Fighting Butterflies (BoyxBoy)

Eighteen

"Like Tacos?"

Ryan stopped walking and looked up, realizing that Cain had stopped near a taco stand. He shrugged. "I don't mind them."

The tall boy nodded. "I like Tacos," he whispered and went to the front of the stand. "Dos tacos. Sin tomates y chile en uno."

"I didn't know you spoke Spanish," Ryan said when Cain came to stand beside him after giving their order.

The tall boy turned to him, expressionless. "I'm from Spain."

"Oh..." Ryan nodded, surprised that he didn't know that. Then again, there was no way he could've known. He didn't exactly make it a point to look up details about Cain like Nora did. Ah fuck! He groaned inwardly, hating himself for thinking about her. The blond boy took in a deep breath and shook his head. He didn't know why Cain brought him here, but it was by far better than staying in bed and brooding over Nora and Drew as he had been doing. Instead of focusing on his best friend's love life with the guy he was in love with, Ryan looked up at Cain. "When... when did you move here?"

"I was nine," he answered. He didn't explain further and Ryan wanted to ask, he wanted to know more about Cain and why he was helping him... no matter how weird the situation was. But he could feel that the guy before him didn't like to speak about himself, or speak much for that matter. He remained quiet and waited as Cain went to pick up their tacos before the two found a table to sit at.

Tacos on Thanksgiving, Ryan thought to himself with a sad smile as he bit into the food. He lifted his eyes to Cain, unable to keep himself from staring at the boy with a gray strand in his pitch black hair. He had never seen anyone with hair like that. The way the gray strands fell over Cain's green eyes seemed to bring out the colour even more. He watched Cain eat as the senior scrolled on his phone, extremely focused on whatever it was that he was reading. Twitter, Ryan figured. A lot of kids in their school used the app as Ryan himself did. But it wasn't the fact that Cain was more focused on his phone than the food that stood out to Ryan. It was the way his brows knitted together, the way he pursed his lips and they way his eyes widened ever so slightly when he came across something seemingly interesting. It was the curious gaze in Cain's eyes that stood out to the blond boy. It was fascinating how Cain, who always seemed to have a resting bitch face, could look so animated and at ease when in his comfort zone.

And it made Ryan wonder if being with Cain meant that Cain was comfortable with him.

"Done?"

"Hmm?" Ryan blinked.

"Are you done eating?" Cain's eyes went down to Ryan's empty plate and back up.

Following his line of sight, Ryan instantly realized what Cain was asking. "Oh... yeah," he said and stood up from his seat when Cain did. After throwing their disposables, the two continued their walk through the mall.

"Do you want water?" Cain asked after a long moment of nothing but silent breaths and loud mall music between them.

"Not really," Ryan whispered, but somehow Cain heard him over the loud music and nodded. Ryan focused his sight on the tall senior as the latter walked ahead of him. He didn't fail to notice when Cain took out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his jacket, putting a stick into his mouth and lighting it. The blond boy stopped abruptly, almost missing his step and stumbling. His surprise didn't fade when Cain turned to him as he blew out a puff of smoke.

"You okay?" The senior asked.

"Ye- yeah," Ryan said, nodding. He didn't know that Cain smoked. It had never occurred to him that the senior did that sort of thing, but it did make sense with how hoarse Cain voice sometimes was now that Ryan thought about it. He wasn't sure why he remembered the sound of Cain's voice as if it was something he was so familiar with.

"Come on then!" Cain exclaimed, leading the way to an ice cream bike stand just outside the mall. The senior stopped by the stand. "Two strawberry ice cream cones," he ordered.

"You like strawberry?" Ryan blurted out before he could stop himself.

Cain brow lifted, the corner of his lips turning up slightly. He said nothing to that and turned back to the ice cream man, leaving Ryan with a raging burn on his cheeks as the blond boy glanced sideways, somehow shy. Once the cones were done, Cain gave one to Ryan and both went in at the same time... in sync.

"It's better right?" Cain asked.

"Better than?"

"The bar."

Ryan thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out what Cain meant as he took another bite. And then it hit. "Oh..." Blue eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Isn't that your best friend's shop?"

The tall boy shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't have good ice cream elsewhere."

Ryan smiled to himself, shaking his head. He had to admit, it was indeed better and somehow, that felt incredibly good. "Yeah, I guess it is."

***

Cain's growing on me, I won't lie. What about you guys? Do y'all like him? Think he's up to no good? What about Ryan? Is he dealing with heartbreak well? I'd love to know.

Thank you all so so much for 2K reads btw. I really appreciate it.