In The Pursuit of Success

Arcades & Anger

Since I've been so bad with updating this story, I figured I'd give you guys a somewhat longer chapter!

This one's more on the serious side – but I promise there'll be lighter chapters later.

Hope you enjoy this all the same! Even with all the uh…Angst?

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"Kye…It's not what it looked like, okay? We just…We were–," Trish starts, unsure of what exactly to say. She hadn't planned on any of this occurring. She isn't quite sure how it even started. One second, she's ready to smack Dez upside the head for not explaining himself, and the next – she has her lips locked with his.

"–No! No, Trish. I'm going to have to stop you right there," Kye asserts, his tone harder than Trish has ever heard it being before. She looks at him with worried eyes. I can't lose him over this. He's been too good to me.

"Kye, it didn't mean anything," she continues to plead. Dez stays silent, pulling himself out of his sleeping bag. He sits cross-legged upon the ground, eyes trained on his hands resting in his lap. Didn't mean anything, Dez replays her words in his head – wincing. Ouch.

"Trish. Don't say stuff like that, okay? You're hurting him," Kye says softly, gesturing to the redhead. Trish quirks a brow at him. Dez looks up at the other boy, as well – honestly quite shocked by Kye's regard for him.

"Why do you care about how Dez is feeling?" Trish questions him.

"Why don't you?" the Laotian boy retaliates, taking his baseball cap off of his head. Dez give him a small smile, appreciating his concern.

"Maybe I shoulda kissed you," Dez jokes, finally speaking up. Kye chuckles, glad to know that Trish hadn't entirely destroyed the guy.

Trish knits her brows together in confusion, looking back and forth between the two boys. "Okay – yeah, I'm going for a walk." She jumps off of her bed, grabs a robe and slips on some fuzzy slippers. Kye puts his cap back onto his head then walks over to her and places a firm hand on her shoulder. She turns to face him, exasperated by the whole ordeal. "What–?"

"–Trish," Kye stops her. "Look, I can't say I didn't see this coming. Cause I kinda did. Yeah, I'm…Upset. I mean, who wouldn't be? I do like you. But…"

"Kye – I'm telling you, it meant nothing. I don't know, maybe it was just me feeling guilty for breaking his nose," she explains, pulling her shoulder away, causing his hand to fall back beside him. Dez's frown returns, the hurt flooding him once again. Nothing. It meant nothing, her words continue to chant in his mind.

"You broke his nose?!" Kye exclaims, jaw dropping – his breath caught for few moments. He looks back over at Dez, focusing on the injury. "Is that why he's got those bandages? Trish, I can't believe you!" his voice continues to escalate in volume. It isn't like him to speak so loudly, but being in the astonished state that he's currently in, he doesn't have much control over his voice.

"Hey, it was his fault!" Trish defends herself. "He kept clinging to me and whining like a brat." Dez pulls his knees towards him, gripping them for comfort. Why is she saying all this? Sure, it's not as if her insulting him is anything new, but with everything that's happened…

"Trish, I just…I'm sorry. I can't go out with you anymore," Kye affirms.

"What?!" she shouts back at him. "Kye, you know how I am. I thought you liked me for my assertiveness."