When death comes knocking at your door

Chapter 5

Keane walked down the stairs, yawning. He hadn't managed to get much sleep the previous night. All he could think about was Kai; the way Kai had held him in his arms, the way Kai's lips had touched his own, Kai's little smirk and the mischievous look in his eyes, those beautiful black eyes. He shook his head as all those thoughts flooded his head once more. As he entered the lobby, he saw him. He was laying on the couch and his right arm was covering his eyes, those expressive, beautiful, black like the abyss- "Snap out of it!" Keane shook his head again and sighed. Kai sat up and gave him a small smile. "Good morning, sir." Keane said. Kai let out a small laugh before saying "I thought I told you not to call me that.". Keane froze.

Did he remember? But how? Then Keane realized; Kai hadn't yet drunk from the bottle when the two had had that conversation. "Oh fuck. This means he remembers meeting me in the kitchen, and now he's gonna ask me questions and I'll have to tell him everything and-" Keane started overthinking, but got interrupted by Kai's voice. "Hey, um, do you remember telling me your name?" he said. "What?" Keane turned to look at him with a confused expression on his face. "Your name's Keane, right?" Kai said and Keane nodded. "Well, I know your name but I can't remember you ever telling me." Kai explained and Keane's tensed muscles relaxed a bit.

"Oh, um, I don't know, why does it matter?" Keane asked, trying not to sound suspicious, and Kai shrugged. "I just can't remember anything from last night and was hoping maybe you could enlighten me." he said, and Keane shook his head. "Ah no, we didn't meet at all last night." he rushed to say, biting his bottom lip nervously. Kai nodded and smiled. "It's ok, thanks anyway.". "Yeah, no problem." Keane said and turned around. He ran up the stairs and went straight to his friend's room, where he had left Oriel the night before.

He knocked on the door and almost immediately, the energetic girl opened it, full of excitement and with a wide smile across her face. She had her long hair in a thick, low braid. "Morning, redhead" Keane said with a laugh as soon as she opened the door. "Keane!" she jumped at him and squeezed him in a tight hug. Keane burst out laughing. "Ah, full of energy as always, I see." he said and the girl chuckled. "Hey, did you not sleep well?" her smile suddenly dropped, as she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Yeah no, I didn't get much sleep." Keane shrugged. The girl pouted. "You're not looking after yourself." she crossed her arms. Keane let out a small laugh and patted her head as he said "I've got you to take care of me.". He smirked and the smile made its way back to her lips. Her blue eyes pierced through his own purple ones as she said "Ah, immature as always, I see.", she mimicked his voice and smirked, as Keane burst out laughing once more.

"Are you two goofballs going to stand at the door for long?" Oriel emerged from the inside of the room with a laugh. She was limping on her right leg but she seemed to have gotten the rest she needed. They both turned to look at her and she gave them a smile. "Why don't you get your butts inside?" she suggested and the two friends shared a look before bursting into laughter again. Oriel gave them an amused look before grabbing them both by the ear and dragging them inside as they kept laughing. She closed the door behind them and rolled her eyes as she saw the two rubbing their slightly flushed ears.

"Are you guys done?" Oriel said after a while, "You haven't stopped laughing for what feels like ages.". "Sorry" the two mumbled with one last chuckle and then turned to look at her. "So, Keane, what brought you here this fine morning, other than your plans to ruin my peace and quiet?" Oriel asked, half-joking. Keane chuckled. "Right. I came to ask for a favor." he said and Oriel frowned. "From me?" she asked, confused. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure Kai will try and speak to you. If he asks about last night, could you not bring up my name? Tell him you never saw me?" Keane said, biting his bottom lip. "Sure ...?" Oriel replied and waited for some kind of explanation, but it never came. "Ok, um, thanks, I'll go now ..." Keane nervously pointed towards the door, giving his friend a look that said "Come and find me". Oriel noticed and sighed. "Have you eaten yet, Keane?" she asked. He shook his head no. "Ok then, you can stay here and I'll go down and grab something for us all to eat." she said and then added with a smirk "Don't worry, I'll take my time.". Keane let out a small laugh and mumbled a "thank you" as Oriel said "Come and find me if you're done before I return.". She then left the room, leaving the two friends alone.