God Please Save Us,, || Reilo Jarlo || unOrdinary

Chapter 4

His laugh seemed to capture everything. It was absolutely everything. Everything he wanted but everything he couldn't have. The sound of it beautifully echoed inside of his soul. So much could be told from his wonderful laugh. He's charming, outgoing, youthful, and humble. He was everything. He was everything Arlo wasn't. Rei was his polar opposite. But as they say - opposites always attract. Arlo was captivated by him to say the least. Rei was a fresh breath of air, a spectacle, it was him.

Arlo wanted to know why he couldn't shake this feeling. He didn't like feelings like this. Feelings like this get in the way of things. They make you do things you wouldn't have before. They foil plans, cause confusion, hurt people.

Arlo wanted absolutely nothing to do with these feelings.

But whenever Rei came back into the picture he dismissed those thoughts. And then after their little interactions, Arlo would find himself in his headspace wondering why again. Finding yourself back at square one is always annoying. It's so much worse when your heart is on the line. You question everything you do and everything he does. What does it all mean? What does he mean when he says that? What does he mean when he does that?

Arlo sat there, confused as always with his emotions. The sunlight covered everything in warmth, but it could not compare to the warmth he felt from the mint haired, young man seated beside him. The two sat upon a dark olive bench. The green paint was chipping from years of age exposing the stark metal underneath. As Rei spoke, he gently chipped away at the paint. The ships of olive paint collected underneath his fingernails as Arlo contemplated allowing himself to get lost in him. For once all week the king felt relaxed. He felt as if Cecile had been shoving concern after concern into his ear. Seraphina had also been acting quite peculiar these past few weeks as well. Not to mention that Elaine hasn't mentioned anything wrong that could have caused Seraphina's questionable behavior. Either Arlo was nitpicking the queen's behavior or Elaine was just oblivious. Most likely the latter but either way it was still concerning.

"Oh!" Rei's voice cut through his thoughts. Arlo refocused and pinned his blue, crystal eyes onto the mint haired young man. "Mhhmm?" A buzz slipped from Arlo's lips. "We've spent all this time talking and I haven't told you yet," Rei spoke as he continued to pick at the deteriorating paint. "What is it?" The king inquired. Then, Arlo's eyes once again got lost in the paint and his successor's nails grinding against it.

Every single time.

Every single time they met up, he was ecstatic but how could his heart feel so heavy at the same time? Especially now...

He wanted to tell him everything. But that was not an easy feat.

Every single time.

Every single time Arlo had felt he had summoned the courage to express his feelings, he would never go through. How? How could Rei build him up and break him back down so effortlessly? Sometimes, Arlo felt he was genuinely interested in pursuing something else than this - something more. Then the next moment the king felt as if his love was truly unrequited and was nothing more than just this.

As the blonde continued to mourn internally, Rei spoke again. "I've actually picked up another job," the mint haired smiled. "Wait, really - another job?" Arlo came out of his daydream. Rei nodded as a gentle humming sound came from him. Arlo grimaced for a moment then reverted back to his stoic facade. "What's wrong?" Rei poked his arm playfully. Arlo felt his cheeks warm and wondered how Rei could be so playful and carefree all the time. "It's nothing," Arlo rubbed the back of his neck. Ice blue eyes flickered from Rei to the cement sidewalk. But of course, Arlo opened his mouth again. "It's just that you've been so busy with college and your other job... don't you just think it's a bit too much?" The blonde turned his attention back to Rei.

"Well, this is different..." Rei trailed off as he spoke. Something about his tone had changed drastically. The mint haired spoke more seriously. It was clear that this meant a lot to him. Arlo's crystal eyes studied Rei as his demeanor transformed. "How so?" Arlo raised an eyebrow. He was now truly interested in what this job was and what it entailed. Rei blinked and bit his lip for a second regretting having told Arlo about this "new job." He looked off for a moment at the sky and then regained his focus. "Well, I guess I like the helpful aspect of it." Rei murmured, being quite vague. "You always have liked helping people," Arlo responded, fondly. Rei nodded and smiled. There was a brief silence.

"So, what about your other job?" The blonde asked. "What about it?" Rei replied. Arlo shrugged. He had wanted to learn about this new job, however he had sensed that Rei wasn't comfortable with telling anymore. "Well, are you going to quit? You seem to like this new one much more. If it pays just as good and you enjoy it, wouldn't it be better just to have this one and drop the other one?" Arlo questioned. "You still have college to finish up. Maintaining a job - let alone two jobs - and studies seems a bit..." the king trailed off. He had the word in his mind but he couldn't push it out of his mouth. Arlo wasn't stuck in a maze attempting to find it causing him to stop mid sentence. It was because something had caught his attention off in the distance.

A familiar magenta haired girl was making her way across the park. The direction she was coming from seemed to be the campus. What was odd was that she was accompanied by someone. Thus someone wasn't Elaine, Cecile, nor was it Remi. In fact, this individual wasn't a female at all. The boy stood about five inches taller than Seraphina. His hair was jet black, slicked back in a ridiculous hairdo that looked like a helmet. They seemed to be deep in conversation. The male quipped about something and Seraphina erupted in laughter. He looked oddly familiar for some reason. Had Arlo seen him around campus? No, that can't be it - he would've remembered.

"A bit busy?"

"Too much?"

"Suffocating?"

"C'mon, Arlo, I'm running out of words!"

Rei's voice caught him off guard. How long had he been talking for, trying to finish Arlo's sentence? "Yeah... that," Arlo said clearly out of it. He blinked and shook his head. Returning his attention to Rei he started, "so?" Rei blinked twice. "I mean, it keeps me busy I guess," Rei answered. Yeah, so busy that you can't see me as much, Arlo selfishly thought. "What can I say? I'm a busy body!" He beamed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You always have," Arlo voiced with a hint of disappointment in his tone. Rei's eyebrows drew together. "What's wrong?" The mint haired boy questioned. "It's just that you're so busy all the time," Arlo spoke without thinking. He cringed at his response. Why did he tell him that? Rei's eyes lit up. Arlo had just expressed a genuine concern he had. How nice it felt to know that he cared and that there was something more underneath that rough exterior. "It's not in your best interest to overwork yourself. I can understand one job in order to stay on your feet, but two jobs? Do you really think you can really sustain your grades and work two jobs?" Arlo tried to regain confidence after that last comment he spewed without thinking. "Well-" Rei started but Arlo interrupted. "If you like helping people so much, I suggest you at least drop one of those jobs and focus on college. You know, after you graduate I can put in a good word about you to my Aunt Val. The authorities could use a strong person like you. You could help so many people, Rei." Arlo explained.

The blonde studied Rei's face for a second. He saw that Rei noticeably cringed for a split second. "Well, I mean if you're interested in that field of work." Arlo said, virtually taking back his prior statements. Rei was a free spirit, it was honestly a bit absurd to imagine him in an office. He would feel caged in. Suffocated. Trapped. Well, that was at least Arlo's thought process. For him, there was no other reason for Rei to cringe at his suggestion. Emphasis on for him. In reality, Rei had other plans. Plans that were far different from what Arlo had in mind.

It was then that a buzzing from Rei's phone halted their conversation. His hand dug into his pocket and fetched his phone. Rei's golden irises scanned the screen to see who the call was from. "I have to take this," he pointed at his phone. Arlo nodded, "I should probably get going anyways..." Rei smiled and nodded back to him. And with that, he stood, tapped his finger against his phone and put his phone up to his ear. Arlo stood as well and the two said their goodbyes before heading their separate ways. 

W/C: 1569 words