The Kaden Complex

48

Stop pushing people away.

   Kaden heard Alex's words echoing at the back of his head as he walked down the hallway of the third floor. He was going to take her advice.

   Or at least he was going to try.

   His knuckles rapped against the mahogany door that was now in front of him and he waited somewhat patiently for a reply. Barely ten seconds had passed before the door opened swiftly and was replaced by Jason Long in all his glory.

   He stood in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob and the other running through his dark hair. He looked as intimidating and tattooed as ever and Kaden's eyes seemed to trick him into thinking that there were more tattoos covering his arms than before. He knew that wasn't the case though, because over time he had subconsciously memorised all the ink that decorated Jason's skin.

  The brunet's eyebrows raised slightly once his eyes landed on Kaden as if he didn't expect him to show up by his room any time soon after their last conversation. Just by looking at the man before him, Kaden felt his stomach swirl warmly and he internally scolded his hormones.

   "Yo," he greeted before wincing awkwardly.

    It was such a 2019-Kaden way to initiate a conversation and the vision of himself as nothing more than a high school 'playboy/cool guy' flashed before his eyes and made him want to facepalm.

   "Can I come in?" he tried to recover. Jason gave him nothing more than a simple nod before he opened the door wider to let him in.

   Once they were both inside the room with the door completely shut, Kaden started his apology. He hadn't thought about what he was going to say beforehand so it all mostly came out as a discombobulated word-vomit.

"What I said the other day was super insensitive and I didn't mean it. Well I did mean it then, but I thought about it and saw how stupid I was being and so I don't mean it anymore and I want to take it back even though I know it's not the kind of thing that you can just take back. But I really want to. I was being selfish and I wasn't listening to your very valid concerns and I just snapped at you for practically no reason and I'm sorry."

   The expression on the taller boy's face was blank as if everything that Kaden was saying was going through one ear and coming out the other.

   But just as the blond boy was about to completely regret showing up at his door, Jason's lips pursed in deliberation and then softly, in almost a whisper, uttered the word, "No."