𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

003. everything was fine

NOBODY KNEW THAT THEY HAD BROKEN UP. How could they?

All of King's High School watched Naoki Mae and Illias Cross the way America watched the British royal family, but who could know the inner workings of the crown? Certainly not the common people. Especially not when they were a continent away. And the student body of King's was at the very least a continent away from Naoki and Illias, who seemed to live on an entirely separate realm.

Yes, everything was fine, and Illias was very good at pretending so. He had searched up ways to remove the puffiness from his eyes, digging spoons out of the utensil drawer and letting them sit in the freezer before rubbing them over his eyelids. He'd downed two bottles of 5 Hour Energy (now he'd have ten hours, right?), and now nobody would be able to tell he'd spent the whole night awake. He couldn't bare to see her in his dreams.

He put on black baggy pants and a black hoodie, sliding on silver rings along his knuckles. He was mourning, in a sense, so black felt right. He dragged a brush through his hair while he brushed his teeth, staring at himself in the mirror, wondering how to get rid of the dark circles under his brown eyes.

His phone buzzed.

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Atticus Mae

concealer, in fenty shade banana.
your front desk.

thanks. how'd you know?

naoki told me you'd need some.
she had it delivered.

tell her i said thanks

tell her yourself.

i'll try. thanks, atticus

sure.

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Scrubbing a hand over his eyes, Illias sighed. It seemed so loud in his huge apartment, echoing off white marble countertops and soaring penthouse windows.

Something mewed at his feet, and he felt warm fur across the tops of his toes. He crouched down to rub the head of his tabby cat, Duck.

"Hey, buddy," Illias murmured. "Hungry?"

Duck mewed again, and spat something out at his feet. A strawberry-shaped hair clip, the one Naoki used to put in Duck's fur every morning before leaving for school. She'd spent so many nights here, he couldn't remember the first time she'd done it.

Illias smiled weakly. "That's right. Your hair clip. Here, sit still."

He pinned the clip in place, over Duck's ear, but it hung wrong, pulling on his fur. Duck mewed, distressed, but let it hang.

Illias bumped his nose. "Right. Time for school. Your food's in it's bowl. I'll see you later, Ducky."

Duck meowed and slunk away, strawberry dangling from his ear.

Maybe everything wasn't fine.

NAOKI WOKE UP ALONE, and it scared her. Everything she had imagined came true. It crashed over her like a wave, knocking her off her feet, tossing her about and flooding down her lungs.

She'd managed to sleep last night, the first night alone. Her head still ached from the party, a mixture of poor sleep, alcohol and crying into her pillow. She hoped she would see him in her dreams, maybe explain herself, and hope that he would ask for her back. Instead, he was nowhere to be found, and that was more lonely than any empty bed could've been.