His Muse

Love-struck idiot feat. idiot stray cats

Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved

Nic went to the bank the next day and deposited the checks. If he was going to take shit from Ronan, he might as well get paid for it. The roses were still alive and well, if only slightly crowded in that vase. He started taping them upside down against the walls to dry straight, and it was at this time that Leo came strolling in. "Um... what's goin' on with you?" Leo asked, surveying the roses lining their walls.

"Oh, just... drying some roses. So I can burn them. Probably get some cool-ass pictures," Nic confessed as he ripped a piece of masking tape in two. "We might have a wall of roses for a few weeks."

"Isn't that just perfect," Leo laughed. "Olivia will probably think it's cool. She's fascinated by your art, by the way."

"A loyal fan. I like it."

"Don't get too cocky."

"What was that? Oh, yes, I'm the greatest artist alive. I have the hottest boyfriend on campus. And I'm the most gorgeous, beautiful man you'll ever see," Nic boasted, brushing his knuckles against his chest just before being shoved in the shoulder by Leo for his arrogance.

Nic went back to humming the lyrics of the song he had playing from the speakers, and let his hips sway mindlessly—probably off-beat but he couldn't care less. It didn't take long for Leo to comment on it.

"You've been oddly cheerful lately," Leo commented.

Nic knew exactly what he could attribute that to. He'd been in a daze trying to remember how the kiss went, how it felt, but in all honesty... he couldn't care less. He'd try to concentrate harder next time, instead of let his brain flit around like that during the few-second kiss. Whatever the case, he couldn't seem to stop himself from being giddy about it.

His chest felt light as he said, "Yeah. Kieran and I had our first kiss."

"You and Kieran had your first kiss?" Leo repeated, and Nic nodded, turning back to the wall with all the roses. "Really? How was it?"

"I can't remember."

"You can't remember?" Nic shook his head. "Why can't you remember?"

"I dunno. Just can't. I'm super happy about it though. We were at the greenhouse and it was perfect and Sav wouldn't let me rant about it, and I don't have that many details to spill anyways, but... It was incredible. He was perfect. He's growing succulents from Africa for me," he explained, beaming all the while. "I never knew I wanted succulents from Africa until he started telling me all about them. They're the cutest things and super easy to take care of apparently."

"You've never owned a succulent."

"No, I've just seen them online and stuff, and on, like, Ellen's Instagram. She has a lot of aesthetic pictures of succulents," he said. "She also has a lot of pictures of Kieran and sometimes I just stare at them for hours before going to sleep—"

"Holy shit I did not need to know that," Leo breathed out unsteadily, turning away a fraction so he could unpack his backpack. "And rationally, I thought Olivia and I were bad but this is just a whole new level. Just you in general—I'm gonna be real with you for a sec and say that just you in general have the most bizarre way of showing affection and that's probably a good thing for Kieran."

"Um, thanks? I guess?" Nic chuckled, and added, "I barely slept at all last night if I'm being completely honest. Like, I've fantasized about kissing Kieran before and now I don't even know if any of them came true."

"Okay, now I understand where Sav is coming from when she says that sometimes you have no filter." Before Nic could even consider that as an insult, Leo continued, "And anyways, I'm completely serious—if you can't get to sleep, tell me and I'll give you some melatonin gummies."