Days Go By | lavashipping

..✰.

As if everything he already did for Cole wasn't enough, Kai began showering him with gifts. Small but so often and always gotten with so much thought put into them.

At first Cole let himself get foolishly drunk on the new attention. Only this time, he sobered up faster and they were back where they started – Cole needing answers and Kai somehow getting him sidetracked each and every time he attempted to get them.

Okay, to be fair, maybe that part was on him. He should work on his resolve and not get distracted without Kai needing to put too much effort into it. Cole would try to persuade him into a more serious conversation and every time Kai would reassure him everything was fine, they were fine, and then...

Two things to work on – his resolve and his cooking skills. Noted.

It felt as if he got stuck in a little aquarium swarmed with piranhas. Kai would come with another neatly packed package and stare at him the whole time, something hidden in his eyes but Cole could not figure out what. They kept monitoring his every move, every twitch of his facial muscles.

Seriously. Did he miss something? Did Kai have two birthdays and expected him to do something like back in June? If Kai was not going to tell him, he has to figure it out himself but how is he supposed to figure it out himself if his head has been too high in the clouds for so long?

Gifts were not supposed to make him sweat and make his chest tight. They were supposed to bring excitement, not dread.

After another one of those dinners worthy of being served in a five-star restaurant despite it just being another simple day, Cole set his cutlery down with such focus, it didn't make a sound. As expected, Kai was already at his feet, ready to take care of the dishes. Only this time Cole caught their wrist, diverted their attention.

"Kai, can we talk?" He watched his eyes shift between him and the empty plate.

"What? Did you not like–"

"No! No." Cole shot up from his seat, hands moving to cradle Kai's face but his eyes kept doing anything but meeting his. "Everything you do is perfect. But what's going on?"

"Why should there be anything going on? Can't I just do a nice thing every once in a while?"

"This isn't exactly 'a nice thing every once in a while' though, is it?" He brushed his thumb over his cheek, hoped he was doing this right, that he wasn't pushing Kai further into a corner rather than luring him out of it. "If I missed anything, did something wrong, please tell me. I'll fix it, I promise."

Kai shook his head with such energy, Cole had to move his hands away. "You didn't do anything wrong!"

"Really? I feel like you're trying to hint at something maybe..." Seeing as Kai kept fidgeting and avoiding eye contact, Cole stepped back to give them the space they seemed to want.

"I can stop it if you don't like it." Cole wasn't exactly sure what steps to take, what words to say to not make this worse than it already was.