You & I [Kier/Shane]

Chapter Twenty-two - Kier

Kier’s POV

When Shane informed me of his Agoraphobia, I swear I physically heard my heart break. Desperation to save the blond overcame me, but at the same time I was filled with joy and pride; it took so much out of him to tell me of his fears. Everything seemed to fall into place; the reason he didn’t meet me, Drew’s overprotectiveness, his dark room. 

“Thank you for telling me.” I whispered from his place where they were cuddled up to another while lying on Shane’s bed, feet on the pillows and head on the opposite side, looking up at the ceiling. 

“I-It’s okay,” Shane whispered in response, not wanting to disturb the calm atmosphere; for once his fringe was away from his eyes, having fallen back from his position but not cared enough to change it. “I-I’m kind of glad I told you.” 

“Yeah?” I hushed, a small smile beginning to grace my features.

“Yeah.” He replied in the same calm tone. “I-I find i-it almost e-easy to talk to y-you, s-stutter not included.” 

I chuckled at that and soon after Shane copied, releasing small spurts of laughter while our eyes met. He poked his tongue out before returning his gaze to the ceiling, causing my giggles to continue. 

“W-We should d-do something...” He mumbled after a little while longer, moving to sit up then stand from the bed, stretching and my eyes immediately shot to the small strip of skin made visible as his shirt rode up. 

“Like what?” I asked, rolling over onto my stomach while I watched him. 

Shane hummed in thought, moving to look over at his shelves where countless rows of DVD’s were home there, making me think that when staying at home all the time watching movies is all he can think to do to pass the time, especially when he doesn’t seem to have many people to talk to.

“W-Want to watch a film?” I heard him ask, as expected. I nodded in reply and he gave me the sweetest grin I’d ever seen; his smile curled upwards slowly, as if cautious whether he could trust me to see his smile, and clear indents of his dimples shone near the corners of his mouth. 

“I-I like N-Nightmare before C-Christmas… do you?” He asked, moving over to the TV with the said movie in hand. 

“One of my favourites.” I responded with, causing him to have a little bounce in his step when he moved back to his bed to mirror my position, subconsciously shuffling towards him so our shoulders met. 

We sat in silence as the trailers for, now old, movies ran, only speaking to inform the other of if we’ve seen any of the films mentioned and whether we found it worth watching or not. Shane was about to press the ‘play film’ button on the main menu when I suddenly piped up. 

“Oh!” I cried, jumping from the bed. “Not yet!” I continued before speeding from the room and down the stairs, leaving a confused Shane to entertain himself for a few minutes. 

I hurried down the stairs as quickly, yet safely, as possible, worried of leaving Shane on his own for too long. Speeding into the living room I found Laurence on his laptop as usual, typing away with his headphones in and oblivious to the world around him. 

“Laur?” I called, not wasting any time with polite behaviour and walked over to him, pulling an earphone out. “Do you have any popcorn?” I asked, ignoring the hard glare I was receiving from the man. 

“In the cupboard.” He mumbled, snatching the earbud from me and returning it to his ears, continuing with whatever he was doing immediately as if I’d never disturbed him.

Upon entering the kitchen I dug through the multiple cupboards adorning the walls and pulled out a packet of microwavable popcorn, placing it in the appliance and pressing the button. 

“Hey,” Drew mumbled, entering the room shortly after while I was leaning against the counter, awaiting the time when the infernal beeping will announce that he popcorn is ready. I responded with an equally enthusiastic repeat of his single word, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as I looked over at the uncomfortable looking blond. 

“How’s Shane doing?” He asked in yet another mumble, gulping as if in fear of the answer I’d give him. 

“He was pretty upset when I came in,” I replied, turning around as the microwave signalised the popcorn was done and tipped the packet into a bowl. “But he seems okay now.” 

“I’m glad,” Drew mumbled, moving over to a cupboard himself. “I was worried about him.” 

Rolling my eyes I shook my head, turning back to the smaller blond of the house. “Then why didn’t you go and see him yourself?” I asked, biting back a harsh tone. 

“I was angry,” He replied, his back turned to me.  “I didn’t want to say something I’d regret and upset him further.” 

“No, you just had too much pride.” I muttered, picking up the bowl and headed out the room. “You just wanted the last word and were willing to upset your best friend in the process.” 

“You don’t know us, Kier.” I heard in a growl as I began to head up the stairs, not bothering to give the man a reply as I ignored his comments and knocked on Shane’s door before entering and closing it again behind me.

“Oh, t-that’s where you w-went.” Shane chuckled as he spotted the food in my hands, allowing me to lie back on my stomach beside me before starting the movie and stealing a handful of my popcorn.

“And who said they were to share?” I asked jokingly, eyebrows raised as I looked over at the long haired male. 

“Me.” He replied, shoving his whole handful into his mouth to prove a point. I didn’t voice my happiness that he’d managed that word without stuttering; although he did do it, I didn’t want to sound silly by telling him I was proud – it might just be a simple monosyllabic word to him.

We watched the film with our shoulders touching, singing along to each and every word of the entire movie and feeding each other popcorn on occasion, especially to shut the other up if we got the lyrics mixed up, meaning I spent probably more than half of each song with a handful of popcorn in my mouth. I didn’t mind much; it made Shane smile and that was the priority right now.