✔︎Baby | OT4

023

Rain is the sun crying, because it was betrayed by the moon. The sun happily disappearing behind a cloud or into night, free to feel it's sorrows. The fluffy, soft clouds accept him, a cozy blanket creating a protective cave to forget the world and all the problems in it.

The sun emits waves of warm kindness, but no matter how kind someone is, something that gentle destroys them from the inside out. They flame up in a violent mass of cruelty when they get too close. People slowly obliterate him, not allowing anyone too close to the sun, and when they leave, he's left lonely.

The moon left the sun, and the stars, without meaning to, followed. And maybe the sun was just meant to spend his life brightening others' lives, while his own is spent dying from the inside out.

—

Ashton painted quickly, with sweeping yellow and red strokes. He rapidly created a setting sun; an easy process, mostly consisting of artful blending. But, with the constant tears that streamed down his face, it was the best the artist could manage. That, and he was constantly pausing to sip from his slick black water bottle. The relentless crying dehydrated him quickly, causing a near constant headache, although that could've also sourced from his high blood pressure.

   An alternating whirlwind of panic, anxiety, and stress whipped through him, without pause in his waking hours. Sleeping and painting was his only escape, and he valued those few moments when his mind shut down, when he could forget his problems.

   Ashton continued, nearing the finishing of his artwork. He made the final touches, with small, gentle strokes of yellow to connect the red background with the bright sun.

   "That's really pretty." Michael's voice hit his ears, soft and delicate. Rena was skidding in a few moments later, her entire weight hitting the black-and-green haired lad's back. She winced immediately, while simultaneously attempting to drag Michael out of the bedroom.

   The brunette's eyes went wide, and he froze, the only movement a fresh tear slowly snaking down his cheek. Mikey took a tentative step forward, with the intention to comfort him, and hopefully make up. Ashton was practically throwing himself in the corner immediately, tears cascading down his face and head whipping back to hit the wall.

   The boy looked so panicked, with wide eyes and a mask of complete terror on his tanned features. It had Michael stepping back quickly, and Rena shooed him out with an indiscernible mess of high pitched chittering and whispers. Once the pale boy had left, Rena placed a soothing hand on Ash's shoulder.

   He glanced up with teary eyes, and the dark-haired girl wrapped the small boy in a hug. Ashton sunk into her grip easily, allowing the older girl to pet his curls and cuddle him sweetly. "It's okay, Ashy. It'll be okay."

   "I don't have any friends," the brunette whimpered. Rena's mouth opened slightly, with sadness and shock.

   "I'm your friend," she said delicately. "And by the way, you're my favorite. What the other guys did was horrible." Ashton glanced up in surprise, but his doubt was squished by a soft murmur from Casey.

   "I'm your friend, too."

   He stood in the doorway, gray sweater hanging off his frame. It obviously belonged to someone else, and Ashton was happy to focus his attention on that. The younger boy questioned it softly, whispering a shaky, "Who's sweater is that?"

   Casey blushed immediately, fingers flying to the soft fabric that made his orbs lighten with fondness. Pressing his lips together in thought, the dark brunette-haired boy traced over a small letter stitched on the inside of his sleeve. "Caleb," he murmured softly.

   "Ooh," Rena said excitedly, dragging her mate to sit near Ashton. "I had a trig test today, I deserve something good. Tell us all the juicy details." She curled into Ash's side, petting his tresses absentmindedly. Though the teenager had stopped crying, and looked content to listen to Casey's story, the pain seemed to be a constant in his eyes. Rena kept him cuddled close, while looking at the older boy expectantly.

   "I met him at a coffee shop. He works at Starbucks," Casey started. "He's really cute," the boy added, cheeks flaming a dark red. His female best friend chuckled, and tossed a pillow at the boy's mane of hair.

   "My baby's in love," she teased, clapping with matte black finger-nailed hands. "So, how long have you known each other? Dating, exclusive, have you done the do?" She listed off questions at an alarming velocity, but Casey was used to her top-speed way of speaking.

   "We met a few months ago, and talked online a lot. We've gone on a few dates, and um," Casey paused, biting his soft lower lip before speaking again. "We made out a few days ago, in the back of his car. And I might've sucked him off when we first met, but that doesn't count," he added.

   "You slut!" Rena gasped excitedly, hugging her best friend happily. The word had Ashton shrinking back, wretched flashbacks of the last time he'd attended QCT High whipping through his mind. It had the seventeen-year-old fighting back tears, but, he was able to keep them in. It was an improvement, helped along by the fact that Casey continued speaking.

"Shut up," he laughed. "He insisted he wanted to date a five foot girl with too much lipstick. He was wrong," the eighteen-year-old smiled. "A demiromantic pan is more his thing."

   "So his thing is your thing?" Rena said suggestively.

   Ashton giggled adorably.

    im on spring break now, hellz yeah