affection

thirty

five months later.

the faint whir of the ac unit drones on, students are impatiently tapping pens onto paper, kai finds himself doing the same.

he zones out for just a moment but is immediately drawn back out as the bell rings. he hurriedly slings his bag over his shoulder and sprints out of the classroom where he bumps into his friend.

"dude, i can't hang out after school today, i have detention." the boy groans.

"are you joking?" kai rhetorics, "for what?"

cooper drags a hand through his hair in irritation, "kissing layla, being late."

kai pulls a face, "gross."

"i mean, i get it. i guess i shouldn't have done it in front of her dad, huh?" he laughs, throwing his head back.

"do you want company?"

cooper beams, "double date?"

...

at this point, kai had tried everything to land himself a sweet spot in detention. he's thrown paper at teachers, doodled over tables and even pretended to be asleep during one of his classes.

all of his attempts have been futile until he comes up with a plan, a plan so simple he thinks, it must work.

it's not long before a devious boy stands in front of a row of lockers, a smug look creeps onto his face as he looks at his masterpiece.

he steadily holds the blue can of spray paint in his hands, which are also blue.

he can hear students whispering as they walk by, but he doesn't care. he's not here for them, he's here to earn his rightful place in-

"detention." a teacher says, stopping right beside him and shaking his head at the sight. "i hope it was worth it, because you'll be spending the rest of your week there."

score.

kai pulls out his phone, messaging his partner in crime, and he's never looked happier.

'i have detention, can't hang.'

elliot responds immediately, 'LOL.'

he scowls at this, typing back, 'it's going to be soooo lonely without u...'

'ugh, ok. i'll do ur math homework while we're there if u do my english.'

'deal.'

...

time dwindles on, and soon enough it's about time to head to detention. he's a little worried, as he hasn't a word from or about his boyfriend, or if he was successful in getting here too.

if he's alone in this, it will be the worst day ever.

however when he slumps into a chair in the back of the classroom, middle of the row and he's quickly joined by a few familiar faces that fill out the chairs around him, leaving just the one beside him empty.

it practically has elliot's name written on it, so where is he?

"what are you in for?" the boy in front of him asks, rocking back in his chair so he's closer.

"vandalism." he says, straight faced, "you?"

jake scoffs, "dang, who knew you were the type? sam and i are here for drawing inappropriate pictures on the desk."

kai watches in amusement as he uses air quotes around the word 'inappropriate.'

"that's tough, man. you scare me." cooper laughs from the seat beside him.

as he's talking with the taller boy, he feels a presence take up the seat the other side of him.

"took you a while." he scowls at his bright-eyed boyfriend.

"sorry, i had to keep talking over the teacher but she kept forgiving me."

the pair laughs, but this fizzles out as bee walks through the door.

"what are you doing here?" elliot asks as they take a seat.

bee shows her phone screen, which presents a simple message, presumably from cooper stating, 'party in detention.'

...

an hour has passed, the group have all decided to go to to kai's house to hangout for a while after detention had ended.

he pushes the door open, and eric is standing there hushing everybody. he ushers everyone in and they wait, confused.

well, everybody but kai and layla are confused. the pair give each other a knowing look.

the door opens a second time, and linda walks in just as eric drops to one knee. the room fills with excited whispers for a few seconds, but they quickly quieten down as eric begins talking.

linda bursts into tears, a big smile on her face as she peeps at her son.

he smiles back, silently mouthing, "new beginnings."

and after those final words drop from eric's lips, "will you marry me?"

his mother wastes no time stringing a dozen yeses out, wrapping her arms around him happily. they're a crying mess together, but maybe that's why they work so well.

eric spins her around in his arms, and everybody cheers for the pair.

after he sets her down, the group rushes closer to say congratulations and kai pulls his mother into a hug of his own.

"i'm so happy for you, mom." kai admits, honestly.

she thanks him and he feels her kiss the top of his head just before elliot wraps his arms around them both, laughing.

pulling away slightly, he asks, "is this a bad time to say i'm failing history?"

linda gives him a pointed look, "yeah, why?"

"because i'm not failing history." kai shrugs.

elliot gasps, "we're so in-sync."

...

the sun has long set, and the house is quiet. the group had taken over the lounge, all setting up sheets and pillows as makeshifts beds.

cooper snores loudly, next to two boys who lie wide awake, talking into the night.

and finally, as they're about to fall asleep themselves.

"goodnight, li." kai whispers, holding the boy closer to his body.

"night, blue."

"i'm so glad we had detention."

elliot smiles, "me too."

...
wc: 1000
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guys you have no idea how sad i am to finish this story. the end of an era for sure, please let me know what you think.

i will miss this series dearly, i cannot believe it's finally over. i started writing the detention books when i was 16, i'm now 23! (admittedly, this should've been finished years ago, but that's life.)

please check out my profile for more of my works, and as always, i love you and thank you so, so much for reading.