Tense

Chapter Twenty Five

Roan finished all his homework by Saturday afternoon. Once he was done, he changed from his sweatpants to a pair of cleaner sweatpants and headed downstairs. Lucia was in the kitchen, cooking, when Roan entered.

"I'm going to Kai's." Roan said.

"Why?" Lucia asked.

"I can't go to my best friend's house?" Roan raised a brow.

"You can, but usually it's Kai who comes over," Lucia pointed out, "I can't remember the last time you went to his house."

"It's been a while." Roan agreed.

"So?"

"No reason." Roan shrugged.

"Really? So it won't have anything to do with Betty and my anniversary?" Lucia asked with an amused smile.

"You both are young women, no harm in giving you room for one night," Roan shrugged, "As long as you behave responsibly."

"Yes, sir, we'll be very responsible in your absence." Lucia chuckled.

"Good. Happy anniversary," Roan kissed Lucia's cheek before stepping back and turning around, "Bye."

"Bye sweetie." Lucia said.

"Don't burn down the house while I'm gone!" Roan yelled as he was walking out the door.

He contemplated whether to take his car, but decided to walk instead. He always felt weird and uncomfortable going anywhere without his car but he won't have it in New York, so he had to start preparing for it.

Roan hadn't texted Kai to let him know that he was coming over, he wanted to surprise the boy. And not like he thought Kai had plans or would object. He knocked on the door and Kai's father opened.

"Hey Bruce." Roan greeted.

"Oh Roan," Bruce moved aside to let Roan enter with a grin, "Long time no see, son."

"Sorry about that."

"No, no. Don't sweat it," Bruce waved dismissively, "I hear congratulations are in order for an internship? We're all very proud of you."

"Thank you," Roan replied sincerely, "And thank you for letting Kai move with me earlier than expected. I know you and Mrs. Nahar would've liked to spend more time with him."

"It's for the best, I suppose," Bruce said with a slight frown, which Roan mirrored in confusion, "You don't have to pretend like you don't know, Roan. I'm sure Kai told you about the divorce."

"Oh," Roan was taken aback, but he gathered himself quickly, "Yes, right. I was sorry to hear about that."

"It's been long time coming, it's okay," Bruce sighed, "I know it's been hard on Kai. Both Kriti and I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to him. Especially in this time."

"Of course, he's my best friend," Roan gave Bruce a tight lipped smile, "Atleast Kai has had some time to get used to the idea of it all..?"

"Three weeks is not that long a time, especially for someone sensitive like Kai." Bruce said.

"Right," Roan nodded, "Three weeks."

"You okay, son?" Bruce asked with a look of concern.

"Yeah," Roan didn't meet his eyes, "I'll go see Kai now."

As Roan walked up the stairs to Kai's room, he couldn't help but wonder why Kai didn't tell him that his parents were getting divorced. It's not like the topic hadn't come up, it had, then why did the boy keep it from his best friend?