dark hair and dark eyes.
a gaze that could pierce through your chest. it could skin you alive, take apart every single piece of you. a figure sharper than an hour glass'. a smile that would catch you off guard, a voice stickier than molasses. shaggy hair and shallow breaths. quick moves and subtle glances. thoughts that bounced against every wall and turned at every corner. feelings that were bubbling too high, they were bound to spill. bound to overflow. bound to pull higher than the evening tide. it was just him, him in his entire being. him and his presence. him in a room full of people. a room of people floating.
and blue eyes that couldn't swim.
"don't even try it stitch, he's no good for you."
milo hadn't even noticed his brother was watching him. watching him drown in his own thoughts. the older had invited him along as a customary, nothing more. in reality eris would rather be home with his brother but he'd made a promise and didn't want the younger to be stuck in their apartment alone. he needed to go out more, it would be good for the teen. eris was starting to worry he'd be stuck with an angsty piece of shit and would rather deal with the fighting and rebellion over the silence.
"he's literally your friend."
milo was snarky. he was always so sarcastic, so sure of himself. his gaze had finally broken apart form room of people and to his brother who was nursing a cup, of who-knows-what, behind him. eris was quick to laugh, finishing a sip before placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"and if i can say that about him, it means a whole lot more."
milo could only scoff and shrug the hand off of his shoulder. sour lips pulled into a frown and blue that could no longer meet green. what was so bad about him?
he was everything.
he was beauty in its existence. he was laughter, he was light. his presence could change the course of a night in its entirety. his smile would light up a room. his stupid grin, his sweet gestures. his lingering touch. his sarcasm, his dumb ideas. his dumb, cute eyes. the way he would treat milo normally, while everyone else treated him like a kid. like a dumb fourteen year old who was way in over his head. the way he would sneak milo drinks and convince eris to let him tag along whenever they went out. the fact that he was probably the only reason milo was here tonight.
he was everything, and milo was nothing.
so it wasn't surprising that ian drew him in. it wasn't surprising that milo was constantly on his heel, it wasn't surprising that milo thought so highly of him. he was so different when it came to everyone else, even though he was so much older, even though he was so much better than he was. milo wanted him more than anything. just to be able to hold him and proudly say that glistening smile were a result of him only. maybe milo really was way in over his head. maybe he was mixing fantasy with reality. but his eyes would never leave ian. his gaze would never falter, even while eris was hovering, even after he left.
and his heart would drop when his gaze was met.
and hours later when he was kneeled besides ian, who was face first into a toilet bowl, his heart would still be pounding out of his chest. even when the older was regretting his entire night. even when he was throwing up from all the drinks and lack of actual food. even when he had to hold his hair back so nothing splashed back onto it. he didn't stop feeling like he was floating, milo was melting in his presence.
the younger was seated by the bathtub while ian washed his face. the black liner he was wearing smudged beneath his eyes, staining into a messy sort of smoky eye. it was a look, probably not intentional. and even then, milo couldn't stop staring. ian was used to it, the puppy dog gaze that followed him constantly. the sweet smiles and goosebumps at every touch.
