Page 7

PRESENT DAY

Julian: good morning loser :)

Atticus: What do you want fuckface?

Julian: just wanted to check on kai. saw you two leave together, ori was asking what happened

Atticus: Just between us?

Atticus: Wait you’re with ori this morning? Details pls

Julian: just between us :)

Atticus: Thanks

Atticus: I guess I’m not getting details since it’s been 5 mins and you’re still ignoring my question

Atticus: ANYWAYS

Atticus: I don’t think the party was a great idea for Kai

Atticus: Seeing his ex again like that

Julian: did nicholas do something??

Atticus: Nah, nothing that bad. I just don’t think he was ready for any sort of conversation yet

Julian: man

Julian: it’s been a while now

Julian: over a year

Atticus: Yeah

Atticus: I know

Atticus: Can you just tell Ori that he got sick?

Julian: yep :)

Atticus: Thanks, shitstain

Julian: anytime, chode cheeks

Kai woke to a pounding headache and the smell of breakfast. It took several long, agonizing moments for him to gain his bearings. To remember where he was.

Where he had spent the night.

He groaned, rolling onto his side and curling into a ball as he pulled the heavy comforter close to his face. His head throbbed, edging too close to a migraine, as he tried to remember details from the previous night .

Ori’s party.

Nicholas.

He had talked to Nicholas for the first time in over a year.

Kai squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain in his head and the embarrassment that coursed through him.

He supposed he hadn’t really done that much talking.

Nicholas had, or had tried to. And Atticus had filled in the blank spaces.

All Kai had done was act like a drunken mess before stumbling out of his best friend’s party early.

Guilt gnawed at him, making his gut churn.

Kai sat up, letting the blanket pool around his waist. He was still wearing Atticus' old maroon and gold Cats hoodie, and his cheeks warmed at the hazy memory of the other man helping him change clothes on the bathroom floor.

He reached for his phone, which Atticus had apparently plugged in to charge and left on the nightstand.

He pulled up his message thread with Ori only to see an unread text already waiting for him.

Ori: Julian said you got sick last night :(:(:( hope you’re better today!

Kai’s guilt only grew. So Julian felt the need to cover for him? Fantastic. Kai cringed at how pathetic he must have seemed to everyone the night before.

Kai: Sorry Ori, it was my own fault. Had a little too much to drink on an empty stomach. Promise I’ll make it up to you.

Ori: Ohhhhhh

Ori: Was it nicky?

His friend knew him too well. Kai sighed, the pain in his head increasing to a persistent throb. He needed to get up and find his wallet, take his medicine before it was too late and he was down for the rest of the day.

Kai: It was me being stupid.

Ori: Oops :D:D julian also said you left with atticus…

Ori: …………

Ori: ………………….

Kai: UGH

Kai: YES

Kai: But not like that.

Ori: Boooooo

Kai: Just friends. I puked all over his bathroom

Ori: Gross man. That’s not how you woo someone

Kai: What the fuck, did you just say “woo someone”?

Ori: Yeah, like you getting atticus to fall in love with you

Ori: Although I’m pretty sure you already did that

Ori: So maybe you don’t need to worry about the puking stuff

Kai: I’m too hungover for this

Kai: I’m not trying to woo Attie

Ori: Hehe atti e

Ori: You should be though :D:D:D

Kai smirked as he rolled his eyes and swiped out of their conversation, only to freeze at the sight of another text waiting for him.

Nicholas: I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have been so presumptuous last night, cornering you in front of everyone like that.

I know it made you uncomfortable and that’s the last thing I wanted to do, I’m really sorry Kai.

But if you would be willing to sit down and talk while I’m in town, I’d really like that.

I miss you, I’ve missed you so much. Just one conversation, that’s all I ask.

He felt as though he really was going to throw up again.

Grief and anger warred within him, turning his insides into a sickening battlefield.

Kai deleted the message, wiping it from reality in the hopes it would be wiped from his brain as well.

He couldn’t do this today. Couldn’t even begin to figure out a response to something like that.

He didn’t even know how Nicholas had gotten his current number, and he thought he might stab whoever had given it to him.

He would just ignore it, and Nicholas would go back to St. Louis with Theo in tow in a few days, and life could go on just the way it had for the last year.

Kai rose from the bed, a little shaky. He wasn’t sure whether it was from his hangover or the message that seemed to be tattooing itself on his mind.

He distracted himself by finally taking in the room around him.

This was his first time in Atticus' new place. He knew the other man had recently moved outside of the city, renting a small countryside house not far from his own home actually, but this was Kai’s first time visiting .

The room, what he assumed was the guest room, was cozy, if a little sparse. A bed, a nightstand, and a dresser, atop which were a few picture frames. Kai moved across the room, head pounding with each step, to look at them more closely.

Pictures of Atticus' volleyball teams over the years, going all the way back to his middle school days, littered the space.

Kai took them in, one by one. He paused on the one of what he assumed was Atticus' high school team the year they’d won the national tournament.

The whole team was crowded together, some players beaming at the camera while others had tears in their eyes.

Even Sammie, Atticus' twin, had made her way into the photo. Kai had only met Sammie a few times, but he could imagine her running onto the court the moment the final buzzer sounded, throwing her arms tight around her brother. Their younger faces looked more alike, round and smiling, their eyes scrunched up in exactly the same way. Atticus had already been bleaching his hair, even back then, going from a dusty brown to a bright blonde. A small laugh bubbled in Kai at how yellow it looked. Clearly, Atticus hadn’t discovered toner yet.

Kai’s stomach flip-flopped a little, in a way that was different from the nausea he’d been dealing with, so he moved on.

His eyes scanned over the more recent photographs, Atticus with the other Chicago players. Kai couldn’t help himself, smiling softly at one that showed Ori leaping into the air behind Atticus, hands on his shoulders and a bright smile pointed at the camera while Atticus scowled up at him.

It would be strange, seeing the team roster without Ori on it for the new season. His friend was taking the trade to the Comets in stride, but Kai had a sneaking suspicion that had more to do with who was on the new team than anything else.

The sound of a television turning on crept into Kai’s room, and he noticed that the door was cracked open. He looked around for the clothes he’d worn the night before, giving up quickly when they were nowhere to be seen, realizing he needed to stop stalling and just get it over with.

Kai followed the smells of breakfast down a short hallway, smoothing his hair down in an attempt to look like less of a total mess. He turned into the kitchen, pausing at the sight before him.

Atticus stood over the stove, face relaxed and happy, smiling softly as he focused on whatever it was that he was cooking. He was also shirtless.

Sure, maybe Kai wasn’t interested like that , but, well. He had eyes.

Atticus leaned forward, and Kai couldn’t keep from staring as the muscles of his stomach tightened a bit, as his broad chest and shoulders blocked the view of the stovetop.

One arm was covered in tattoos, a full sleeve of black line art that Kai hadn’t seen in full since the one night they had spent together.

He let his gaze trail lower, face warming at Atticus' low-slung sweatpants.

The slight swell of the top of his ass, the sharp v of his waist that slipped below the band of his pants…

“Smells good,” Kai said, a fruitless attempt at distracting himself. Atticus jumped, whirling toward him with wide eyes.

“Fuck!” The word flew from Atticus' lips as he accidentally bumped the handle of the pan he was using and knocked it off the burner. He whirled back toward the food. “Shit!”

Kai chuckled as he moved out of the doorway, taking a seat at the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

“Are you always this jumpy?” Kai watched from behind as Atticus fixed the mess he’d sort of made. This view wasn’t so bad either. His back was just so broad . And those tattoos, every single one of them anime-related, spread across his right shoulder blade. Kai wiped a hand down his face.

“Ah,” Atticus said, plating what looked like fried eggs before turning around.

“No. I’m just not used to having anyone else here.

” He smiled at Kai, a too-charming flash of teeth, standing just a little above him on the other side of the high counter.

A plate was placed before him, steamed rice and vegetables, a fried egg on top.

“I figured you’d be hungry, but don’t feel bad if you don’t want to eat it all,” Atticus said, grinning as he began to dig into his own meal.

“Thanks.” Kai returned the look with a small smile of his own, even as he eyed the food before him with distrust.

“You feel okay?”

Kai shook his head. “Not great.”

Atticus grimaced, pointing his fork toward Kai’s plate.

“Eat. This is what Sammie always used to make for me if I had a hangover. Soaks up the alcohol or something.” A pause as he shoved a forkful of food into his mouth.

“I washed your clothes from last night, they’re in the dryer now. Should be done soon.”