My Savior - Suntan

Chapter Twenty-Three

When Sunny stirred, his door was open. He didn't like having it open. He rolled over, groaning, as the morning sun shone in his eyes, burying his face in one of the pillows in the fort. As he slowly started to come round, he realised that he could smell cooking. Sunny sat up abruptly, his hair getting in his eyes, staggering to his feet as he rushed out the door, his pyjama pants flapping loosely around his ankles. He shifted awkwardly as fast as he could to the bottom of the stairs, his bare feet making little noise on the carpeted floor as he dashed into the kitchen, announcing his arrival with the kitchen door slamming open.

"Jeez, Sunshine!" Kel exclaimed, almost dropping the plate he was holding, "you've gotta not scare me like that!"

Looking around the room, he saw that Kel was placing a plate of food on the table, then going back to get another. Once Kel had placed the second plate down, he looked over at Sunny who was eyeing him skeptically.

"Listen," Kel stated, lifting his hands in surrender, "I'm trying to get better at cooking! I even gave you a smaller portion."

As Sunny stood there, he took in how Sunny looked with his hair looking slightly scruffier than usual, and in his loose pyjamas - it made him smile. Sunny shuffled over to one of the plates - the one with the smaller portion - and eyed it carefully. It was a bacon sandwich. Sunny carefully lifted the top slice of bread, and to his surprise, the bacon was not burnt and it was not undercooked. Sunny looked up at Kel, the two locking eyes, and Sunny nodded at him, impressed. Kel whooped, jumping into the air, grinning that he managed to cook something well, now he just hoped Sunny would eat it.

The two ate the sandwiches in silence, Kel watching Sunny anxiously the whole time while Sunny slowly made his way through the sandwich. After a while, the two had both finished their sandwiches and Kel was close to exploding with excitement that Sunny had finished a meal - and, even better, one that Kel had cooked himself.
He got up from the table, and trying to contain his excitement, walked over to Sunny, took his hand, and led him slightly further away from the table.

In one swift movement, Kel picked Sunny up and spun him round, laughing, giddy with excitement. Sunny clung round Kel's neck, praying Kel wouldn't let go, but smiled into his neck.

"Sunshine, you did it!" Kel exclaimed in a sing-song fashion, placing Sunny down gently, still grinning from ear to ear.

Sunny felt his heart pick up as he looked into Kel's eyes, seeing them shine with excitement, his face flushed and his cheeks a rosy color. Shaking his head, Sunny cleared his head, pleading with himself to keep himself in the moment and not let his body do anything he was thinking. Instead, he rushed at Kel and hugged him. Kel felt himself freeze for a moment, his brain slowly wrapping round what was happening - Sunny had eaten a meal he had cooked himself. Sunny was hugging him without him initiating it. Kel wrapped his arms gently around the smaller boy, bringing him closer, breathing him in.

"I'll be back in a minute," Sunny mumbled, his face in Kel's chest. He weaseled his way out of the hug, going as quickly as he dared upstairs, quickly getting dressed, brushing his hair and grabbing the trinket he wanted from the desk. As he did so, his mind paused as his eyes locked onto the drawer. He felt dizzy for a second, dark splotches in his vision, his breathing becoming uneven - but then the moment passed. Sunny took a deep breath, heading back downstairs with the trinket his hand.

"What're you hiding, Sunshine?" Kel asked, watching Sunny re-enter the kitchen with his hands behind his back.

Sunny walked up to Kel and stared him dead in the eyes, bringing his hands out from behind his back, his fists clenched.

"Open your hands," Sunny said, looking at them expectantly.

Kel did what he was told, opening his hands and making his palms face upwards. Sunny gently placed his clenched hand on Kel's open ones, enjoying the feeling of brushing Kel's warm hands, before he placed the trinket inside them, looking back up at Kel to see his reaction.

"Hey, isn't this that basketball keyring you bought the other day at Hobeez?" Kel asked, looking at Sunny, who had a small smile playing at his lips. He looked adorable.

Sunny nodded happily, looking up to see Kel looking at him.

"Do you not like it?" Sunny then asked, worried. Why did I not think of that?

"Sunshine," Kel said in the most serious voice he could muster as he crouched to be face-to-face with Sunny, "in all honesty... I love this and I will wear it with pride."

Sunny was not expecting that, it caught him so off guard that he smiled properly for once, before clearing his throat and changing the subject.

"So, can we go to Othermart and buy some fish?" Sunny asked, watching Kel try, and fail, to clip the keyring to the belt things around his short.

"Sure, Sunshine," Kel said, distracted, using all his brain power on hooking the keyring on his shorts.

* * *

"Wait, why are we here?"

Sunny looked at Kel, Kel looking genuinely confused as he finally managed to clip the keyring on his shorts, only just realising where they were and what they were doing.

"Kel, we're here to-" Sunny started, before being interrupted.

"Right! We're here to get fish," Kel said, putting his hands on his hips proudly, as he saw it as him managing to remember it and thought it was cause for celebration.

"There's a stray cat that lives around here and I want to feed it," Sunny explained to him as he pointed at the fish he wanted to buy, giving the person behind the till his money, as they handed him a couple fish.

"Riiiight!" Kel said, getting distracted by a mysterious stain on the ceiling, before realising Sunny was already walking away.

"Wait for me, Sunshine!" Kel called after him, running through the store.

"Kel, stop shouting, you get us kicked out!" Sunny sighed, leaving the store, Kel finally having caught up, swayed happily beside him.

"Yeah, but they can't kick us out if we already left, right?"