Oakley {BoyxBoy & FIN}

Chapter Seven

He scrunched up his eyebrows as he stared at me. His blue eyes were confused and conflict. He was thinking too hard for no reason.

"Angel? I'm not sure about that name, Tate," he said unsurely.

I scoffed. "Are you serious? It took me a while to come up with that name, and now you don't want it? Whatever."

"No!" He said in a panic. "Please don't go. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings."

I sighed. Angel was one of those people. Those people always wanted to pleased people and apologized for something that wasn't their fault. It wasn't his fault. Not mine either.

"It's just a name," I lied. "You can change it if you want."

For some reason, it wasn't just a name to me. I picked Angel only because my dad thought he was an Angel, and Angel sounded innocent, unbroken. Unlike me.

"Oakley."

I blinked blankly. "What?"

"Oakley. My mother's name used to be Angel Oak, the nickname Angel. I only want her to have that name, but I will keep Oakley."

I nodded my head in understanding. My mother did that to me. She put her middle name as mine, despite being a girl, but she wanted me to have something of hers before she died.

"Your mother would have loved it," I said softly, smiling a bit.

Angel-Oakley smiled before he stood up and dusted off his jeans that contained holes. The pity I felt was growing enormously. I gave him my jacket, but it didn't look like it kept him warm nor gave him a new fashion sense that he needed badly. He sniffled and rubbed his nose with his sleeve, his nose turning red and his lips turning somewhat purple and blueish. Winter was coming too fast.

"I have to go..." I mumbled.

His sky blue eyes turned dull, and a frown appeared on his face. I felt a churn inside my stomach. I hated seeing him not smile. Ever since his mother died, he hadn't smile much. I hadn't smile much. It wasn't my job to make him happy, but I felt like I did nothing right ever since we met. I made him happy that he met me, but that wasn't enough since his mother died.

"I mean...I guess I can stay for a while," I suggested and scratched the back of my head.

Oakley shook his head and looked the other way. "No, it's okay. I will see you tomorrow."

Just like that, he walked, sat back down, and stared at the hole. I nodded and walked away with my fists jammed inside my pockets and an empty hole inside my heart. For some reason, him not giving me a bone-crushing yet warm hug made me feel like I was an asshole.

And I didn't even do anything wrong. 

~~~~

Curtis noticed my mood dropped when I stepped inside the house. He probably thought I was sulking over my mom, but when aren't I? I always think of her when I didn't want to. I sat at the edge of my bed and took off my shoes, and grabbed my shoulders to take off my jacket when I noticed I didn't have it on me...again.

I sighed in frustration and took off my shirt, and threw it on the floor. I was getting too frustrated for no reason. I wasn't frustrated at Oakley. I was frustrated at myself for letting Oakley wear my jacket again. It was like whenever I was around him, I completely forget myself and only cared about him. And then the pressure of going to school in a couple of days. That meant not enough time to visit my mom, but it sure as hell means I don't have to see Curtis that much.

I smiled to myself when I thought of not seeing Curtis anymore, but my smile dropped when I couldn't visit Oakley. How would he cope with the weather? Would someone help him? Did he have food? He was there most of the time, so somebody had to see him. Somebody had to see him, right? He was a strong guy, which means he will be fine.

"Yeah, he's strong. Don't worry about a homeless tree freak," I mumbled. I slowly closed my eyes and let the darkness take over me.

I slowly opened my eyes to see Oakley smiling softly at me. I jolted and opened my mouth to scream when Curtis was leaning his shoulder on my door.

He had a slight smile on his face, and he said, "Oakley said he wanted to give you your jacket back."

I raised an eyebrow at his happy attitude but decided that he got a big break in his job or some shit.

Oakley handed me my jacket and said happily, "Hi Tate!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. I was cranky when I woke up but seeing Oakley's face made me less grumpy.

"Hello, Oakley. Thanks for bringing it back. I mean it," I said sincerely.

Oakley waved his hand in dismissal, and his cheeks turned red. "Anything for my best friend, Tate!"

I awkwardly shifted my feet when Curtis and Oakley stared at me. I thought they were going to leave, but they just stared and stared.

"Okay, you can leave," I demanded.

Curtis's eyes darkened, and his happy mood dropped. "Oakley will be staying with us until I find his parents."

"His mother died."

I expected Oakley to drop to his knees and cry, but he nodded and said, "He is right, sir. She died four days ago."

He was a lot stronger than I thought. Curtis's eyes flashed with shock but kept his stern expression. "I'm sorry to hear that, Oakley. What about your father?"

"I don't know where he is. I don't think I want to know."

Curtis hummed and glanced at me before he left the room. I was confused why he didn't ask Oakley why he didn't want to know his father, but that was none of our business. I turned my attention to Oakley and grabbed my shirt from the floor. I rolled it into a ball and threw it in the hamper.

"Well, I guess we're roommates until Curtis finds your relatives," I announced.

Oakley smiled and said, "I get to see you more!"

I didn't know if that was a bad or good thing. Oakley was weird, annoying, and child-like, but something about his smile made my heart melt. There wasn't a thought behind his eyes other than he got to see me. How was I supposed to deal with this? What was I supposed to do? I looked away when his stupid smile wouldn't disappear. 

"For now, just play games on my phone," I said and picked a random game and gave it to him. Oakley looked confused but proceeded to play. I chuckled and laid on my bed. I turned on the TV, put it on a random channel, and tried to pay attention to it, but I was secretly watching him. He looked at me and laid his head on my chest, and I flinched from the sudden contact but kept still. I hovered my hand on top of his silver hair and debated if I wanted to touch it or not. 

"Tate," he whispered. I hummed, and he looked up, smiling again. 

"Thank you."