34B. |raylijah

24

Elijah trudged up the stairs, his eyes met the twins. Though Joshua had been around for a few days now, he was never going to get used to seeing more than one Jacob—Joshua's appearance was so off putting because he was just so different from the boy. Joshua wore his same outfit from when Elijah first saw him whilst the shorter twin wore his usual mustard colored sweater, a baggy pair of jeans and the white Converses he wore everyday. He wore them so much that they were now tinges of grey and brown.

Joshua was helping himself to a sandwich but broke it in half and gave the other piece to Jacob. To no surprise, Jacob broke his piece in half and fed it to Muffin, who'd been tucked under Josh's arm. The kitten snuggled closer into the boy's old leather jacket, causing Elijah to smile at the scene. They were odd but cute, nonetheless.

"Hi, Li." Jacob smiled, looking towards the man. His hair seemed to bounce every time he turned his head.

"Sup." Josh nodded, his hair still seemed to be a tangled mess–Elijah was starting to think he just woke up out of bed everyday, fluffed his hair a bit and kept it pushing. He found himself continuing to compare the twins because Jacob looked as if he spent hours every morning perfecting every single coil on his head. Whilst his hair glistened under the light, Josh's looked visibly dry and dirty. He looked uncared for and it made Elijah even more curious about the suspicious twin.

"Hey, Jacob. Hey, Josh." He sent the two a warm smile. Though it was unplanned, the man was matching with Jacob—he wore the same Mustard colored sweater, white Converses and mom jeans. Jacob pointed, sending him a cheesier grin.

"Lookin' good." He teased, flaunting his baggier sweater.

"Is this what you do all day? Just say hey to people?" Josh groaned at Jacob, leaning against the wall as he occupied himself with Muffin, scratching the grey kitten's head.

"Well...yeah, pretty much." Jacob grinned.

"That's so damn boring, Jacob." The teen complained, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"I think it's nice. When people get off of work, they need a person to smile at them and stuff." He shrugged.

"You're too damn nice for you're own good." Instead of walking inside of his own apartment, Elijah trudged inside of Ray's. To his surprise, the man wasn't asleep—he was in the living room, sketching on a rather large canvas. It looked like he just began though his hands were covered in charcoal.

Elijah almost melted at the scene, watching as his boyfriend focused on the piece of work. He skillfully glided his hand across the large frame, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated. The man was enjoying the view before Rayan looked up, sending him a faint smile. "You look like the sun." He chuckled, referring to Elijah's bright attire. He rolled his eyes, thinking back to Jacob and Josh—in a way, him and Rayan were like them. Rayan was clearly Joshua while Elijah was Jacob. He chuckled at the thought, shrugging off the man's teasing.

"What are you working on?" He asked, looking at the canvas after sitting next to the man. Rayan shrugged, pecking the boy's lips.

"I'm not sure yet," Elijah thought the canvas looked like a bunch of lines but he liked how Rayan could look at it and see much more. Art always intrigued him. It was only right that he date an artist. "You're off a little late." Rayan glanced at his watch.

"Nah, I was actually talking to Jacob and his twin brother." Elijah said, reaching for Rayan's glass of wine. The man always seemed to be 'vibing'—Rayan was always listening to music and drinking wine or drawing. He was listening to Lil Peep's 'Star Shopping'—the music blaring throughout the apartment because per usual, Rayan decided against wearing his hearing aid.

"Jacob has a twin brother?"

"Yeah, where have you been?"

"Since when?"

"Obviously since the day he was born." Elijah flicked Ray's nose, the man scoffed. "You haven't seen them yet? He's been standing out in the hallway with Jacob for the past few days."

"I practically run to inside when I get here. If you haven't noticed, Jacob is a talker."

"I'd run too." Elijah mumbled. "His brother is scary."

"How are you scared of a seventeen year old?"

"He damn sure doesn't look seventeen." Elijah shook his head. It grew quiet as Rayan went back to his art—for a moment, the song reminded Elijah of his teenage years. He'd listen to this song nearly everyday in school. The thought made him wonder about his mother; they hadn't talked since their last argument and he wondered how much longer she'd hold her grudge. It couldn't have possibly been that serious, he thought.

"I want to take you on a date." Rayan mumbled, his eyes still focused on the canvas.

"What type of date?"

"My type of date."