breathe; tree bros

five

the words "i had a lot of fun yesterday" were on the tip of evan's tongue, but the bell cut him off.
he was kind of thankful, connor would have probably gotten weirded out and not have wanted to talk to him again.

the teacher walked in, and after taking registration, he was unable and not bothered to keep a tether on the class, relaxing back in to his chair and letting the group of obnoxious teenagers do what they want.

which is not what evan wanted. he didn't want to have to talk to connor again- it was too awkward. there was too much silence and not enough words.

but when he peered over at connor, he saw that he had his headphones in, and was scribbling away at a black notebook he often had tucked under his arm.

evan tapped him on the shoulder, and he pulled out a headphone, glancing expectantly.

"uh- what are you drawing?"

connor looked surprised for a moment before sitting back from his hunched over position, revealing an array of sketched flowers. some were coloured and others weren't, but all proved he had real talent. they were all delicately drawn in ink, growing in all areas the blank pages, blossoming and blooming in to others.

"these- they're really good, uh yeah. they're beautiful."

connor looked genuinely thankful and moved. his face was red and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"do you- do you just draw these? without like, pictures?"

"uh, yeah," connor lay his pen down on the table, "it's a stress thing. it helps, you should try it."

evan nodded, his eyes still scanning the paper. he was trying to imprint in his mind.

"you can look on the other pages if you want."

evan nodded in gratitude and got to work rifling through the whole notebook.

it wasn't just flowers he'd drawn, it was people too. he recognised zoe as one of them, and the others were unknown faces to evan, but were still strangely comforting. looking through the book made his heart flutter.

then there was a section of pages that were painted in water colour. the colours blended perfectly in to the others, slightly messy but it looked intended.

connor watched him all the while, his heart swelling at the sight of someone enjoying his drawings.

"u-uh thanks," he whispered before passing the book back to him.

connor chuckled at the small kid, finding him seemingly adorable at that moment in time.

"h-hey connor? i- think that you, uh, should put your drawings in to the schools a-art showcase, i might be way out of line, sorry that's so weird i just- i sound so obsessed oh my god-"

"it's a good idea, hansen. thanks for appreciating my drawings, nobody ever really does."

evan let out a breathe he wasn't aware he was holding. he recomposed himself.

"th-that's why you should enter them, so other people can, ya know, appreciate and enjoy them."

"you really think so?"

evan just nodded, his eyes wide.

the bell went, and connor tucked the notebook back in his bag. he offered to walk with evan to their next class, and asked him what he had.

"spanish? i think..."

"hey, i've got spanish too! we're in the same class?" evan nodded, "how did i not know?"

"i sit at the very back and i'm... not great at, like, participating in class."

"well today, i'll sit with you."

evan beamed. and connor kept his word, planting himself right next to evan's seat, glaring at his usual desk buddy until she left to find another seat.

-

"me gusta la marihuana."

"i like...wait... connor! no!"

connor chuckled at evan's disgusted expression, "what?! it's the truth!"

he laughed along and connor was slightly mesmerised by it. he liked how evan scrunched up his nose and closed his eyes, and only laughed silently.

"don't- don't write that in your book!"

the panic in his eyes just made connor laugh harder, his ribs beginning to hurt. he couldn't remember the last time he laughed this hard.

all thanks to this one god damn boy.