Quicksand | Kellin Quinn

F i v e

"Your mom makes some bombass pancakes," I comment as I take another bite.

"She does," Kellin replies, watching as I eat.

"What?" I ask, my mouth full as I readjust my position on his bed.

"You're just so..."

"What?" I swallow and tilt my head to the side inquiringly.

"Normal."

"What'd you expect, boy? I'd have sharp teeth? Three eyes?"

"I mean, I thought you wouldn't be sitting on my bed eating my mom's pancakes."

"Rather...?" I prod, waving my fork in a circular motion.

"I'd be dead the second I'd see you," he replies, and I snort.

"I don't kill if I don't need to."

"What does that mean? You had to kill those guys?" he asks, his interest evident as he leans forward a bit.

"If I wanted to survive, yes," I reply, giving him a pointed look to say that's all I'm telling him. However, he doesn't take the hint.

"Did they hurt you?" he asks softly, and I feel my heart clench. I bite my lip, not meeting his eyes as I focus on keeping my strong exterior up. I can feel his gaze on my face, and I look to the side for a moment, trying to calm my breathing. Closing my eyes tightly before opening them again, I look to Kellin once more.

"You could say that," I say simply, satisfied when my voice doesn't crack. He finally nods, not pressing any more.

"I'm sorry," he says after a moment, poking at a piece of pancake.

"It's okay," I tell him with a sigh, stuffing another piece of pancake in my mouth.

"Do you want to hear about me so you don't have to talk about yourself?" he questions, and I smile.

"Yeah. That sounds great."

"Okay. So, I lied. I'm a virgin. Got that out of the way," he snorts, stabbing a piece of pancake as if to emphasize his point.

"Yeah. I figured," I respond, bringing another piece of pancake to my mouth.

"Oh shut up," he laughs, a blush creeping into his cheeks. "Anyway, my friend, Jack, was trying to get me to go to this party yesterday—"

"I saw," I cut in, my mouth still full. We both start laughing, and I finally swallow. "That's why I thought you wouldn't be here," I chuckle.

"I figured. Truth is, I was having a dream about you, so that's why I didn't freak out at first," he explains as he nibbles on a small slice of pancake.

"Oh yeah. I was naked? Were you having a naughty dream?" I tease, making him blush more.

"God." He puts his fork on his plate. "It was not a naughty dream. It was this weird ass dream where girls were trying to have sex with me, and you just so happened to be one of the girls," he replies quickly, his face red.

"And you didn't like this?"

"No! I'm, um, waitingfortherightgirl," he finishes quickly before stuffing some pancake in his mouth.

"What?" I ask, furrowing my brow. "I'm not poking fun—I legitimately don't know what you said."

"I'm waiting," he explains, eyeing me as if he thinks I won't understand.

"Don't look at me like that. What the fuck?" I raise an eyebrow at him. "I wish I'd waited," I say after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Then I probably wouldn't be in this situation," I admit.

"Really?" Before I can respond, he adds, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but is this situation," he waves his hand, gesturing to the space between us. "that bad?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, either, but no. It's not that bad."