Hush, Hush \\ KELLIC BOYXBOY

7

Three weeks went by of me "resting," I used the term loosely. I managed to talk my teachers into letting me do classes online. Fortunately my work let me cut down my hours for a while. I was surprised at how flexible they were considering I only just starting working, but apparently Valerie, my boss, had taken a liking to me and wanted to keep me around. She's married, so it wasn't a crush. She just wanted to give me an opportunity because I told her how difficult it was for me to keep a job. It took a bit of grovelling but I got there in the end.

Other than working three times per week for just five hours each time, I spent the rest of the time at home. Oliver was being unusually kind. He didn't yell at me. He didn't hit me. He was the perfect boyfriend. Part of me was suspicious about him, but I could also see through his act. He was insecure about losing me to Vic, so he was trying to act sweeter than honey to keep me around. I wasn't going to complain about it though. These past few weeks have been some of the best of our relationship.

I hadn't seen Vic at all during those few weeks, but that was about to change. I was at work when I saw him. He was walking past. I noticed him through the windows before he saw me and I did the stupid thing of trying to hide behind the cash register. Valerie simply had to look at me like I was crazy before I acted normal again. I couldn't avoid Vic forever, so I stood up nervously. He looked inside and the second he saw me he smiled and came in.

"Hey, you," he said, walking up to the counter.

"Hi," I replied with a fake smile.

"I haven't seen you around for a few weeks," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, bed rest and all," I muttered.

"Yeah, so how are you feeling?" he asked. Why the hell does he have to care so much? Truthfully I was feeling okay. There was still a dull ache to my ribs but I barely noticed it on the most part.

"I'm fine. Are you going to order something or...?" I questioned. He sighed and looked up at the chalk board behind me with the menu on it.

"Sure. I'll get a grilled cheese," he said.

"To eat here, or to go?" I asked.

"Here," he said. I bit my tongue. I didn't want him to stick around. When he's around me, bad things happen. It was smarter to stay away.

"Okay, that'll be $4.70," I said after putting it through the register. He pulled some money out of his pocket, gave it to me and I gave him some change. He smiled awkwardly then went and sat down to wait for it so I could deal with other customers.

The dinging behind me indicated other customer's food was ready. Sure, we were primarily a café, but we also did food. I took it over to some of the other customers and I was well aware of Vic watching my every move. I didn't understand what he was playing at. Why is he trying so hard to thrust himself into my life? Why isn't he at home with his boyfriend? I just didn't understand.

Vic's order was ready. I cursed the fact that we were short staffed today. I would have loved to pawn off Vic's order to one of the others, but since they were all busy, I had to grab it and take it over. I placed the meal down in front of him and was about to walk away when he spoke.

"I'm glad I've finally caught you. I've come by almost every day and you haven't been here," he said.

"Why?" I asked in confusion. Why would he go through the trouble?

"To check up on you," he said like it was obvious.

"No...why though? Why go through that much effort to talk to me?" I asked.