Unraveling [BXB]

Chapter 6

Chase woke up Tuesday morning with his AP Government and Economics textbook still open beside him. He'd fallen asleep before he could get to the end of the chapter, but he was pretty far ahead on the reading anyway, so that wasn't a huge problem.

He got up and stretched before walking downstairs to make himself some tea. He stopped in his tracks for a moment when he saw Wren refilling the coffee maker, though he decided it'd be best to just pretend he wasn't there, so he walked past him to the tea kettle, despite how awkward he felt.

"Morning," Wren said, his voice still slightly gravelly. He must've just woken up.

"Mhm," Chase murmured as he filled the kettle.

"What? No snarky response? God, Mouse, you really must be avoiding me," Wren said, crossing his arms as he leaned his hip against the counter. "You know, even if we didn't talk often before, I did consider you a friend." Something about the way he said that made Chase's chest tighten.

"Well, you were wrong," Chase said with any emotion he felt kept out of his tone. "And I'm not avoiding you, I've just been busy. If you weren't so self-centered, you'd see that."

"Yeah, and if I wasn't so self-centered, I guess I'd also notice how much this is bothering you because it's written all over your face and it has been for days," Wren said, taking a step closer to Chase, resting his palm on the counter beside him.

Chase kept his eyes down and his hands busy pulling a mug out of the cupboard, but as he was about to open the drawer for a spoon, Wren placed a hand over his to still him.

"Chase, will you just talk to me?" Wren asked, but it didn't sound like a question so much as a command. Chase pulled his hand away.

"Just...fuck off," The boy said, looking at Wren with a newfound annoyance. Wren backed up a bit, letting out a soft breath as he set his hands in his pockets.

"Look, if I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have done...any of it. I'm sorry," Wren said, a softness in his eyes that Chase rarely saw. "I wasn't trying to take advantage of you."

Chase stood there for a minute, picking at his nails a bit. "I didn't...feel like I was taken advantage of," he said, looking up at Wren for a split second before he shot his eyes back to the floor.

There was a long, thick silence after that. Neither of them knew how to break it, or maybe they didn't want to. It only ended when the kettle whistled and Chase quickly poured the boiling water into his cup.

"I should get ready, I have to be at a violin lesson in half an hour."

"Of course, you do," Wren said as he sipped his coffee. "You know, you're the only person I can think of who would take a violin lesson at seven in the morning."

"No? It's called being responsible, you should try it sometime," Chase shot back without thinking about it, though he couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face when he saw the way Wren scoffed.

"You know, there's being responsible, and then there's being a compulsive workaholic."

"At least I'm not currently peaking in high school."

"You say that like you're not a burnout gifted kid waiting to happen, which, when you really think about it, still means you peaked in high school, I'm just having a lot more fun," Wren said with a shrug.

"You're going to be talking about your high school girlfriends in your forties," Chase said, standing in the doorway.

"And you're going to be talking about me," Wren smirked as Chase's face turned three shades of pink.