Boy Next Door: A Kio Cyr Story

3- Home

You're sitting at home on your bed staring at your phone wondering if you should text Noah or just wait and see if he shows up tomorrow to give you a ride like he promised. You'd cleaned the entire house. You hadn't even made it to dinner before your dad was drunk enough to have passed out. You didn't know whether to make dinner and waste it or risk him waking up and getting mad nothing was ready. You had gone ahead and picked up all the groceries and put them away, but decided to just make yourself a sandwich and wait for your dad to wake up to cook anything real.

You felt your phone vibrate and jumped to grab it. Part of you hoped it was Noah, but another part wasn't ready to deal with getting yelled at by someone else yet. To your surprise it was Kio.

He facetimed you and your first instinct was to panic that his sisters would hear you talking and freak on you. You'd been really close friends once he made it to high school, but they'd made it clear Kio was off limits. You would text and facetime sometimes late at night, but the only time you ever got to hang out in person was when his sisters were around and he tagged along.

Kio: "Don't worry, Riley took off with Jaden and Avani isn't home yet from wherever her and Ant disappeared to after cleaning up the party."

You: "What about your parents? Did they ever suspect anything about the party?"

Kio: "Nope, they got home an hour ago and went straight to bed after dinner. How did things go with your dad?"

You: "He wasn't home when I got here and when he finally came home he was already drunk and passed right out. I just hate that he's all I have in this world."

It was a sad fact you'd been trying to accept. You hadn't heard from your mom since she left years ago and you lived hours away from any of your relatives. Your dad was really the only family you had.

Kio: "He is NOT all you have in this world. You're one of the most important people to me and you have my family."

You: "I know I do. Your parents have always been so amazing to me and your sisters are the closest thing I have to family here."

Kio: "You have me too, ya know."

You didn't know how to respond because the truth is out of everyone, he had probably become your true best friend. He knew things about you that you hadn't even ever told the girls. Like why your mom really left. You knew you shouldn't let yourself count on him as much as you did though because even his friendship had been labeled OFF LIMITS.

You: *changing the subject*
"I'm just so glad school is starting tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to classes, but getting an 8hr break from this house every day will be worth it."

Kio: "Hey. Avani just got home so I better go, but I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bright and early, sunshine."

Sunshine... that always sent your stomach into a tidal wave when he called you that. It was so sweet and not the things most boys called you. You usually got sexy, hot, baby, etc. Sunshine was something your dad used to call you when you were a little girl when your family was a lot happier and whole. You never told Kio that your dad used to call you that.

*FLASHBACK*

3 years ago you had slept over at Riley and Avani's house. You'd woken up after a nightmare about your parents and couldn't fall back asleep so you decided to surprise everyone by making breakfast. Kio startled you when he came downstairs and you accidentally sprayed orange juice all over him. You couldn't help but break out into hysterical laughter. He stood there dripping wet and quipped back with a smile:
"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine."

You couldn't help but beam ear to ear. You hadn't started the habit of pretending you were too cool for nicknames yet. He reached out to wipe the stray splash of juice off your cheek and when you felt yourself melt into his touch, you panicked and grabbed the flour sitting on the counter and plopped a handful on his head and laughed as he threw a handful back. When you heard a shower turn on upstairs, you sent him to shower while you cleaned up the mess and finished flipping pancakes.

*END FLASHBACK*