𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙐𝙥.

Lately, Lately, Lately.

West barely lets the phone ring twice before he answers it.

"Killian?"

The relief in his own voice embarrasses him a little.

A few feet away, Roy had opened his mouth to say something. West hadn't even heard him.

The second Killian's name flashed across his screen, everything else disappeared.

"Hey."

West exhaled slowly, tension leaving his chest so fast it almost made him dizzy.

"What's going on?" He asked immediately. "Are you okay?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"What do you mean?"

West turned away instinctively as he spoke, already walking farther down the trail without really realizing it.

"I've been calling you. You didn't pick up. I thought something happened."

Back in Easton, Killian was leaning against the brick wall behind the flower shop, cigarette pinched between two cold fingers.

Snow drifted lazily through the parking lot around him, catching in his hair and melting against the shoulders of his thick jacket. His entire face had gone pink from the cold 5 minutes ago, and every exhale left pale clouds curling into the winter air.
He looked down at the cigarette between his fingers and let out a quiet, awkward chuckle.

"No." He said. "Nothing happened."

West stopped walking beside a dripping maple tree. Rainwater slid from the branches overhead and splashed against the gravel near his shoes.

"So?"

"So what?"

West frowned slightly. "So why didn't you pick up the phone? Or at least text me?"

Killian immediately regretted the words before they'd even fully left his mouth,

"I was busy." He muttered. "I have a life outside of you, you know."

West stayed silent, and the cigarette between Killian's fingers suddenly felt too hot. He dropped it, watching the flame fizzle out as soon as it touched the wet snow.

The guilt punched Killian instantly. Because that had been mean and uncalled for, and he wasn't that kind of person.

He rubbed a hand over his face with a quiet sigh. "Sorry." He said quickly, softer now. "That came out wrong."

West still didn't say a word.

Killian stared out at the empty road in front of him, his jaw tight before saying,

"Dove, Sparrow, and I were hanging out." He explained. "I didn't hear my phone."

He couldn't tell him the truth, that he just didn't want to talk to him last night.

West's shoulders loosened slightly beneath his coat.

Oh.

West's eyes drifted back toward where Roy had been standing beside the bench. He was nowhere to be seen. He barely even processed it.

"Okay." He said.

A small part of him felt stupid now. It had only been eighteen hours. Killian had a good explanation, too. West knew how under pressure he was back home, Killian just wanted to spend time with his siblings. That was fine. Maybe he really had been overreacting.

"Are you alright?" West asked quietly.

Killian tilted his head back against the brick wall, stuffing one hand into the pocket of his jacket, "Yeah." He answered after a second.