I Believe In Us - (McPricely)

Chapter 7

   Kevin and Connor spent the rest of the night laughing and telling stories to each other. At around 5 in the morning they decided they'd get an early start to the day; getting dressed before everyone else, so they'd be immediately out the door to get the coffee which Kevin held to so high esteem. Going out earlier in the day was easier, for the sun wasn't as harsh compared to the afternoon.

   Kevin found himself in his room, adjusting his tie as the clock hit 6am, awakening the other Elders. Kevin chose to remain focused on his tie as Poptarts stirred awake and shut off his alarm. Every morning Elder Thomas awoke like a fussy toddler, but was usually fine after the first minute or two. Kevin figured he'd grant him a moment to wake up before greeting him with a peppy good morning.

   "You're up earlier than usual," Elder Thomas yawned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

   Kevin brushed off his shirt. "Yeah, I woke up a bit... earlier— and couldn't fall back asleep, so I figured I'd get dressed," he replied.

"Ah I see, what time?"

'Oh like 3 in the morning.'

"Like 5 something," Kevin lied casually.

   "I wish I had the capacity to just roll out of bed at that time and be a functioning human being," Elder Thomas huffed, "I'm gonna go into the kitchen and grab some poptarts, that's the only thing that wakes me up," he informed Kevin, pulling himself up from the covers. Somehow, the food had the ability to give him a more aggressive rush than what Kevin received from three cups of coffee. He'd check the ingredients later, there was definitely something suspicious in those things.

   "I swear to gosh you're like a living cartoon character Elder," Kevin scoffed.

   He could practically hear the eye rolling in Poptarts' tone of voice as he responded, "yeah, that's rich coming from you 'all American white boy.'" Before Kevin even had a chance to fire a witty remark back, the other was out the door. Whatever else was in those Poptarts gave him a shocking amount of impertinence. An amount you'd never be able to guess he had based on his innocent presenting appearance.

   Connor, alone in his own room, sat in front of the mirror, attempting to figure out some way to conceal his heavy eye bags. He hoped the caffeine would eliminate the feeling of sleep deprivation he felt, but there was no fixing the dark puffiness under his eyes. Sighing, Connor rose to his feet and exited the room to meet Kevin, who stood near the front entrance of the house.

   "You ready to head out?" Kevin questioned upon seeing Connor exit his room.

   He gave a small nod, replying, "heck yeah. Let's go get some scorching hot coffee in the scorching hot sun." Connor held the door open for Kevin so he could lead him outside, and to the coffee shop.

   "Why thank you sir. I guess chivalry isn't dead after all," Kevin grinned as he stepped through the doorway. He waited as Connor stepped down the stairs from the entrance. "So are you excited to try coffee for the first time or what? It is your first time having caffeine right?" He clarified.

   "Yeah it is. I'm kind of nervous about it honestly."

   "Nervous?" Kevin repeated. At this point he couldn't grasp why someone might have even the slightest hesitation when trying caffeine. It was incredible. Sure, drinking it served as an act of rebellion for Kevin at first, but that was before he'd realized its true magic.

   "Well I dunno. Like intentionally going against the church type stuff," Connor shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I mean, first I admit that I'm gay, and then immediately afterwards I'm off to get my first cup of coffee. My parents would be digging my grave right now if they knew what I'd done in the past 5 hours," he joked.