Love Overcast // (ManxMan)

=Chapter 13=

A/N: Let's focus on the face and not the body, yeah? I don't think a whole pack of tampons is going to be enough to soak up the amount of blood that's gushing from my nose... Onwards to the story!! (That's Skylar, by the way... I know, I know...)

[Skylar]

Brason. Used to be a very polite, quiet and tiny person. Still is a polite and quiet person but he's now a good bit taller than me, and I cannot believe that he is right here! I don't enjoy picking favourite students, but from all my experience as a teacher, which isn't a lot, I have to say that Taylor and Brason are two very special people and will always be.

Right now, we sit in Ryland's office, he's busy in the store a few suburbs away from where this one is. So unfortunately, he isn't around to witness dad meeting Leonardo but I will give him all the details.

"I never thought we would meet again... You were my favourite teacher." Brason breathes happily into his cup of milk. He has a strange liking for the colour white. I remember he loves using it for his paintings, he loves wearing white, he warms up his voice with the word 'white'. I find it pretty awesome.

"I'm sure you have had better teachers. Your PE teacher was pretty nice, I remember."

"Skylar, she was flirting with you..." Brason remarks with an awkward smile, I shrug. I don't really know the difference between people being nice and people flirting. It's obvious when I'm not the one being flirted to, but when I'm involved, I can't really tell. "This town really isn't that big... I'm surprised that I've never run into you."

Brason explains that he lives with a couple of his friends from high school, all of which I haven't taught before. And the apartment is actually on the other side of town where Roman's shop is. But he never ice skated or went there in the summer either, so I guess it's only natural we didn't bump into each other.

"Funny thing is... I met Taylor again! I know, that's so crazy, right?" Brason looks up quickly, with a small smile on his face, then he ducks his head back down with a frown. He looks really upset now, I thought Taylor and Brason are best friends... Now that I think about it, his expression would probably explain why they aren't in contact anymore. Taylor's only ever briefly mentioned Brason in our conversations and that was weeks ago when I had first reencountered with him. "Are you alright Brason?"

"Yeah... I just didn't expect that... Small town, right?" He smiles woefully. Maybe they have history that I'm not aware of, but I can see that he wants to meet Taylor again. Whatever friendship they have had, it wasn't fake and fragile. I remember the way they joked around, how Taylor hovers over Brason to keep him safe from the meanies. It's like a replica of Felix and I.

"Do you... want to see a photo of him?" I offer, sitting closer to him on the couch. He bites his lip, staring into his empty mug of warm milk. Then he nods very faintly. I fish my phone from my pocket, flipping through the photos of the housewarming party that everyone has sent around in the group chat.

My thumb stops the scrolling when I see a good photo of Lance and Taylor. The former sitting on the ground munching on a stick of celery, while the latter lays on his back with his head hanging off the couch and legs up on the headrest with a goofy smile.

Brason takes my phone. He doesn't zoom in or anything, just stares at the screen. And with each passing moment, the expression on his face becomes more and more placid. "He's always been such a goof..." Brason whispers, swiping left to see a posed photo of Taylor standing with a onesie on, but the zipper pulled down half way to show his pale pink T shirt because he complained it was getting warm. "I'm glad he's doing well for himself..."

I hear tiny sniffles as he scrolls through, some of them don't have Taylor in them so he just skips those over, pretending to laugh when he sees my friends doing weird faces. Eventually he stops at a photo that not even I am aware I have on my phone.