The Little Mistakes (boyxboy)

Chapter 36

“You wanna talk about it yet?” Patrick asked curiously as he drove in the direction of our home.

I sighed, arms crossed over my chest. I wasn’t angry, just tired. And upset-very upset about how my night had gone, but I didn’t want to share it with Patrick. He didn’t need to know anything.

“Nope,” I said easily.

This time it was Patrick’s turn to sigh. He surprised me by slowing down the car and pulling over on the side of the road. I glanced out the window and noticed we were in a residential area close to home. We drove this route nearly every day going home from school.

I turned my head to look at my cousin. He was watching me patiently with inquisitive eyes and a relaxed expression on his features. The shadow from a streetlight a few feet ahead of the car fell over part of his face, casting him in a dim light that made his attractive attributes pop out. It also made him seem younger and gentler—as though he could never have been considered an enemy or a threat of any kind. I liked to believe that I didn’t need to think he would ever be like that towards me again. I found a certain comfort in that thought.

“What are you doing?” I asked calmly. I wasn’t really that concerned. A strange kind of tranquility had seeped into my mind and my bones as we sat there, unmoving.

Patrick shrugged and I watched his shoulders move up and down with drowsy eyes.

“Why don’t you ever talk to anyone, Caise?”

I raised my eyebrows for a couple seconds before letting them fall back into their normal place. Blinking at him, I never said anything. It didn’t take long before Patrick filled the silence again.

“You’ve changed a lot, you know,” he said, pointedly. “When you first got here compared to now it’s as though you are a completely different person.”

“Thanks,” I muttered evenly.

“It’s not a compliment,” he quipped. I could hear the frustration starting to build within him. “I don’t like it. I hate this Caise you’ve become.” I winced at his words and I knew he saw it but pretended otherwise. “It’s wrong.”

I chuckled casually, feeling exhaustion sink into me. “Since when have I ever cared what you think?” I lied using a light tone.

Patrick shook his head and looked away from me. “That’s not the point I’m trying to make and you know it. Caise, you lash out in anger, you hardly eat, you’re quiet until you snap, and you look so goddamn depressed more than half the time that it breaks my fucking heart!” he rattled out in one breath.

My eyes widened at his harsh, angry voice, and the shock of what he said. I stared at him, and he looked back at me a moment later, letting his brown eyes search my blue ones for some reaction.

“Okay? Jesus fuck,” Patrick growled before tearing his eyes away from mine again. He mumbled something indecipherable and I asked him to repeat himself—which he did so irritably and louder than necessary. “It just pisses me off to see you like this. I want you like you used to be.”

“What?” I asked dumbly.

“I mean that you need help,” he said quickly as if he were admonishing himself. “If you don’t want to talk to me, then at least promise me you’ll find someone. Please.”

I blinked and felt the fatigue I had from before Patrick’s outburst returning. I rested the back of my head against my window as I watched the boy next to me fume silently. I let my eyes drift shut and relaxed my body, slumping into my seat.

I pried one eye open slowly as the quietness filled the air around our heads. One of my hands reached out and I allowed my fingers to brush over the back of his right hand. Patrick regarded me suspiciously as I weakly held his hand like a child would hold their mother’s as they fell asleep.