one-shots

milo and dex pt 1

Milo sat in his room on a hot summers day, flipping through an old book as he lay on his bed. His window was left open, letting light and sounds from the summer in. Crickets chirped in the grasses, birds sang in the trees and the guests chatted away and laughed through conversation as they loitered around the yard.

Milo had never been the social type, and even though he'd tried, nobody would ever find interest in his passions. He loved to read and write poetry, which most found odd and unconventional for a 19 year old. They all expected him to be running around in town with his friends causing trouble, but they didn't know he didn't have any.

He whistled a soft tune, running a hand through his dirty brown hair as he flipped the page. The sound of a crash and something suddenly flying into Milo's nose caused him to cry out and he clutched his nose, dropping his book to the floor. He looked down to the ground; there was a cricket ball, and scattered shards of glass. It'd flown through his window. 

Milo's eyes blurred with tears, and it didn't even hurt that bad. It was probably just from the shock and impact, he figured. He picked up the ball and stomped out of the room, careful not to step on the glass as he made his way downstairs and outside with the ball and clutching his now-bleeding nose. A few of the guests look at him with worry and whisper to each other.

A scruffy redhead boy ran up to him with a cricket bat and grabbed the ball, frowning when he saw the nosebleed and the tears. He wiped away some of the blood under Milo's nose and flashed him a confident smile, wiping the blood off his hands and on his messy white shirt.
"Hey. Sorry about that. I'm..." He started, before being interrupted.
"DEXTER!" Someone yelled, their voice high pitched and more like a shriek. The redhead boy rolled his eyes and covered half of his face with one of his hands. A short but large lady wearing a stiff grey blouse came up to him and sneered:

"What are you doing, interrupting the Sallow boy? You know he was probably doing something important, right?"
She said with a far too confident smile towards him as she nudged Milo's side. He held his tongue and gave the lady a weak smile; he hated it when people called him by his last name.
His father owned a famous restaurant in town, and because of that, Milo's only connection to anyone he knew was through his father, with the exception of direct family. Sure, it made them able to afford a nice house and a few cars, but it was never really in Milo's favour. He simply didn't like the attention.

"Sorry, Aunt Lucie." The boy mumbled, glaring at her. He swung his cricket bat idly as the lady huffed and walked away. He rolled his eyes again and turned back to Milo.
"So; sorry about the whole window thing... I'm normally a pretty good shot. I'm Dex, by the way. Only my Aunt calls me Dexter." He said with a confident smile. It made Milo's stomach flip, for some reason. He must be wanting to be friends, and his stomach was telling him so.

"Oh, nice to meet you..? I'm Milo." He said, looking up nervously to meet Dex's eyes.
"S-So, uh..." Milo started, unsure where to go with the conversation. It didn't help that he had a stutter, either. And definitely not that Dex's big blue eyes were right on his.

"Uh. Why a-are you here, at the party I-I mean? Are your p-parents part of the n-new restaurant plan?" Milo asked, silently cursing himself for the lack of control with his speech. Dex looked up at the clouded blue sky and brushed a bead of sweat off his forehead.
"Well, yeah. My dad just got hired as the co-manager for your dad's restaurant. Our whole family loves the food, by the way."
"T-Thanks." Milo stammered, looking down at the grass. There was a moment of silence between the boys before Dex heard someone shouting for him again. Both of them looked up to see a burly man in just his shorts near the cricket game, gesturing for Dex to come back. The redhead sighed and looked back at Milo.

"Well, nice meeting a Sallow boy." He teased as he ruffled Milo's hair before running off with his ball and cricket bat. Milo stood and watched him leave, the summer sun beating down on him as other kids played on their lawn and ran around, laughing. Milo longed to join in, but instead he went over to his dad at the barbeque.

"Hi, Dad." He started. His dad gave a startled glace, before smiling his toothy smile.
"Hey, Mils. You're back from the dead. Finally out of your room, huh?" He joked, flipping over some steaks. Milo nodded his head.
"Actually, uh... some kid batted a ball through my window." Milo admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck.

His dad turned to face him and smoothed his balding hair. "Batted a ball... it broke your window? Oh, was he the redhead playing cricket?"
Milo nodded his head and looked around anxiously, pulling at the sleeve of his shirt.
His dad leaned down to tilt up Milo's chin, and he frowned as he saw the dried blood under his nose. Some of it was smeared from Dex's same gesture as his dad tried to wipe it away. Milo pulled back from him, wiping it himself and insisting
"It's fine, I can do it."

"Well, ask your mother nicely to clean up the glass, and I'll fix the window as soon as I can." He said as he handed a young guest a sausage with the tongs.

Today was a garden party to celebrate the re-opening of his father's restaurant. It had recently been renovated and got all new staff, but was under the same management. His father always said that when he retired Milo would take over, but he wasn't sure he even wanted to. His mother agreed that since he was already 19 he should at least have some aspirations.

"Alright." Milo muttered as he walked away across the lawn, dodging the other kids and adults crowding and running around. He made his way back inside their home and into the bright and airy kitchen where his mother was making a pasta salad while listening to the radio. She turned around and gave Milo a kiss on the cheek, and he smile softly.

"Hey mum. A kid batted a ball through my window and dad says you have to help with the glass." She sighed and put down her bowl, making her way upstairs. Milo followed her. Old Renaissance paintings covered the brick and old plastered walls, which he was never really fond of. The naked people made him squirm.

As she cleaned up the glass Milo continued reading his book on his bed. She smiled a little and prompted
"I saw you staring at Eva." Milo frowned and closed his book, looking up at his mum and her smug expression.
"Who's Eva?"
She laughed and shook her head a little, looking back down to her broom as she swept up the small shards.
"You know, Miss Sterling's adopted daughter?" Milo's mind searched for the lady she was describing, and he remembered his father pointing her out last time they had a party like today's.

"Do you mean Dex's Aunt?" He asked without thinking. His mother nodded her head and brushed some of her long curls out of her eyes.
"Yes... I think she's his sister. And I think you might like her." She teased, poking Milo with her fingernail. He blushed and shook his head vigorously, and his mother laughed. The floorboards creaked a little as she walked over to him.
"Well, she is rather pretty. I think you two would make good friends, anyway. Maybe I'll invite her over or something one day, so you two can get to know each other." She adds before collecting the broken glass and tossing it into Milo's bin beside his desk, before leaving and shutting the door behind her.

A few hours later when the guests started to leave, the bright sky began to darken and the dim lights in the massive oak tree in the yard began to shine. The hot evening air came in through his window, and he took off his light red shirt and threw it over his desk chair. 

Milo sighed and lay back on the bed. A few thoughts swam through his mind, and most of them ended with Dex. The cocky redhead boy with strongly spoken words. He had bright eyes and a spark in them that made his heart skip a beat.

Milo began questioning his own feelings. A hot feeling settled in his stomach and he closed his eyes.

He must really want the two of them to become friends.