𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 ; ᴿᵒᵇᶦⁿ ᴬʳᵉˡˡᵃⁿᵒ

ii

After school the next day, Robin and Jaeden were on their way back to Robin's apartment complex, Finney and Gwen had separated ways a while back to get home already. Robin's mom loved Jaeden, enough to take him in as her own since his own father couldn't do the same.

Walking up to the door of room B12, on the third floor of the building, Robin knocks on the wooden door, Jaeden looking like he was hiding behind him. Robin's mother opens the door, hair curly and long as usual, wearing a collared shirt and a skirt that paired well with her chocolatey brown eyes.

"¡Niños! Adelante" She greets, "I made soup, it's sitting on the stove" Ms. Arellano smiles, closing the door behind the two boys.

Robin leads Jaeden inside like he had never visited before, right into the kitchen where two boys and forks were set out for the two boys. Jaeden starts to scoop some soup into the bowls as Ms. Arellano talks to Robin in Spanish, picking apart the words to try and figure them out.

Ms. Arellano then leaves the apartment, having to start her shift soon, leaving with her bag, uniform stuffed in it and a small stash of money laying underneath said uniform. The woman worked at one of the many diners in town, being a single mother of two was very difficult and she worked two jobs, one at a drive-in movie place and a diner.

Leaving the two boys in the small apartment alone, the two throw their backpacks down in Robin's room, and head out to the small balcony outside. The space was only enough to stand on and look around at the view on the street below and over some buildings and trees, it wasn't much but it was nice. Robin stood on the left while Jaeden stood on the right, both their arms crossed on the metal railing that separated them from falling forty feet to the ground. Even if they were on the B floor, it was technically the third floor, because Floor A was the first, and then there was the lobby floor. Weird, but liveable.

Robin turns to Jaeden, his hair being swept in the light wind a bit, "You know, estimado, I'll protect you"

Jaeden turns to Robin, his curly hair covering his eyes as he spoke, "Thanks, моя любовь"

"You need to stop talking in Russian around me" Robin chuckles

"You need to stop talking in Spanish around me, asshole!" Jaeden exclaims

"I'm speaking my native language. Your speaking Tongues or some shit" Robin jokes

"Russian isn't Tongues, dumbass"

The two continue to watch the view, cars passing by as dark clouds roll in. Even after school at 4:00pm, it was turning dark. Maybe the September season made the sun set early or something, but after dinner and homework, the sky turned orange and light blue.

The two rush back out to the balcony, Jaeden sitting down and swinging his legs through the bars and letting them dangle. He rests his hands on the bars, resting his head on the small open section to watch the street below. Robin continues to stand like he had before, music blasting upstairs as the people were probably throwing a party. The song was something by Earth, Wind and Fire, but Jaeden didn't care enough to try and listen to find out.

Below, he sees a van stop down the street, a van he never saw before. He wasn't all that worried about it, although a black van wasn't something he saw everyday. Maybe one of the tenants happened to be the same cashier he was afraid of yesterday. Everything has a reasonable explanation, he was okay.

Robin, looking down and seeing the slight panic on Jaeden's face, looks down to the street below to where he was standing. He stared at the van, waiting for someone to step out of it or for someone to get in it or drive away. But it was just still, like the person was sitting there watching people walk down the sidewalk and looking up at the many balconies and windows above.

Robin raises his eyebrow as he looks back down at Jaeden, "You okay?"

Jaeden snaps out of the trance like state he was in, looking up at Robin. "Yeah, yeah." he speaks, immediately looking back down at the van.

The van then speeds off, leaving tire tracks in it's trail, both boys watching as it fades away in the distance. No one had gotten in or out of that van, the person was just sitting there on the side of the street.

"Jesus, Jae"

"What?" Jaeden asks, his voice cracking as he heald his hands up, thinking he was in trouble.

"The fucking van. You're scared of vans?"

"The fuck, Robin? No. I'm not scared of vans, I'm scared of getting kidnapped"

"You're not gonna get kidnapped, pendejo"

"Откуда вы знаете?" Jaeden scoffs, speaking the foreign language Robin didn't understand so he couldn't know what he said.

"What'd you say?" Robin asks, a sort of threatening tone in his voice

"Nothing" Jaeden stands up, climbing up on the railing, Robin holding onto his arms to make sure he wouldn't fall.

"What did you say?" Robin asks in a more polite tone.

"How would you know? You can't be around me 24/7 and those other boys- they couldn't be protected from being taken like that"

Jaeden's legs dangle over the railing as he grips onto the railing, making sure he wouldn't fall as the sun set into oranges and pinks and reds. The van left faint tire marks where it had swerved back into the street, speeding away as Jaeden notices, taking note of it.

"We should throw a party with Finney and Gwen. Just us" Jaeden smiles, looking at Robin as he took inspiration from the loud music and colorful lights coming from the upstairs tenants.

"Totally, man. One day" Robin smiles, adjusting the bandana that rest on his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you're basically like my dad because I don't even have one and I fucking live off of you"

"Dude, chill" Robin lightly chuckles, placing a hand on the curly boy's shoulder, "It's cool, really. Seriously, my mom loves you. She talks about how proud of you she is all the time like you're her actual kid, Jae"

"Thanks" Jae smiles, "You see those colorful lights over there?" The boy points out into the distance

"...Yeah, why?"

"They're pretty." The curly haired boy smiles, "Как ты"