Loose Ends

002.

Six whole months pass before Caius sees Parker again, and he's all but forgotten about him.

He's woken up in the middle of the night from inexplicable dreams about the boy, and the first time he thought it was just some weird coincidence -- not a big deal. But after the fourth time, Caius started to get a bit confused. He'd talked to Park for a grand total of ten minutes, and yet here he is dreaming about him? It didn't make sense.

But it seemed like he was never going to see the boy again, so he tried not to worry about it much.

His sixteenth birthday has come and gone, he's started his third year of high school which is going just about as well as he expected it to. Despite the fact that he attends the best private school the city can offer, he still feels like an outsider. He has managed to fall in with a group of guys: Jude, Everett, and Weston. However his parents aren't too fond of any of them, which results in frequent quarrels between Caius and the guys.

Still, it's better than middle school when Caius was friendless and lonely.

Right now it's the weekend though, and Richard Bennett has decided to take the family to church. This is a somewhat rare occasion, but after the gambling problem Richard tended to try and make an effort to go to church more. Maybe he wanted to repent for his sins, make good with the big guy upstairs.

Or maybe it just made the Bennett's look good.

Either way, Caius was sitting in a pew next to his mother on a Sunday in a church that's far too bright and all he can think about is how much he wants to go back to sleep. His blue eyes are dull, the smile he's giving the elderly woman sitting in front of them not extending to his irises.

Halfway through the service, Caius is a solid 96% sure that he is going to fall asleep. He can feel his eyelids growing heavy, well aware of the fact that his chin keeps dipping down every time he lets them close. His mother has elbowed him in the ribs a solid 32 times, and yet Caius just can't seem to wake himself up. In fact, he thinks he might already be half asleep. Which explains why he thinks the boy smoking outside is a hallucination at first.

He jolts up in his seat, earning him a poignant glare from his mother. He whispers an apology, blinking to clear his eyes before refocusing on the barely there figure. He's standing a ways away from the window in the field behind the church, slightly hunched over as if he's trying to hide what he's doing -- or who he is.

But Cauis would recognize those dark curls anywhere; he has been seeing them in his dreams for months, after all.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be --"

"Caius Samson Bennett, you will not leave in the middle of a service!" His mother's voice is hushed but stilted, earning a few glances from those sitting around them.

"I'm sorry, I'll be fast." He's shuffling out of the pew before she can stop him, heart pounding in his chest just from disobeying his parents.

Caius never disobeyed; rebellion was a foreign concept to him.

He awkwardly jogs over to where Park is standing, wrinkling his nose at the acrid stench of the smoke. It reminds him of his father and late nights and yelling and his mother crying and -- well, let's just say Caius isn't a fan of cigarettes.

"They say smoking kills, y'know." Admittedly, this is not his best opening line. He's slightly winded, which makes his voice sound all breathy and weird.

Park whips around, cigarette pinched between his fingers and recognition dawning on his face. "Cai, I thought that was you."

His stomach lurches at the nickname, nobody calls him Cai -- it's been six months since he's been called Cai.