𝑺𝑳𝑼𝑴𝑩𝑬𝑹 - 𝐤𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫 { ✓ }

76

lee's POV

i hate being mad at kit. i feel horrible whenever i feel annoyed at him. because he's being so kind to me. but thats what makes me even more irritated. he doesn't even notice that im annoyed.

or maybe he does but he doesnt want to say anything. which would honestly be even worse.

"what about this book?" he asks, turning to me with a book in his hand. ah. i recognize the cover immediately.

little women.

this choice doesnt surprise me. because apparently, kit never read classics while he was in highschool. so now he's trying to catch-up on years worth of papers and essays -- which most people had to do on these books. but he's trying to do it all within a few hours.

"i remember writing a ten-page essay on that book when i was fifteen." i tell him with a laugh. he laughs back at me.

am i being overdramatic? i think i am.

ugh, whatever. kit will only be in new york for a week. i don't want to waste this time by being angry over something so petty.

"you just introduced me to a whole new catagory of books." he says, adding little women to his stack of classics. "i will forever be thankful."

kit smiles at me and returns to the the shelf he was looking at beforehand and scans the spines of each book, searching for a title that grabs his attention. suddenly, he gasps and grabs a book off of the shelf.

he plops it down onto the table in front of me, dramatically. "please tell me you read this!" he says, laughing at the title of the book.

"yes, i did." i reply, also laughing. but im not laughing at the title, i'm laughing at kit.

there's something so heartwarming about seeing someone do something so childish and innocent like this. the way kit wanders around the book store, reading these novels in awe of the literature. it just warms my heart the right way.

"moby dick?" kit says. "you read moby dick in school?"

i nod a him and he laughs again. "yes. i read moby dick in school. and i had to write essays on this book too."

kit starts laughing. i smile at the sight.

the way his skin wrinkles by the corners of his eyes. the way his teeth show themselves from under his lips. the way his voice sounds as he laughs at something so seemingly simple.

its beautiful. it really is.

"i'm definitely buying this book." kit says, through laughs.

he adds moby dick to his pile. suddenly, i realize how large this pile of his has gotten. there's at least ten books stacked up on the tabletop. and i don't think kit is aware of how expensive books can be.

he casually walks back over to the shelves and looks for another book to add to his collection.

"kit." i say, making him turn around and look at me. "don't you think it's time to go now? look at how many books you have."

"i know!" he responds, proudly looking at his books. "i'm so excited to read these!"

"how about we go pay, now." i tell him, picking up the top half of his books. i begin to carry them to the counter. kit grabs the second half of the books, following behind me.

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it's safe to say that kit was not expecting how much the books cost.

as we exit the store and start walking back to the hotel -- which is only a few blocks away from the bookstore -- he can't stop rambling on about his books and how excited he is.

"and i also added a book called to kill a mockingbird." he tells me, passing by a large group of people on the sidewalk. "i think it's going to be some kind of a murder mystery. it has the word 'kill' in it."

"you didn't read the back of the book, did you?" i ask, chuckling at his guess.

"no, i didn't." he admits. "but the cover looks pretty cool and the title is a bit ominous sounding, y'know?"

"yeah, sure."

i suddenly feel a pang of guilt in my gut when i say that. i said it so bluntly and flatly. did kit notice? oh no. did i sound rude? did i sound mean? i think i did. i don't want to be mean to kit. he doesn't deserve that.

wait, yes he does. he made me mad yesterday. we were supposed to talk about how we feel when we were at the bookstore. shit. i forgot.

should i still try and talk to him about it?

no. i feel like i would just be bringing up a saddening subject during a happy moment. i don't want to ruin this for him.

☆ ★ ☆