Pristine | M.W.

07

It was early, so we all headed to breakfast. They had a few pieces of my clothing still in their room, so Mike went to retrieve it.

"Noon huh?" Scott says, referring to the time I must be back at work.

"My boss is very kind, and I can tell him I'll be late. Tell him I'm on my period or something." I shrug.

The waiter soon comes to our table, and sets down a vanilla and caramel milkshake in front of me. I gasp, and smile very widely. I look up at Scott and thank him.

"Don't thank me, thank Mike. He ordered it."

He knew my favorite shake from this place. I couldn't get the smile off my face. "I did order you blueberry stack with extra syrup." He looks up from the newspaper, and stares at me, practically begging for a thank you.

My chest fluttered, he too remembered my favorite breakfast. "Thank you." I mumble, and continue to look out the window.

"So, you and Mike..." Scott trails on, and I shoot my head to look at him. "You love him?"

"He's my best friend, of course I do." I say, wrapping the straw around my lips and sucking up the deliciousness.

"But are you in love with him?" I don't know if I should answer him. Speaking by the actions he once portrayed on me, he doesn't deserve my answer.

"I don't know. I don't want to focus on that." I shrug once more. "He's great, but I think he still loves you."

"No. We've disclosed that a long time ago. He loves you." Scott smirks, stirring his coffee.

I stare at him in disbelief. That kiss in the laundromat was nothing. He knew I craved something like that and being the best friend he is, he kissed me. It was only a kiss. Right?

"He doesn't fall in love easily. You know that first hand." He licks the spoon and sets it on his napkin. "I mean, it's obvious."

"What about the day I left you?"

"Nothing happened. He doesn't love me Elias. In fact, we didn't even get high." He laughs. "He was so focused on you coming home, he really was worried about you. He stressed himself out so much he fell asleep and hit his head on the wall. He was fine of course. But still, he cares about you." I silent stare at Scott, it was true huh. He loved me. This whole time he was in love with me.

Mike walks in with a bundled wad of clothing, and soon sits next to me. I take the bundle from him and I silently thank him with a smile. The food soon arrives, and began to eat.

-

Scott, being the upper class kid he was, he went to the more 'traditional' and mature funeral for Bob. As for I and Mike, we danced around with flowers and alcohol to truly condolence Bob's life lived. No, I wasn't old enough to drink, but Bob would have wanted me to take a shot. We danced around like freaks, and even made out with the other family members. By family members, I mean Bob's recruit of hustlers. They were all loved by Bob, and they loved Bob back. He was a weird drunk, but he cared, and that's all we asked for.

We were currently standing, damn near exhausted from dancing around, I sat at Mike's feet as he sat in a chair. I looked up at him, and handed him a very unique flower. He grinned at me, smelled it, and then looked in Scott's direction. He sat in a crowd of black, staring back at us.

"Do you wanna leave?" I mumble, my head resting between his legs. He nods, and stands up. He lifts me on my legs as well, and walk our way home. We see Scott nod, and we know he wishes he could get up and leave, but that wouldn't be right. He gives us a slight nod, and we were on our way.

"Bob was great."

"Yeah, I kinda feel bad that I stole a lot of his coke from him, he thought he was going insane." He laughs. "Other than that, he was happy."

"Yeah, I guess I learned from him, no matter how shitty something was, I can always find joy in it."

"And you believe that?" He looks up at me. I nod. "Then why don't you come back?"

I sigh, and shrug. "There's better things out there than just this little town in the middle of nowhere."

"Eli...I'm here. Looking for my mother, looking for a grasp on something."

"There's more than just this place." I exaggerate. "What's in store for me may not me in store for you. Vice Versa. You like drugs I don't. You like bummy things, I don't."

"I like you, you don't." He blurts out, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I mean fuck, Eli. I sold all my coke, and sold my fucking body to see you. Wasn't that enough to say 'hey I'm in love with you'''

"Michael-"

"No. I love you dammit. I got clean for you, and I'm not trying to lose you because you don't think you love me. I know you love me." His voice was full of anger and his breathing was heavy.

"Calm down, please. You'll pass out." I grab his hand.

"See? Only someone who loves me would know that." His eyes dart down at my hand. He pulls away and continues walking in front of me. I stayed quiet, and followed behind me.

Before I knew it, we were home.

"You can take a nap before you go." He says, and throws his jacket on the cot. He soon disappears into the bathroom, and I hear the shower turn on. My mind was swirling with thoughts. I didn't know what to do, but fuck it.

I rid of the clothes Mike had just given me hours ago. I watched the clothes drop and pool at my ankles. My breath hitched at the cold air pressing along my skin.

Every step I took echoed as I walked towards the bathroom door. My hand turned the doorknob, and pushed open the door. There stood Mike, a towel wrapped around his waist. He turned his head to stare at me. He was in shock. Only once or twice had he seen me completely nude, and it was by accident.

"Eli, you don't have to-"

I cut him off, and step closer to him. "I love you Michael. I'm in love with you. I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize this." My breath hitched, as I looked at his lips. "I love you. And that's it. I'll prove that I love you." I slowly tug at his towel until it comes undone. I reach up and kiss his pink lips, and tug him into the shower.

-

HEHHEHE two updates in a night wow go me lmfao

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