2

Chapter 2 When Pedro returned to his apartment and kicked off his sneakers, he was surprised to find his roommate, Kaleo, laying on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. It seemed that Kaleo had also abandoned any desire to do anything except sleep. When Pedro set down his bag, the brunette barely reacted. As the younger teen sat down on his side of the bed and began unpacking his books, the silence stretched between them until it was eventually broken with a soft sigh."How was your trip?"Kaleo asked, his tone lacking its usual cheer. "I see you brought back some interesting souvenirs…" Pedro grinned and opened up his notebook so that the brunette could see the sketches he had made during his trip. "I think you'll agree that these aren't 'interesting'," he remarked."Those pictures are amazing! Especially that one of the girl. What's she called?""I don't remember her name, sorry.""You know, I could always make a list and you can add names to it. We could do that sort of thing all day."Pedro smiled as Kaleo rambled. In truth, Pedro wished they could spend their whole week making lists together like they used to, but he supposed that the world didn't stop just because they had ended their relationship. Still, he hated seeing the disappointment in his roommate' eyes whenever they talked about what had happened in Germany. Sometimes he wondered whether he should give up on trying to get his old life back, but he knew that was impossible. The idea simply didn't seem to make sense."She was quite attractive…"the brunette mumbled."Was she?"Pedro said absentmindedly."Yes… She had long curly hair and big blue eyes…"Pedro froze at those words, his fingers pausing on the pages of his sketchbook. He knew that his roommate must have caught him staring, and he knew that his sudden silence wasn't helping the situation at all. But Pedro couldn't bring himself to say a word as he closed his sketchpad and turned to his roommate. If Kaleo noticed that he looked unusually uncomfortable, he didn't comment on it and continued his story. "But anyway, you know how much I dislike her..."The brunette looked pensive for a moment before continuing. "And what do you care anyway? It's not like she was anyone special. I mean, what's not to like? Sure she was beautiful-"Pedro flinched at the word-"but she was still a boring woman who was constantly giving the boys around you heart attacks.""Kaleo!" Pedro exclaimed, shooting up off the mattress."Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," the brunette quickly added."It's okay,"Pedro sighed. "I shouldn't have taken it personally, I guess.""You sure?""Yeah...yeah, I'm fine.""Good!"Kaleo beamed brightly before turning his attention back to the ceiling. "Anyway, I bet you would never guess what else she gave me.""Huh?"Pedro tilted his head in curiosity."A kiss! She gave me a kiss!"Kaleo said loudly, his voice echoing off the walls."WHAT?!""Exactly.""She kissed YOU?! Are you sure about this?"Pedro asked as he leaned closer, his eyebrows raised in excitement.Kaleo nodded enthusiastically and began reciting the entire incident from memory.After they'd finished, Pedro threw his arms around the other man and squeezed him tightly. "You deserve so much better than her, Kaleo!""What's not to love about her though?"Kaleo asked, returning his friend's embrace. "She was sweet and kind; nothing like that arrogant little bitch!"They laughed as their friends joined them on the couch."Do you know when she'll be back?"Natsuo asked. "Not exactly. But I heard that she was taking a few days off to travel.""Travel, huh," Tatsuo chuckled, eyeing her suspiciously."It's not funny," Lucy huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.Tatsuo shrugged and leaned back against the sofa. "Okay, I'm serious. Why are you even spending time with her? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you, but she's so...well, you know. I don't even know if she'll stay long enough for us to get to know her""Well, there's no way we'll ever know, not unless we ask," Natsuo said. Lucy bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably. She felt like he was only saying that to make her feel bad. Even Natsuo couldn't tell the difference between someone who was actually nice and someone who was merely playing with your feelings. It had taken her years to figure that out, after all.")So what about you? How was your trip?"Lucy asked as she took a bite from her sandwich. She had just left work and had taken a detour to pick something up for Natsuo and Tatsuo. After her lunch break at the diner that had become their favourite hangout spot, she had immediately headed to the bakery to surprise Natsuo and Tatsuo with some homemade food. "It was nice," Tatsuo replied, shrugging and picking at his sandwich. "There was no problem, just lots of people trying to talk to me."Lucy grimaced and rolled her eyes.