Be found

All I See

From there on in, all had been alright. The food had, as Connor had predicted, needed reheating, but after that sitting down to dinner with two of the people he cared for most in the world was pleasant.they had sat on the beds for lack of other furniture, excluding the desks, which - in hindsight - would have been a better alternative. Even so, they had casually held plates in their laps, and laughed (Wetly in Zoe's case, she still hadn't got over her confessions earlier) in conversation.

Evan had taken this opportunity to tell the both of them some interesting things he had learned as a part of his course. Zoe had told them about all of the early admit applications she was sending all over the country, and the classes she had been applying every part of herself to in order to keep her GPA up, and Connor felt his eyes burn with the pride he felt.

After dinner they rinsed the dishes in the sink and left them to be properly washed the next day, none of them could be bothered to do the whole job. All of them were more emotionally exhausted than physically, but there came a point where even the most mundane of tasks would have had them collapsing under the heavy weight of their own bodies.

Then they were lying around on the floor swapping stories, Evan, stories from his childhood; of truck toys, of the seventies and eighties music his mother insisted on playing to him, of sand between his toes when they used to visit the lake, of blue skies, and cub scouts, and of tree branches stretching up as high as the eye could see.

Zoe shared stories about her, about him, about their crazy, dysfunctional, sometimes happy family. About picnics and planes and blood in the water, about ice cream and tantrums, and hugs to make up for it. About games of make believe in which she was always the princess, and he was always the dragon, about how she knew he would protect her no matter what. About books and loose pages and loose curls, about lost teeth and tears and scraped knees. About their childhood, the good and the bad.

Connor shared stories much the same as Zoe's, about the lullaby his mother sage every night to him up until he was eight and insisted he didn't need it, about Little League, and how he'd enjoyed it for a time until he heard the other kids talking behind his back. About halloweens past where he would dress up as Spider-Man, the coolest of all the superheroes, and how he'd stopped when he was ten. Big kids don't play dress up, his dad had said. He wished he had been allowed a couple more years. He told stories about books he'd enjoyed, and games he'd played with his little sister and about hugs from his mother he'd wished lasted days instead of seconds.

After that an eerie but comfortable silence fell over the group, and Zoe sat up. Evan shifted his head where it was resting on Connor's stomach.

"I have to call Alana. I'll be in the hall, okay?"

"'Kay." Connor mumbled and watched her walk almost mournfully out of the dorm. Evan sat up and shuffled up closer to him.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked softly.

Connor couldn't help the chuckle he was repressing. "You waited for the moment my sister left the room, are you trying to start something, Hansen?"

Evan blushed scarlet, and started backpedaling. "No, no, nonononono, that's not what I meant, I just, I know you're not into PDA, and I figured kissing in front of your sister was a no go, but I really- you can ignore me if you want- it was stupid, I'm sorry-"

Connor grasped the boy by the collar and pulled him in to capture his moving lips. Evan smiled, and they melted together.

Zoe tried to swallow the sour taste in her mouth as she pressed the call button on her phone. Connor was right, if she didn't tell Alana that something was wrong, that something needed fixing, it would never be fixed, and she would be miserable in a relationship that was supposed to be the most fulfilling thing she had ever experienced.