DYSPHORIA

9. Masculinity

-kaeden pov-

I yawn as I watch practice go on as usual below the booth. Tizzy gets into a tizzy when she sees her star pupil's swollen eye and Maisie refuses to acknowledge him.

Thankfully I had locked the booth door to protect Finley from her wrath. I couldn't understand why she was being so petty about it, shit happens.

If anything I should be the petty one but no, Kaeden is the mature one, he's the one who lets things go.

I look over to check on the little devil himself to see him curled up in the corner near the vent where warm air was blasting through.

He uses his sweater as a pillow and shivers a little before going back to his quiet snores. I stand up and carefully drape my sweater over his body.

He looks uncomfortable in the fetal position, but there wasn't anything I could do about that. With nothing else to do, I get down on my knees in front of him.

I had never been this close to Finley before, or anyone for that matter. Watching his deep slumber made me slightly jealous considering I could never sleep with my high anxiety. His long black hair curls in gentle waves surrounding covering parts of his face.

Without thinking twice, I gently push his silky hair to the side, discovering the bright red mark on his cheek. Examining it to see if it would turn purple, I touch the soft delicate skin surrounding the outer rim, I could nearly feel my heart pounding outside my chest.

"Lei?" He quietly moans his ex-boyfriend's name and I pull my hand back, terrified by just how creepy I was being.

"Sorry Fin, I was just looking at your bruise, I swear," I stutter only to discover he was just talking in his sleep.

I let out a small sigh of relief and just sit back. Exhausted just by looking at him, I lay down on the other side of the vent on the soft carpet. With the warm air just gracing the left side of my face, I feel like I'm being lulled to sleep by the gentle sounds from my friends arguing in the distance and Finley's small breaths.

Closing my eyes to accept the pitch black darkness for a short nap.

The sound of a piano going off in the distance wakes me up and I open my eyes to feel something wrapped around my waist. I tilt my head down to catch Finley's hand rested on my stomach, underneath my shirt. With a small groan, the hand moves down to my waist before quickly jutting back.

"Ah! Kae! I'm so sorry I thought you were someone else," He groans as he sits up and rubs his eyes.

"What is that?" I ask and he pulls his phone out of his pocket.

"It's my alarm. I set it for a half hour before I fell asleep," He yawns and stops the piano ringing with the flick of his thumb.

"Oh," I catch the contagious yawn before sitting up and looking out towards the stage, but everyone in the house was long gone.

"Well, it looks like it's just the two of us now," I sigh. Finley comes up beside me and rubs his eyes.

"Mmm, yeah I guess so, see you later," He pats me on the back before turning and walking out the door, without bothering to wait for me.

But it's not like I was a person worth waiting for anyway.

"Kaeden! Kaeden sweetheart come on! You can't stay in there all day!" Cassie calls through my bedroom door as I curl up, unmoving. The room was spinning and I could hardly move.

"Go away Mom!" I groan and can hear her footsteps march away. I love Cassie, but sometimes she was so close to us that it was like living with a real adoptive mother I always wanted yet never asked for.