The Paths We Take [boyxboy]

The Paths We Take {7}

                Sleepless night was an understatement.

                I dozed off once, but I rolled over and accidentally hit a water bottle. At the sound of it rolling and hitting his chair, Aaron had shot up in bed, hands swinging out to hit any possible intruder.

                I had pretended to stay asleep, despite the vicious pounding of my heart, positive he was actually going to come over and attack me.

                But Aaron had simply turned his lights on, made sure no one was in his room, and gotten out of bed. He'd shoved his window open and sat on the ledge of it, body dangerously half in and half out.

                He'd reached for a cigarette, arms shaking when he realized he didn't have any. Instead, he dug his nails into his arms until his hands stopped trembling.

                But he hadn't gone back to bed. Not until two minutes his alarm went off.

                He'd slowly moved away from the window, shutting it and locking it. He'd sat on his bed, letting his alarm blare for a minute before turning it off.

                His dad had coffee ready for anyone in the family that needed it, but made sure he had tea ready for Aaron. I'd gratefully downed a mug of coffee.

                Now Aaron and I were walking into the school, and I knew I was in for a shit show with Lily. Oh, boy, was she going to kill me.

                Because I was currently wearing Aaron's clothes. He was a little slimmer than me, but his clothes still fit me alright.

                He'd told me to just grab a change of clothes off his floor, saying that they were all clean. So I'd grabbed some shorts and a T-shirt, feeling a little odd about it.

                Aaron didn't have a particular style. His clothes were bland, dull colors and mostly solid shirts with no images or writing on them. I preferred to be neatly dressed and presentable, maybe because I used to copy David when I was growing up.

                I followed the Kizziar brothers and Vic into the school. Aaron had shorts and a long sleeve shirt on, both of us having showered the smell of chlorine off this morning.

                "Kaz!"

                I sighed, wondering why Lily had to be so damn reckless. Aaron didn't like her. Why couldn't she wait until I was away from him before coming over to me? I would've gone to find her.

                She came up to me, crossing her arms. "I brought you clean clothes."

                Aaron slung his arm over my shoulders. "Can you see?" He gestured to my body. "He's wearing clean clothes."

                "I brought him his own clothes," Lily said, glaring at Aaron. "You dress like a moody eighth grader. Kaz always dresses like he's ready to meet the president."

                Aaron's smiled turned dangerous. "Moody eighth grader?"

                "She's kidding," I said, rolling my eyes.

                "I'm not kidding. I bet he still shops at Hot Topic," Lily scoffed. She took my clothes out of her bag and tossed them at me. "Here, stuff them in your locker or change into them. But I'm not carrying them all day, Casimir."