Louder Than Thunder [8]
Title: Louder Than Thunder [8]
Author: Jess>>>> bangxbangxdie7
Pairing:Micah/Jack and Stevie/Shaun *Original characters (link below)
Rating: PG-13ish
POV: Third
Summary: Micah and Shaun are two totally different guys with very different lives. One thing they share is a boyfriend with cancer. When they meet, they help each other cope even though they sometimes feel guilty about it...
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't copy.
Author Note: Hey guys this is my new story =] I love you, and I hope you like it <33 Between Love and Goodbye should be out Monday =]
Characters. / Info.
What would it take,
for things to be quiet,
quiet like the snow.
And I know this isn't much but...
I know I could be better.
I don't think I deserve it, selflessness.
Find your way into my heart.
Shaun noticed that his boyfriend wasn't the same. He realized that he wasn't inhuman. He wasn't invincible. He was real, and he was sick. And he looked sick. Shaun frowned when he saw Stevie's tired eyes. They were always so tired, and so empty. He knew that Stevie tried so hard to hide his fatigue from him, but he always calmed down when he knew his boyfriend had enough.
Stevie's teachers were notified by Laura about his condition, so that if there was ever a problem he could go home or the nurse and if god forbid anything were to seriously happen to him, that they should call 911 immediately. Stevie noticed that his teachers didn't call on him much, and they didn't ever tell him no when he asked to use the bathroom. It was nice, but he didn't like feeling so pitied. He hated it.
"Stevie, baby, you know those tickets I got...for Mayday Parade? The show is next week. I would understand if you don't want to go. Well not like you don't want to but...if you...you know- can't. I'll give them away to someone else, it's okay, really." Shaun looked so cute and disappointed at the same time.
Stevie couldn't ever tell him no. "Shaun, of course I want to go. And I will. I'll probably just take a nap on the way there and fall asleep on the ride home, that's all. You know I'm completely fine. I feel fine. I may not look it, but I'm great. You don't have to be scared for me."
Shaun knew that Stevie had become a class A liar. For his sake. Stevie would tell Shaun he was okay and then pass out as soon as he left. Shaun wasn't a fan of being lied to, but he didn't want to cause a fight. He let Stevie lie to him. If that made Stevie more at ease, than so be it.
"I know. I was just making sure. We'll stay in the way back, so you can't get hurt in the crowd. Nobody will bump into you and you won't get any bruises or anything. Or hey, maybe we can rent you a wheelchair and get back stage! How cool would that be?"
Stevie laughed and shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to be pushed around in a wheelchair. He was perfectly capable of walking. He felt weak only at some points during the day, and it was only because he didn't have any food in his stomach to keep him going. His appetite had basically vanished. He didn't want to eat, and when he did actually put food in his mouth it wasn't much.
Shaun on the other hand ate until his pants had to be unbuttoned. But still remained a skinny little thing somehow...
"They probably wouldn't let us backstage if I were in a wheelchair. When I went to Warped Tour they had wheelchairs in the crowd. Sorry, baby. But don't worry, we'll do what you want. You got the tickets and you have the intentions to go in there and be the first one there. You want to be the closest you can be and you will. Don't let me stop you, baby."
Shaun's eyes went soft, and he was sad for Stevie. "I wouldn't bring you into the crowd where you could get hurt. I don't care where I am, as long as I'm with you. We'll have a good view no matter where we are, and as long as I can hear Derek's voice I'll be all right," the older teen brushed the younger teens cheek with the backs of his fingers and smiled.
Stevie had no choice but to smile back at his amazing boyfriend. "Thanks, Shaun. I really appreciate that. I love you so much. I know how much this concert means to you. I'm just glad that you're taking me with you."
Shaun laced his hands with his boyfriend and led him to his couch where he sat him on his lap. Stevie always fit like a puzzle with Shaun. They connected physically and emotionally so, so well.
"Shaun, I know you don't like when I talk about it, cause you don't think I will. But if I die...I want you to move on, like, right away. I don't want you to cry over me. There's like 60 million boys who would love to have you. And when I'm gone I want to know you'll be taken care of-"
Stevie was right, Shaun HATED when he talked about dying because he wasn't going to. His type of cancer wasn't aggressive and it wasn't spreading. It was being cured and he was going to be just fine. At least, that is what Shaun was so desperately hoping for.
"Shh, please, Stevie. Don't...please don't talk like that," he held onto his lovers' face and tried to smile at him, but it was forced. "You aren't going anywhere. I promise. Stevie..." He pressed his lips to Stevie's and started to cry. "Stevie are you too tired to make love to me? Can I make love to you? Can we just..."
Stevie kissed Shaun back and played with his long dark hair that was always so soft and silky. He knew that Shaun just wanted to be close to him. They wanted to believe that they had all the time in the world to make love but they both knew that might not be so true anymore.
"You don't need me to be inside of you for you to know I'm here, right? You can feel what we have in your heart. I'm not tired now, but when I am...don't think that I don't want you, because I do. I really do, but-"
Shaun wiped his tears and shook his head. "I know, I know. I just like it when I have you...all of you..." he stroked the side of Stevie's face and he began to rub him through his jeans.
Stevie thought about stopping him, but he couldn't. He didn't want to. He wanted Shaun to make love to him, even though he usually didn't. Shaun was an amazing love-maker, he was young but he knew exactly what to do. He had all the moves and all the tricks. He had been experienced from a young age, which was upsetting to Stevie, knowing that guys took advantage of Shaun being easily persuaded into doing things. But he was never angry at Shaun for having sex so young- Shaun didn't realize how wrong it was to have sex with grown men at only 15...
"I love you, Shaun," Stevie cooed, letting his boyfriend take control of the situation.
Shaun took off his own clothes first; he knew that when Stevie was naked first he was often embarrassed for some reason, despite how many times Shaun had seen him naked. He never knew why Stevie was so embarrassed, his body was so breathtaking. He had nice skin and defined bones that weren't scary or unattractive. He was perfect.
Shaun took of Stevie's shirt and kissed his neck until he was sure he had left his mark, removing the rest of Stevie's clothes shortly after. He told him he was beautiful while he entered him and he never once stole a glance at anything other than Stevie's remarkable face. All Shaun wanted was to have moments like this forever.
Shaun held Stevie in his arms when they were finished, and he buried his face into the crook of his neck. He didn't care that they were messy, they would shower when they felt like it.
"Thank you for letting me do that," Shaun whispered into Stevie's ear.
"I didn't 'let' you, Shaun. I wanted to do it. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to. I'm sorry if I'm making you feel like you have to ask if we can have sex...it never used to be like this. I'm changing everything. This isn't how I want it to be...I want everything to be normal."
"It is, baby. Look, I won't 'ask' anymore, okay? I should be able to tell if you're not in the mood. And if you aren't I'll understand. Okay? There's no issue anymore. It's solved," he said with a smile.
Stevie wanted to cry so badly. Not because of anything, really. He just wanted to get all of his emotions out. He and Shaun had made love and he felt like everything was going to be okay. For those couple minutes he forgot about everything and he felt good. Really good.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about this- again. Because you're just proving to me that pushing you away was the worst mistake of my life. You are being so fucking amazing about all of this. And it's like complete role-reversal. I...I really hope I don't die because I really don't want to leave you. I know I'm only 17 and you're only 18 but...I've known I've loved you since...freshman year," he said with a slight chuckle. "I love how you double dip your french fries when we're in a group setting, I love when you first wake up you look so freaking adorable with your hair all over the place and your sleepy eyes and...and I love when we go to the mall you always want to hold hands. And I love that you love every animal in the world even though some of them are disgusting...I mean, 'unique'" he corrected himself before Shaun had a chance to defend ugly animals. "..And my favorite thing about you is the fact that nothing can bring you down- you're always smiling and you've got the most perfect smile, Shaun. God, I'm so lucky."
Shaun resisted his urge to ball his eyes out. "No, Stevie. You're not the lucky one, I am. Swear. Look, you listen to me right now. I know I've been wrong about like 98% of what I guess, but I'm telling you that you're going to fight this. You're not going to die, you're going to live because you fucking have to. I won't let you die. You're not going to die. And that's it. Okay?"
"O-Okay. I trust you, baby. And don't talk bad about yourself you're a good guesser on most things. Just not the unimportant stuff. Right?"
"Right."
~
Micah decided to go clothes shopping for Jack while he was at the hospital giving the children a visit. Jack's style had changed dramatically over the years. Jack loved clothes, all different kinds of clothes. He was into really simple stuff when he and Micah first met- lots of plain blues and reds and yellows. Then he moved on to more patterned clothes, and clothes that had a lot going on. Then he was in a weird casual/formal look, he'd wear a button up with jeans. And now he likes a mixture of all three looks he's had. So Micah went to PacSun, a store where he knew Jack shopped on his own.
The store had a lot of selection, tons of sweaters and pull-overs and such. Jack would be nice and warm for the winter that was coming. Micah was really nervous about winter time...when Jack got sick he got really sick, a cold to Jack was like pneumonia all the time. Micah always tried to keep Jack warm and germ free, but every winter he always manged to get a cold. Colds usually put Jack in the hospital, and Micah hated it...he hated having to watch the doctors nurse Jack back to health- a health that wasn't even healthy. It wasn't fun at all.
"Magnus! I mean, I mean..Mike-uhhhhhhh," Micah turned around and saw the strange boy..guy..man from the hospital. He had a backpack on, which was a sign that he worked there. All the employees wore backpacks around school time.
"Hello, mate. How are you? Did you enjoy your cheese balls?" Micah asked, knowing the answers already.
The boy nodded. "Good. I thought I'd never see you again. Small world. So, can I help you find anything? No offense but it doesn't look like you're shopping for yourself..." he pointed out. Yeah, Micah was more of a Banana Republic type of guy...it was the lawyer in him.
"Oh well, uh. Yeah, maybe. I'm shopping for my..boyfriend...I hope that doesn't bother you. I'm looking for hoodies and sweaters specifically."
The boy burst out laughing. "Bother me? The gayest boy in town? No way! And of course I'll help you find sweaters. You do know that there is an R in sweateR," the boy said, clearly making fun of Micah's accent yet again.
Micah sighed. "Yes, I am aware that sweater has an R in it, I spell it with an R. Perhaps I should just talk like you then." Micah's voice was gentle, and not mean. He was actually having some sort of fun.
"You can talk however you want, I'm just saying, you sound funny. I mean if that's how they talk in Australia that's cool I guess. You must think I'm close-minded. I'm not, I swear. I believe in unicorns. That's not close-minded. And you know what I think Rhino's want to be unicorns. They just aren't graceful enough. And I feel bad sometimes."
Micah felt like he was in the twilight zone, a bit. This boy made absolutely no sense, at all. Micah was trying to comprehend what made this guy tick. What was going on in his head. But he knew he'd never figure it out.
"Well I'm sure that Rhino's are happy just as they are. And by the way, I don't know your name. You were too busy indulging on your cheese crisps that you didn't tell me."
The boy gasped. He felt rude. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Well I'm Shaun. S-H-A-U-N. The cool way to spell it. Not S-E-A-N, like seen, cause that's dumb. And not S-H-A-W-N cause...well just cause. I like the way my name is spelled." Shaun nodded and smiled. "...but anyways, so shopping for your boyfriend. That's sweet. What kinda style does he have? And what size is he?"
Micah smiled back at Shaun. "He just wants to be warm. I don't think he cares what it looks like. But his favorite color is purple. I don't know why, out of all the colors he likes purple, but he does. And he's a small. He's tall, but thin."
Shaun scampered over to a rack that he knew had some good sales. He rummaged through and pulled out everything that was purple or had purple in it that was in Jack's size.
"These are really warm, I have one in green. This one I don't know, it's okay, it's weird. But I'm not sure what your boyfriend likes. My boyfriend likes forever 21 and girl clothes so...you'd know better than me."
Micah chuckled and nodded. Micah never dated a 'fem' guy before. Not like he had anything against it he just...always liked more 'straight' acting guys. Just a guy that he could be a...guy with.
"I know it's not much of my business but...what's your boyfriend like?" Micah tried to ask as subtly as possible. He was just trying to make conversation. After all, this Shaun guy was helping him out a lot. He ran all over the store and got him tons of warm winter wear for Jack.
Shaun beamed. "His name is Stevie. Well, Steven, but he doesn't like his full name. He's tall. Skinny. Long hair like me. He's funny. But...he's sick. Like, cancer sick. That's why I was at the hospital the other day. He gave me five whole dollars and I kinda went crazy, haha."
Micah felt a string pull at his heart. This Stevie guy was sick too. Just like Jack. It must have been something in the water...there's no way so many young people can just get so ill.
"Wow. That's crazy. Because Jack- my boyfriend. He's also sick. He has cancer. It's...it's devastating to watch them go through what they do, isn't it? And you...look so young. I can't even imagine what you yourself is going through," Micah said, eyes full of sorrow.
Shaun nodded and looked even more sad than when he started to talk about the Rhinos.
"Stevie hasn't been sick for long. But it feels like it's been a while already. I just wish I could cure him. I hate seeing him so weak and stuff. He's gonna be 18 in a few weeks...I don't even think he'll want to do anything."
Micah fixed the multiple sweaters on his arms so they wouldn't fall to the ground. "You've got to make him want to. Shaun, there are going to be days where your boyfriend doesn't even want to get out of bed. You need to be the one who makes him want to get up in the mornings and live his life. You've got to be the fort that holds everything together you know?"
Micah tried not to get too personal. He'd never tell anyone the realness of he and Jack's situation. How Jack had no one. No one who cared enough to see how he was doing. No family to give a shit about whether he lived or died. Micah had to be his everything. He didn't mind...he just hoped that Jack's bible-loving family would come around and actually show some support for their son.
"Yeah I know. I know Stevie isn't going to die. I mean...he could. But he can't. He's so so young, like you said. Young people don't just die. He'll...he'll be okay. And so will your boyfriend. Stevie and Jack...they'll pull through. Right?"
Micah was sure that Shaun was scared. Hell, who wouldn't be? But this poor boy...was so stuck in his childhood and now, forced to grow up and be a man...poor poor Shaun.
"Yes, you're exactly right," the older man offered a warm smile. "Listen, thank you so much for helping me. Jack will love these. I'll tell your manager that you've been a great help to me. I...I guess I'll see you around? Kind of hate to say it but maybe at the hospital..."
Shaun nodded. "Yeah, and you're welcome. Come back..if you want. Maybe with your boyfriend. That'd be neat. And...take care."
Micah couldn't wait to go home to Jack and show him all the stuff he bought him. He went to other stores and spend about 600 dollars on him. He hoped everything would fit him okay. If he lost another pound he wouldn't fit in any of the clothes he had...
Author: Jess>>>> bangxbangxdie7
Pairing:Micah/Jack and Stevie/Shaun *Original characters (link below)
Rating: PG-13ish
POV: Third
Summary: Micah and Shaun are two totally different guys with very different lives. One thing they share is a boyfriend with cancer. When they meet, they help each other cope even though they sometimes feel guilty about it...
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't copy.
Author Note: Hey guys this is my new story =] I love you, and I hope you like it <33 Between Love and Goodbye should be out Monday =]
Characters. / Info.
What would it take,
for things to be quiet,
quiet like the snow.
And I know this isn't much but...
I know I could be better.
I don't think I deserve it, selflessness.
Find your way into my heart.
Shaun noticed that his boyfriend wasn't the same. He realized that he wasn't inhuman. He wasn't invincible. He was real, and he was sick. And he looked sick. Shaun frowned when he saw Stevie's tired eyes. They were always so tired, and so empty. He knew that Stevie tried so hard to hide his fatigue from him, but he always calmed down when he knew his boyfriend had enough.
Stevie's teachers were notified by Laura about his condition, so that if there was ever a problem he could go home or the nurse and if god forbid anything were to seriously happen to him, that they should call 911 immediately. Stevie noticed that his teachers didn't call on him much, and they didn't ever tell him no when he asked to use the bathroom. It was nice, but he didn't like feeling so pitied. He hated it.
"Stevie, baby, you know those tickets I got...for Mayday Parade? The show is next week. I would understand if you don't want to go. Well not like you don't want to but...if you...you know- can't. I'll give them away to someone else, it's okay, really." Shaun looked so cute and disappointed at the same time.
Stevie couldn't ever tell him no. "Shaun, of course I want to go. And I will. I'll probably just take a nap on the way there and fall asleep on the ride home, that's all. You know I'm completely fine. I feel fine. I may not look it, but I'm great. You don't have to be scared for me."
Shaun knew that Stevie had become a class A liar. For his sake. Stevie would tell Shaun he was okay and then pass out as soon as he left. Shaun wasn't a fan of being lied to, but he didn't want to cause a fight. He let Stevie lie to him. If that made Stevie more at ease, than so be it.
"I know. I was just making sure. We'll stay in the way back, so you can't get hurt in the crowd. Nobody will bump into you and you won't get any bruises or anything. Or hey, maybe we can rent you a wheelchair and get back stage! How cool would that be?"
Stevie laughed and shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to be pushed around in a wheelchair. He was perfectly capable of walking. He felt weak only at some points during the day, and it was only because he didn't have any food in his stomach to keep him going. His appetite had basically vanished. He didn't want to eat, and when he did actually put food in his mouth it wasn't much.
Shaun on the other hand ate until his pants had to be unbuttoned. But still remained a skinny little thing somehow...
"They probably wouldn't let us backstage if I were in a wheelchair. When I went to Warped Tour they had wheelchairs in the crowd. Sorry, baby. But don't worry, we'll do what you want. You got the tickets and you have the intentions to go in there and be the first one there. You want to be the closest you can be and you will. Don't let me stop you, baby."
Shaun's eyes went soft, and he was sad for Stevie. "I wouldn't bring you into the crowd where you could get hurt. I don't care where I am, as long as I'm with you. We'll have a good view no matter where we are, and as long as I can hear Derek's voice I'll be all right," the older teen brushed the younger teens cheek with the backs of his fingers and smiled.
Stevie had no choice but to smile back at his amazing boyfriend. "Thanks, Shaun. I really appreciate that. I love you so much. I know how much this concert means to you. I'm just glad that you're taking me with you."
Shaun laced his hands with his boyfriend and led him to his couch where he sat him on his lap. Stevie always fit like a puzzle with Shaun. They connected physically and emotionally so, so well.
"Shaun, I know you don't like when I talk about it, cause you don't think I will. But if I die...I want you to move on, like, right away. I don't want you to cry over me. There's like 60 million boys who would love to have you. And when I'm gone I want to know you'll be taken care of-"
Stevie was right, Shaun HATED when he talked about dying because he wasn't going to. His type of cancer wasn't aggressive and it wasn't spreading. It was being cured and he was going to be just fine. At least, that is what Shaun was so desperately hoping for.
"Shh, please, Stevie. Don't...please don't talk like that," he held onto his lovers' face and tried to smile at him, but it was forced. "You aren't going anywhere. I promise. Stevie..." He pressed his lips to Stevie's and started to cry. "Stevie are you too tired to make love to me? Can I make love to you? Can we just..."
Stevie kissed Shaun back and played with his long dark hair that was always so soft and silky. He knew that Shaun just wanted to be close to him. They wanted to believe that they had all the time in the world to make love but they both knew that might not be so true anymore.
"You don't need me to be inside of you for you to know I'm here, right? You can feel what we have in your heart. I'm not tired now, but when I am...don't think that I don't want you, because I do. I really do, but-"
Shaun wiped his tears and shook his head. "I know, I know. I just like it when I have you...all of you..." he stroked the side of Stevie's face and he began to rub him through his jeans.
Stevie thought about stopping him, but he couldn't. He didn't want to. He wanted Shaun to make love to him, even though he usually didn't. Shaun was an amazing love-maker, he was young but he knew exactly what to do. He had all the moves and all the tricks. He had been experienced from a young age, which was upsetting to Stevie, knowing that guys took advantage of Shaun being easily persuaded into doing things. But he was never angry at Shaun for having sex so young- Shaun didn't realize how wrong it was to have sex with grown men at only 15...
"I love you, Shaun," Stevie cooed, letting his boyfriend take control of the situation.
Shaun took off his own clothes first; he knew that when Stevie was naked first he was often embarrassed for some reason, despite how many times Shaun had seen him naked. He never knew why Stevie was so embarrassed, his body was so breathtaking. He had nice skin and defined bones that weren't scary or unattractive. He was perfect.
Shaun took of Stevie's shirt and kissed his neck until he was sure he had left his mark, removing the rest of Stevie's clothes shortly after. He told him he was beautiful while he entered him and he never once stole a glance at anything other than Stevie's remarkable face. All Shaun wanted was to have moments like this forever.
Shaun held Stevie in his arms when they were finished, and he buried his face into the crook of his neck. He didn't care that they were messy, they would shower when they felt like it.
"Thank you for letting me do that," Shaun whispered into Stevie's ear.
"I didn't 'let' you, Shaun. I wanted to do it. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to. I'm sorry if I'm making you feel like you have to ask if we can have sex...it never used to be like this. I'm changing everything. This isn't how I want it to be...I want everything to be normal."
"It is, baby. Look, I won't 'ask' anymore, okay? I should be able to tell if you're not in the mood. And if you aren't I'll understand. Okay? There's no issue anymore. It's solved," he said with a smile.
Stevie wanted to cry so badly. Not because of anything, really. He just wanted to get all of his emotions out. He and Shaun had made love and he felt like everything was going to be okay. For those couple minutes he forgot about everything and he felt good. Really good.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about this- again. Because you're just proving to me that pushing you away was the worst mistake of my life. You are being so fucking amazing about all of this. And it's like complete role-reversal. I...I really hope I don't die because I really don't want to leave you. I know I'm only 17 and you're only 18 but...I've known I've loved you since...freshman year," he said with a slight chuckle. "I love how you double dip your french fries when we're in a group setting, I love when you first wake up you look so freaking adorable with your hair all over the place and your sleepy eyes and...and I love when we go to the mall you always want to hold hands. And I love that you love every animal in the world even though some of them are disgusting...I mean, 'unique'" he corrected himself before Shaun had a chance to defend ugly animals. "..And my favorite thing about you is the fact that nothing can bring you down- you're always smiling and you've got the most perfect smile, Shaun. God, I'm so lucky."
Shaun resisted his urge to ball his eyes out. "No, Stevie. You're not the lucky one, I am. Swear. Look, you listen to me right now. I know I've been wrong about like 98% of what I guess, but I'm telling you that you're going to fight this. You're not going to die, you're going to live because you fucking have to. I won't let you die. You're not going to die. And that's it. Okay?"
"O-Okay. I trust you, baby. And don't talk bad about yourself you're a good guesser on most things. Just not the unimportant stuff. Right?"
"Right."
~
Micah decided to go clothes shopping for Jack while he was at the hospital giving the children a visit. Jack's style had changed dramatically over the years. Jack loved clothes, all different kinds of clothes. He was into really simple stuff when he and Micah first met- lots of plain blues and reds and yellows. Then he moved on to more patterned clothes, and clothes that had a lot going on. Then he was in a weird casual/formal look, he'd wear a button up with jeans. And now he likes a mixture of all three looks he's had. So Micah went to PacSun, a store where he knew Jack shopped on his own.
The store had a lot of selection, tons of sweaters and pull-overs and such. Jack would be nice and warm for the winter that was coming. Micah was really nervous about winter time...when Jack got sick he got really sick, a cold to Jack was like pneumonia all the time. Micah always tried to keep Jack warm and germ free, but every winter he always manged to get a cold. Colds usually put Jack in the hospital, and Micah hated it...he hated having to watch the doctors nurse Jack back to health- a health that wasn't even healthy. It wasn't fun at all.
"Magnus! I mean, I mean..Mike-uhhhhhhh," Micah turned around and saw the strange boy..guy..man from the hospital. He had a backpack on, which was a sign that he worked there. All the employees wore backpacks around school time.
"Hello, mate. How are you? Did you enjoy your cheese balls?" Micah asked, knowing the answers already.
The boy nodded. "Good. I thought I'd never see you again. Small world. So, can I help you find anything? No offense but it doesn't look like you're shopping for yourself..." he pointed out. Yeah, Micah was more of a Banana Republic type of guy...it was the lawyer in him.
"Oh well, uh. Yeah, maybe. I'm shopping for my..boyfriend...I hope that doesn't bother you. I'm looking for hoodies and sweaters specifically."
The boy burst out laughing. "Bother me? The gayest boy in town? No way! And of course I'll help you find sweaters. You do know that there is an R in sweateR," the boy said, clearly making fun of Micah's accent yet again.
Micah sighed. "Yes, I am aware that sweater has an R in it, I spell it with an R. Perhaps I should just talk like you then." Micah's voice was gentle, and not mean. He was actually having some sort of fun.
"You can talk however you want, I'm just saying, you sound funny. I mean if that's how they talk in Australia that's cool I guess. You must think I'm close-minded. I'm not, I swear. I believe in unicorns. That's not close-minded. And you know what I think Rhino's want to be unicorns. They just aren't graceful enough. And I feel bad sometimes."
Micah felt like he was in the twilight zone, a bit. This boy made absolutely no sense, at all. Micah was trying to comprehend what made this guy tick. What was going on in his head. But he knew he'd never figure it out.
"Well I'm sure that Rhino's are happy just as they are. And by the way, I don't know your name. You were too busy indulging on your cheese crisps that you didn't tell me."
The boy gasped. He felt rude. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Well I'm Shaun. S-H-A-U-N. The cool way to spell it. Not S-E-A-N, like seen, cause that's dumb. And not S-H-A-W-N cause...well just cause. I like the way my name is spelled." Shaun nodded and smiled. "...but anyways, so shopping for your boyfriend. That's sweet. What kinda style does he have? And what size is he?"
Micah smiled back at Shaun. "He just wants to be warm. I don't think he cares what it looks like. But his favorite color is purple. I don't know why, out of all the colors he likes purple, but he does. And he's a small. He's tall, but thin."
Shaun scampered over to a rack that he knew had some good sales. He rummaged through and pulled out everything that was purple or had purple in it that was in Jack's size.
"These are really warm, I have one in green. This one I don't know, it's okay, it's weird. But I'm not sure what your boyfriend likes. My boyfriend likes forever 21 and girl clothes so...you'd know better than me."
Micah chuckled and nodded. Micah never dated a 'fem' guy before. Not like he had anything against it he just...always liked more 'straight' acting guys. Just a guy that he could be a...guy with.
"I know it's not much of my business but...what's your boyfriend like?" Micah tried to ask as subtly as possible. He was just trying to make conversation. After all, this Shaun guy was helping him out a lot. He ran all over the store and got him tons of warm winter wear for Jack.
Shaun beamed. "His name is Stevie. Well, Steven, but he doesn't like his full name. He's tall. Skinny. Long hair like me. He's funny. But...he's sick. Like, cancer sick. That's why I was at the hospital the other day. He gave me five whole dollars and I kinda went crazy, haha."
Micah felt a string pull at his heart. This Stevie guy was sick too. Just like Jack. It must have been something in the water...there's no way so many young people can just get so ill.
"Wow. That's crazy. Because Jack- my boyfriend. He's also sick. He has cancer. It's...it's devastating to watch them go through what they do, isn't it? And you...look so young. I can't even imagine what you yourself is going through," Micah said, eyes full of sorrow.
Shaun nodded and looked even more sad than when he started to talk about the Rhinos.
"Stevie hasn't been sick for long. But it feels like it's been a while already. I just wish I could cure him. I hate seeing him so weak and stuff. He's gonna be 18 in a few weeks...I don't even think he'll want to do anything."
Micah fixed the multiple sweaters on his arms so they wouldn't fall to the ground. "You've got to make him want to. Shaun, there are going to be days where your boyfriend doesn't even want to get out of bed. You need to be the one who makes him want to get up in the mornings and live his life. You've got to be the fort that holds everything together you know?"
Micah tried not to get too personal. He'd never tell anyone the realness of he and Jack's situation. How Jack had no one. No one who cared enough to see how he was doing. No family to give a shit about whether he lived or died. Micah had to be his everything. He didn't mind...he just hoped that Jack's bible-loving family would come around and actually show some support for their son.
"Yeah I know. I know Stevie isn't going to die. I mean...he could. But he can't. He's so so young, like you said. Young people don't just die. He'll...he'll be okay. And so will your boyfriend. Stevie and Jack...they'll pull through. Right?"
Micah was sure that Shaun was scared. Hell, who wouldn't be? But this poor boy...was so stuck in his childhood and now, forced to grow up and be a man...poor poor Shaun.
"Yes, you're exactly right," the older man offered a warm smile. "Listen, thank you so much for helping me. Jack will love these. I'll tell your manager that you've been a great help to me. I...I guess I'll see you around? Kind of hate to say it but maybe at the hospital..."
Shaun nodded. "Yeah, and you're welcome. Come back..if you want. Maybe with your boyfriend. That'd be neat. And...take care."
Micah couldn't wait to go home to Jack and show him all the stuff he bought him. He went to other stores and spend about 600 dollars on him. He hoped everything would fit him okay. If he lost another pound he wouldn't fit in any of the clothes he had...