When Hands Touch

20. lay it on me

warning: mentions of abuse, use of slur, panic attack. stay safe.
it's a bit important to the plot (marking it with ///), but if it could trigger you,  skip ahead and i'll give you a recap :)

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CHAPTER TWENTY

LAY IT ON ME

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The whole room smelled of roses.

Coughing, Xen fanned the air, grabbing a mat to place on top of the spilt perfume, as Milo gave Faiza a pitiful look, patting her shoulder as she mourned the loss of her perfume.

"It's okay, I'll buy you another one," Ray consoled, but Faiza just huffed and shook her head, switching on the fan so that the room could air out.

"All good," she stated, handing Milo the rest of the makeup products she'd brought, watching as Jude squirted moisturizer into his hand and rubbed it all over Xen's face. "It was a small bottle, so it's fine. If it was my lavender perfume, I'd be bawling."

"Balling?"

Faiza laughed at that. "No, Milo. Bawling. As in crying."

"How the fuck was I supposed to know that?" Milo questioned incredulously, Xen giving him a tiny smile as he swatted Jude's hand away when he began to slather the pink moisturizer on Xen's neck, flicking his Adam's apple repeatedly.

Milo bit down on his lip as he stared at all the products laid out in front of him. I'm going to fuck up, I know it.

But he knew he had to apply the makeup. He had to practice at least once. Lia had complained about how she had a date with some dude next week, and couldn't do her own makeup because of her shaky hands. Which was a little unnerving to think about, considering his younger sister was going on a date, and he'd never been on one in his entire life.

So, Milo offered to do her makeup for her, despite not knowing what the fuck to do. And now, Faiza was trying to teach him how to apply eyeliner without making it look like absolute trash.

"Milo, you look more nervous than Xen does," Evangeline pointed out, hand brushing through her hair as she did her assignment. "And he's the one you're applying the makeup on."

Huffing, Milo set the eyeliner down, shaking out his hands. "Wait, so, will this shade of foundation— is it foundation? Anyway, will it work for Xen?"

Faiza nodded, setting out an eyeshadow palette on the dining table. "Ray is nearly the same skin-tone as Xen, it should work."

"Remind me why we're doing this on me and not on anyone else?" Xen asked, eyes warily observing all the makeup products laid out on the table.

Ray sighed in exasperation, rummaging through Xen's fridge, letting out a triumphant yelp when he found a small chocolate bar. "Because," he began, breaking the chocolate and handing a piece out to everyone. "I don't like makeup, and I only use foundation for my performances, Faiza's already got makeup on, Jude doesn't like it, Eva's doing some schoolwork shit, I dunno. And your skin is the nicest to apply makeup on! It's so clear."

Reluctantly nodding, Xen gave Milo another smile, waiting patiently for him to start applying the makeup on his face.

Okay, okay, I'm ready. Milo raised his hand to spread the primer on Xen's face, but the first thing Xen did was flinch and jerk back, eyes widening only to reveal fear. Pure terror.

"Sorry," he whispered, letting out a heavy breath. "Just startled me."

"I'll be gentle. Promise," Milo murmured in response as he dabbed the primer all over Xen's face.