thought I was funny, but maybe rich people just didn't have the humor I thought they did.
We braved the cold out to the car, the gray skies looking like rain. The perfect day was over, and the weather seemed to accurately mimic my mood. I entered my address into his GPS, then wrote his address down in my memos. I'd have it just in case I needed it in the future. My dad always taught me to be prepared, and I didn't feel like letting him down quite yet.

"Is this right?" Aku-no said, pulling in front of my apartment building. I groaned,
"Yeah, this is the one." Angry to be back home was an understatement. Rain started to fall sparsely on the pavement, alerting me that I had to get inside before it got too bad. I kissed Aku-no, "Text me soon for another date. This one was fun."
His car zoomed away while I watched and waved, bracing myself for the shitstorm that was to ensue with Grayson. The apartment was surprisingly quiet when I entered. I soon realized, however, that it was only because everyone was asleep. I tiptoed around an air mattress with a sleeping stranger on it and made it to my room. There were two random girls in my bed, both awake and sober. I quietly kicked them out.
"Man, what the fuck? We weren't even doing anything. What, is this your room or something?" one of the girls said, pulling up her bra strap. I stared at her dead in the eyes,
"Yeah," then proceeded to close the door in their faces and lock it. It usually took some fiddling around with and convincing to properly lock, but luckily it locked on my first go. I set down the large bag of clothes by the foot of my bed and picked up any visible trash from the girls that they left behind. Grayson called again, and this time I had no excuse to not pick up. Sitting on my bed, I answered his call, and closed my eyes.
"Now you fucking pick up? Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to reach you? You whores only pick up when you want to, I swear to God! Seriously, I'm on my last straw with you. You've been nothing but a nuisance since I met you. All you are is a slut and a troublemaker. I do everything for you! You're not even worthy of my time. I should've finished you off when I had the chance. Why didn't you pick up, bitch? Why didn't you see my texts? I swear, you're always glued to your phone when whoring around, but the second I call, it's like you fucking lost the damn thing. Don't bore me with your excuse this time, either. It's always the same goddamn thing with your fucking power cutting off. Kaito, you make me wonder why I even keep you around. Jesus Christ!"
I let Grayson yell and scream at his phone, not even bothering to try and speak like I'd done before. I'd learned to let him blow off his steam while keeping the phone away from my ear until it was my turn to speak and try to make up for my "mistakes."
"Let me hear it then! The fuck happened now?" he said, signaling me to talk.
"I'm sorry. My roommates had a party and stole my charger, so my phone died. I didn't see your messages until just now. It just finished charging." My voice was soft and as sorrowful as I could fake. He sighed, then seemed to take a drink of what I presumed to be alcohol. That's all he ever drank.
"Good one. I don't know why I still let you off the hook, but fine. I'm currently on my way to leave for business, so you're lucky. Meet me next week on Thursday, eight o'clock. Wait outside my place until I let you in. Quick cash grab. If you're not there, I'm dropping you. I'm not fucking around this time." Before I had a single second to argue, he hung up on me. The pit in my stomach only grew and grew. I marked the date in my calendar, then proceeded to stare at it dreadfully for a good minute or two. Fuck.
I took off my boots and threw them across my room, then buried myself in my covers. They smelled faintly of cheap perfume from the girls who slept in it. I didn't mind. The week leading up to Grayson's meeting date was going to be hell, and he was definitely not going to call me until next Thursday, so I couldn't even reschedule if I wanted to. Fuck.