What Happened in Winter [boyxboy]

Chapter Thirteen

Greyson POV

The slap of Kyle's shoes on the concrete floor of the bus loading zone was deafening. Grey couldn't help but feel nervous; anxious that Kyle might be mad at him. He quickened his pace to catch up with the long-legged boy. He tugged gently at Kyle's duckling yellow t-shirt. Kyle stopped and turned to Greyson, who couldn't meet the taller boy's eyes.

"Um... I have a question...," Greyson squeaked.

"Alright. Just spit it out," Kyle responded.

"A-are you... mad at me?" Greyson made the mistake of lifting his gaze to those solid green eyes that made him warm and confused and a little scared. He felt his own eyes fill with tears, threatening to make him look like a fool.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry, kid," Kyle said, his voice slightly panicked. 'Is he just as nervous as me?' Grey thought.

The white-haired boy tightened his grip on Kyle, unintentionally pulling him closer. "Really?" Greyson's voice hitched on the second syllable.

Kyle lifted his hand, his thumb barley grazing Greyson's cheek, before he snapped back to reality and cleared his throat. "Of course I'm not mad at you, dummy," he said, laughing off his previous breech of personal space. "How could I ever be mad at you?"

Greyson bit his lip and looked away. "Do you want to hang out this weekend? Maybe we could hang out after school on Friday?" 'What am I doing? Without Craft or Jayson I'm... nothing. I've never been as cool as them. They made the friendship work, I was just... a side effect.'

"Yes! That sounds fine to me," Kyle said enthusiastically, his sharp canines poking out when he smiled.

The bell rang for the end of lunch and Kyle did something Greyson had not been expecting. He pulled Greyson towards him and wrapped him in another hug, the type he had given Greyson yesterday in the restroom.

"There's no need to be so afraid. I'm not going anywhere," Kyle whispered next to Greyson's ear.

The smaller boy sighed deeply, exhaling his previous anxiety. "Okay. Thank you," he responded in a soft voice.

Kyle POV

Ding ding.

Kyle had already parted ways with Greyson when he heard his phone signal a text message. He pulled the cell from his pocket and frowned.

River: I saw that
Kyle: -_-
River: don't give me that face. I wasn't the only one who saw, either

Kyle's heart dropped into his stomach and he wanted to throw his phone at the brick wall.

Kyle: well it's none of that basket-faggot's business
River: it kinda is bro... that's his best friend. maybe you should talk to him
Kyle: nonononononononono
River: yesyesyesyesyesyes. get over yourself and talk to him

'Fucking fuckers. River and Craft.' Kyle thought angrily.

Kyle: why are you so concerned over that guy? He looks dumber than a box of rocks.

There was a couple minutes of silence on River's end until he responded with:

River: he takes bus 108. it leaves at 4:15 today. RECTIFY THIS.

Kyle cringed at River's use of capital letters and typed:

Kyle: fine fine fine. Fine.

Sent.

Craft POV

A cough came from directly behind Craft, his basketball friends who had been chatting animatedly fell silent.

Craft glanced over, expecting Greyson or River, but not the boy who was actually standing there.

"Uh, hi," Craft said lamely.

Kyle sneered disgustedly, not making eye contact with Craft. "Yeah, yeah. I need to talk to you." He grabbed Craft's Tommy Hilfiger sweater sleeve.

"I'll talk to you guys later," Craft threw over his shoulder at his friends as Kyle dragged him away. They all shared combined looks of confusion and kept talking amongst themselves.

Once they were far from everyone (actually, they were standing in River's designated smoking spot, which already had about five visible cigarette butts ground into asphalt), Kyle spit on the ground and sucked his teeth.

"You really shouldn't spit on the ground," Craft said, staring at the white clump of saliva on the asphalt. Kyle rolled his eyes and stamped over it with his foot.

"Out of site, out of mind, I guess," Craft mumbled. He looked back at Kyle and sighed through his nose. "What is this about?"

"Are you friends with River?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah," Craft said, but it came out more like, "Yeeeaahhh...?"

"Figures..." Kyle huffed. "Well, he wanted me to talk to you about Greyson."

"Huh?"

Craft could practically feel the irritation radiating like black smoke off Kyle.

"I know you and Greyson are, like, best friends. And I know about what happened to his brother. And... I just...," Kyle seemed to be at a loss for words, like the steady stream of dialogue had been cut off by a bothersome stone.

"Do you like him or something?" Craft asked.

Kyle stopped struggling for the right words and turned bright red. "I... I don't know... I don't know! I just... I want to help him." Kyle's shoulders slumped and even though he was only a couple inches shorter than Craft, he looked much smaller. And younger. A lot like how Craft looked when he saw Jayson.

"Okay. Well, if you have no ill-intentions, I guess I can't stop you," Craft shrugged. "Between you and me, I don't know how to help him at all."

The over-whelming irritation faded from Kyle's demeanor and a half-concealed smile still pricked his lips up. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Before Kyle made a quick get away, Craft stepped up to him and narrowed his blazing, copper eyes. "Yes, you're inadvertently helping me. But, if I sense anything bad or hear anything bad, you're dead. I have no issue rotting in jail with the same guy who murdered my-" he cut himself off, balling his hand into a fist and stepping away from Kyle's rigid body.

"Don't make me regret this," Craft finished and walked away, silent as a shadow.

River POV

Kyle: I talked to him

River clicked on the notification that popped up as he was reading a Completely Legal Download of his favorite novel. You had to give him a break, he was broke and had no internet except to text.

River: so...?
Kyle: SO it was fine. But it got... weird at the end.
River: wdym?
Kyle: he said he was okay with me being friends with Greyson and even asked if I... liked him. But he told me what you told me: iF yOu HuRt HiM i'Ll KiLl YoU!!! But he was SCARY scary.

'Scary?' River thought, taken aback. Craft didn't come off as a scary guy, but we all have secrets.

River: first of all I didn't say I would KILL you. second of all, scary? I don't think so
Kyle: you weren't there dude. He was practically frothing at the mouth
River: I think YOU'RE the one with rabies, dog boy. I gtg ttyl
Kyle: sure

River laid his head on the back of the bus seat, closing his eyes and letting himself fall into the void of his thoughts, the throbbing bass, beating kick drums, and guttural screaming of the band playing through his earbuds fueling a fantasy.