To Have Loved [BxB] Book I ✓

Chapter 26

a/n: Hey guys, I figured it was about time to put out another chapter so here we are. There's not a tremendous amount happening this chapter, mostly because there are a few plot points that needed a bit more time in the microwave before I can implement them, but nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy this and have a wonderful weekend. 

School resumed on the third day in January, it was a brisk day with a cold chill that caught the air every now and again. There was a thin layer of mud on the ground signifying that it must have rained in the past few days. Kayden kind of wished he'd brought rubber boots or just anything other than his canvas sneakers. He liked the rain, but he despised mud, and he especially despised when the watery mud leaked into his shoes and infected his socks so that he had to walk around for the remainder of the day with that sopping sound accompanying every step of his cold feet. Needless to say, mud was irredeemable, and wet socks were worse. 

It was around afternoon when Kayden arrived at the school. Classes didn't start until the next day, so there was time to talk about the holidays and commiserate about the mud with the other students. The redhead found his friends again fairly quickly upon arrival. Grant was sitting on a bench, one ankle resting on his knee as he read a fairly small and apparently used paperback book. Theo and Brooks were sitting next to him, talking about something that Kayden couldn't quite hear until he came closer and realized that it was really just Theo talking, but Brooks still seemed to be interested even if only intently listening. 

"So actually, a sunflower is technically a ton of tiny flowers and they're called florets, kinda like a forest, y'know, the way there are tons of trees, but all together if it were much smaller it would just look like one conglomerate, but it's really cool because it's like you have a whole garden in one flower if you think about it." Theo was saying excitedly and Brooks gave a small smile, nodding. 

"Where's Ezra?" Kayden asked. 

Grant looked up. "I called him a bit ago, he said he's getting off the train and then his parents have a driver prepared to carry him the rest of the way here so...should be like half an hour," He shrugged. "How was your holiday?"

"Shitty. Yours?" 

"Mediocre," Grant said with a small smile. 

"What are you reading?" Kayden asked, and the book was held up for him to see. "All Quiet on the Western Front..."

"I skimmed it for an essay two years ago, but I wanted to read it in depth because I made it sound pretty good when I was writing about it," Grant said with a chuckle and Kayden laughed. 

"Yeah, I used to do that all the time, but I figured I like reading, and the books are pretty good, so why not? Also, I kind of have to anyway because I basically debate my tutor in class every day and if I stopped doing that he'd know something was up...but I'm fairly sure he'd also be able to tell if I was bullshitting it, so my only real option is to just do the work," Kayden shrugged.

"I mean, even if he does know, what's he gonna do? Kill you?"

"He might," Kayden said with a brief snicker, though he knew the real reason was that he couldn't quite stand the thought of Elias being annoyed or disappointed in him, and often times he thought that maybe he should have set the standard lower from the start, but Elias was just so good at bringing the best out of him, he couldn't half-ass anything anymore. 

"Speak of the devil," Grant murmured and Kayden glanced over to a sleek black limousine pulling into the school. The blond stepped out, running his fingers through his hair. He looked a bit tired as he picked up his suitcases but began to wheel them inside nonetheless. "Hey, Astor, you need help with those?" He called and Elias looked up, his light hair a bit tousled, his outfit comprised of a dark cable-knit sweater and light brown trousers that were cuffed at the ankle, Kayden also noticed that there were little designs on his beige socks, mostly in the shapes of cartoon books and cups of tea.