new phone who dis || mairi (COMPLETED)

10. whats her name?

Mattia sets his phone to silent and nudges Kairi. "What do you want to eat?" he asks, nodding at the food court.

Kairi shrugs, staring off in the distance. Mattia sees his fingers fiddle with his hoodie sleeves and frowns. He only did that when he was nervous or overthinking - and he hardly ever does it around Mattia.

"Is something wrong?"

That gets his attention. The smaller boy whips his head to Mattia, then drops his gaze as he shakes his head. "Nope- no, everything's fine!"

Mattia stares at him in disbelief, but from how tense Kairi seems, he assumes that he doesn't want to talk about it. Whatever, he'll draw it out of him later. For now, he slings his arm over Kairi's shoulders and directs them into the food court, carefully watching Kairi's gaze.

His eyes flit between some bubble tea place and Chick-fil-A. Welp, guess Mattia's going to buy some bubble tea then.

"I thought you didn't like boba," Kairi comments, standing on his tiptoes to see the menu.

"I don't."

Mattia ignores Kairi's frown and drags him to the front of the line. "What do you want?"

"Taro with low sugar- Mattia, I can pay," Kairi whines when he sees Mattia get out his wallet.

He only shakes his head at him before swiping his card and moving to a table. "I promised Alejandro that I'd be a good date." He side-eyes Kairi, wondering how he'll react to his words.

Mattia expects him to laugh it off (and hopes that Kairi will blush), but no. Kai frowns again, deeper this time, and he wonders if he crossed a line. The other has never minded before, but Mattia hasn't been serious before. Maybe Kairi has picked up on it - they are best friends.

Before he can make a joke to diffuse the situation, Kairi speaks.

"What did Ale tell you?"

There's something in his voice that makes Mattia cautious. He's not hostile, per se, but he's... defensive. Like he's gearing up for something. His shoulders are tense too, and Mattia can see his jaw clench.

"To be a good date?"

"That's not what I meant!" Kairi exclaims, slamming his hands on the table before running them through his hair, tugging at the very end. Mattia glances at his legs and sees them bouncing rapidly under the table. Definitely not a good sign.

"Kai, baby-"

"Did he tell you?"

"Tell me what?!"

Kairi doesn't say anything. He stares Mattia down, like he's trying to catch him in a lie, and honestly, Mattia has no clue what's going on. All he knows is that Kairi looks like he's about to cry and that shit is not okay.

Mattia reaches over and gently untangles Kairi's fingers from his hair, then smooths his thumb over the backs of his palms. "Kai, I don't know what you're so worried about but you can tell me anything. And Alejandro didn't say anything to me, okay? I swear that I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Kairi's breathing slows. He looks up at Mattia, squeezes his hands, and says, "I know. I'm sorry."

Mattia's heart clenches. Painfully. Physical contact with Kairi was one thing - but eye contact too? He's going to lose self-control if Kairi keeps this up.

So Mattia clears his throat and looks away. "Do you want to come to my house?"

"Duh," Kairi says. He giggles, which doesn't help Mattia at all. "I'm the favourite in that household."

"Yeah, no shit. Last I checked I lived there."

Kairi finishes his boba so Mattia drags him over to Chick-fil-A, then they leave.

In the car, Kairi is mostly silent. His eyebrows are furrowed and he keeps glancing at Mattia, clearly wanting to say something.

"Hey," he begins, just as Mattia pulls into his driveway. Mattia stops the engine but stays in the car. "Why won't you tell me who you like?"

He gulps. Where is this going?

"Who said I like anyone?"

"You. You hinted at it - remember?"

Well, fuck, he's dropped a lot of hints and Kairi hasn't picked up on any so far, so no, he doesn't remember.  Regardless, he can't lie to Kairi.

"Fine. I like someone."

"What's her name?" Mattia near rolled his eyes. "At least give me the first letter. Or a hint!"

He's been trying!

"Let's just go inside, alright, Kai? It's no fun when my baby's jealous."

"I'm not jealous! I just want to know!" Kairi whines, but follows Mattia in anyway.

If you actually paid attention, you'd know, Mattia thinks to himself. Along with that thought comes a lot of self-doubt, so he blocks it out and cuddles Kairi instead.

-

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hope you guys liked this chapter - the next two get gooddd

also ty for 400 reads 🥺