When Hands Touch

24. worry

warning: mentions of abuse, blood.

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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

WORRY

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"Okay, it's been a week. 'Fess up, bitch."

Milo sighed, but his lips turned upward into a grin when Jude smacked his head against his locker while he stood up from tying his shoelace. Clumsy.

He had wanted to talk to Jude about the whole Xen thing, the kiss, and everything else that came with it. But after his three-day migraine, he ended up getting the fucking flu, which resulted in him being bed bound for the rest of the week too.

And in that week, Xen had showed up once more to his house with a fresh bruise, on his other arm this time. Of course, he had refused to talk about it. Again.

"I don't know!" Milo started, eyes darting around to make sure nobody was listening in. "I like him. And he likes me, apparently. We kissed." A lot.

Pursing his lips, Jude shook his head and began to walk, until the both of them reached the library. They had a spare now, thankfully, meaning that Jude had all the time in the world to pester Milo for questions. And Milo had all the time in the world to fawn over Xen.

"Aight, so you like him?" Jude questioned curiously, pocketing a stray pen that was lying on the table they were sitting at. "It was obvious that he was into you, but I genuinely thought you were just fuckin' around or somethin'."

There was a small moment of silence, and Milo used that time to process Jude's words, before letting out a short chuckle. "Jude, when have I ever fucked around? You know that I'm all in when I get a crush."

Jude laughed. "Trust me, I know. We all remember Javier. Smackin' dude, so attractive. Would smash."

"Xen is more attractive," Milo mumbled, resting his cheek on the cool wood of the table and looking up at Jude, who placed his hand on Milo's cheek, patting it softly. "But anyway. I told Xen that I wanted to keep kissing him, without the whole relationship thing. I've never been in a relationship before, I don't know how the fuck it works! Help."

Huffing, Jude ruffled Milo's hair as he squished his cheek. "You want me to help? I'm literally aro, Milo," he reminded, causing Milo to pout, lip sticking out. "Man, your cheeks are so cute. I love you so much. Anyway, I don't think I have any useful advice to give you, though. Just— go at a pace that's comfortable for the both of you, yeah? Keep askin' Xen if he's comfortable. Make sure he does the same for you.

"No one's forcin' you to start datin' him, and if you wanna continue what you're doing with him right now, without a relationship, that's perfectly fine. Just make sure that it's what the both of you want."

"And you said that you don't have any useful advice," Milo huffed out, rolling his eyes as he let Jude's words sink in.

Arms folded across his body, Jude laughed, shaking his head. "Maybe I do. The media is so... Romantic. Everythin' is focused on romance, so I guess it's just ingrained in me, even though I'm aro. That make sense?"

Milo nodded, waiting for Jude to continue. And he did, by saying, "I was talkin' to Eva about this, just the other night. Like, it's all so centered around romance, and people are constantly shovin' it down everyone's throat. So, it's easy to give advice about love, 'cause it's all we see. I mean, I don't really mind? But it would be nice to see like, platonic shit and everythin' too, you know?"