TAKE ME AWAY(10/?)
Title: TAKE ME AWAY(10/?)
Author: imnotskerrd
Beta: crybaby4u <3
Pairing: Kradam; Kris/OMC; Adam/Sauli
Word count: 3840
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Warnings: Domestic violence; Bullying
Summary: Sometimes we think that letting someone go is the most selfless decision that one can ever make. Especially in a situation where no one can help you except for yourself. But what if you came back and found out that the love of your life didn't just change in the way you've expected him to but also is in a more messed up situation.
Going to the ice cream parlor is one thing Kris is looking forward to whenever he’s scheduled for a visit to his dad. Adam never fails to accompany him every time and it became like a habit for them to hang out with Adam’s friends at the parlor after the visit. Neil comes with them most of the time but if Leila has some errands to do she’s always takes Neil with her.
Kris likes all of Adam’s friends including Alisan and Cass but he has an instant connection with Cheeks. He’s most comfortable with him-though he still believes and tells him over and over again that Adam likes him-Kris just learn how not to take that seriously.
Adam is really a good person, really sweet and so understanding. He never coaxes him to do anything that he’s not comfortable with. Adam knows above everyone what’s his life really is and because of that he’s also very cautious in his every approach. He always makes sure Kris was okay with everything that they do and he wouldn’t even make decisions without consulting Kris if he’s going to be involved.
Suffice it to say that Kris’ feelings just get deeper but he’s also realistic enough to not over think about it as it wouldn’t change a thing even if he does, so why bother.
Adam sometimes sits with him and Neil at lunch but mostly he’s with Sauli and his friends. But after the one time Cheeks and the others saw them eating they sat and joined their table to eat with them. That’s when they begin to all hang out together and Kris just can’t ask for more.
Adam tries to balance his time to both sides and tries really hard to let them mingle together. But every time he has done that something would happen and everything would go back to square one. It seems both groups are like oil and water-they just can’t be together-so impossible to mix. But Adam seems to manage to do his part and everyone including Kris can clearly see that the situation has stressed him out somehow.
It’s clear when he’d sit with Kris at their usual spot almost every night and just sit there listening to him sing or practicing some chords and they both just mutely end up watching the dark sky that’s likely being light up by a million diamonds with a crescent moon hanging from it who has silently witnessed every conversations he and Adam had.
Their nightly ‘date’, as Neil calls it, begins when Adam first asked Kris to sing for him. Kris was so ashamed that night and didn’t think he could sing to anyone much less to Adam. But as he glanced up to his eyes-he just couldn’t say no. It was like he saw some courage and confidence in Adam’s eyes that made him strum the guitar.
From then on, Adam would join him and asks him to sing something for him. At first it wasn’t every night because Adam was usually out with Sauli or he would come home with Sauli in tow but as the days and weeks have gone by he notices Adam isn’t going out anymore and he hasn’t seen him bringing Sauli home for a while.
But Kris just let it go and he’d never comment, never says anything about the subject. He just basks in every little bit of time he gets to spend with Adam. He is just happy that he has these moments with him-moments he knows wouldn’t last long.
That’s why when Adam told him one night under the bright full moon that he and Sauli had broken up-Kris is not that surprised. He kind of knew it kind of expected it.
Then he looks really close at Adam while saying it and he can see an unmistakable pain in his eyes but he can also see the look of relief in it-the excitement of what might comes next in his life.
Adam is surely hurting but he would always bounces back-would always find a way to get his bearings to where it needed to be. In Kris’ mind Adam is the type of man who would get into a relationship and enjoys it but when he feels the sparkle has begin to die down he has no problem getting out of it. No problem at all.
From that time Adam gives his undivided attention to them. He sits with them during lunch and goes out with his old friends on every opportunity they have. He and Neil sometimes join them but Kris still isn’t comfortable being around strangers and a very loud music. The first time he went with them he just ended up sitting in a dark corner of Cheeks’ back porch and waited until Neil found him and they walked home.
Everyone apologized to him the next day upon hearing from Neil what’d happened and Kris told them that no apologies were needed. They were enjoying and partying not babysitting. It’s not their fault that Kris feels uncomfortable around other people beside his closest friends and they shouldn’t stop inviting people because he cannot let go of his shyness. He wouldn’t do that to them.
But regardless of Adam being single again and enjoying going out meeting people he never fails to join him on their nightly ‘date’. If Kris is being honest, it’s the time he most looks forward to every day. There’s nothing more incredible than being with his 2 loves at the same time sharing moments together.
He also notices how Adam becomes much closer to him. He always sits right next to him it’s happens by default already that they leave one side of Kris vacant for Adam to sit. He’s the one who buys him cups of vanilla ice cream, and he sometimes even finds him outside of his classroom door waiting for him.
It also doesn’t help that Cheeks is still teasing him about Adam’s crush on him but he really does know better. But it doesn’t mean he can’t feed his fantasy, he just have to make sure he would just leave it like that… just a fantasy.
In early May, after two months from the accident, Dr. Weber calls him to his office to have a word with him one time when he came to visit his dad. Like usual, Adam is with him that day and he asks him to come with him to the doctor’s office. Dr. Weber says that his dad is improving but it’s still not possible for him to be released. Dr. Weber is so apologetic but he says it’s better for his dad to be in the hospital until he can at least walk for a few feet. He can already get his body off the bed and walk like 3 steps to his wheel chair.
Adam surprisingly is the one who answers the doctor telling him that it’s okay that Kris is doing okay with them and Mr. Pierre Allen can stay at the hospital as long as his condition requires him to. He sweetens his words with ‘’Please do whatever you have to do to help him walk again’’ at the end when he notices Kris is looking at him skeptically.
For the most part, Adam can’t really understand why Kris still wants to be with his dad again. Well, he did already mention the reasons why but Adam still can’t believe that Kris thinks like that.
A few days after their friends are talking about having another party at Dani’s house over lunch. Everyone is talking at the same time, excited to show off their new tops, new makeup, and new boyfriends. Kris just sits there looking at his noisy friends until his eyes meet Adam’s who’s looking at him intensely. Like he’s reading his mind yet like he has something important to tell him. Kris doesn’t even know for sure if he’s reading Adam correctly and so he just smiles at him and Adam seems to melt and smiles back so sweetly.
Then Cheeks, with his annoying self, suddenly claps a hand just inches away from his face beaming like he just won a beauty contest saying smugly,
‘’Stop ogling each other.’’ He says looking between him and Adam. And before he can even say that they weren’t ogling each other Cheeks continues to ask him, ‘’you coming, right, Kris?’’
Kris shakes his head while reaching for his water on the table. But Cheeks holds it down and blurts out ‘’Please, you have to come. You need to see my new fuchsia leggings-you wouldn’t want to miss it, promise!’’
‘’I always know that you look fabulous Brad. Just send me a picture.’’
Then Cheeks moves his chair and almost sits on Kris’ lap saying ‘’Please, babe, for me? You can’t say no to me, can you? You can’t say no to these pretty little eyes.’’ he says battling his eyelashes at Kris. The whole table burst into laughter and Cass says, ‘’Cheeks, don’t scar the kid’s life for Pete’s sake.’’
Kris laughs and fixes his eyeglasses. ‘’But I don’t want to be a party pooper.’’
‘’You won’t. Just come with Adam, have some drinks-sorry, soda-try our finger foods, maybe dance a bit- or not-oh, you can try to mingle a bit, who knows you can find yourself a new friend or a boyfriend. Neil is dating-hey, you are dating that junior cheerleader Cassie, right?’’
Neil nods and blushes a bit. He started dating Cassie just last week and Kris is more than happy for his friend.
‘’Kris, seriously boo, you need to try to do this once in a while. Okay, let’s make a deal. If you feel uncomfortable you can tell one of us so that we can walk you home.’’ Cass says.
‘’No, I don’t like to interrupt anyone’s happy moments. You’re all there to enjoy not babysitting me.’’ He says while playing with his French fries.
‘’Okay, let’s see if this one will work. If you feel uncomfortable just make sure to let one of us know that you’re leaving and you can walk to your house.’’ Alisan chimes in.
‘’No, no, Kris just let me know and I’ll walk you home.’’ Adam sternly says and everyone looks at him at the same time.
‘’Oh, come on, Adam, Dani’s house is like 5 houses away from you. Kris wouldn’t get lost. Give the kid a break.’’ Cheeks snarkily says and Adam doesn’t say anything but he’s looking at Cheeks as if he will break his neck at any moment.
Kris thinks that his friends are right, he must try to meet other people outside his circle of friends or at least try to be comfortable around strangers or watching sliding bodies around the dance floor.
‘’Okay. I’ll walk home if ever it gets too much for me.’’ Kris sees Adam is about to say something, but he continues to say ‘’Alone.’’ looking directly at Adam stopping him from saying anything.
The whole table gets excited again and they all talk at the same time that makes Kris smile but then he can feel Adam’s stares that feels as if its shooting a hole in his head. He doesn’t glance up at him and he knows Adam would understand him eventually-of all people it’s Adam who always understands him. And it makes him more than happy.
On Saturday evening Kris gets dress as he was bugged by Cheeks’ phone calls earlier that day. He wears his usual printed shirts tucked in a pair of loose jeans with suspenders as Adam knocks on his door revealing his usual hot self with his hair perfectly coiffed up. If Kris stares a bit he’d blame Adam’s perfect eye shadow.
They just walk to Dani’s house as it is only few feet away from their house and Adam keeps talking about the approaching Junior Ball dance. It is scheduled at the end of May and Kris knows it’s such a big deal for everyjunior student. Adam keeps on telling him that he’s excited, that he’s going with their friends next week to the best tux tailor in town to have their measurements taken.
Adam’s excitement is contagious and before Kris knows it they arrive at Dani’s. The music is already loud and when they open the door obviously they are a bit late. Cheeks waves at them from the couch and they cross the living room to meet their friends.
Cass, Alison and Dani are all sitting but there are other people there that Kris isn’t familiar with. Adam sits him down with his hand on Kris back so that he doesn’t take off even when they settle down and chat with their friends.
Kris looks around and sees some unfamiliar faces dancing on the dance floor and when he his eyes roam over to the makeshift bar he sees a couple making out. He snaps his eyes away from them as he remembers watching Adam and Sauli having their ‘intimate’ time and he just couldn’t look away. Adam must feel his tension and holds his waist pulling him to his side a little more as he leans in and asks ‘’You okay?’’
Kris seems to have lost his tongue as he cannot find any words to answer Adam. Instead he tries to steady himself and nods. But honestly he just can’t do it-it’s too much for him and he’s feeling a bit claustrophobic.
He waits for few moments and stands up. Adam looks up at him with concern on his face and he’s about to stand up too when Kris holds him down at his shoulder telling him he’s okay. He just wants to go to the bathroom and maybe raid the kitchen afterward. He tries to smile down at him and he hopes he looks convincing. Maybe he does because Adam smiles back at him and nods.
Kris locks himself in the bathroom and splashes his face with water. Kris just can’t do something like this but he knows he should. Well, he did try and he stays around for maybe 10 minutes listening to Cheeks talking about this boutique that they should visit for the Junior Ball. Kris is a sophomore and the ball is for juniors and their dates so Kris ends up checking out the room. That’s when he started to feel claustrophobic.
He calmed his pounding chest before leaving out of the bathroom and goes straight to the kitchen. He knows Dani’s house very well, he has been here plenty of times already. He takes soda from the fridge and leans on the counter while drinking it. The loud music is still banging in his ear which starts to give him headache.
He checks the time and it’s half an hour since he and Adam arrived. He peeks out to look at the couch where they were sitting and found only Cass remained there and some other unfamiliar faces talking. He roams his eyes around looking for Adam and finds him dancing on the dance floor next to Neil with his girlfriend and Cheeks is on his other side dancing with Dani. Adam however, is paired with a short gorgeous guy and they are talking leaning into each other’s ear. It’s crazy but it’s like something is tugging at his heart.
He fishes his phone from his pocket and texts Cass ‘’I’m going home. Look up-45 degrees.’’
Cass’ eyes search for him and Kris motions an okay sign and pointing to his back as a sign that he’s heading home. Cass stands up and Kris tries to tell him by gesturing ‘no’ but Cass still crosses the living and walks up to him.
‘’Hey, you okay? You want me to walk you home?’’
‘’No, no need, Cass, really... The house is practically just over the next house or so, but really I’m okay.’’
‘’Okay, but I’ll walk you out. Should we tell Adam?’’
‘’No, let them have fun.’’ He says and they both look in the direction of Adam dancing with the guy and at that moment Adam is laughing from something the guy has said. Cass looks at him sympathetically and honestly Kris doesn’t understand why they always do that to him whenever Adam does something involving other guys.
Just like few days ago at Ice cream parlor, Adam bumped into an old friend that moved out of San Diego few years back. He sat with the guy for few moments to catch up and one by one Cheeks and Dani came to ‘assure’ him that the guy was just a good friend and throwing him some sympathetic look. He thinks his friends are starting to get crazy.
Kris doesn’t mind Cass’ suddenly change in demeanor-a weird demeanor-and walks back inside the kitchen to its back door. Cass steps outside with him and when he starts to hit the pavement he stops and tells him that he’s okay going alone.
Cass lifts his hands up in surrender and smiles. ‘’I know, I know.’’
Kris says his goodbye one more time and turns his back from Cass to starts walking. When he’s few feet away he turns back and finds him still standing there. Kris doesn’t want to admit it but it’s overwhelming to feel such love and care from a friend. He smiles at him and Cass waves again. Then he continues to walk the pavement to their house without looking back again though he’s sure Cass is still there.
But one thing hits him is that he now refers to the Lambert’s house as ‘his’ or ‘their’ house, as if he’s actually living there permanently. That’s actually how it makes him feel but he knows everything will come to an end and his dad has already been yelling at him for quite sometime since the time he found out he’s living with them and not in a foster home. He just kept quiet every time he’s starting to yell about it because what’s the point, really.
When he goes inside the house he sees Leila and Eber are watching the local news on TV and they both look at him in confusion but he says that he’s okay and he’s just a little tired. They ask about their other boys and he says that they are still partying and that makes Leila shake her head. She stands up and hugs him telling him to get some rest then Eber opens his arms as if telling him ‘where’s my hug?’
Kris bites his lip in attempt to stop it from quivering and crouches down to hug Eber.
‘’Good night Kris’’ He says giving a peck to the side of his head.
‘’I-I, uh, I will probably just grab Neil’s guitar and sit outside for a while before going to sleeping.’’
‘’Oh, okay-would you like some hot coco?’’ Leila asks but Kris shakes his head saying he’s good.
‘’Thanks, though uh good night Leila and good night Eber’’
‘’’Night sweetie’’ They both say in unison.
Kris walks away after that and grabs Neil’s guitar from the chaise lounge and walks outside into the back yard. He sits there and practices the chords to a song he has heard on the radio yesterday.
He’s so caught up with what he’s doing and fails to notice footsteps coming until a familiar figure sits down in the space that he usually sits every night.
‘’Adam, you’re here!’’ Kris says. If his voice was a little excited sure Adam has noticed it but he doesn’t say anything about it instead he reaches Kris’ face and cups it on one side and sweetly smiles at him.
‘’Yeah, I’m here. I’ll always be here.’’ Adam answers so softly and Kris thinks he might be burn with the intensity of Adam’s eyes at him. It runs a shiver down his spine. Then he drops his hand and reaches for Kris’ and holds it. ‘’You left without telling me.’’
Adam sounds a bit sad but Kris thinks it’s because Adam is so protective of him. But his eyes are telling something more and Kris is not an expert on reading someone else’s emotion, so, he really doesn’t know what it is.
‘’I told Cass. He even walked me out the house and watched me walked the down the street.’’ He defends.
‘’Still you didn’t tell me.’’ Now he obviously sounds so hurt, like he can’t believe Kris has done something he doesn’t expect him to do that it hurt him so much.
‘’I-You, uh, I kind of started to feel uncomfortable. So-and I saw Cass-and that was it.’’
‘’I never left the living room or the dance floor-I was just there, Kris. Why didn’t you tell me?’’
‘’I-I don’t want to-I saw you-‘’ Kris stutters and at that moment he thinks he’s seeing a smile on Adams face the one that telling ‘I knew it’ kinda smile-in which makes Kris so confused.
‘’Okay let me clear that up.’’ Now Adam’s eyes are twinkling and he tightens his hold on his hand. ‘’You felt uncomfortable and you were about to tell ME but when you saw me I was dancing with a ‘guy’…’’ he air quoted the word guy. ‘’… and you thought I was enjoying it and didn’t want to bother me. And now that I am here, you didn’t expect that I would follow you home after knowing you left-not after you thought I found
someone ‘interesting’. Am I correct, Kris?’’
Kris thinks that he will combust at any moment now because he feels Adam was implying that he was jealous. Well, Adam might be right because he did feel jealous when he saw them. But for Adam to actually be aware of that-god, it’s just embarrassing. What if Adam is not cool with him feeling something like that when he knows he doesn’t have any rights to feel jealous?
When he glances up at him after few moments battling with his own mind he finds him still staring with a slight frown on his brows obviously waiting for his answer. The sudden uncertainty in Adam’s face makes his heart ache. So he tries to nod and whispers ‘’Yeah, you certainly summed it all up.’’
Then Adam’s face suddenly lights up and he beams at him ‘’Yeah?’’
‘’Yeah’’ he nods. ‘’I’m-I’m glad you are here.’’
‘’Yeah, me too and I’m exactly where I want to be.’’ Then Adam leans in to kiss his temple. He doesn’t remove his lips for few moments more and Kris closes his eyes as Adam’s hand reaches his waist and moves his body closer to Kris.
They stayed like that for some time until Adam asks Kris to sing him a song in which he happily complies. That he thinks he will comply to anytime, anywhere, as long as Adam wants him to, he will tirelessly comply.
Author: imnotskerrd
Beta: crybaby4u <3
Pairing: Kradam; Kris/OMC; Adam/Sauli
Word count: 3840
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Warnings: Domestic violence; Bullying
Summary: Sometimes we think that letting someone go is the most selfless decision that one can ever make. Especially in a situation where no one can help you except for yourself. But what if you came back and found out that the love of your life didn't just change in the way you've expected him to but also is in a more messed up situation.
Going to the ice cream parlor is one thing Kris is looking forward to whenever he’s scheduled for a visit to his dad. Adam never fails to accompany him every time and it became like a habit for them to hang out with Adam’s friends at the parlor after the visit. Neil comes with them most of the time but if Leila has some errands to do she’s always takes Neil with her.
Kris likes all of Adam’s friends including Alisan and Cass but he has an instant connection with Cheeks. He’s most comfortable with him-though he still believes and tells him over and over again that Adam likes him-Kris just learn how not to take that seriously.
Adam is really a good person, really sweet and so understanding. He never coaxes him to do anything that he’s not comfortable with. Adam knows above everyone what’s his life really is and because of that he’s also very cautious in his every approach. He always makes sure Kris was okay with everything that they do and he wouldn’t even make decisions without consulting Kris if he’s going to be involved.
Suffice it to say that Kris’ feelings just get deeper but he’s also realistic enough to not over think about it as it wouldn’t change a thing even if he does, so why bother.
Adam sometimes sits with him and Neil at lunch but mostly he’s with Sauli and his friends. But after the one time Cheeks and the others saw them eating they sat and joined their table to eat with them. That’s when they begin to all hang out together and Kris just can’t ask for more.
Adam tries to balance his time to both sides and tries really hard to let them mingle together. But every time he has done that something would happen and everything would go back to square one. It seems both groups are like oil and water-they just can’t be together-so impossible to mix. But Adam seems to manage to do his part and everyone including Kris can clearly see that the situation has stressed him out somehow.
It’s clear when he’d sit with Kris at their usual spot almost every night and just sit there listening to him sing or practicing some chords and they both just mutely end up watching the dark sky that’s likely being light up by a million diamonds with a crescent moon hanging from it who has silently witnessed every conversations he and Adam had.
Their nightly ‘date’, as Neil calls it, begins when Adam first asked Kris to sing for him. Kris was so ashamed that night and didn’t think he could sing to anyone much less to Adam. But as he glanced up to his eyes-he just couldn’t say no. It was like he saw some courage and confidence in Adam’s eyes that made him strum the guitar.
From then on, Adam would join him and asks him to sing something for him. At first it wasn’t every night because Adam was usually out with Sauli or he would come home with Sauli in tow but as the days and weeks have gone by he notices Adam isn’t going out anymore and he hasn’t seen him bringing Sauli home for a while.
But Kris just let it go and he’d never comment, never says anything about the subject. He just basks in every little bit of time he gets to spend with Adam. He is just happy that he has these moments with him-moments he knows wouldn’t last long.
That’s why when Adam told him one night under the bright full moon that he and Sauli had broken up-Kris is not that surprised. He kind of knew it kind of expected it.
Then he looks really close at Adam while saying it and he can see an unmistakable pain in his eyes but he can also see the look of relief in it-the excitement of what might comes next in his life.
Adam is surely hurting but he would always bounces back-would always find a way to get his bearings to where it needed to be. In Kris’ mind Adam is the type of man who would get into a relationship and enjoys it but when he feels the sparkle has begin to die down he has no problem getting out of it. No problem at all.
From that time Adam gives his undivided attention to them. He sits with them during lunch and goes out with his old friends on every opportunity they have. He and Neil sometimes join them but Kris still isn’t comfortable being around strangers and a very loud music. The first time he went with them he just ended up sitting in a dark corner of Cheeks’ back porch and waited until Neil found him and they walked home.
Everyone apologized to him the next day upon hearing from Neil what’d happened and Kris told them that no apologies were needed. They were enjoying and partying not babysitting. It’s not their fault that Kris feels uncomfortable around other people beside his closest friends and they shouldn’t stop inviting people because he cannot let go of his shyness. He wouldn’t do that to them.
But regardless of Adam being single again and enjoying going out meeting people he never fails to join him on their nightly ‘date’. If Kris is being honest, it’s the time he most looks forward to every day. There’s nothing more incredible than being with his 2 loves at the same time sharing moments together.
He also notices how Adam becomes much closer to him. He always sits right next to him it’s happens by default already that they leave one side of Kris vacant for Adam to sit. He’s the one who buys him cups of vanilla ice cream, and he sometimes even finds him outside of his classroom door waiting for him.
It also doesn’t help that Cheeks is still teasing him about Adam’s crush on him but he really does know better. But it doesn’t mean he can’t feed his fantasy, he just have to make sure he would just leave it like that… just a fantasy.
In early May, after two months from the accident, Dr. Weber calls him to his office to have a word with him one time when he came to visit his dad. Like usual, Adam is with him that day and he asks him to come with him to the doctor’s office. Dr. Weber says that his dad is improving but it’s still not possible for him to be released. Dr. Weber is so apologetic but he says it’s better for his dad to be in the hospital until he can at least walk for a few feet. He can already get his body off the bed and walk like 3 steps to his wheel chair.
Adam surprisingly is the one who answers the doctor telling him that it’s okay that Kris is doing okay with them and Mr. Pierre Allen can stay at the hospital as long as his condition requires him to. He sweetens his words with ‘’Please do whatever you have to do to help him walk again’’ at the end when he notices Kris is looking at him skeptically.
For the most part, Adam can’t really understand why Kris still wants to be with his dad again. Well, he did already mention the reasons why but Adam still can’t believe that Kris thinks like that.
A few days after their friends are talking about having another party at Dani’s house over lunch. Everyone is talking at the same time, excited to show off their new tops, new makeup, and new boyfriends. Kris just sits there looking at his noisy friends until his eyes meet Adam’s who’s looking at him intensely. Like he’s reading his mind yet like he has something important to tell him. Kris doesn’t even know for sure if he’s reading Adam correctly and so he just smiles at him and Adam seems to melt and smiles back so sweetly.
Then Cheeks, with his annoying self, suddenly claps a hand just inches away from his face beaming like he just won a beauty contest saying smugly,
‘’Stop ogling each other.’’ He says looking between him and Adam. And before he can even say that they weren’t ogling each other Cheeks continues to ask him, ‘’you coming, right, Kris?’’
Kris shakes his head while reaching for his water on the table. But Cheeks holds it down and blurts out ‘’Please, you have to come. You need to see my new fuchsia leggings-you wouldn’t want to miss it, promise!’’
‘’I always know that you look fabulous Brad. Just send me a picture.’’
Then Cheeks moves his chair and almost sits on Kris’ lap saying ‘’Please, babe, for me? You can’t say no to me, can you? You can’t say no to these pretty little eyes.’’ he says battling his eyelashes at Kris. The whole table burst into laughter and Cass says, ‘’Cheeks, don’t scar the kid’s life for Pete’s sake.’’
Kris laughs and fixes his eyeglasses. ‘’But I don’t want to be a party pooper.’’
‘’You won’t. Just come with Adam, have some drinks-sorry, soda-try our finger foods, maybe dance a bit- or not-oh, you can try to mingle a bit, who knows you can find yourself a new friend or a boyfriend. Neil is dating-hey, you are dating that junior cheerleader Cassie, right?’’
Neil nods and blushes a bit. He started dating Cassie just last week and Kris is more than happy for his friend.
‘’Kris, seriously boo, you need to try to do this once in a while. Okay, let’s make a deal. If you feel uncomfortable you can tell one of us so that we can walk you home.’’ Cass says.
‘’No, I don’t like to interrupt anyone’s happy moments. You’re all there to enjoy not babysitting me.’’ He says while playing with his French fries.
‘’Okay, let’s see if this one will work. If you feel uncomfortable just make sure to let one of us know that you’re leaving and you can walk to your house.’’ Alisan chimes in.
‘’No, no, Kris just let me know and I’ll walk you home.’’ Adam sternly says and everyone looks at him at the same time.
‘’Oh, come on, Adam, Dani’s house is like 5 houses away from you. Kris wouldn’t get lost. Give the kid a break.’’ Cheeks snarkily says and Adam doesn’t say anything but he’s looking at Cheeks as if he will break his neck at any moment.
Kris thinks that his friends are right, he must try to meet other people outside his circle of friends or at least try to be comfortable around strangers or watching sliding bodies around the dance floor.
‘’Okay. I’ll walk home if ever it gets too much for me.’’ Kris sees Adam is about to say something, but he continues to say ‘’Alone.’’ looking directly at Adam stopping him from saying anything.
The whole table gets excited again and they all talk at the same time that makes Kris smile but then he can feel Adam’s stares that feels as if its shooting a hole in his head. He doesn’t glance up at him and he knows Adam would understand him eventually-of all people it’s Adam who always understands him. And it makes him more than happy.
On Saturday evening Kris gets dress as he was bugged by Cheeks’ phone calls earlier that day. He wears his usual printed shirts tucked in a pair of loose jeans with suspenders as Adam knocks on his door revealing his usual hot self with his hair perfectly coiffed up. If Kris stares a bit he’d blame Adam’s perfect eye shadow.
They just walk to Dani’s house as it is only few feet away from their house and Adam keeps talking about the approaching Junior Ball dance. It is scheduled at the end of May and Kris knows it’s such a big deal for everyjunior student. Adam keeps on telling him that he’s excited, that he’s going with their friends next week to the best tux tailor in town to have their measurements taken.
Adam’s excitement is contagious and before Kris knows it they arrive at Dani’s. The music is already loud and when they open the door obviously they are a bit late. Cheeks waves at them from the couch and they cross the living room to meet their friends.
Cass, Alison and Dani are all sitting but there are other people there that Kris isn’t familiar with. Adam sits him down with his hand on Kris back so that he doesn’t take off even when they settle down and chat with their friends.
Kris looks around and sees some unfamiliar faces dancing on the dance floor and when he his eyes roam over to the makeshift bar he sees a couple making out. He snaps his eyes away from them as he remembers watching Adam and Sauli having their ‘intimate’ time and he just couldn’t look away. Adam must feel his tension and holds his waist pulling him to his side a little more as he leans in and asks ‘’You okay?’’
Kris seems to have lost his tongue as he cannot find any words to answer Adam. Instead he tries to steady himself and nods. But honestly he just can’t do it-it’s too much for him and he’s feeling a bit claustrophobic.
He waits for few moments and stands up. Adam looks up at him with concern on his face and he’s about to stand up too when Kris holds him down at his shoulder telling him he’s okay. He just wants to go to the bathroom and maybe raid the kitchen afterward. He tries to smile down at him and he hopes he looks convincing. Maybe he does because Adam smiles back at him and nods.
Kris locks himself in the bathroom and splashes his face with water. Kris just can’t do something like this but he knows he should. Well, he did try and he stays around for maybe 10 minutes listening to Cheeks talking about this boutique that they should visit for the Junior Ball. Kris is a sophomore and the ball is for juniors and their dates so Kris ends up checking out the room. That’s when he started to feel claustrophobic.
He calmed his pounding chest before leaving out of the bathroom and goes straight to the kitchen. He knows Dani’s house very well, he has been here plenty of times already. He takes soda from the fridge and leans on the counter while drinking it. The loud music is still banging in his ear which starts to give him headache.
He checks the time and it’s half an hour since he and Adam arrived. He peeks out to look at the couch where they were sitting and found only Cass remained there and some other unfamiliar faces talking. He roams his eyes around looking for Adam and finds him dancing on the dance floor next to Neil with his girlfriend and Cheeks is on his other side dancing with Dani. Adam however, is paired with a short gorgeous guy and they are talking leaning into each other’s ear. It’s crazy but it’s like something is tugging at his heart.
He fishes his phone from his pocket and texts Cass ‘’I’m going home. Look up-45 degrees.’’
Cass’ eyes search for him and Kris motions an okay sign and pointing to his back as a sign that he’s heading home. Cass stands up and Kris tries to tell him by gesturing ‘no’ but Cass still crosses the living and walks up to him.
‘’Hey, you okay? You want me to walk you home?’’
‘’No, no need, Cass, really... The house is practically just over the next house or so, but really I’m okay.’’
‘’Okay, but I’ll walk you out. Should we tell Adam?’’
‘’No, let them have fun.’’ He says and they both look in the direction of Adam dancing with the guy and at that moment Adam is laughing from something the guy has said. Cass looks at him sympathetically and honestly Kris doesn’t understand why they always do that to him whenever Adam does something involving other guys.
Just like few days ago at Ice cream parlor, Adam bumped into an old friend that moved out of San Diego few years back. He sat with the guy for few moments to catch up and one by one Cheeks and Dani came to ‘assure’ him that the guy was just a good friend and throwing him some sympathetic look. He thinks his friends are starting to get crazy.
Kris doesn’t mind Cass’ suddenly change in demeanor-a weird demeanor-and walks back inside the kitchen to its back door. Cass steps outside with him and when he starts to hit the pavement he stops and tells him that he’s okay going alone.
Cass lifts his hands up in surrender and smiles. ‘’I know, I know.’’
Kris says his goodbye one more time and turns his back from Cass to starts walking. When he’s few feet away he turns back and finds him still standing there. Kris doesn’t want to admit it but it’s overwhelming to feel such love and care from a friend. He smiles at him and Cass waves again. Then he continues to walk the pavement to their house without looking back again though he’s sure Cass is still there.
But one thing hits him is that he now refers to the Lambert’s house as ‘his’ or ‘their’ house, as if he’s actually living there permanently. That’s actually how it makes him feel but he knows everything will come to an end and his dad has already been yelling at him for quite sometime since the time he found out he’s living with them and not in a foster home. He just kept quiet every time he’s starting to yell about it because what’s the point, really.
When he goes inside the house he sees Leila and Eber are watching the local news on TV and they both look at him in confusion but he says that he’s okay and he’s just a little tired. They ask about their other boys and he says that they are still partying and that makes Leila shake her head. She stands up and hugs him telling him to get some rest then Eber opens his arms as if telling him ‘where’s my hug?’
Kris bites his lip in attempt to stop it from quivering and crouches down to hug Eber.
‘’Good night Kris’’ He says giving a peck to the side of his head.
‘’I-I, uh, I will probably just grab Neil’s guitar and sit outside for a while before going to sleeping.’’
‘’Oh, okay-would you like some hot coco?’’ Leila asks but Kris shakes his head saying he’s good.
‘’Thanks, though uh good night Leila and good night Eber’’
‘’’Night sweetie’’ They both say in unison.
Kris walks away after that and grabs Neil’s guitar from the chaise lounge and walks outside into the back yard. He sits there and practices the chords to a song he has heard on the radio yesterday.
He’s so caught up with what he’s doing and fails to notice footsteps coming until a familiar figure sits down in the space that he usually sits every night.
‘’Adam, you’re here!’’ Kris says. If his voice was a little excited sure Adam has noticed it but he doesn’t say anything about it instead he reaches Kris’ face and cups it on one side and sweetly smiles at him.
‘’Yeah, I’m here. I’ll always be here.’’ Adam answers so softly and Kris thinks he might be burn with the intensity of Adam’s eyes at him. It runs a shiver down his spine. Then he drops his hand and reaches for Kris’ and holds it. ‘’You left without telling me.’’
Adam sounds a bit sad but Kris thinks it’s because Adam is so protective of him. But his eyes are telling something more and Kris is not an expert on reading someone else’s emotion, so, he really doesn’t know what it is.
‘’I told Cass. He even walked me out the house and watched me walked the down the street.’’ He defends.
‘’Still you didn’t tell me.’’ Now he obviously sounds so hurt, like he can’t believe Kris has done something he doesn’t expect him to do that it hurt him so much.
‘’I-You, uh, I kind of started to feel uncomfortable. So-and I saw Cass-and that was it.’’
‘’I never left the living room or the dance floor-I was just there, Kris. Why didn’t you tell me?’’
‘’I-I don’t want to-I saw you-‘’ Kris stutters and at that moment he thinks he’s seeing a smile on Adams face the one that telling ‘I knew it’ kinda smile-in which makes Kris so confused.
‘’Okay let me clear that up.’’ Now Adam’s eyes are twinkling and he tightens his hold on his hand. ‘’You felt uncomfortable and you were about to tell ME but when you saw me I was dancing with a ‘guy’…’’ he air quoted the word guy. ‘’… and you thought I was enjoying it and didn’t want to bother me. And now that I am here, you didn’t expect that I would follow you home after knowing you left-not after you thought I found
someone ‘interesting’. Am I correct, Kris?’’
Kris thinks that he will combust at any moment now because he feels Adam was implying that he was jealous. Well, Adam might be right because he did feel jealous when he saw them. But for Adam to actually be aware of that-god, it’s just embarrassing. What if Adam is not cool with him feeling something like that when he knows he doesn’t have any rights to feel jealous?
When he glances up at him after few moments battling with his own mind he finds him still staring with a slight frown on his brows obviously waiting for his answer. The sudden uncertainty in Adam’s face makes his heart ache. So he tries to nod and whispers ‘’Yeah, you certainly summed it all up.’’
Then Adam’s face suddenly lights up and he beams at him ‘’Yeah?’’
‘’Yeah’’ he nods. ‘’I’m-I’m glad you are here.’’
‘’Yeah, me too and I’m exactly where I want to be.’’ Then Adam leans in to kiss his temple. He doesn’t remove his lips for few moments more and Kris closes his eyes as Adam’s hand reaches his waist and moves his body closer to Kris.
They stayed like that for some time until Adam asks Kris to sing him a song in which he happily complies. That he thinks he will comply to anytime, anywhere, as long as Adam wants him to, he will tirelessly comply.