Step Into the Sun

35

Wednesday.

Connor awoke according to his circadian rhythm at around 8:30. He was simultaneously relieved and saddened to find Evan curled away from him, facing the wall, but decided ultimately that it was in both of their interests not to disturb him.

As he got up to head downstairs for breakfast, he ran his fingers through his tangled hair in attempt to brush it out a bit. Eventually, he decided on just tying it up using the loyal hair tie around his wrist.

"Morning, sweetie," Heidi greeted as he reached the kitchen. Her keys jangled as she pulled them out of her purse. "I'm headed off to work. Tell Evan I said good morning."

"Okay," Connor responded, bending down to hug her briefly. "Have a good day."

"Thanks, you too."

As she left for work, he searched the kitchen for breakfast and eventually decided on scrambled eggs and toast. When he finished eating alone and went back upstairs, Evan still hadn't woken up.

Connor took advantage of this and walked to his own room, closing the door behind himself gingerly. He found his most recent sketchbook and a pencil and sat on his bed.

As he flipped through the pages, he realised that most of the pages had been filled already.

Then he had an idea.

Inspired and a bit relieved by his epiphany, he began sketching things that Evan liked. He redrew a few of Evan's favourites from the books they had looked through together the night before. He only stopped and shut the book when he heard Evan's footsteps in the hall.

There was a light knock on Connor's door.

"Come in."

Evan entered, still dressed in his pajamas. His hair was fluffy and stuck up on one side, his eyes still not open all the way. Connor glanced at the clock.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he greeted with a fond smile. "What do you wanna do today?"

"I wanna eat breakfast," Evan mumbled, his voice still thick with sleep. "But I don't wanna make it."

"What do you want to eat?"

"French fries and spaghetti and a thousand chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes and..."

Connor got up from his bed and walked out of the door, leading Evan downstairs and towards the kitchen as he continued listing everything he wanted to eat.

"... oh, and mac & cheese, and fried rice and tater tots."

"Aren't we having a feast on Thursday?"

"Yeah," Evan sighed, sitting at the counter while Connor opened the fridge. "I'm just really hungry and nothing we have sounds appetizing."

"How about the last piece of pizza and some instant ramen?"

"Deal."

Connor chuckled as he took the pizza out of the fridge and set it on the counter on his way to the pantry in search of ramen. When he returned, Evan had begun eating the pizza already.

"You don't want it warmed?"

"No, it's way better cold."

Nodding with an amused smile, Connor turned to find a mug in the cabinet above the coffee maker. He filled it with water and set it in the microwave to boil.

"So, what else do you want to do today?" Connor asked, sitting down next to Evan at the counter.

"Um... We could play video games," he suggested with a shrug. "We basically only have Mario Kart and Guitar Hero, if you like those."