Homebound (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 6

After spending the day shopping with Lukas, Paige, and Liza, my room is filled with a bunch of new furniture that they allowed me to pick. Unfortunately, the walls are still an ugly pastel yellow color that they must've picked out for me when I was young, but they made sure to tell me multiple times that they would be repainted next week at the latest. I'm thinking of doing a beige color or even a blue shade. I haven't decided yet.

Lukas, Javi, and I had packed up all the toys and children's clothes that had been sitting in this room ever since I went missing. I hadn't realized that they still had this whole room set up for me, just waiting for me to come back, but it was definitely weird to see. There was a closet filled with tiny clothes and a toddler bed and tons of toys that look like they've hardly been touched. The pieces of furniture were lined with a small amount of dust, which told me that someone had cleaned in here not too long ago, but probably avoided this room ever since.

I can tell that Paige didn't want to come into the room when all the children stuff was here. She could barely get through the doorway when she saw all the things, meaning she probably hasn't set foot in here since. My chest aches just thinking that she has lived with this room as a constant reminder of me, but I guess now, it doesn't really matter since I'm back. Hopefully, that'll make her feel good.

All my kid things were packed up in boxes and stored in the garage for now and I know that at some point, I'm definitely going to sneak in there to look at each item individually. I want to know what I liked as a kid and what I didn't because my parents obviously didn't tell me anything since they didn't even know me until I was three. But now, I have all that information at my disposal.

Javi and Lukas currently sit on the floor in my bedroom, putting together a bookcase while I take out the clothes I packed with me to put away in the dresser we just got done building. By watching how the two men conversed, I've realized that they're definitely very close friends, practically brothers with the way they act. Just as I'm thinking that, Lukas hits Javi's shoulder since he put in the board wrong to the bookcase and they have to go back three steps to fix his mistake.

"You idiot, now this is going to take longer," Lukas groans, using the drill to take out the screws he put in. Thankfully, they hadn't asked for my help with much of the building since I know absolutely nothing about tools and the rest of these things.

"Sorry, I was just trying to get it done," Javi says with a roll of the eyes, taking the screws from his friend's hand before settling them on the ground next to him. He had the booklet with the instructions in his hand, finally taking my advice that using the directions that the furniture store gave us might actually help us move a bit faster. It's almost nighttime at this point and I'm hoping we'll be done soon since I really want to sleep in my new, huge bed. My sleep schedule is absolutely fucked and I'm intending to fix it tonight.

"So," I say, carrying out the word to get their attention. Both of the men glance up at me while I plop down on the memory foam mattress that's calling to me at this point. "how'd you two meet?"

I make sure to notice that Javi glances over at Lukas with a bit of worry in his eyes, obviously not liking the question that I asked. From the way Liza looked at her dad when he mentioned how long Javi and he had been friends earlier, I know their past must be a bit rocky if she reacted that way. From what I've seen, she's pretty levelheaded, so it must've been bad. Lukas clears his throat before waving me off. "We don't have to talk about that now."

"But I wanna know," I plead because I'm definitely pulling the guilt card since I know I could get absolutely anything I want from Lukas or Paige if I just beg. I shouldn't be taking advantage of them like this, but hey, you do what you gotta do.

Lukas sighs before looking over at Javi, who's staring at the paper instructions like it's the most interesting thing on the planet. Lukas hits his leg to get his attention before motioning to me. "You mind if I tell him?"