affection

two

friday

the morning sun creeps across the horizon, warming dewy grass blades that glisten as they greet the early bees. from his window, kai watches sparse clouds float across the lilac sky for a moment, soaking up the silence before the house awakens.

he groans as his alarm blares, finally sliding himself away from the comfort of his bed. he makes his way to the bathroom, having to stop in the hall due to his path being blocked.

his shoulder connects with another as he shoves past the girl in his way. she gasps, scowling back at him as she mutters something under her breath.

"you're pathetic." she sneers, shaking her with a scoff.

kai nods in response, agreeing with her statement before slamming the bathroom door closed.

he takes his time, thoroughly brushing his teeth and fixing his hair before the obnoxious knocking begins: the girl outside whines, telling him to hurry up, so he stares blankly at the door while a minute passes. when satisfied, he opens it and smiles at the blonde who pushes past him. with a guilty shrug, he continues preparing for school. he changes into some fresh clothes and soon finds himself in the kitchen, where his mother is eating breakfast.

brown eyes trail across the island, where three plates sit. warm toast with an array of different spreads scatter the island. kai plops himself on a stool for a second, taking a bite of the plain toast with a grin. a man soon emerges from another room before sitting himself down and buttering his own piece to perfection.

linda looks up from her plate, her tired expression drops as she speaks with gentle uncertainty, "that's...that's not your plate."

"then where is it?"

"oh, you didn't tell me you wanted breakfast, you usually-" she cuts herself with a frown. "what would you like?"

kai scoffs, looking down at the plate in front of him. "i'm heading to school early."

as he stands, linda catches his wrist. "could you please try to get along with layla? you're not making this easy, kai."

he stares blankly at the tiled floor, letting his eyes wander over occasional small cracks. he debates his mothers question for a short moment, before pulling his arm free and making his way outside without another word.

grabbing his skateboard, kai walks a short distance before hopping on and travelling to elliot's for breakfast, and then school.

time passes, and soon green eyes glimmer with excitement as the boy beside them groans into his hands. "ugh, bee." elliot whines, trying to prevent his friend from sharing another unreasonably embarrassing story.

elliot had known bee since the pair were young, but were separated after bee had to move towns.

kai's eyebrow raises as he peeks at his boyfriend in curiosity from across the lunch room table. "oh, you have to tell us now."

the strawberry blond, bee, chuckles before poking elliot's cheek who promptly attempts to bat their hand away.

bee had gotten the nickname as a child, due to a large adoration for the black and yellow insects. the yard would be full of paper plates, each containing some variation of bee energy boosters. there were signposts up, paper nailed into fence posts, spelling "bee cafe," though they'd always spell it, "cafay."

on some of the plates, a range of different flowers sat atop, others had diluted sugar, some had honey. bee would always give the leftovers of their juice boxes to bees, even if it was their favourite flavour. combined with their buzz of energy, the nickname seemed to be fitting.