affection

eighteen

wednesday

fingers fiddle with small buttons, covering lightly sun-kissed skin. the fiddle again with the collar. he picks up the black blazer from over the door and slides it over his shoulders, he fixes his hair and scowls.

"so how tall is he?"

kai sighs, narrowing his eyes in his reflection, "taller than me."

elliot shuffles around in the changing room beside him. "you're like, 6'2 so-"

"i'm 6'1" kai interrupts, "he's like, i don't know, 6'3?"

"unfair...how old is he?"

kai smooths down the seams of his blazer, ridding it of any creases or awkward folds, "24."

elliot hums, "wow, okay. what state did he move to?"

"why are you interrogating me about my brother?" kai clicks his tongue, looking himself over in the mirror.

another shuffle, "i've never heard of him, i didn't even know he existed. i have questions."

"and they'll be answered," he pauses, fixing his collar, again, "when you meet him."

"that's so far away, though." elliot whines.

kai laughs, "three days?"

the light above him flickers, the yellow glow it casts over him makes him dislikes his appearance. his skin looks more flawed than ever.

cooper yells from outside, "are you guys going to be much longer?"

"shut up." one of them yells back. kai emerges from behind his door, scowling at cooper who stands there grinning.

his hands fly to kai's bowtie and takes it off from around his neck.

"go get a regular tie."

"why?"

cooper laughs, "because you look like a sad, fancy gentleman."

kai frowns, pulling a face, "what?"

"you look stupid."

he huffs and grabs a regular tie, looping it over his head when elliot comes out. he looks adorable in his suit, why doesn't kai look the same?

cooper grins, "my boy! all grown up!"

"he's wearing a bow tie?" kai states, a brow raised.

"he makes it look good." he shrugs back.

he punches cooper in the arm, and elliot helps him with his tie as he grows red in the face feeling embarrassed about not being able to tie it himself.

they pay for their suits after cooper is content with the way they look in them. the door rings as it opens and closes behind them, warm air greets happy faces as they discuss whatever random topics swim through their minds. kai carries elliot's bags as well as his own, and he's thankful the shopping is over now. the morning was spent finding good stores after putting up with cooper's awful driving, buying ugly shoes that kai tried to argue against, saying he'll just wear sneakers. elliot changed his mind after searching for a pair of less ugly ones, but still suitable for a wedding. he sulked about it, but kai finally gave in.

"don't forget about tomorrow, i'll pick you guys up at like ten." cooper reminds the pair, elliot laughs knowing to be ready by eleven due to his ongoing streak of lateness.

"did jake reply?"

cooper pulls a face, "oh, yeah. he said no, so we have a spare seat."

kai pulls out his phone, clicking on a contact and sending a quick message. 'u wanna go on a roadtrip tomorrow?'

he doesnt expect layla to respond so quickly. 'with?'

'me n my friends.'

'to?'

'nowhere.'

'i'll pass'

elliot peers over at his phone as he's about to pocket it, "are you two friends now?"

kai shrugs, and cooper frowns, "who?"

"layla? i don't know."

cooper says nothing, but looks at kai with a knowing smile. he scowls back at him. they hop in the car, driving home. kai appreciates the landscape as he stares out of the window, the way green meets blue, which hides behind whites. it's pretty, he never used to notice. in fact, he used to hate it, all of it. he hated summers in california, he hated winters too. he's glad he sees life a bit brighter now, he's glad there's somebody to share it with.

when kai returns home, he frowns watching his frantic mother searching through the drawers in the hallway. he takes off his shoes and follows her, just watching as she moves onto rummaging through other drawers in the living room.

finally, kai asks, "what are you looking for?"

"my keys, i swear i just had them. eric's car broke down on his way home from the store."

"hey, relax." kai's tone softens, "i'll find they keys and pick him up after, i'll just call him and let him know, okay?"

she nods, and kai suggests she has a rest or something to calm her down. he begins searching while she goes into her bedroom. he goes into one cabinet and something catches his eye. he picks it up cautiously, a half empty bottle of vodka, is layla sneaking drinks into the house? surely she would just keep them in her room, he doesn't know what to think, so he puts it back and reminds himself to ask her about it later. he finally finds the keys on the windowsill.

...
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