(1) Learn How To Love

A Breakup Box

💫

When you and Kevin had arrived outside your house, you dreaded going inside. Of course there was nothing wrong with your house- your family, your room, whatever... you just didn't want to have to spend the rest of the night by yourself. You didn't want to be alone.

"Hey would you... want to stay the night?" You asked Kevin hesitantly. You honestly expected him to say no.

And he almost did, but between the emotional state you were in and how much he had missed you, he agreed.

"Welcome," you said half heartedly as you and Kevin walked through the door. "Back. Welcome back," you laughed awkwardly.

"Thanks," Kevin smiled.

"Do you... want anything to drink? I think there's some snacks in the pantry too," you offered.

"I'm okay," Kevin replied. "Thanks, though."

The two of you stood still in awkward silence. You had no idea what to say or where to go from here.

"Um... we can go to my room? It's probably best we hang out in there so we don't wake anyone up," you shrugged.

"Okay," Kevin smiled and followed you to your room- it looked the same as he remembered.

"I think... I've still got some of your old stuff in my closet. There's a whole box back there," you gestured to the back of your closet. "I think there's some clothes in there, too, if you want to change into something more comfortable," you offered.

Kevin nodded, his face unreadable. You watched him tug the box across the floor of your closet until he could reach inside.

"Yo! I've been looking for this guy!" Kevin said triumphantly. He turned to you and held up a stuffed lion. "Well, not looking, looking," he blushed, "just missing. UH I MEAN-"

You laughed, and Kevin hid his face in the box.

"Any luck on the clothes front?" You asked.

"Well, hang on a second. This is nostalgia central- I can't be rushed," Kevin replied, digging through the box.

You laid on your bed and stared at the ceiling.

"MY SCARF!"

💫

Later, the two of you had settled in with a movie, platonically laying in your bed together. Kevin did end up finding some clothes to change into: some grey sweatpants (classic), and a hoodie that said "pussy magnet," because of course.

You let him take his pick from your collection of movies. By collection, of course, you meant Netflix. He ended up picking a corny and borderline problematic rom-com- a Netflix original.

"Hey..." Kevin faced you, "thank you. For giving me another chance."

You smiled and turned to face him, "Yeah, well... I missed you."

Your words seemed to lift a weight off his shoulders as he exhaled slowly and relaxed into the bed. He had been so worried for so long that the two of you would never be close again. It was such a relief to him when you said that.

"You think your life is hard? Try being an upper-middle-class high school junior who's only physical flaw is being tall for her age."

"Kev, you could've picked any movie."

He only laughed. This was the happiest he had been in... ever. His whole life he'd been trying to impress people who didn't care, but now he was free to do whatever the hell he wanted. And now, he had you by his side again.

"My life is so awful... so what if I have loving friends and family? I'm tall. My life sucks."

The TV faded into the background as you drifted to sleep on Kevin's shoulder. He glanced at your head and smiled,

"I missed you too."

💫

You woke up around 1PM, the late night turned into a late morning.

"Man, my sleep schedule is fucked," you said to Kevin after checking the time.

He chuckled lightly and stretched his arms up over his head, "coffee?"

"Mhm," you grumbled.

Once you had dragged yourself out of bed, the walk to the Big Donut was easy. And although there weren't that many menu options to choose from, you stared at the menu for a bit, trying to decide what to get.

The door chimed behind you when Steven walked through the door.

"Uh... hey, Steven," Kevin said awkwardly.

"Kevin," Steven responded bitterly.

You blew out a breath you had been holding in as the two boys stared at each other.

"(Y/N)," Steven said, not taking his eyes off of Kevin, "Can I talk to you for a sec? Privately."

You glanced at Kevin, who looked away, embarrassed. You looked back at Steven and sighed, following him outside.

"You're not... back with him," Steven spoke slowly, "are you?"

"So what if I am?" You said, annoyed.

"(Y/N)... he hurt you."

"That's all in the past now," you brushed it off. You really didn't want to talk to Steven about this right now.

"No, I mean..." he paused, "he hit you."

You sighed; "It was just one time."

"It's never just 'one time.' Once an abuser always an abuser."

"He's not an abuser, Steven. It's not that big a deal," you said, "he didn't even mean to, it was an accident!"

"Yeah," Steven chuckled bitterly, "because he was swinging at ME."

"Just leave it alone, Steven!"

"I don't want to see you hurt, (Y/N)!"

"Why do you care?" You snapped. "You're not my boyfriend!"

Steven flinched and stepped back. He turned away and left you standing there, the both of you at a loss for words.

"(Y/N)," The door chimed as Kevin appeared behind you with a coffee, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you sighed.

"Yeah, I'm fine."