Love Me Like XO (BxB)

VIII

Los Angeles, CA
Monday
📍Hezekiah’s House

_

The days following were.....awkward, to say the least. Everyone was basically the same, but what made everything awkward was one person in particular. Kash

Ever since that night, he was always around. He had always been there to begin with, but he was usually so distant. Now, he was closer than before. Especially with Levania. He found the older male always spending the night and using him as his personal pillow. He still never spoke, but he at least was now acknowledging when Levania spoke to him. His responses were always either a nod or a shrug, but it was progress, and Levania accepted that it would take some time before Kash felt like speaking to him or speaking in general.

Levania had analyzed the male enough to determine that he was selectively mute. He remembered from his studies what were the causes of selective mutism, and he was sure that Kash's was due to some sort of trauma. The signs were there. Lack of sleep, being constantly alert, hyperfixation with sleeping with him. They were all there.

Such trauma was usually caused by abuse, and that got Levania thinking. Was Kash abused? It would explain why he was so on edge that night, and Levania felt a pang in his chest. He could just be overthinking, and nothing was actually wrong, but the nagging feeling in his stomach told him differently.

He hoped it was the latter because Levania was one of the many people who hated all types of abuse. Especially against children.

He was currently sitting in the living room with the twins, Maliki and Kandre, who were currently in a heated match of 2k.

"NIGGA PASS DA FUCKIN' BALL! FUCK!" Kandre yelled at Maliki as it was currently the both of them against the twins and the twins were currently beating them by 15 points.

"If yo' ass yell at me one mo' time, imma deck you in yo' shit wit' dis' muhfuckin controller. Keep playin' wit' me and see if I don't fuck you up." Maliki said, his tone serious and Kandre straight faced him. He was quiet after that and shifted in his seat before turning back to the TV.

'Yeah, they're definitely fucking.' Levania thought, discretely watching the way Kandre shifted in his seat after Maliki put him in his place. It didn't take a genius to know that the two were messing around, and from the looks of it, it seemed like Maliki was the one calling the shots.

One thing Levania will do is clock that tea, and the ingredients have been boiling for quite a while, it seems. He always did notice that Kandre stuck closer to Maliki out of everyone in the group. At first, he thought they were just really close, but after close observation, it was clear that the two were involved with each other. Plus, the touches they discreetly shared with each other didn't go unnoticed by him. He saw everything. It was a trait he picked up from his mother.

"Man fuck dis' shit. Game steady cheatin' a nigga." Kandre said before placing the controller on the table and leaned back into the chair with a pout.

"Why you always gotta be a sore loser?" Maliki asked him with a chuckle as he also placed the controller on the table.

"Quit talkin' to me bitch. Ion' know know what yo' goofy ass laughin' at to begin with." Kandre said with a mean mug, and Maliki's face did a full 360 from a light smile to a blank expression.

"Aye, we'll catch y'all later. I ain't know it was this late already and this lil nigga gotta help me move some shit at my place. See y'all niggas tomorrow." Maliki said to the twins who were too busy still playing their game. This time against each other. Maliki dapped them up before grabbing Dre by his arm and pulling him out of the house.