𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐓 , xavier thorpe.

SIX.

idalia went to speak, but cassius gestured her to stop as he heard the door knob twisting. a second later, xavier slipped into the room before closing the door behind him. his eyes widening as he saw cassius was now awake. quickly stepping over to the boy's bed and kneeling beside him.

"cass, are you okay?"

"i'm good, thanks" xavier nodded, taking in the sight of the boy's twitching hand and fighting the urge to hold it in his.

"can we..." xavier let his eyes fall on idalia before placing his attention back to on cassius. "talk about the other night?"

"i'm gonna go check on wednesday" idalia spoke up, catching the hint xavier threw her way, a small smile on her face as she nodded at cassius. a silent sign to he honest. "enid asked for my opinion with wednesday's costume for the poe cup and i just gotta see this"

"take pictures for me" cassius joked as idalia made her way out of the room.

"you know i will!" she called over her shoulder, the door closing was the last thing heard before the two boys were engulfed in silence.

"cass—"

"i know" cassius blurted.

xavier furrowed his eyebrows.

"w-what are you talking about?"

cassius let out a deep breath, sitting up straighter, his gaze stuck on xavier's.

"everything, i know about everything"

"you're being kinda vague right now" xavier chuckled out, his voice wavering from how nervous he was becoming. "cass, just tell me what it is"

"you like me" cassius whispered out.

however, it was so quiet that xavier had heard it quite clearly. he froze. his brain, his body, was all frozen. he couldn't think properly, when did cassius find out? is that why cassius avoided him? how did he find out?

"cass—"

"it was accidental, i wasn't supposed to know so i tried to pretend i didn't..." cassius let out a deep sigh, a weight on his shoulders finally being released into the air of honesty.

xavier couldn't help the scoff that left his lips. the usual roll of his eyes followed before letting his gaze fall back to cassius. xavier wanted to deny it. he was going to deny it. however, he could never lie to cassius, the boy said it was an accident. cassius wasn't supposed to know, he didn't want to know and xavier was all but fine keeping it a secret.

"is that why you avoided me?" xavier's voice was soft, his gaze falling to the polished yet rusted wooden tiles.

"half" cassius admitted.

xavier noticed the slight pulling that cassius was doing to his fingertips. an old habit that he picked up in 3rd grade once he became overwhelmed with his own emotions. it was an action made to calm himself down, but it seemed to have lost its effect as the years went by. xavier wasn't thinking clearly, having slipped his hand into cassius'. they meet each other's longing gazes once again, xavier cautiously intertwining their hands together, not wanting to make cassius uncomfortable.

"can i ask why?"

cassius shrugged. "it's only fair, you did kinda save my ass"

"kinda?" xavier arched an eyebrow playfully, successfully getting a laugh—more like a soft chuckle—out of cassius.

"you know... the only reason i detached... it was because i didn't want to come in-between your relationship" cassius mumbled. "i wouldn't be able to forgive myself knowing i caused you two major problems"

"what? cass-no, you aren't the reason me and bianca broke up" xavier rushed out, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

"i know" cassius hummed. a small smile finding its way to his dry lips. "but it was always a lingering thought, it would've strained our friendship anyways so i decided to speed up the process"

"i'm sorry to say this but i won't be that easy to get rid of"

"yeah, tell me about it" cassius teased , the boys chuckling in harmony. a sound that wasn't heard as of late. after the laughter died and the boys were left with a somber feeling, almost as if they were reminiscent of the past.

xavier squeezed cassius' hand in his , their gazes slowly moving from their intertwined hands on upward . light brown orbs meeting dark brown .

"i am sorry for avoiding you" cassius started, a ghost smile playing at his lips. "i've missed you quite a bit"

xavier couldn't contain the smile growing on his lips at cassius' words. a deep sigh of relief was followed by the slightest drop of his shoulders. he had been trying and waiting for years for this moment , the moment of truth between the former best friends. a moment of calmness even if it was before a storm... xavier would take it and hold onto every second of it.

they didn't say it . but they both could  feel it . the lingering understanding that even if nothing went right , at least they would be okay .