unexpected. || SKEPHALO

chapter seventeen.

S K E P P Y

"skeppy!" as much as i love bad, i don't know how long i can survive waking up to him shouting my name like that. maybe if he was screaming my name in a different way, it'd be different... kidding. kinda.

"what is it?" i ask, rubbing my eyes with the back of my sleeve. he comes and sits besides me, "i was thinking we could go out for breakfast." he asks, and i nod in agreement.
"yeah! sure, that sounds good."

bad and i agreed to meet back in the living room after we both got dressed, so thats what i did. i made my way up to my room, since i woke up on the couch — no wonder my back was aching.

i took off the clothes i had just fallen asleep in and put on some jet black jeans with a tan hoodie. after gelling my hair like normal, i then made my way downstairs to get ready to leave.

bad was already sitting on the couch, scrolling on his phone as i entered the room. "hi." i said to him, and he looked up to me.
"hey." he smiled as he stood up from the chair and we both walked to the door. i made sure to pick up my wallet from the side, and then we left in my car to go drive to a restaurant.

i didn't know much about the area, as i wasn't from this specific part of florida, so i let bad lead the way with his overcomplicated instructions. eventually, we parked outside a little café and made our way inside the cute, well decorated establishment.

bad and i sat at a table in front of the window, opposite to one another. i pulled out a menu, and so did bad and we started browsing.
"i think i'm gonna get the cheese and ham toastie." i said, "with an iced coffee."
"oo, i'll get the same." bad smiled at me, and i looked up at him.

he looked pretty today. with his black hoodie and his grey cargo trousers, and his usual glasses resting carelessly on his nose. he looked as if he didn't bother much with his appearance today, and that made him even more gorgeous.

we started talking about anything we found interesting for awhile, until a waiter eventually came to take our orders.
"hello! you two are such a cute couple by the way." the server, a young lady with bright ginger hair, said with a smile. me and bad shared a flustered glance, both out cheeks turning pink at her assumption.
"oh— we're not a couple." i said with a quiet voice, my hands starting to sweat slightly.
"oh! i do apologise." she said awkwardly, "anyways, what can i get you two?"

we ordered our food, and the lady went away to tell the chef and me and bad were left alone. none of us really knew what to say, we were a bit shocked. is that really how we looked to random strangers? we looked like a couple?

"anyway—" bad coughed, probably wanting to just move on from that awkward encounter. i chuckled, facepalmed quickly before smiling at him.
"so how long do you think i can stay with you for?" i asked. i had already been here for a few days, and i had no clue if i was outstaying my welcome or not. how long did bad want me around? we never really had this talk before...

"oh uh, i don't know. i don't want you to go yet." he responded, picking at his fingers again.
"what have i told you about doing this?" i reached my hand over the table and grabbed his, inspecting the scabby skin. he looked embarrassed, his eyes fixated on his lap.

"i know." he mumbled, his cheeks pink.
"please bad, stop it. its... its self-harm." i said, and his eyes snapped up at me when i said that.
"WHAT? no— no its not!" he said quickly.
"yes it is. you're doing this to yourself with the intent of hurting, you are hurting yourself. that's self harm, bad." i stated, rubbing circles on his palm with my thumb.

he looked speechless, staring at me with his mouth slightly agape. "i guess i never thought of it like that."
i nodded, understanding. i hated seeing him to this to himself. but what i hated more was not knowing how to help him...