pretty boy

6.

Yeah, my updates have become pretty irregular...

To describe the inside of the diner using one word would be hard, unless you simply used the word 'home.' At night, the walls lit up with neon lights and the place became a dance hall, but during the day it was simply a place to get lunch. The walls were pale blue, and the vinyl booths were a cheerful cherry red with the color worn off in some places. The floor was a stereotypical checkerboard black and white, and all of the waiters and waitresses that helped Zola and Aliyah out wore cute aprons and the typical shirt you'd see in an 80's diner.

As soon as Carson crossed the threshold into the haven of vinyl and shades of blue, he found himself nearly toppling over with the force of the child that had latched themself to his leg. Thank goodness for Kell, who wrapped an arm around his waist and steadied him back on his feet. Blushing furiously, Carson thanked him before smiling down at the child attached to him.

"Hey, JJ," The little boy beamed up at him with his grin missing his two front teeth. He babbled some nonsense mixed in with the word 'Car' (this is what he called Carson and he simply loved cars) before waddling over to Kell to clutch at his combat boots. Kell grinned and swept the giggling toddler up into a hug.

"Hey, bud! Where's your momma?" At that, JJ broke into an endless stream of "Momomomomom," and reached towards a tall, beautiful woman striding towards them with a confident smile.

"Hey, guys! We missed y'all last time around," Carson grinned and hugged Aliyah.

"Yeah, Kell here was late picking me up," Carson said, earning a playful scowl from Kell, who let the flailing child in his arms down so he could scamper over to his mother. Aliyah cooed at the boy and scooped him under one arm, earning hysterical giggles from JJ and 'awes' from nearby customers.

"Usual table, right? And I'm assuming Emilia will want a kids menu?" Carson nodded in affirmation as he plopped down into their usual window seat, Kell and Emilia close behind him.

"Alright. I know that you and Kell will want cheeseburgers with a side of fries, chocolate milkshake for Carson and strawberry for Kell, but Emilia doesn't come here too often. You need a minute to decide, sweetheart?" Aliyah asked, pen poised above her notepad as JJ slowly slid down one of her legs, trying to make his way to the floor without her noticing. Emilia shook her head and started rattling off her order in Italian. Carson smiled apologetically at Aliyah.

"Sorry, she knows English perfectly well but decides to be an uppity snob sometimes. She wants what I ordered but an Oreo milkshake instead of chocolate," Carson said softly, brushing some of Emilia's curly dark hair out of her eyes. She was like Carson in the way that they both refused to cut their hair or take care of it, so hers reached her waist while Carson's would be below his chest if it was straightened.

"It's no problem, bud," Aliyah said with a grin. "Alright, your orders should be out in a few." With that, she tugged JJ off of her leg and into her arms and walked off towards the kitchen. Kell turned to Carson and smirked as though he knew something Carson didn't.

"...What?" Carson mumbled, feeling self-conscious. Kell's smirk grew and he reached forward to tap Carson's nose. Carson blinked, mildly startled.

"I heard a certain young lady has a little crush on our boy here, Em," Kell said. Emilia grinned.

"She has my name!" Emilia squealed, and Carson stared at her for a second.

"Hold up, where was that English when we were ordering?" He demanded, and Emilia only grinned sheepishly. "And Carrie told you guys?" Now it was Kell's turn to shrug and give Carson a sheepish smile.

"What can I say? I gotta keep tabs on my best friend's relationships," Carson frowned. Best friend, of course. And probably nothing more, ever.

"Carson?" Emilia murmured, and Carson turned to face her.

"Sorry, got lost in thought," He mumbled. "And I don't even know Emmie that well, why would I date her?" Kell shrugged.

"I dunno. But would you date her?" There was a strange lilt to Kell's voice as he said this, but Carson dismissed it. Probably nothing, anyways.

"Not sure. Maybe, if she asked me out, but I don't really have feelings for her."

"Oh, ok," Kell mumbled, sounding strangely dejected. Carson grinned.

"Why, do you like her? You jealous?" It hurt Carson to even think about that, but it was a possibility.

"W-What? No, I don't like her!" Kell yelped, drawing the attention of nearby customers. Carson shushed him and smirked.

"You sure? You're being pretty defensive."

"Yeah!" Emilia piped up. "In all of mamma's books, the boy is defensive when he secretly loves the girl, because he is afraid that she will find out and reject him!" She said cheerfully, sipping at her milkshake, which a waiter had brought over while the three of them were distracted.

"Wait, what are you doing reading mamma's books? They have explicit scenes!" Carson whisper-yelled. Emilia shrugged.

"Mamma has me check her spelling, but she makes me skip those parts." Carson sighed, tugging on a strand of his hair. He would have to ask his mother about that later.

"Alright boys and girl, we've got three cheeseburgers with three sides of fries!" Aliyah exclaimed as she strode up to their table, tray in hand and Zola by her side.

"Hey, Zola!" Carson said as he got up to hug her. Her silvery-gray hair was down to today, framing her kind face beautifully. The woman smiled and hugged him back before turning to Kell, who'd gotten up as well.

"Hey, you two! We missed y'all last time," Zola said, gently flicking Kell's forehead.

"Ow," Kell said in a monotone, obviously not in pain. "Yeah, we didn't have any time to get here because of school." Zola smiled as they sat back down.

"Well, you're here now. We'll leave y'all to eat, I can practically see the stars in your eyes as you look at that burger." Zola said with a smirk, heading back to the kitchen and ushering Aliyah along with her.

Oof, long chapter today. At least for me because I'm lazy lol