A blurry-eyed Ezra was waiting for me when I returned to the apartment that afternoon. "Hey," I said. He grunted as he rummaged through the pantry. I walked over to the kitchen and leaned on the counter. "How was your nap?"
Ezra shrugged as he poured Lucky Charms into a bowl. The yellow-tinted overhead light accentuated dark circles beneath his eyes. He rarely seemed older than I was– twenty-seven seemed like such an drastic number to me– but in that moment, I was very aware of his age. He didn't speak as he mechanically went through the motions of getting milk for his cereal.
"Are you alright?" I asked after a great deal of silence.
"Yes." He sounded annoyed.
"You sure?" For a split second, his narrowed gaze flickered up to me. "Geeze, nevermind," I mumbled, taken aback by his attitude. "Fuck me for being concerned, I guess."
"Nothing to be concerned about," he stated. He went to take a spoon out of the silverware drawer, but the utensil slipped out of his grip and fell to the floor. He cursed through his teeth.
I picked at my fingernails as Ezra ate Lucky Charms in deliberate silence. It felt like I'd been transported back in time to when I started at Vita-Mart and he refused to give me the time of day. "So, you take a vow of silence or something?" I asked. He glared at me over his bowl. "Guess so."
"We can't all be rays of fucking sunshine," he said through a mouthful of cereal.
"Yeah, I guess some of us feel the need to be actual black holes," I shot back. "By the way, you're welcome for saving your ass at work today."
"I didn't need saving."
"Oh, yeah, because Ryan definitely wouldn't take any excuse to get you fired, right?" I said sarcastically.
Like a teenager that was sick of his mom's pestering, he rolled his eyes and started to walk to his room. However, his march of angst was interrupted by a knock at the door. He sighed as he begrudgingly set down his cereal.
"Hey!" Ezra exclaimed as he answered the door, a familiar brightness to his voice. "I forgot 'Nette mentioned you might come through."
"Ez, let me tell you, some days I'm not sure if I'm her brother or her personal shopper," said Vinny, entering the apartment with a few grocery bags on his arms. "I told her I was coming up and she was like, 'great, I'm out with Mills, so can you grab some food for dinner tonight?' Oh, hey, Milo. Didn't see you there." I waved, pulse climbing.
Ezra crossed his arms. "She's ridiculous. I could've ran out to buy stuff instead." While you're in this shitty of a mood? Yeah right, I thought bitterly.
"Psh, it's no big deal," Vinny said. "Besides, you need to save your arm strength for lifting ten-ton boxes of vegetables." He lightly pinched Ezra's forearm. Uncomfortable heat surged up my throat.
"So did you come into town for any special reason?" I blurted out, desperate to divert attention.
Vinny shrugged. "Just wanted to hang. But considering how our nights usually go, I figured we'd hit Rock Bottom." He smiled. Ezra smiled. I tried to force a smile. With the arrival of Vinny, Ezra's steely facade hid behind a sugar-coated surface, and I hated every ounce of positivity in his body.
Lynette came back soon after, too hopped up to think about making dinner with the ingredients Vinny brought home. Instead, she pushed us all into heading straight to the bar, promising to buy rounds of chicken wings and fries. She was in rare form, and after eventually admitting that Millie had ditched her to video chat with her overseas boyfriend, it all made sense. She made a couple solo bathroom trips within an hour at Rock Bottom. Before she could dive in for her third round, Vinny pulled her outside for a cigarette instead.
YOU ARE READING
Broken Carts ✔️
Romance(M/M, COMPLETE) After Milo is forced to drop out and work at his hometown grocery store, his jaded coworker becomes interested in him. Together, they lose themselves in the beginnings of their alcohol-soaked downward spiral.
