Two Birds On A Wire

ch 25

Julian's eyes were closed. But he could feel something off with himself. The sides of his head ached with a throbbing pain. He let out a sound of disapproval and opened his eyes, immediately squinting to block out the light that pierced in. Another grunt escaped him as he placed a hand over his eyes, partially covering them.

That's when he realised. Where on Earth was he? He was damn sure his ceiling had some abstract colours painted on them. Yet, here he was lying under a plain white ceiling. Panic rose in him and he immediately sat up on the bed, making his head spin.

He involuntarily let out a squeal when he saw  Ivan watching him from the other side of the room with raised eyebrows.

"Where the hell is this place!?"

Ivan shrugged and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "My home".

"What the hell am I doing here?!"

Ivan pursed his lips. "What else was I supposed to do, leave you at the bar counter drunk?". Julian blinked a few times and slapped himself, letting out a grunt.

"Thanks to you, now my mom thinks her son spend all his allowance money on booze" Ivan shook his head and Julian bit his tongue. "Sorry", he murmured.

The both of them just sat there in an awkward silence until Julian's head jolted up as if he just remembered something. "Did I get any calls while I was out?"

Ivan noticed how the other boy's pupils were slightly dilated. He didn't remember hearing his phone ring. So he shook his head no.

Julian, in a fast pace, fished his phone out of his pockets and in a moment, put it to his ear. Ivan waited until the call ended. It wasn't much of a conversation. Julian had mostly just listened and he hummed occassionally, probably just to let the other party know that he was still there.

Ivan raised a brow in question and Julian just shrugged. "Mom"

"You in trouble?"

Julian waved a hand in the air and chuckled dryly. "Nah. My old man is a bit angry though. Might get grounded for a while"

Ivan made a scowl. "Dude, how old are you to get grounded!?" He scoffed, amusement etched on his face.

Julian clicked his tongue. "When you are the only kid around, your parents lose track of your age and they'll throw the word 'grounded' on your face even when you are married with kids". He spread his arms and lied down on his back.

Ivan couldn't help, but chuckle. For once, he felt lucky being the older child. It would suck to be an only child. And he wouldn't want to be younger one either. It would be too suffocating.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Julian asked and Ivan turned his gaze down at the boy. "Would you have rather faced my mom on your own?"

"No?"

"Exactly. Now, go take a shower and let's go downstairs. It's almost noon"

"Well.." Julian hesitated, but before he could finish, Ivan spoke again, cutting him off, "If you are looking for clothes to change into, I put them on that chair beside the table. Now go, you smell like garbage" he scrunged his nose up and waved his hand in the air, shooing the other boy away.

A mischievous smile creeped up Julian's face and he sat up on the bed. Before Ivan could see it coming, he lifted the hem of his tees and pulled it over Ivan's head.

"Yo, get off me!"

"How do you like the smell of garbage, huh?!"
Julian cackled like a mad man as Ivan struggled to get away from his grip.

He was so enjoying this.