34B. |raylijah

18

"I don't know, Ray." Elijah scrunched up his nose at the crowded skating rink—He was ecstatic to come to Sk8 City but the loud, obnoxious building was starting to make him regret coming. "It's really loud."

That part was true. The tasteless rap music shook the fragile building—the vintage aesthetic reminded Elijah of his younger days. He'd skip school to skate with a few buddies; his mother found out one day and put an end to it. The music was much louder than he remembered though—it felt like his skull was going to crack. It bothered Rayan but he didn't bother bringing it up. He thought Elijah was babying him after learning about his disability— everywhere they went, the man would complain about it being too loud or he'd turn the tv down when Ray came over. He didn't like that.

"It's fine, Mom." Ray nudged him and circled around him, already in his skates. "You're always complaining about the volume. Like you're the one with hearing aids." He teased. Elijah felt a little guilty. He knew Rayan had too much pride to admit when things were too loud for him so he was doing everything he could to prevent the man from being uncomfortable.

"Whatever." Elijah sighed and playfully pushed Ray.

Once Elijah put on his skates, the two began to enjoy themselves. They skated for about an hour before they decided to grab a bite to eat and sit down.

"This is actually good." Elijah smiled, biting a piece of funnel cake. He'd never tried the dessert before.

"You must've had a horrible childhood." Ray laughed. "What type of kid's never tasted funnel cake?"

"My childhood was fine, I suppose. My mom kept me so tight under her wing after my dad passed, I barely experienced anything growing up."

"You and your sister must have the same dad?"

"Same mom. Why?"

"You guys are very different—I would've assumed you two grew up in different homes. That lady looks like she has some stories to tell; you have this cookie cutter lifestyle with your flannels and glasses," He chuckled, recalling the intense woman. "And she's very...opposite of that."

"We kinda did grow up in different households. Her and my mom have an extremely rocky relationship so we mainly only saw eachother via pictures—you would've thought my mom hated her guts or something," Elijah frowned. "When I was ready to leave for college, I spotted her out in public and we've pretty much been inseparable since—despite my mother's disapproval." He looked as if he ate something sour when talking about their relationship. "Imagine going like 'Hey! You remember me? You're my sister. I haven't seen you in a while. How you been?'." Ray's laughter came to a halt when his hearing aid whistled—the DJ turned the music up louder. He winced and covered his ear. The sound meant that his hearing aid was too loud.

"Are you okay?" Elijah asked, touching the man's shoulder. "We can go if you want."

"No, it's fine." Ray lied, removing his hand. He felt embarrassed by Elijah's overbearing behavior. It wasn't like he was in a goddamn wheelchair. He just had slight hearing difficulties.

"Let's go." Elijah grabbed Ray's hand and skating over to the counter. On their way there, a kid ran right into Ray—the boy must've been no older than 7 or 8; he wasn't paying attention as he ran towards the arcade.

"Watch where you're going you little motherf-"

"Ray!" Elijah gasped and looked down at the terrified boy. "I am so sorry about that." He helped the child up, watching as he continued sprinting away.

"He could've made me fall." Ray glowered as Elijah flashed him a stern look.

"He's like seven and I am not about to deal with some angry biker dad because you decided to curse out little Billy then the cops'll come and next thing you know, you're on the ground, shot dead because you were reaching for an invisible gun in your no pocket having sweats." Elijah ranted all one breath.

"Fine." Ray groaned. "It's not that deep."

"Nowadays it is." Elijah grumbled and slid off his skates. Ray did the same. "I think I want another funnel cake."

"Okay but on one condition."

"What?"

"Be my boyfriend?"