Hearts Crossing [A Remile Story]

Apartment [3]

 Remy watched the train car doors shut. He wasn't sure why Emile had been so nice to him. He had no reason to be. Not many people were very friendly towards a single dad scrambling around all the time to get things done.

"Da?"

"Yeah?"

"Dis us." Kai pointed at the door. Remy had been so lost in thought that he hadn't realized they were at their stop. He stood up and started settling Kai on his hip again, just as the doors started to close again.

"Shit!"

Remy nearly dove out of that train car. He tripped over his own feet, stumbling forward. Kai clung to their dad tightly as he regained his balance.

"Sorry, kiddo!"

"Is otay."

"Let's get you home."

-------

Remy pushed open the door to his tiny, one-room apartment. Directly on the left was a rickety queen-sized bed. At the foot of the bed was a chest that held all of their clothes. To the right was a makeshift kitchen consisting of a microwave, a toaster, and a minifridge. In the back right corner of the apartment was a blanket laid out on the floor that served at their couch, table, and sometimes bed when Remy wasn't feeling well and didn't want to get Kai sick. There was a laundromat that the other tenants could use and public restrooms in the hallway. That was all Remy and his child had to come home to.

He set Kai down on the bed and ruffled their hair.

"How does your chest feel? Better?"

"A little..."

"Good. What do you want for supper?"

"Does we have cheese sammich?"

"I think so..." Remy checked the minifridge to see if they had any cheese left. Sure enough there were a couple slices left from that week's groceries. "Yep! You want a toasted cheese sandwich?"

"Mh-hm." Kai nodded.

"Then you'll get exactly that." Remy handed Kai a small collection of some action figures that he had found online for very cheap. Kai started playing with them while Remy made them supper.

-------

That night, when Kai was fast asleep in bed, Remy found himself unable to sleep. Even though it had been a relatively easy day, he felt like a complete failure. He wasn't able to make enough money to afford a nice place to live, he was always running late, and he couldn't even figure out how to help his child.

Nothing was going right.

The word was conspiring against him.

First he lost his love, and now he was losing everything else.

He couldn't do this anymore.

He couldn't take it anymo-

"Da?"

Remy was torn from his thoughts by the sound of Kai's little voice. Apparently they had woken up. He rolled over to face them, hoping that the dark would conceal his teary eyes.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Is you otay?"

"I'm alright... why do you ask?"

"You face leaking."

"Huh?"

"You face is leaking." Kai reached out and wiped at their dad's tears. This only made Remy start to tear up more. "What wrong?"

"Nothing, honey. Just... I'm a little tired."

"You no can go sleep?"

"I'm having a bit of trouble, yeah."

With that, Kai scooted closer to their dad. They snuggled up to him as close as they could get. Remy wrapped his arms around them, hugging them gently. The two cuddled in silence for a while before Kai spoke up again.

"You still sad?" They asked. Remy sighed and did the thing he was best at: lying to protect them.

"No, I'm not."

Kai seemed happy with that answer and let themself fall back asleep. Remy, on the other hand, took a few more hours before he was able to get to sleep.