swine | ☆

● chapter 18. ○

"Oh, yes, I have. I'm not sure where he'd be now, but he went left down the street with two others," Y/n kept the identity of Grayson and that child secret, as he didn't know for sure what the woman's intentions were and didn't want to give her any information that could hurt someone. Why he didn't have that instinct for Christian... well, it was hard to care about someone like him.

Though, the woman took the note back and wrote something else down on it. When it was once again offered to Y/n, he read it.

'Who?'

Y/n hesitated to answer. On one hand, an answer to this question might put risk on Grayson and whoever that child was (fuck Christian, nobody cared about him), but on the other hand... Malikai was right about Y/n needing a stronger backbone.

"A teenage boy and a small child," The (h/c) boy answered, the smile he always wore when he was behind the register waning into something more nervous. The woman took the note back and dipped her head in thanks, before turning around and leaving the bakery completely. She sort of glided when she walked, for lack of a better description.

When Y/n turned back, Malikai was gaping at him, hands pressed to his cheeks in a dramatic display of shock. He looked like his cartoonishly-shaped heart was about to beat out of his chest like some sort of animated character. A wise decision to make in front of his boyfriend (but Malikai had never been that smart).

"Did she come out of some sort of convention?" Someone asked from the doorway, and Y/n was relieved to see Jonah.

"In (y/a)? No chance," Malikai said, shuddering. It looked like he was experiencing a mix of fear and attraction. Again, right in front of his boyfriend, who didn't take it seriously but Y/n still felt like he needed to bid the brown-skinned male farewell and start planning what flowers he'd lay at his funeral.

Jonah walked up to Y/n. "I've been killing for maple all day," He groaned, pulling out his wallet and poking through it to find a five dollar bill while Y/n pulled out a maple donut for him.

It was only when Y/n straightened back up to bag the donut did he see Jonah's face clearly, and about dropped what he was doing when he saw the state of the taller boy's right eye.

"Holy sh-oot," Y/n corrected himself, unsure of how close by Stacy was, and unsure of how she felt about him swearing near her son, "did you get punched in the face?"

Jonah's eye was a reddish purple, like eyeshadow exploded at the corner of his eye. He laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, just a small fight, though. Nothing serious," Jonah replied, shrugging. Jonah was always very sweet, but that didn't mean he let people push him around. Y/n could take a page out of that book.

"I can't imagine you in a fight. What caused it?" Y/n asked, hoping he wasn't prying. It was just strange. Jamie could get in a fight with a grown man twice her size and Y/n wouldn't bat an eye, but Jonah getting in one was difficult to imagine.

"Just a few people picking on Ethan. I should be teaching him to stand up for himself, but, I don't know, it's nice to see people get what they deserve," Jonah shrugged dismissively. Coming from anyone else, Y/n might've been a little skeptical, but from Jonah, that ideology made sense. Jonah knew better than anyone (except for Jamie, of course) what had happened to his father all those years ago, so Y/n understood why Jonah might want to get back at people who reminded him of his... other father.

"Hey, I'm off in like... oh, I've been off for six minutes. Wanna walk home with me?" Y/n asked, handing Jonah the paper bag. Normally, Y/n wouldn't even try to ask. He didn't want to bother anyone, especially because him and Jonah weren't the closest. But, still, Y/n felt a bit anxious about walking alone.