Neighbors (Avin)

Chapter Twelve: Stains

I pulled three bags of frozen vegetables out of my freezer and sat them down on the counter. Kevin was still sitting in the same spot on the side of my couch, but he was further away from the armrest. I threw one of the bags of veggies at him as hard as I could, but he caught it and stuck his tongue out at me.

"Try again, pitcher."

I proceeded to grab the second bag and toss it. It slapped against his face just as the trio walked back in my front door.

"Ow! You fuck truck!" He pressed both bags against his cheeks, which were swelling and smiled over at the three confused dumbasses in the doorway. I pressed the last bag against my eye and walked back out into the living room.

"Shut up. At least you can see, Ass-hat." I sat down next to him and leaned back.

"What the hell happened?" Scott shouted as he closed the distance between the three of us.

"We fought. Thought that was an obvious string of events," Kevin said while adjusting the ice on his fat face. He looked like a child.

"You left two people who hat each other in a room alone. Did you think we were gonna fuck and make up?" I raised an eyebrow at Scott and felt a very distinct glare from Kevin.

"No! I just thought... I thought you'd resolve something..." He sat down a couple boxes of pizza on the table and walked back out to get some cups. He looked so disappointed I almost said something. On his way over to the table, Mitch dropped some plates and had to stop to pick them up. I noticed he was taking a little longer to pick them up than a normal person.

"Avi?" He sounded hesitant and distant. "What is this on the wall?"

Kevin was fighting to not laugh while I panicked to find an answer. When I couldn't think of one, Kevin burst and cackled as if this was some kind of joke he would tell later.

I slapped his hand with my bag of peas and cleared my throat. "Ask Kevin." I glared at him as the words left my mouth. It really was his fault, everything, from not pulling his curtain thing all the way down to the stains on my wall. I watched Kevin's face drop. If we told them what we did, they're think we actually liked each other, which couldn't be farther from the truth. His head snapped over to me. I simply smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

"What did you guys do while we were gone?" Scott came back in with a bag of paper cups in his hand and a big grin on his face.

"Each other," I mumbled inaudibly. Kevin punched my shoulder harder than he'd punched my eye, which only made me laugh harder.

"We fought. That's it." Kevin sounded calm, but I could almost see him struggling to keep his composure. Mitch moved away from the stains on my wall and dropped the plates on the table. Kevin ripped the pizza box open and grabbed four slices. He sat back with his toes pointed towards each other and his plate on his thighs.

"You look like a kid," I said absentmindedly while stuffing half a slice of pizza in my mouth.

"Your mouth doesn't close all the way when your not paying attention." He took another bite and took a sip from the cup of Sprite Mitch had poured for me. I glared at him, but he simply looked back at me and smiled like he'd won.

"I hope you die."

"I'll fight you again."

"I'm out of juice."

Mitch nearly choked on his pizza. I realized how much sexual tension was in the room and was very unsure of how to feel about it. This was by far the weirdest flirting I'd ever been a part of.

"I feel like I'm missing something?" Kirstie said. She'd been quiet since they got back. "You two are closer, but farther apart somehow."

"Stop psychoanalyzing us right now, you booger!" I spat.