back to you | boreo

vi.

chapter six
tw / abuse

theo and boris hadn't spoken in just under a month. a lot had changed since their last conversation.

for the first few days at school, the blonde sat by himself at lunch. although, it wasn't soon until his friend – and at the time his only friend, ditched her friends to sit with him.

abby cut all of her fake friends off – including kotku, after finding out that they were the ones who started the rumour. for a moment, theo considered telling boris about this. him and kotku were still together – so he mustn't of known. but theo couldn't even look at the other boy without a sudden wave of pain washing over him.

the past few weeks had been miserable for theo. his life at home had gotten worse. his father and xandra were in even more debt than before, and constantly took their anger out on the boy. his father even hit him the week before, leaving a bruise around his eye.

he came to school the day after it had happened, and to theo's luck – boris was the first person who saw him. he was standing outside with his arm wrapped around kotku, while theo tried his best to walk by without being noticed, his head down. he couldn't help but look up for a second, and it just happened to be right when boris glanced over his shoulder at the boy – where his face immediately dropped. but theo had rushed off before he could do anything.

the blonde spent most of his time at abby's, where he grew close with her family. the girl's father reminded him of hobie – a close friend of theo's from new york. sometimes he thought about dropping everything and moving back there. he couldn't stand living with his father anymore. abby and her family would be the only people he would keep in contact with. he just wanted to forget about vegas like the past two years had never happened.

theo sat on the side of the road one evening with his friend by his side, the pair watching the sunset in front of them. they sat a few houses down from abby's – so her parents wouldn't catch them smoking.

the brunette girl pulls her bag to her side and retrieves a pack of cigarettes, selecting a couple out and passing one to the boy.

"can i use your lighter?" theo asks.

"don't you have your own?" abby jokes, giving him a light bump with her shoulder. "of course you can, decker."

he replies with a tight smile, knowing exactly why he didn't want to use his own. after she lights his cigarette, he takes a long drag before letting out a deep breath.

"i know we swore off talking about this, but – don't you think you should at least try and talk to boris? i know he wants to talk to you. i've seen him staring at you at school."

theo is silent for a while before he responds, wanting to give her a million reasons why he couldn't. "well, there's nothing stopping him."

"you do remember you told him to never speak to you again, right?" abby tells him, tilting her head as she let out a breath of smoke.

the blonde stays quiet, watching the sun disappear into the horizon. they stay on the side of the road until the street lights turn on, making the girl stand up and stick her hand out.

"c'mon. mom's made us some desert. apple pie with ice cream – your favourite." she says, as theo takes her hand and gets up.