It Wasnt My Fault (DNF)

Part 2: Chapter 26

Astro pov

~flashback(he's around 17)

I'd been friends with Ken for about five years now, and the feelings in my gut didn't disperse as we climbred through the grades together.

The funny thing was, I didn't want them to.

We were walking down the street towards the small convenience store he worked at, laughing and talking softly.

The brunette beside me had softened up a considerable amount, opening up to me as much as I knew he ever would with someone outside of his family.

He was a lot calmer, not as uptight and tense when he spoke to me, and his words flowed out of his mouth loosely, caught in the accent I loved.

In the years we had known each other, a fond expression had continually fallen to his face whenever our eyes met, his mouth always twerking into a passionate smile.

And, boy, had I grown to love that smile.

It was reserved only to me, I knew.

I wanted him to be reserved only to me.

"Alright, what pet has captured your deep, heartfelt desire now?" Ken asked, his hand swinging idly beside mine, sending shocks climbing up my arm and a deep blush creeping onto my cheeks that I would continue to blame on the growing cold of the January evening.

I never liked Ken working the night shift at the store as it wasn't in the best neighborhood to begin with, and because I knew I would worry for him all night if I wasn't there, I'd opted to walking him to and from his job at night.

It was one of the only times I got him to myself.

At school he was busy with his studies, the teachers picking on him because of his scruffy clothing and closed-off nature.

Other times he was at home, tending to a brother whose name I'd never known and most recent facials I hadn't seen.

Ken wouldn't have let me.

He was secretive, but despite the truths he kept from my knowing, I trusted him wholeheartedly, and it saddened me to know that he did the same even with the secret of my own I was keeping.

I knew it was obvious I was keeping secrets from Ken.

I never stayed with him durring his work hours despite his insistence and pleads for me to. I tried to ignore his scrutinizing gaze as I walked away from him, leaving my only friend alone to make money so could provide for the only person he seemed to deem family.

I would always be his friend.

It seemed I'd never be family.

I'd never be his boyfriend.

Because by now I knew. I loved Ken.

I was just too afraid to admit to it.

So I would show it.

I grasped discreetly at the hand of the boy beside me, squeezing it gently so he wouldn't know it.

I felt alive, but my heart almost combust as he squeezed back, giving me that wide, close lipped smile he always did. The smile that gave me hope that he could one day like me back.

"Yeah, there's not really one pet that's stolen my heart right now. More like a couple." I say, looking anywhere but at the light-haired teen at my side to avoid showing him my burning blush.