When Hands Touch

13. reconcile

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RECONCILE

—

No one was talking.

It was now Monday, and Milo hadn't said a word to Evangeline or Jude over the weekend. He didn't text them, he didn't pick up their calls, he didn't do anything, because he was just thoroughly fucking embarrassed about the situation. Eventually, Jude and Evangeline decided to leave it alone, and they stopped texting him.

But now, they wanted answers. Understandably.

"So..." Jude began, shooting Milo a questioning look. "You gonna tell us why you were cryin'? Or are we supposed to just ignore the fact that you were literally bawling your fuckin' eyes out for over two hours? And that you had to send Eva to pick Lia up from school 'cause you couldn't stop?"

Milo shook his head. "I was just overwhelmed," he justified, shoving his hoodie into the locker. "Nothing else."

Evangeline sighed softly, shoving her hands into the pockets of the overalls that she wore all the time. "Milo, you shouldn't have to be overwhelmed. Why were you crying?"

"Who was crying?"

Fuck. Milo raised his head to meet Xen's eyes, blank and expressionless. "No one was crying."

Xen gave the group an inquisitive look. "Okay," he said, dragging out the word. "Whatever you say. Anyway, Milo, can I talk to you?"

"No."

"Milo," Xen muttered, glancing at Evangeline and Jude, who were watching the two of them with curious eyes. "Please? It's important."

Chewing on his bottom lip, Milo weighed out the pros and cons in his head. Pros: he could apologise to Xen for pushing him for information, he wouldn't feel as shitty anymore. Cons: they could get into another argument, and Xen could end up hating him even more.

Fuck it. "Fine," Milo stated, watching as Jude and Evangeline slowly moved away. He shot them a pleading look, hoping they'd stay for moral support, but they didn't. Fucking traitors.

"You were crying?" Xen questioned after a few seconds, leaning against the locker.

Milo shrugged. "I'm always crying, nothing new."

Xen observed Milo, fingers toying with a loose string on the hem of his t-shirt. "Just because someone cries a lot doesn't mean that their emotions are any less valid."

"What did you want to talk about?" Milo asked him, ignoring his previous statement, even though he genuinely appreciated it. He knew that he was emotional— more emotional than most people— and that he cried a lot, but it still sucked just as much every time he did. And it especially sucked when people wouldn't take him seriously, because of the amount he cried.

Weakly laughing, Xen let his gaze drop to the floor, before meeting Milo's eyes again. "I'm sorry. I know that I've been apologising a lot, but yeah. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. And I definitely shouldn't have said the shit that I said to you, I was rude."

"I shouldn't have pushed," Milo said, almost as soon as Xen had finished his sentence. "You told me to stop, and I didn't. You're not obliged to tell me anything, and I shouldn't have said that I'm—" he softened his voice a little, before saying, "— out to you and used it as leverage or something. That wasn't cool at all. I told you because I wanted to— well, not really, I didn't want to, but—"

"Milo." Xen's voice was so stern, and so commanding that Milo instantly shut up. "We were both at fault, okay? It's okay, and I'm sorry. I just— I don't like it when people push me for information." He paused for a second, taking in a small breath. "Was I one of the— Did I make you cry?"