Coffee Gives You Blushing Disorder

Will flashed his mandatory smile as another customer came up to order. 

“Hi, can I have a caramel frappe?” The customer smiled a little as she handed him her Starbucks card. “Uh… with whipped cream.” 

“Venti or tall?” Will asked, giving the woman a few seconds to think.

“I think I’ll have a venti.”

“Coming right up.” He turned to Kaiden, the newbie at the job. The brunette instantly grabbed a plastic cup and a sharpie, writing down all the details before going over to make her order. Glancing over his shoulder, Will laughed as Kaiden nearly dropped the pen. “How’s your first day of work going?”

Kaiden shot him a glare in response as he began filling up the cup. “Perfect,” he muttered. “Just perfect.”

A few minutes passed until Kaiden finally finished the woman’s order, placing it on the counter as she walked up to him and grabbed her drink.

A loud sigh came from Will’s right as he watched the woman go. Swiveling around, he realized it was Kaiden. “Cheer up, dude.” He said, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It’s just your first day.”

Kaiden scoffed. “Yeah, and I already screwed up.”

Well, you got that right, Will thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. He opened his mouth to say something, but at that exact moment, his phone buzzed.

Sighing, he looked at his phone while wondering, What the hell could be so important that they had to call me during working hours? Checking the caller ID, he saw that it was actually his girlfriend, Meg.

Looking around first to check if Kaiden was alright with coping on his own, he then went to the staff room to answer the phone. “Hey Meg,” he said nonchalantly. 

“Hey Will!” The cheerful girl started. “Sorry for calling, but you didn’t answer my texts and I just wanted to say that since it’s my birthday, I’m going to be bringing some friends over to Starbucks!” 

Will smiled after hearing that. Since he had to work everyday, he rarely got to see his loving girlfriend.

“Sure, that would be great!” He replied, a tiny trickle of guilt leaking into his mind. He knew he was the only reason Meg was having her birthday here.

“‘Kay, see you tomorrow!” She said cheerily, the faint sound of a cat meowing in the background making it through the call.

“Love you.”

“Love you too!”

She hung up.

Will walked out of the staff room to tell the others. 

“So… wait- you have a girlfriend?” Kaiden asked with a slight hint of sarcasm.

The tanned boy ignored him. “Well yeah, she’s gonna be here tomorrow with some friends for her birthday,” Will replied; as if it were no big deal. Kaiden simply shrugged and turned back around to make an order. The brunette watched as the other boy continued to fumble with things a little, knowing that it was going to be a job he was going to have to adapt to.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said to himself, a smile plastered onto his face. “But he’ll get used to it.”

❖

Will left for work after Meg had told him she was going to be there in a few hours. Will smiled, knowing that today was one of the only days that he was going to get to see his girlfriend; and with a sigh, he entered Starbucks, ready to start his shift.

A few minutes later, Kaiden arrived - a bit late but it didn’t matter since not many people were there that early. Will cast him a sideways look. “Don’t make this a habit.” he warned - but quickly broke into a smile. “Just kidding. No one really cares what time you come.” 

Kaiden laughed a little before starting his shift.

A few hours later, Will received a text from Meg saying that she was going to be there in a few minutes.

He responded with a simple: Can’t wait to see you xx

She replied back with: Haha, I’m outside <33 

Will turned to see Meg outside with some friends. He smiled as they walked in and sat somewhere. Meg walked up to the line and ordered her usual drink- pretending that she didn’t know Will. He chuckled and went to make her order, leaving the other workers with the rest of the party.

As he added the final touches to Meg’s latte, Will sneaked a glance at Kaiden, who was standing at the edge of the counter, staring at his girlfriend- or rather, his girlfriend’s group of friends. He slowly followed the brunette’s gaze to see that his eyes were planted on a particular dark-haired boy, who was in the midst of pulling out a chair for himself.

A small smile flew over Will’s face as he laughed silently to himself and picked up the chilled drink, walking over to join Kaiden at the counter. “In love with my girlfriend already?” He joked, snapping Kaiden out of his trance. “I know she’s gorgeous, but you do know that she’s taken by the hottest guy here, right?”

“Oh shut up,” Kaiden shot back, only half listening. “Besides, I wasn’t staring at your girlfriend.”

“I know.”

Kaiden raised an eyebrow.

Will laughed and patted him on the back. Grabbing the boy by the arm, he pulled Kaiden out from behind the counter and towards Meg’s little party. “Let’s go meet my friends.”

When they got there, the first thing Will noticed was how much everyone had changed. He hadn’t realized it before, but Meg now had pink streaks nestled in her hazel hair, a feature she hadn’t had the last time he’d seen her. Looking across the table, he realized Andy and Alicia had both also gotten matching streaks, just in different colours - presumably at the same time as Meg. They looked a bit more tanned than last time, and Will remembered that the three of them had recently gone to the beach. 

He had to work instead.

Meanwhile, sitting on his own looking quite as if he didn’t belong here was Stanley, the dark-haired boy he’d caught Kaiden gazing at earlier. He hadn’t changed much except for the shadows under his eyes and the fact that his hair had grown a little longer- he still looked pretty much the same. He had some numbers scrawled on his right forearm- probably from attending one of his recent swimming competitions. 

Sitting on another table which they’d pushed together to join up with Meg’s was Quarter, Angela, Tim, Dimitri and Julia. Quarter was sitting next to Dimitri, who had a cast on his left arm, the result of yet another injury. Messages had been written on the white material, as well as a few signatures. 

Julia was on her phone- most likely checking Instagram or something, as she co-owned a hugely popular tumblr-themed account with Ulyssa, who wasn’t present today. Angela was seated beside her, and was holding hands with Tim underneath the table, as if Will wouldn’t notice. The swimmer was due to compete in the Olympics this year, and had been training almost non-stop. 

Will suddenly realized how almost all of his friends had something to do with their lives; or had some sort of plan, while he, on the other hand, was just a Starbucks barista so he could earn enough money to pay his rent. 

“Hey guys.” Will smiled as he sat down next to Meg and gave her a side hug.

Meg responded to that with a small giggle and a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. “I missed you,” he said quietly.

“Okay, break it up you two, can you guys do the flirtatious banter after Will has given me my drink? I’m thirsty!” Julia said, putting down her phone. Will rolled his eyes while he hugged Meg one last time before going back to behind the counter, leaving Kaiden standing alone in front of the two tables.

“Hi, you must be Kaiden. Will told me that you were the new guy right?” Meg asked, looking at the brunette. 

He laughed nervously.  “Yeah, that’s me.” 

“Haha, I’m Meg, Will’s girlfriend. That’s Julia, Dimitri, Tim, Angela, Andy, Alicia and Quarter.” Meg pointed to each one of her friends as she said their names. Kaiden made a quick glance over at Stanley, who was trying his best to avoid everyone, before nodding and going back to the counter to Will. He tried not to turn back to take another look at the guy, but couldn’t help himself.

Fortunately, the sound of Will’s voice snapped him out of it before anyone could notice.

“Hey Kaiden! Andy wrote down everyone’s orders on a piece of paper, could you grab that for me?” Will called as Kaiden was walking towards the counter. He sighed once he realized that Will meant that it was back with the rest of the party; but turned around nevertheless to get what he asked for. 

Walking back, he realized that the piece of paper was wedged in between two science books which were in front of Stanley. Kaiden scratched the back of his neck and flipped his hair nervously. “Um, I kinda need that piece of paper,” he said, trying to not look at the boy next to him. “If you could just-”

Quickly catching on to what he was saying, Stanley immediately straightened up in his chair and began fumbling with his books. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly, his face reddening slightly. After what felt like a minute, but it was probably only ten seconds, Stanley handed him the small goddamned piece of paper, his hand staying on the torn piece for just a second longer than it should have. 

“Thanks,” Kaiden said slowly, pulling it out of the other boy’s grasp. He felt his cheeks burn a little, but he figured it was just the heat, considering the area they were in. The brunette instantly turned away so that no one would get the wrong idea. 

With a sharp intake of breath, he quickly rushed back to the counter, where Will was watching him with a trace of a smirk on his face. Handing him the paper, Kaiden shot another glare in his direction. “Here’s the orders.”

Will took the paper slowly, as if just to annoy Kaiden even more. “So if you weren’t staring at my girlfriend.” He said slowly. “Then who were you staring at?” He asked, and Kaiden could see his smug smile loud and clear.

“I wasn’t staring,” he argued, defending himself. “I was just contemplating why your existence is really necessary in this world.”

“Haha, very funny.”

Kaiden rolled his eyes. “Just make the freaking orders.”

Will laughed as he swiveled around to turn on the espresso machine. Kaiden grumbled and leaned against the counter, bored out of his mind. Since today was a pretty slow day, there wasn’t much to do - well, not that Kaiden was complaining. He found it relaxing, knowing that he didn’t have to stress over making a caramel frappe. Instead, he sat near the cashier, resting his chin in his hand while he stared at the mysterious boy in the corner.

Kaiden wasn’t really worried about Stanley feeling his stare somehow, since if he turned Kaiden could simply just look the other direction.

But of course, he happened to have the worst luck in the world; because not only did the dark-haired boy in the corner look in his direction, but Will happened to say something to Kaiden simultaneously that caused his whole face to turn into a tomato. So not only did the boy in the corner catch him staring, but also staring with a red face. Perfect!

He immediately tried to avert his gaze, but he found that his eyes had locked on the other boy’s and that Stanley was also staring back. Later, when he would look back on the moment, Kaiden realized that it was kind of like those scenes in those cliché movies - where the two future lovers would stare at each other and the romantic music, random sparkles and the light filter would suddenly come on. To everyone else, he must’ve looked pretty stupid, because in the corner of his eye, he could see Julia staring at him weirdly.

However, before things could get too awkward, Andy tapped the dark-haired boy on the shoulder, apparently wanting to show him something on her phone. The teen turned away from Kaiden to look at her screen and instantly broke into a beautiful waterfall of laughter.

It was at that moment, Kaiden felt a sudden need to be part of their conversation.

But before he could act, he jumped at the sudden appearance of ten new faces staring at him. They all held drinks- some people with lattes, some with iced tea. Kaiden noticed that the mysterious stranger had chosen a chocolate frappuccino. Personally, he preferred coffee. 

Meg’s warm face peered up at him. “Hey- we’re going over to my place to spend the rest of the party there- wanna join us?”

“Yeah, because I’m pretty sure Stanley wants you to come.” Andy teased, bumping Stanley on the shoulder. He muttered something incoherent back, adding a glare in her direction.

Kaiden was lost for words, and since he was that nervous, his instincts made him talk without him even knowing what he was even saying. “Um, I’d like to, but I don’t think my shift is over and-”

 “Oh, nah it’s fine, it’s a pretty slow day anyway, we can close early… I think…” Will interjected, mumbling the last part to himself, his eyebrows scrunched together. 

“Okay then…” Kaiden agreed slowly. He didn’t even think about the fact that he was going to the girlfriend of his co-worker’s house and he’d barely even known either of them for a day. But his heart was hammering so hard with the prospect of getting to know Stanley better, all logical thoughts instantly evaporated. “Are we leaving now?”

“Yep!” Meg grinned. She glanced at Will, who took a moment before getting the message.

“Oh- right.” He reached a hand into the pocket of his green apron and pulled out a set of keys, the metal making a jangling sound as he took them out. “I’ll go lock up now. See you guys later.” But before he left, he gave Meg a quick kiss and before she could say anything, he disappeared into the staff room.

The brunette simply sighed and pulled open one of the transparent double doors, letting in all the noises from the street outside. It was already around six, and since the sun set early where Kaiden lived, darkness was already upon them. The yellow light from a streetlamp made Meg’s hair look strangely blonde as she beckoned for them to pass through the doorway and into the night.

Naturally, Kaiden managed to trip as he walked past the beautiful girl. He accepted her hand as he got up, muttering a quick ‘thank you.’ But his sights weren’t on her, and were instead on Stanley and Andy walking a few meters ahead of him. They were having an animated conversation with lots of laughing and hand gestures. Part of Kaiden felt a little jealous of their friendship, but the other part of him was relieved that Stanley hadn’t seen him trip like a complete idiot.

Suddenly realizing that he was lagging behind the rest of the group, he quickly sprinted to catch up, swerving to avoid an old woman and what he assumed was her daughter- a middle aged woman with jet black hair tumbling over her shoulders. “Wait up!” He yelled, his voice coming out a little too loud. But hey, didn’t it always?

But it didn’t really matter, since the cars driving through the streets made his voice sound a little quieter. Nevertheless, it was still enough to catch the attention of Tim, who had keen ears. He turned towards Kaiden, quickly telling the others that he would catch up to them. And being the nice friend he was, Tim stopped and waited for Kaiden as he sprinted towards him.

Kaiden stopped to catch his breath, before lifting his head to look at Tim. “Hey- thanks for waiting for me.” 

Tim nodded before he beckoned for him to start walking again. “C’mon, I only know half the way to her house, so best we try to keep up to them.” 

The Starbucks barista nodded before following Tim as they walked down the sidewalk. He shoved his hands into his pockets, often opening his mouth to start a conversation before closing it after he realized he had nothing to say. 

Kaiden had never really gotten to have a good look at Tim before, and now, with nothing else to do, he started to notice little things about the guy. He had brown hair, very different to Kaiden’s as it was way darker, and obviously had never been dyed. He could see why Angela liked him- he seemed kind of relaxed, but not so much that he was boring. Overall, he was a pretty good-looking guy, although he didn’t really appeal to Kaiden. 

“What’s up with Stanley?” Kaiden suddenly asked, not knowing where that question came from.

“What do you mean?” Tim asked, turning his head towards Kaiden’s direction, to which his response was a shrug.

“Like, he seems sort of like an outcast- no offense -but he seems… alone, I guess? I dunno.” Kaiden was fumbling with his words, not knowing what to say about Stanley other than the fact that he thought he was gorgeous.

Tim cast him a quizzical look before chuckling softly. He cast his eyes in Stanley and Andy’s direction, who were still in the middle of a conversation. “Yeah, he’s such an outcast.”

“Well,” Kaiden opened his mouth to argue, suddenly feeling really dumb. “You know, before he was sitting alone and everything - so I kinda just thought-”

“Nah I’m just messing with you. Yeah, Stanley can sometimes be alone at times… I see what you mean though. What made you ask?” Tim questioned.

Kaiden’s face turned a little pink, realizing now that not only did he have to explain to Tim about how Stanley had gotten into his head, but also why his face was pink.

“I dunno…” He started. “He just seemed to stand out a little compared to everyone else who was chattering away.” His voice was a little inaudible but Tim could hear it.

“Ah I see,” Tim said, smiling. “You like him don’t you?” The boy teased, nudging him in the shoulder, causing Kaiden’s face to switch from a light pink to a dark magenta. Great, just lovely! Note the sarcasm.

“What?! N-no I don’t!” He stuttered, in a futile attempt to defend himself, which only made Tim snicker at how obvious he was. “I just met him and the only conversation I had with him was less than 15 seconds, and besides, seems like he already has a girl.” This comment only made Tim laugh a little louder which made Kaiden a little confused and annoyed. Why is he always laughing?

“Oh please, Stanley could never get a girl even if I paid him a million dollars!”

“Well that’s kinda mean.” 

Tim shot Kaiden an unreadable expression, before his eyes widened in understanding. 

“Here, gimme your hand.” 

The Canadian felt puzzled at his strange request, but he obliged. Tim took hold of it and drew a circle with his finger repeatedly. “That-” he said.  “Is how straight Stanley is.”

 Kaiden felt two feelings hit him in the face at that moment. One was the feeling of relief and the other was a small burst of hope.

They continued talking for a little bit before finally catching up with the rest of the group as they reached a crosswalk. Even though he had just met Tim that day, Kaiden still found him pretty cool. His personality was fun and overall was just a great guy to be friends with. Although, he still wished he would be able to maintain at least this much with Stanley…

Shaking his head, Kaiden brushed the boy out of his thoughts, and focused on keeping up with the group. 

This was going to be a long night.

❖

“Home sweet home!” Meg exclaimed in relief as she opened her door to face plant onto the sofa in her living room. She laughed as Will picked her up and twirled her around the room. 

They’re adorable, Kaiden thought as he walked in, looking around at the décor of her apartment. 

Meg’s living space was reasonably neat, and was pretty big for an apartment. They stood in the living room, which consisted of a spacious sofa, a lounge chair and a small coffee table; accompanied by a few paintings and an enormous carpet that spanned the whole room. The walls were grey, and at the other end of the room, where another wall should’ve been, there was a huge window instead, showing a beautiful view of the entire city. However, the room didn’t end there. As he walked deeper into the house, he realized that the living room was also connected to the kitchen, which was very fancy indeed - with a huge marble counter in the middle, surrounded by various stoves, ovens, a fridge, and many more pieces of cooking equipment.

Kaiden turned just in time to see Meg duck into another doorway, which he automatically assumed was her bedroom. Turning back around, he noticed that the other guests had all settled down and were making themselves at home. Julia and Andy were seated on the couch, engaged in a very animated conversation, with both of their phones held out in front of them. Angela had also collapsed onto the sofa, and was watching them chat intently, occasionally interjecting every now and again. Meanwhile, Tim was lounging beside her, talking to Dimitri, who had also somehow managed to fit onto Meg’s sofa. Alicia and Quarter had said their goodbyes sometime around the time when they had left Starbucks, so now all that was left were Will and Stanley. Kaiden spotted the dark-haired boy soon enough- he was leaning against the wall next to Dimitri, his eyes fixed on the night city skyline. But even after scanning the entire area three times, he still couldn’t find Will. It didn’t really concern him though, as his co-worker was probably with Meg. Doing what, exactly - he would never know.

But instead of going after someone who was clearly unavailable, he walked up to Stanley and stood next to him.

“Hey.” He said a little awkwardly. Stanley turned to him and said a small ‘hey’ back. They had never really engaged in a conversation before, (besides asking for orders) so this would be the first time he could actually try and get to know him.

“So uh… how long have you known Will for?” He asked awkwardly,  Stanley shifted uncomfortably and shrugged in reply. 

He’s shy? Aw, cute… The Canadian thought to himself and smiled in his head at the characteristic.

“I guess ever since middle school… I dunno,” he said finally.

Oh, they’ve been friends since middle school… interesting. Kaiden thought for a moment to see if he could find out anything else about the other male other than his name. “Um…” He began, ever so graceful with his words. “So do you go to coffee around here? I meant college! Sorry I meant college- oh god, this is awkward…” 

Stanley let out a small laugh. “Actually, I don’t. I go to college in the UK—Cambridge, funnily enough.” The dark haired boy straightened, his back no longer touching the wall; and Kaiden could instantly tell that he felt proud. Stanley smiled nervously. “How about you?”

At the other boy’s question, his throat immediately went dry. How could he possibly compete with someone who went to one of the prestigious universities in the world? Although, Stanley didn’t seem like one to judge, so Kaiden just decided on the truth. “Well, I’ve been offered a few scholarships in America, for, you know, basketball,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “But I haven’t really decided yet; so for now, I’m just a Starbucks employee.”

“Wow, really?” Stanley’s eyes seemed to light up when he mentioned basketball. “You must be really good then! We should play sometime!”

For some reason, Kaiden found himself smiling, and he felt his heart sigh with relief with the fact that Stanley hadn’t thought less of him. “Yeah, we should! You free anytime soon?”

It surprised him how fast the other boy replied. “No. I have swim training the whole of next week, and the week after that, and the week after that, but maybe after-”

Kaiden blinked. “It’s okay,” he said quickly, hoping his voice didn’t portray any sign of disappointment. “If you don’t have any time now, maybe we can meet up when you do - just hit me up- I’m literally always free.”

“Okay,” Stanley said slowly, his expression momentarily darkening. But when Kaiden looked up again, his face was all smiles. He shook his head to clear his mind, thinking that he had imagined it.

Snapping out of reality, they both heard Will calling everyone around to play truth or dare. As they all somehow managed to sit down on the sofa, Kaiden glanced at the British kid for a moment before Julia sat in between them.

“Okay so who's starting?” Angela asked whilst leaning into Tim.

“I will,” Will volunteered and pondered for a moment before pointing at Stanley. “Stanley, truth or dare?” 

He said ‘dare’ and Will turned to Meg for dare suggestions. The two conferred for a moment, before his co-worker swiveled back around triumphantly. “Okay, I dare you to prank call Sandi with a stereotypical Asian accent because you’re literally the only one who’s good at that!”

Kaiden cocked his head in confusion. Stanley’s good at making stereotypical… Asian accents? That’s kinda weird… 

He continued watching in curiosity though, as Stanley rolled his eyes and grabbed Will’s phone before punching in some numbers and putting it on speaker mode. Kaiden, alongside a few others leaned in as the phone started calling Sandi until she finally picked up, with a ‘hello’ being heard on the other side.

“Oh hello sir!” Stanley replied with a ridiculously offensive Indian accent, trying his best not to laugh. “I would like to know if you wanted to do dating!” I swear, it took all of Kaiden's willpower to not even let out a small snicker. 

They played for a few more rounds until it was finally Kaiden’s turn- all of which involved a lot of laughing, screaming, red faces and just overall embarrassment; (which may or may not have included reading some of Cher's stories in the bathroom with the lights off). 

“Good sir, truth or dare?” Kaiden asked in the midst of laughing, his hazel eyes shining in the artificial lighting of Meg’s apartment. 

“Dare.” Tim said immediately, wondering what the Canadian would ask him to do.

Not knowing what dare to give him, Kaiden asked a few people near him for suggestions. One of the only ones that actually appealed to him was where Tim would have to kiss Angela, so he decided to just go along with that one.

“Okay, I dare you to kiss Angela,” Kaiden said bluntly, which caused Tim to blush a little.

“Oh I'm gonna get you back!” Tim muttered, shuffling closer to Angela. He quickly pecked her on the lips before cowering away to where he was before.

Wondering how he was going to get revenge on Kaiden, Tim grinned maliciously as he asked Kaiden ‘truth or dare?’ He replied with ‘dare’, being the daredevil he was.

Smiling at how perfect this dare was, he faced Kaiden before speaking. “Kai, I dare you to kiss Stanley on the lips for ten seconds.” 

Kaiden immediately stiffened, his face turning a dark shade of maroon, his eyes widening at the simple prospect of even getting that close to Stanley. Slowly, he turned his head to glance at the other boy, who, on the other hand, was laughing it off nervously while exchanging unreadable looks with Andy.

For a few moments, none of them moved, before everyone else started shouting at them to get it over with. 

Surprisingly, it was Stanley who spoke up. “Okay, okay- EVERYONE SHUT UP AND WE’LL DO IT!” This instantly caused the whole room to fall under a tense silence. Kaiden could already feel his cheeks burning. 

Taking a deep breath, Stanley got closer to him as Kaiden did the same. Their faces inched closer and closer together, as Julia leaned back, her face twisted into horror as her fingers flew over her keyboard frantically. 

Despite this, the two leaned even closer, until they could feel each other's breathing on their faces. It was then that they felt their lips touch. Stanley's eyes widened as he slowly melted into the kiss.

The kiss seemed to last forever as Tim counted up to the number of ten, before they pulled away. By the end of it, both of their faces were a dark shade of scarlet as they processed what had just happened. Kaiden didn't know whether he should've been mad or glad about Tim’s dare but he sure as hell didn't regret it.

Though, what dampened Kaiden’s mood was the fact that it was all just a dare. But despite this, the game went on as normal afterwards, though it was a little awkward in between the two as the game progressed. They didn't really talk to each other (not that that was any different), they avoided eye contact and if they did make contact they would just blush and look away. They wouldn't ask ‘truth or dare’ to each other and at one point Kaiden actually shuffled to another spot farther away from Stanley.

But like most things, time passed and it was soon time for the others to leave; as most of them had homework, projects or work tomorrow. So one by one, people started to leave and go home. Stanley, Tim and Kaiden stayed for a while longer though, but soon Tim had to go as well, which just left Kaiden and Stanley with Meg and Will.

“So uh, how are you gonna get home, Kai? You know the way from here?” Will asked as the Canadian was putting his shoes on.

“Yeah...no.” He said laughing a little.

“Okay,” Will started, launching into a train of directions that Kaiden didn’t catch at all. “So, you walk forward, then turn left at the church, and then you cross the street-”

“Yeah, I’m not going to remember all that- can someone just drop me off?” Kaiden suggested instead.

“Sorry Kai, I’m getting my car repaired, and Meg doesn't have a car,” Will said ruefully, before his eyes lit up as he got an idea. He turned to the dark-haired boy standing by the doorway. “Stanley, you have a car right- wait Kai why don't you have a car?”

“Um, I prefer to keep fit.” 

Stanley chuckled a little to the response Kaiden gave, before turning to the other boy. “And Will, to answer your question- yes, I do have a car, and I guess I could just drop Kaiden off at his house or something.”

“Oh okay.” Will said, obviously relieved. The Canadian gave the Brit a lopsided grin before following him outside as they said goodbye to Meg and Will.

Walking into the parking lot, it was a little quiet besides the crunching of leaves beneath them as they walked. Stanley unlocked his car as he told Kaiden to climb in. Starting the car, Stanley asked for Kaiden's address as he started driving.

The car ride was awkward to say the least. They didn't talk to each other at all, unless you counted Kaiden telling Stanley he made a wrong turn, which seemed to embarrass Stanley a little.

It was a few minutes later until the brunette finally decided to say something to stop the awkward silence. “So uh… how long have you known Meg and Will for?” He asked, immediately regretting opening his mouth at all (considering that he had asked a similar question before).

“I've known Meg for a few years, and I met Will through her in middle school,” Stanley said breezily.

“Oh, okay.” Silence settled briefly upon them once more before Kaiden decided to try to keep the conversation going again. “Well today's truth or dare was pretty weird huh?”

“Yeah, it was...” Stanley replied awkwardly. Nothing else was said afterwards which was pretty uncomfortable for the both of them as the silence slowly returned. Kaiden waited five minutes before mustering up the courage to speak again for the third time.

“So-” He and Stanley said at the same time.

Kaiden felt a flush of embarrassment. “Oh, uh, you can go first-”

“No, you can say what you wanted to say, I’ll wait.”

Playing the gentleman role, they both continued to offer the chance to speak to each other first, which really brought them nowhere. It went on until Stanley stopped at a corner and looked at the numbers on the gate before looking back at the boy beside him. “Well I think this is your stop…” He said slowly.

“Yeah…” Kaiden trailed off as he opened the door and hopped out, before pausing at the gate. He turned to see that Stanley had rolled down his window, and was watching him go. “Hey, Stanley?” Kaiden asked for the last time, walking back towards the car.

“Yeah?”

“Was kissing me really that bad?” 

Stanley froze for a second, apparently at a loss for words at the question. “Wh-what?” He said finally, before launching into a string of apologies.. “No, it wasn’t… Sorry for making things so awkward back there. I’ve never really kissed anyone before- especially those of the same gender -but to answer your question… no… You’re fine… wait what? No- sorry I’m- um… what?” 

Kaiden laughed a little at how Stanley stuttered in the end which resulted in the Brit flushing a light pink.

“Don’t judge my stuttering, I get nervous…” He mumbled stubbornly. Cute.

Not even thinking twice about what he was about to do next, Kaiden quickly leaned into the car, lightly brushing his lips against Stanley’s. The kiss was short but sweet, and pulling back quickly, Kaiden flashed a small smile at the ravenette before turning on his heel and sprinting up to the elevator. 

Meanwhile, Stanley was left in his car with a red face; still trying to process exactly what had happened. 

He smiled.

❖

“Have a nice day!” The lady smiled as she took her tray and walked away from the counter. It was the next day, and Kaiden couldn’t stop thinking about the actions that occurred the night before. 

He hadn’t said anything to Stanley since - but then again, how could he? He had never gotten his phone number, and he had literally just gone to bed after coming home. When had there been any time to text anyone? But despite all this, he hadn’t heard anything about Stanley from Will either- in fact, Will acted as if nothing had ever happened between him and Stanley. 

Kaiden didn’t know whether that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

He’d say both.

However, Kaiden tried forgetting about him nonetheless, as there was no point in hoping for something that wasn't going to happen. But this proved difficult, as everywhere he turned, something reminded him of the British kid.

And Will having a British accent didn't help either.

Although, the day went by smoothly; people came in and out, and in the end, Kaiden managed to forget about Stanley - at least for a little while. But once there were only 30 minutes left until closing, he came back into his mind.

It was perfect timing too, as Stanley chose to pop back into his head just as he was mindlessly mopping the floor because a customer had recently spilled his drink. Kaiden was looking at the floor when he thought he saw Stanley's face, and, terrified, he knocked over the pail he was using, and fell onto the wet floor.

Groaning in annoyance, Kaiden was way too lazy to get up so he sat on the floor for a good while. That is… until he heard a familiar British voice ask him:

“Are you okay?”

Brown eyes snapped open as he turned his head up to see Stanley.

“What? Oh yeah, I'm fine,” he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could, even though it probably wasn’t working. Stanley reached his hand out and pulled Kaiden off the ground and back up on his feet.

“What are you doing here anyway?” He asked, dusting himself off.

Stanley scoffed. “Well that's something to ask, considering that we're in a public coffee shop.”

“Shut up, it’s gonna close in 20 minutes anyway.” Kaiden raised an eyebrow.  “Do you always go to places before they close, or is it just this one?” 

Stanley shrugged at the question. “Maybe it's just this one.”

“Ha, yeah, I know, I'm irresistible and fabulous. Can't get enough of me.” Kaiden said sarcastically, which made the other boy blush a little bit before shooting back another remark about how incredibly annoying he was.

But before Kaiden could think of another comeback, he heard the faint voice of Will shouting from the back room. Stanley must’ve heard it too, because his head snapped towards the direction of the sound. Although, neither of them had time to move before the tanned boy burst out of the room, opening his mouth to say something to Kaiden, but abruptly closed it again once he saw Stanley. 

“Hey Will,” the dark-haired boy said awkwardly, rocking back and forth on his heels. 

Will nodded in acknowledgement, before turning to Kaiden again. “It’s your shift now,” he said, lowering his voice, just as Kaiden’s heart sank at the prospect of having to go back to work just as Stanley arrives. “But-” He said, his dark eyes momentarily flicking towards the other boy. “As I’m a nice friend, and I can tell you want to spend some time with Stanley, I’ll take the last shift for you.”

Kaiden’s mouth dropped open at Will’s words. 

His co-worker simply laughed at his speechless expression, and patted him on the shoulder. 

After overcoming his shock, Kaiden quickly handed him his green apron, and was about to leave, before Will whispered one last thing into his ear.

“Good luck with him,” the older boy said, chuckling softly. 

And as much as Kaiden would’ve loved to splutter out a ‘what the hell?’ or a ‘shut the hell up’, he had a boy to win over.

❖

“So...you like swimming?” Kaiden turned to look at Stanley as they walked side by side. They’d left Starbucks a while ago now, and Kaiden wasn’t exactly sure where they were walking to; only that the sun was going down and he finally got to spend some more time with Stanley alone.

Without a reply from Stanley, they walked past a few stores and coffee shops and even ended up unintentionally passing by Meg’s house twice in a row. All the while saying nothing, the silence a wall between them. Kaiden, not knowing what to do, decided to walk Stanley home (even though he didn’t know where his home was). 

Suddenly, they took a turn onto a dark, secluded back street (which supposedly led to Stanley’s house, Kaiden assumed). 

They walked around for a few more minutes, with the sun rapidly descending in the sky, until Kaiden finally broke the silence. “Hey, Stanley?” He asked slowly.

The dark-haired boy immediately swiveled around to look at him. “Yeah?”

“Is your house close by?”

Stanley shot him a puzzled glance.“What? I thought we were going to your house!”

“But I was following you!”

“So was I!”

Kaiden felt like smacking himself in the face. “Then where are we going?!”

“I don’t know!” Stanley threw his hands in the air in frustration.

Not looking where he was going, Kaiden suddenly turned to see a flash of light before being pulled to the side as a car drove swerved past him, accompanied by a few honks that told him to get out of the way. It might have been his imagination but he could’ve sworn he heard a British girl scream ‘Move out of the way!’ as the car turned a corner.

He had been two inches away from getting hit. 

“Dude!” The dark-haired boy yelled. “You could’ve been run over you bloody oaf!” Stanley was wide-eyed as he stared at him, his face looking both terrified and relieved in the lamplight.

“Well I didn’t get run over, did I?” 

Stanley just gave him the poker face because what other reaction was he supposed to give him? He would’ve done something cheesy, like kiss him because he didn’t get run over, but he wasn’t sure if Kaiden would appreciate that.

Apparently, it seemed like Kaiden had the same idea because when Stanley went to look at him again, the Canadian leaned in and pressed his lips against his. His eyes widened at the contact, but before he could do anything, Kaiden pulled back and cowered away as he realized his mistake.

“Shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know what came over me!”

“What? No! It’s fine, it really is…” Stanley trailed off.

Kaiden’s eyes seemed to shine for a moment as the hope suddenly came back to him. With hesitant movements, the brunette leaned in again to capture Stanley’s lips in another kiss. But instead of doing nothing, this time, Stanley closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Kaiden’s neck, pulling him in closer. The Brit tilted his head a little to the side allowing more room for Kaiden to continue kissing him. But as amazing as the moment felt to the both of them, humans have to be able to breathe to survive so eventually, they had to pull away.

As they regained their breath again, they locked eyes and before Stanley knew it, he was being picked up and pushed against the wall as Kaiden kissed him hungrily. Practically devouring his lips as he felt his hands being tangled in the brunette's hair.

Though after a while, they pulled away again. Both with flushed faces that just screamed embarrassment.

“Um… wow…” Stanley said which made Kaiden burst into laughter.

 “Is that all you have to say after that?”

“Well what else am I supposed to say then, hm?”

“Oh I don't know… that I’m such an awesome kisser and that you want to be with me.” He didn't mean to say the last part but he got a chuckle out of Stanley from that, which was something.

“Well I could've said that but you seemed to beat me to it.” He replied smugly, giving the Canadian a smirk.

“Wow you think you're soo cool you tree-hippie.”

“I know I'm cooler than you, you fat-face.”

“Shut up, you're the cute one here.”

“So I'm cute now, whatever happened to tree-hippie?”

“You can be both, a cute tree-hippie that is in love with the cool fat-face.”

“Ha! Who ever said I was in love with you?”

Kaiden had to think of his response carefully because what he was about to say could be the end of their friendship or the start of something better.

“Well I'm not lying aren't I?”

Stanley opened his mouth, as to say something but no voice came out. Cringing at the silence, Kaiden thought he screwed things up but before any more thoughts came to his head, the ravenette just mumbled a sentence.

“Um, no… not  exactly.” 

He looked up at Kaiden with those adorable eyes that stared right into his.

Huh, cute.

“I'm gonna ignore the fact that you just called me cute…”

“Oh did I say that out loud?”

“No, I can read your mind- yeah no shit Sherlock!” Kaiden laughed at how snappy Stanley could be.

“Aw be nice to me can't you?”

They both ended up bickering for a while until Stanley figured it was time for him to go home. So Kaiden, being the ‘gentleman’ that he was (not really), decided to walk him home… though this time, Stanley was going to lead the way.

So then, they turned and started to walk down the street to where Stanley lived. At one point their hands intertwined as they took a few turns.

After a few minutes, they finally made it to Stanley’s apartment/house- Kaiden didn't know what it was. But looking at it, it reminded him of something he meant to ask.

“Hey Stanley?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have a house here? I thought you lived in England?”

“Oh I do but I used to live here when I was younger, I'm not gonna sell this just because I study in England. I can have two houses.” Kaiden didn't question it, he would've done the same thing probably.

“So… Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah- why are you even asking?”

“I dunno but.. what are we, exactly?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… what are we, in terms of our relationship? Friends or…” Kaiden trailed off, making Stanley finish the question.

The boy’s eyes immediately clouded over at the question. Without answering, Stanley turned away and began to walk towards what Kaiden assumed was his front door. There were no streetlamps nearby, so his figure was only silhouetted by the moonlight, and in the dim light Kaiden thought he could’ve almost been a stranger. 

“Stanley?”

Torturingly slowly, Stanley turned around. His whole body seemed tense, and Kaiden found it hard to believe that only minutes ago they’d been laughing and joking around like they’d been friends for years. But his voice was hard when he spoke. “I barely know you.”

The words stung. More than Kaiden thought they would’ve.

“Ah... “ He said dumbly, not knowing how to respond.

“Yeah…” Stanley shrugged, avoiding his eyes.

“So… see you tomorrow?” Kaiden suggested, hoping he still had a chance.

“I have swimming.” Stanley replied.

Kaiden could feel his heart sink into his shoes, all hope slipping through his fingers. The words spoken were so common yet they hurt so bad.

“Oh… see you… see you around then.”

Stanley nodded as Kaiden turned on his heel and walked down the road to get back to his house.

❖

The sun was unforgiving the next day. It didn’t spare anyone - not the stall owners scattered on every street in the neighborhood, not the morning commuters, not even the people sheltered inside; for it seemed that the heat could somehow travel through the walls, and it especially did not spare Kaiden.

 Kaiden, who was currently attempting to shoot some hoops, trying to get his mind off of things. It didn’t really help since he was airballing half the time. It was finally at the twenty-first air ball that he gave up and let out a frustrated scream, throwing the ball at the fence. He ripped out his earphones, and shook his head, moving to lean back against the railing. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and tried to tune out from his current situation: completely infuriated, soaked in sweat, probably dehydrated, and obsessed with a boy he only met yesterday.

He wondered what Stanley was thinking right now—if he regretted his decision. He probably didn’t, looking over what he said the previous day Kaiden groaned as he cringed. He cringed at what he had implied and cringed at Stanley’s rejection. But he couldn't blame Stanley, they only just met that day - in fact they had only known each other for a couple hours before everything happened. Before the party, before the rejection… before the kiss.

It was like it was imprinted in his brain—he just couldn’t shake the memory of Stanley wrapping his arms around him, the taste of his lips on his, the sweet look of surprise on his face as it all happened. He hadn’t been able to sleep that night; not after what Stanley had said. I barely know you. 

And the worst part about it was that it was true. Stanley was right; Kaiden had been reckless that night, and he knew it. He’d always known, but the fact of the matter was, he just hadn’t cared. His whole life was a patchwork of reckless decisions, sown together by his brash nature and habit of doing before thinking; and now he’d finally done something stupid enough to tear all that apart. 

Reckless thinking to the side, Kaiden wanted to at least make one score. So he picked up the ball, aimed and shot.

But the ball didn’t go into the basket, it went over it, over the fence, onto the street below. Kaiden ran to the railing and looked down, watching as the ball fell- not onto the street - but onto a recognizable black car.

BEEP! BEEP!

The car started blaring almost immediately as the basketball bounced away.

“Shit…” Kaiden muttered to himself, slowly backing away to seem innocent when he saw a mop of black hair run out to the car. It was Stanley. “Double oh shit.” Kaiden muttered again. Hoping that he could ignore the situation he watched as Stanley picked up the basketball when he realized:

He had his name on the ball.

His eyes widened almost comically. “Fuck!” He swore, before hurriedly slapping a hand over his mouth and turning to make a break for it. Stanley quickly looked up, hearing his (loud) outburst; only to see Kaiden’s head quickly disappear behind the wall.

Kaiden took the steps down to his apartment two at a time, opting not to use the elevator because it was all the way down on the first floor. His breathing was ragged and uneven as he felt the massive rip in his life begin to widen almost tenfold. Couldn’t he avoid trouble for once in his life?

By the time he reached his floor he was completely out of breath. He lived six stories up, not too far from the roof- where he’d been playing- but his heart still felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. Fumbling for the keys, he kept his head bent low as he looked through his backpack.

As it happens, he was still searching for his keys when he almost walked into a familiar figure standing stoically in front of the door to his apartment. Kaiden slowly looked up, his fingers finally closing around the cool metal of his key as he realized who it was that he was staring at. 

“Oh erm… Hi,” he said awkwardly as Stanley looked up at him.

Stanley merely held out the basketball, and Kaiden’s cheeks deepened to quite an undignified shade of red as his eyes flew over his name, phone number and address- all scrawled almost indiscernibly on the ball.  “Next time maybe you should consider that there may be people driving by on the street below before you fling basketballs off the side of your building,” the other boy said coolly.

“Oh… s-sorry…” It was the first time since Kaiden could remember that he’d said something without a shred of confidence.

“Yeah.”

He swallowed. “How's your car?”

Stanley shrugged. “Well, the roof’s dented but it’s still drivable.” 

“Sorry…I-I can pay for the repairs.” Kaiden offered quickly. He wasn’t in a great financial situation at the moment but it was the least he could do- he’d already ripped through Stanley’s life like some sort of out-of-control hurricane- he’d done enough damage in the last two days.

Stanley took a small yellow post-it note that was taped to his door before reading it. His facial expression didn’t change whatsoever but Kaiden could’ve sworn his eyes darkened. The recognizable sharp handwriting of his landlord was prominent through the thin paper. “You sure about that?”

Kaiden’s blush deepened even further. “I can manage.”

Stanley raised an eyebrow.

Losing a tired sigh, he corrected himself. “I'll find a way.”

Nodding ever so slightly, Stanley handed him the paper. “My car will be waiting.” It infuriated Kaiden that he couldn’t pick out even a hint of emotion from the other boy.

Stretching a hand out to accept the note, Kaiden’s slender fingers closed around the piece of paper, but not before he caught Stanley’s gaze. For a moment it almost seemed as if he looked concerned but it was a fleeting glance and before he knew it, the paper was in his hands and Stanley was rocking back on his heels, staring nonchalantly at a small spot on his door. Kaiden bit his lip. Neither of them had opened their mouths and the silence was starting to feel suffocating. “Do you- do you want to come inside?” He suddenly blurted out before he could change his mind.

The dark-haired boy stopped moving at that. Scrutinizingly slowly, he opened his mouth. The sentence that came out was a weight off Kaiden’s chest. “Um, sure - but only for a short time; I have swimming in 10 minutes.”

Closing his eyes, he let out a small smile, before steeling his frayed nerves. “That’s fine- great, actually.”

Kaiden made coffee for both of them, and it was awkward.

He set down the pitcher and his own steaming mug before leaning back tentatively. Stanley kept glancing distractedly at the window, and had been doing so for the past ten minutes, and it was finally starting to weigh on his patience. The other boy kept playing with his cup, but had yet to take a sip. Drumming his fingers on the table, Kaiden at last found the courage to speak.“So-”

“Do you have tea?” Stanley interrupted, finally tearing his attention away from the window to look at him. It was such a simple request- yet Kaiden still found himself resisting the urge to laugh at the seriousness in his face. 

“O-oh yeah su-”

 Kaiden tipped over the coffee pot.

Scalding hot liquid spilled all over the small wooden table, and the two boys immediately jumped back- one of Stanley’s arms braced on the back of his chair, a look of horror on his face; while Kaiden hurriedly rushed to clean up the mess. Swearing under his breath, he glanced up to flash Stanley a sheepish smile, only to find him grabbing a rag from the sink to help. 

He opened his mouth to object, but Stanley shook his head stubbornly. “Forget about the tea.”

Guilt instantly bloomed in Kaiden’s chest. “Are you sure? I can still get some for you if you want-”

“No, it’s fine...”

They spent the next few minutes wiping the table vigorously, without one word passing between them. Stanley had put up his walls again and Kaiden was beginning to wonder what he’d been expecting to get out of this. Sighing, he shook his head and continued mopping up any stains left behind.

“I think I have to go.” Stanley said suddenly, straightening. They’d just about removed all evidence of the spill, and the only things left behind were their two mugs; both still full to the brim and miserably cold. Without waiting for an answer, the dark-haired boy began heading for the door.

“Stanley, wait!” Kaiden felt the word pass his lips before he could stop them.

At the sound of his name, Stanley froze- one hand on the doorknob.

“You can't just ignore what happened.”

“Look if it's about the car-”

For once, Kaiden’s voice was completely steady. “You know that's not what I'm talking about.” Ignoring the fact that Stanley’s back was still turned to him, Kaiden plowed forward before he lost the courage or stupidity to continue. “You can't just avoid this.”

Stanley was silent for a moment before he spoke, and when he whirled around to face him, Kaiden was surprised to see what looked like genuine anger in his eyes. A part of him relished the fact that he’d even gotten a reaction out of him. His voice was cold when he spoke. “What is this, Kaiden? Two 18 year olds trying to find the difference between friendship and- and something more, when they don’t even know how to pay the damn rent?”

He took the low-blow without even blinking an eyelash. He was done trying. “It is if you want it to be.”

Stanley threw up an arm in exasperation. “And what if I don’t know what I want Kaiden? What about that?”

Kaiden didn't know how to reply.

Taking his silence as an answer, the other boy ran a hand through his hair before looking at him, and in his eyes, Kaiden saw once again the Stanley who had left him alone in the darkness that night. I barely know you. “I have swimming, thanks for the coffee.” And with that, Stanley walked out the door without another word, and Kaiden didn’t have the heart to stop him. 

❖

“You have 24 hours to get your stuff and leave and if you’re not gone by then I will call the cops on you.”

It was a few days after the kick and Kaiden wasn’t doing well. He was reluctant to stay at Will’s place for the time being while looking for cheap apartments to rent but so far, he was unlucky. It didn’t help when he felt like a burden to Will and now with him making Will work overtime due to him screwing up again just added to his guilt.

“I’m sorry but I didn’t order this…” Kaiden heard for the seventh time that day.

“What? Oh my bad-”

“It’s okay.” The customer gave him a small smile as Kaiden took back the drink.

“Kaiden why don’t you just take a break for a couple minutes, have a breather.” Will suggested as Kaiden took a sip of the coffee he accidentally made.

“But-” He tried to protest but Will cut him off.

“No buts, just take a break.”

Kaiden sighed in his defeat, walking off to one of the tables to get away from the counter. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he was interrupted by the chime of the bell from the door. Turning Kaiden recognized the faces of Tim and… Stanley.

He laid his head down on the table to avoid being noticed and it seemed to work. Until he suddenly heard Tim’s voice ask him:

“How are you holding up?”

Groaning, Kaiden looked up as he tried to think of some response. “I’m staying at Will’s for now but… I don’t know what to do man, what do I tell my parents? I barely have anything in my savings and I also owe a lot of people money.”

“Just take it easy and ease it onto them, they’ll understand.” Tim assured him.

“They expected more from me Tim, not even a year later and I already lose my living space, have no money and work as a fucking Starbucks barista… I’m not even good at that.” Kaiden flung his arms out in exasperation.

“We’ll figure it out, Kaiden. Will and I will help you and I’m sure your parents will too.”

Kaiden wanted to believe him. “I don’t know Tim… right now I really just need to find another job and find a new place and just… get my shit together.”

“Alright but if it helps, know that Will and I are here for you.”

Kaiden gave him a small chuckle. “You make it sound like I have crippling depression.”

“Even homeless you still have a sense of humor.” Tim smiled sadly.

Kaiden gave him a small smile in return as Tim walked to the table where Stanley was waiting.

❖

“Where did you go?” Stanley asked Tim as he sat down.

“Just talking to Kaiden, did you get my drink?”

“Yeah it’s being made… what happened to Kaiden? He doesn't seem like himself.” Stanley noted, watching as the said Kaiden was currently bashing his head onto the table.

Tim hesitated before replying. “It’s not really my story to tell, best to ask him.”

“Please, Tim… if something is wrong I… I wanna help.”

Tim paused, debating on whether he should tell him or not before sighing. “Well, Kaiden’s house got evicted three days ago…”

Stanley’s eyes widened. “What?”

“He’s staying at Will’s for the time being but I don’t know how long WIll can support him… he’s gonna talk to his parents about it later.”

Stanley looked down as if he seemed ashamed. “I… I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t… Also, Kaiden told me everything that happened between you two.” Tim added.

“He did?” The dark-haired boy was honestly surprised that Kaiden would reveal something so personal.

“Yeah… hey I think our drinks are ready.” Tim said quickly, looking like he was trying to avoid the rest of the conversation.

Stanley turned to see the drinks and that Kaiden had returned to the counter. Knowing the information that Tim gave him, he was determined to try to talk to Kaiden now.

“Here are your drinks.” Kaiden said glumly, pushing the cups towards Stanley.

“Thanks… Hey Kaiden are you free after your shift?” One side of him prayed that he was while another prayed that he wasn’t.

Kaiden didn’t even hesitate with his response. “Sorry I have basketball practice.” Stanley blinked a few times, taking a few moments to register the words spoken before he simply nodded and mumbled an ‘okay’ before returning back to Tim.

❖

Stanley soon found himself at Starbucks every single time went out for a drink. And every time, he would ask Kaiden if he was free. But was just always excuse after excuse.

It started with him saying ‘I have basketball practice’ but soon it actually was obvious that Kaiden was avoiding him at all costs.

“I have to feed my fish.”

“I have to water my garden.”

“I left my oven on.”

It was a week of excuses until Stanley had enough. He decided to just go and force Kaiden to talk to him, whether he liked it or not. But when he went to Starbucks that one particular Monday, he noticed that Kaiden was missing.

Confused, Stanley went up to Will and asked. “Hey Will, where’s Kaiden? Is he sick?”

Will visibly froze as he looked at him. As Stanley waited for an answer, Will took a breath before saying. “Kaiden’s… moving to Canada.”

“P-Pardon?” Stanley asked, seeing if he heard that right.

“He’s gonna go back and live with his parents, for the best I guess.” Will shrugged.

“W-Where is he right now?!” Stanley demanded, wanting answers.

“At my house.” However, before Stanley could leave Will grabbed his arm, “wait Stanley, I know you want to help but a lot is going on for him... Just give him some time.”

Stanley looked into Will’s eyes. “I don’t know how much time he has left.”

❖

Three knocks was what got Kaiden to open the door. He seemed visibly stressed and not in the mood to talk. Stanley wondered if Kaiden was actually going to talk to him.

Stanley thought of something smart to say but instead what came out was: “You can’t close the door on me in a house you don’t own.”

Kaiden’s eyes widened, not expecting that. “Thanks for rubbing it in also at least I opened the door.”

“Kaiden, we need to talk.”

“Surprised you actually want to talk to me, thought you had swimming.” He shrugged, dismissing his demand.

“That’s rich coming from you Mr. ‘My Cat I Don’t Even Own Is Starving At Home’.”

Kaiden sighed, annoyed. “Stanley what do you want?”

“Just… let me in first.”

Once he was let in, Stanley cut to the chase.

“Kaiden… is it true?”

Kaiden paused. “I’m guessing Will told you huh?”

“Yeah, so is it true?” Stanley asked again.

“Well it’s not confirmed yet but I probably will, got no other way to go here.” He shrugged.

Stanley grabbed his arm. “Kaiden we need to talk about us.”

Kaiden pulled his arm out of his grasp before spitting out. “There is no ‘us’.”

Stanley felt his cold glare stare into his soul as his heart sunk. All he could do was stutter out a: “K-Kaiden you know that isn’t true-”

He scoffed. “Really? Because you made it sound pretty clear last time we ‘talked’ about this.”

“I had my reasons-”

“Like what?!” Stanley could see that Kaiden had finally run out of patience. “Do you think this is funny? Making me get my hopes up only for you to come around and take it away from me?! I already lost my life here, Stanley. Don’t remind me that I lost every chance I ever had to be with you.”

“Kaiden it’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?” The other boy’s voice cracked as his eyes started to water.

Stanley didn’t know what to say to make him feel better as Kaiden already looked broken enough as it was.

“WHAT IS IT LIKE?!” He yelled again as tears ran down his face.

“I don’t know!” Stanley cried out; he was starting to feel desperate. “I don’t know…”

“Stanley, why are you here? Are you just here to fucking pity me because I have no damn house? Are you just here to act like you care, only to come back tomorrow and act like it never happened?”

He hoped that Kaiden knew that everything he’d said wasn’t true. But if he did, he didn’t know how to convince him. “Kaiden…”

“Are you here…” Kaiden paused, visibly shaking as he spoke. “just to lie to me?”

Something in Kaiden’s voice hit Stanley like a speeding truck. “You know I'm not- you know that.”

Kaiden wiped his eyes, sitting down. “I don’t want it to be like this…”

“You think I do?”

“I didn’t say that.” Kaiden mumbled.

Stanley took a deep breath. “Kaiden you need to understand that I’m gonna be here for another few weeks before going back. You’ve always known this, you think I didn’t want to be with you that day?”

“Then why did you reject me?”

“We only just met, how weird do you think that would be if we suddenly started dating after what- two days?” He tried to reason.

“Then why are you here?” Kaiden was desperate for an answer.

“Because I realized my mistake.”

Kaiden pondered for a moment.  “Stanley when you rejected me that first time, did you actually mean it?”

Stanley shrugged as he sat down. “I would be lying if I said I did.”

It was silent until Kaiden broke it. “Well it’s too late now. Even if this could work I’m going back to Canada and the time difference would be hell.”

Stanley looked up at him. “Do you have to go?”

Kaiden avoided eye contact. “I have no other choice.”

Another silence engulfed the room when Stanley stood up and walked over to Kaiden. He stared into his eyes as he placed his hands on his cheeks before leaning in, noticing how both of their faces reddened.

“Let me be your other choice.” He whispered before closing the space between them.

❖

Sunlight filtered in through the windows like honey; stretching languidly across the beautifully plain white-washed walls, the oak planks of the floor, the overused pair of basketball shoes that lay in a heap by the coffee table, before creeping slowly up the grey couch to grace the edges of Kaiden’s hair and turn the strands gold. It was cold- a relief Kaiden was grateful for every minute longer he stayed in the apartment. In fact, he’d fallen head over heels for the place as soon as his foot passed through the doorway. Something about it just screamed home, and the force of it was almost overwhelming. He’d only been staying here for the past two weeks, but he’d already started noticing the little things that went on behind the scenes. The tacky souvenir mug from London in the top left cupboard, the little gecko that always popped up behind the toaster around 8pm, the seemingly endless pile of Stanley’s papers and textbooks- they’d all become so endearing to him; Kaiden sometimes thought he’d simply wake up one morning and find himself back in Will’s apartment, slowly being torn apart by the old shame and heartbreak that followed him constantly.

He closed his eyes, before slowly opening them again, hoping; hoping to dear God that these past two weeks could just stretch forever, that he wouldn’t have to be alone again. Flicking his gaze towards his boyfriend, he looked him over, and thought about how much this boy had done for him, how much this boy had changed him. It was because of him that Kaiden was sitting here now- happy, alive, and almost irrationally in love. Sighing, he looked down again and began playing with the hem of his shirt before speaking. “Stanley, are you sure about this?”

The answer that came back was exasperated, but not without a hint of fondness. “Are you seriously asking me this right before I’m about to leave?”

Kaiden couldn’t help but glance up at that to see Stanley rolling his eyes, a smile plastered plainly on his face, as if he’d been trying to hide it, but hadn’t quite managed. When he noticed him staring, Stanley quickly frowned and tried his best to look annoyed. Putting his hands on his hips for good measure, he raised an eyebrow.

Shrugging, Kaiden tried his best to stifle a laugh. “Well just in case you had doubts-”

Stanley threw his hands up in the air. “Kaiden, this is my house- I choose who gets to stay here, and when they leave, and the only thing you have to do is to pay the damn bills, okay?” He paused to shoot Kaiden a pointed look before picking up a small backpack and suitcase. “And I don’t want no sticky notes on my door the next time I get here, got it?”

“Okay, okay.” Kaiden gave in and raised his hands in mock surrender. “But you promise you’ll visit?”

“I live here, I’ll have to.” 

“Aw is the house the only reason?”

“Don't make me answer, idiot.”

“Just kidding, now go before you’re late!”

“Alright, love you, bye!”

“Bye!”

Before Stanley left he turned to him

“You still have to pay for that dent though.”