The Kaden Complex

30

   Kaden sat awkwardly at the foot of Jason's bed, waiting for him to be finished getting dressed. He didn't know how to feel about his little practical joke earlier. 

   On one hand, it was sweet that Jason was trying his best to relieve the tension between the two of them after Kaden's outburst last night. He had never seen this side of him before or was even aware that he was capable of joking like that. Maybe this was the side of him that Alex and Avery got to see.

 But on the other hand, Kaden had felt so embarrassed that he wanted to run away and die. That was a feeling he never wanted to experience again, but somehow it always came when he was around Jason. 

   He tapped his feet against the soft carpet of the bedroom floor as he glanced around. Jason kept this room just as tidy as he did his side of their dorm room. The only thing that was askew was the bed that Kaden sat on, which was freshly slept on. 

   Being tidy was an admirable quality; one of the many that Kaden was lacking. 

   The bathroom door opened to reveal the tall and muscular friend whose semi-naked body Kaden was just lying on. Kaden flushed. He didn't know why it couldn't escape his mind.

     He'd seen other boys naked before, such as the ones in the locker room and the ones he'd slept with. So it's not like it wasn't anything new. 

  But for some reason, seeing Jason's had lit his own body on fire. 

  It was probably because they were friends. No one ever expects that one day they'd see their friend naked. Or maybe it was the embarrassment. 

   When Kaden blinked out of his thoughts, his friend was sitting on the other side of the bed, close to the night table. He was almost fully clothed, with his shirt rolled up to his chest as he applied some medicine to his wound.

   Curiosity got the best of Kaden and he shifted so that he could better look at the gash on Jason's torso. It looked like it was deep before the stitches. And if he didn't know better he would've assumed it was a stab wound, though he'd never seen one in person. 

   Well, Kaden did know better. So, it most likely was a stab wound. 

   "Did you get stabbed?" he asked, cutting into the silence.

   Jason didn't respond.

Oh, so they were back to this.

  He waited a beat, giving his friend time to respond. When he realised none was coming, he asked again. 

  "Hello?... Did you?"

  Jason turned to him with a glare, "Did you?"

"What kind of kindergarten response is that-" Kaden started before he followed the other boy's gaze. He then looked down and noticed that his new shirt from this morning was now stained red.