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"QUÉ CARAJO PASÓ?"
I stood up abruptly as Christian rushed over, noticing his best friend wasn't in the best state. Nano smiled weakly, eyes still closed as Christian leaned over him, looking between the pair of us before grabbing my arm and pulling me into the kitchen. Unlike the last time we were here, where we were so intimate and close, we now stood at opposite ends of the kitchen, the door closed so we wouldn't bother Nano. The distance between us was noticeable and almost awkward, so when Christian walked over to stand beside me, I was thankful.
"Cómo estás? Sé que ha pasado un tiempo desde que hablamos. Lo siento, es mi culpa." I frowned at his words, which were definitely not what I expected when I had been dragged into the kitchen. He looked genuinely apologetic, and when I approached him, I think he half expected me to slap him. By the look of surprise on his face, what he didn't expect, was for me to hug him, which is exactly what I did. I wrapped my arms around him, embracing him tightly, realizing how much I missed my best friend. I felt him nuzzle his head into my shoulder, and I felt a breath of air hit my neck as he sighed in relief. "Está bien. Todo está bien. Cómo es tu relación con Carla?" I said as we finally pulled apart, with me glancing at Nano on the sofa every now and then, checking he was still alive I guess. He frowned at the mention of Carla, shrugging slightly. "Sólo soy un extra. Se aman. Realmente no sé dónde estoy parado." He said, and I rubbed his shoulder, attempting to somewhat comfort him. As I went to leave the kitchen, promising him things would get better, and that I was always here, he stopped me for a moment, curiosity present on his face. "What were you and Nano doing together? You looked close." His voice quietened as he spoke the little English he knew, and I frowned in response, thinking about what to say. "Nothing. We're friends. Leave it at that." I said, not wanting a big argument since we've only barely started talking again, and I would rather it last longer than five minutes.
Walking back into the front room, I glanced up at the clock, noticing the time and realizing that Nano's mother would be home soon. "Mierda," I muttered, just as Christian lit up a joint as he made his way to the door. "I'm going to ask around, see if I can get this money somehow," Christian spoke, blowing smoke into the front room as he left, leaving me to panic as to how I was going to get Nano into his room so his mother wouldn't see him like this. Turning back to the boy in the leather jacket, I tapped his shoulder slightly, and he mumbled some form of response. I shook his arm slightly, trying to get his attention, and he slowly opened his eyes, pain hidden in his brown orbs. His expression changed to a weak smile that we both knew wasn't fooling anyone as I first began slowly lifting him from his position on the sofa, at least trying to sit him up. He winced in pain, and for a second I reconsidered getting him up, not wanting to hurt him. Shaking the thought away, I grabbed his arm, wrapping it around my neck in an effort to balance him. However, instead of holding him up, he seemed to have lost all strength and almost flopped down onto the floor, but I somehow saved him and managed to successfully drag him into his room, where he finally began to help me, working together at last.
"Sorry Nano, didn't want your mother to see you like this." I said as he muttered complaints under his breath, causing him to go wide eyed, realising his complaints were for nothing and that I actually did him a favour. I left a glass of water on the table beside him, and a jug to refill the glass. Hurrying back to the front room, I noticed the time and realised I would need to be awake for school in under six hours. I peered into Nano's room, noticing his eye closed, and I quickly scribbled out a note, scrawling the words 'If you need me, call me." across the open page of his notebook by his bed, before grabbing my blazer and leaving, just as their mother walked in the door. I quickly rushed to my apartment, a small part of me wishing my parents were home, so I could be smothered in cuddles as I told them about my day. But I knew if that had any idea what things were like at home, they wouldn't be impressed.
Immediately, as my head hit my pillows, my eyes slowly shut, and within minutes (maybe even seconds) I was asleep.
The next morning I took a long stroll to school, listening to music to wake me up and get me in a good mood. The morning air was cool and refreshing, allowing me to go over recent events in my head, well not for long. "Boo!" I jumped out of my skin as Christian's face came in to view, surprising me, almost scaring me to death. "Jesus. You scared me!" I said, hitting his arm repeatedly, as he laughed at my reaction. He began running away from me, as I chased after him down the road, still trying to hit him. By the time we arrived to the little bridge across to school, we had made up, with me finally catching him and getting an apology after tickling him so much he couldn't take it.
As we walked in, we went our separate ways, with him running off to Carla and Polo, leaving me to walk with Nadia, Samuel and Marina who were just ahead of me. "Hola!" I called out as I walked a little faster to catch up with them, hugging them each as I said good morning. "Cómo está tu hermano?" I asked, and Samuel shook his head, his hand interlocking with Marina's. "He's okay. Just worried. Cuanto más te alejes do él y sis asuntos, mejor. Hazme caso." He said, and I rolled my eyes, just as Marina began explaining how she wanted to help cause she loves Samu, and she knows Samu loves Nano. Truthfully, she wanted to protect Nano, and it was clear that them sleeping together after Samuel's party clearly meant something. I walked away just as I heard Samuel admit to Marina that Nano wanted to steal papers from her fathers safe, coincidentally just as I received a text from Nano himself. Marina stormed past me, as if realising maybe Nano's reasons for getting with her weren't innocent.
I noticed the quiet around me and I realised that I was alone, and that everyone had split up. As the bell rung, I headed into my classroom, hoping the day would go by fast so I could get some rest, as the bags under my eyes were looking more prominent as the days went by, and soon enough I'd end up looking like a zombie. As Martin walked into the classroom, he looked a bit unhappy, but he began the class regardless, and I felt my eyes fluttering close as tiredness took over.
