YOUTH GONE WILD ↝ Chloe Decker

↳ CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  KAI HAD NEVER felt as big of a fraud as he did sitting in the precinct's break room with a troubled teen in front of him and supposedly wise advice lingering in the air between them. He had become something of a support person for more than a few bullied or otherwise struggling kids from the nearby high school, his company sought out in many ways, and whenever he could, he reached out to help. He liked being there for them, guiding them through tough times and being the rock he hadn't had outside his family growing up.

          But today, three days after Chloe Decker had confessed to her engagement with the Lieutenant, Kai was barely holding it together himself. The idea of telling the boy looking for his encouragement to keep his head up, stay strong and focus on the positive felt almost ridiculous — it wasn't like he was taking his own words to heart, after all.

         Not to mention, the whole conflict of having to appear happy for Chloe while her romance continued to tear him apart on the inside, marked the first time in quite a while that he was hiding his true feelings. He prided himself on being real, authentic, at peace with his emotions rather than having his masculinity threatened. There was a reason he did that, too, and that was the exact, soul-sucking darkness tormenting him as he held his tongue back and upheld the image that everything was okay.

         "I mean, how are you so cool?" The kid's voice startled Kai out of his thoughts, and before he could dwell on the guilt of having zoned out, he wound up chuckling dryly at the compliment sent his way.

         "I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I just spent the whole weekend huddled up in my room listening to the soundtrack of Twilight on repeat", he corrected with a hopeless smile, one that shook away when the boy lifted a curious eyebrow at him. "That means two things. Even people you think are cool struggle sometimes, no one's perfect. And you can't always know what's going on with someone, so no matter how tough they seem, be kind", he counted with his fingers, sure that if there was anything to take away from their unofficial lunch break, it was that.

           There were a lot more realizations Kai had come to as of late, but he guessed Randy— or Robert or Ryan didn't need to hear about how love songs suddenly made sense to him or how the sight of Chloe Decker striding through the bullpen made his heart leap up to his throat, especially when the fluorescent lights caught the reflection of her engagement ring.

           What got him to get out of his seat, though, was none other than Mazikeen emerging from around the corner, her dark eyes scanning the precinct before sitting down at the corner of Kai's desk. It was hardly promising, but optimistic that she wouldn't murder him while surrounded by people, the Nolan said his goodbyes to the student and parted ways. He was quick in his steps, rushing to get something else to think about while also unraveling the mystery Maze had been maintaining consistently for weeks.

           "Is this a friendly visit or a homicidal one?" Kai questioned early on, nevertheless. He was wary to approach the demon, but when she simply chuckled at him and kicked his chair out for him to sit down in, he supposed he didn't have much say in the matter. Though once his stare spotted a giddy Chloe snacking on chips in Pierce's office with the man eyeing her up and down, he decided that having his eyes stabbed out didn't sound so bad, after all.