As the wind blew against his shoulder-length brown hair, Kel sat on fountain in the plaza studying the grocery list his mom gave him. Of course on one of the chilliest days of summer he had to be out running errands, instead of relaxing at home on their comfy couch, lovingly stained with assortments of drinks, watching T.V with his siblings.
'Man, I miss when Hero was around, I bet he's having a lot more fun at his fancy college than me, performing fetch quests.' Kel sulked as he dragged his lazy body along into the grocery store. The Rivera house felt so odd without Hero around. One too many times, Kel would run into his room searching for advice only to be reminded that his brother's across state. Instead of the sounds of graphite scratching against paper consuming their room on late nights, it's just pure silence, aside from an occasional cry-sesh from Sally. When Kel was younger, people would always joke about how clingy he was, but is it such a crime to want to be around the people you love? Nobody likes to be alone. But especially not Kel.
Upon entering the store, the brunette was greeted to the sound of muffled elevator music and the sweet smell of cocoa.
He scrunched his nose, taking note of the nostalgic smell. The boy hummed checking his wallet, "I think I should have enough to get a lil something extra." He grinned mischievously as he speed walked to the candy section, buying a JUMBO bar of chocolate and immediately shoving it in his mouth. Right after, he diverted his attention back to the list and collected all of the items his mom requested.
"Your total comes to $17.38." said the cashier woman.
Kel flipped through the bills "17.38....17.38...." counting each bill that passed through his fingers, eyes squinted and tongue peeking out from his lips from pure concentration. His expression slowly shifting from focused to sheepish while approaching the remaining bills.
"Um...heh..do you think I can remove an item or two.." he said with a nervous grin.
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'Mom's totally gonna kill me.' he sighed, walking out of the store with a stomach full of candy and a half filled grocery bag.
Before he left the plaza to face the wrath of his mother, he remembered the garden store and thought he might as well check out what they had it stock. Maybe he could find 'please forgive me for my stupid mistake' flowers for his mom.
Kel trotted slowly through the aisles showcasing various plants. With the addition of the warm sunlight that crept through the windows, the store acquired dreamy effect...It was very nostalgic, Kel could walk around here all day if he could. It reminded him of the times he would visit here with Sunny, Basil and Aubrey, such fond memories.
But while turning the corner he bumped into someone.
Kel had an automatic response "Oh sorry!" he smiled, only for him to eventually look down to see his pal, Sunny.
"Oh! SUNNY! What're you doing here? Are you getting flowers for someone?"
The monochromatic boy simply nodded.
"Oh nice, who's it for?" Kel questioned with a smile. He was genuinely curious because who could he possibly be getting flowers for? His mom and sister are away-unless he was planning on taking care of them until they came back but why buy it so early? He lost his train of thought when Sunny interrupted:
"It's for Basil."
"Ah! Right, duh. That's really nice of you Sun."
Sunny jerked his head out toward the end of the aisle, pointing with his thumb.
"Yeah sure, might as well look around together."
The pair walked up and down the various aisles looking for the perfect plant. It didn't take long until Sunny spotted one for Basil. It was one of those hanging plants, Basil didn't own many of those. He'd probably appreciate another one.
(Also so this part is kinda corny but whatever)
The ebony-haired boy, with his back toward Kel, reached for the plant but it was pretty high, so he had to get on his toes. Due to rarely stretching, trying to nab the plant was made a lot more painful than it needed to be.
'I should just choose another one, this isn't getting anywhere.' Sunny thought.
"Oh here, lemme grab that for ya!" Kel said, placing himself beside his smaller friend, stretching his arms over him out to the plant. Easy peasy, thank god for that growth spurt. But, Sunny turned around sooner than expected because as soon as Kel looked down, he was met with Sunny's face, only a few inches away from his.
The boys have been this close before; when sharing a bed at a sleepover or just due to Kel's lack of spatial awareness but this time...it was different. Maybe because they're older and being this close to your friend, holding hands or hugging is simply something you can only get away with when you're a kid. Nowadays if you did that at their age, people would make it a "romantic thing".
Is it a romantic thing...?
With the sun shining on both of their faces, the lush greenery surrounding them and the sounds of birds chirping nearby it sure felt like it, for Kel that is.
Kel was so close that he noticed features on Sunny that he never really noticed before. Sunny had smile bags under his eyes, not like the eye bags you get when you're tired but the fluffy bags that appear when certain people smile. His skin... was lighter than Kel's but not superrr pale either and it didn't look too moisturized but it wasn't totally dry. His lips were...um...nevermind...he did have a mole on his upper lip though...Finally Sunny's dark brown eyes..his eyes could draw anyone in with just one glance, they were a beautiful dark chocolate hue and in the reflection, Kel could see himself.
And how red his face was.
Kel started to get that funny feeling in his stomach again, as if he somehow swallowed a group of butterflies. What in the world, why was he feeling this way? Why was he getting sweaty, why was his heart beating so loud to the point where he could barely hear himself think??? Why... didn't he mind being like this...?
Unfortunately for him, Sunny eventually spoke up, "...Kel, the plant?" he muttered away from Kel's gaze. He was too close...
The taller boy snapped back to reality, bright as a tomato. "OH RIGHT THE PLANT!" he shouted springing up from his friend out of pure shock.
With sweaty, trembling hands he handed the plant to Sunny.
*CRASH*
But his hands were too shakey, causing the plant to slip right from his grasp, shattering below them. The duo both jumped back due to quick reflexes but the plant was no more.
"Ah geez, my bad Sunny," Kel said scratching the back of his head. He gave a weak smile. "You good?"
The black haired boy patted himself down. "I'm fine." He said lowly, giving his friend a thumbs up and a soft smile before walking off to let an employee know about the mess.
Kel was left standing in the aisle completely dumbfounded. His heart was racing so much, why? WHY? He didn't understand what was going on and why he was feeling this way around Sunny. Even a simple smile, made him feel...somewhat happy. But that's because they're friends right? Obviously, people are gonna be happy around their friends.
It only took a few minutes to get the mess cleaned up and the plant moved to a different pot. After the pair payed for their respective gifts, they silently walked back to their street, the sun being almost completely down by the time they were in front of Kel's house.
The brunette broke the silence. "Um, sorry again about the plant."
"It's okay."
"Anyways, Sunny I just wanted to say-"
"Kelsey!!!" calls a woman's voice from his house.
In unison, the boys turned in the direction of the racket.
