Shoplifting Hearts | ✓

5. holding hands

as i stand outside his home contemplating whether i should enter or not, i begin to wonder why darwin works at a store when he's already so wealthy. 

i could probably call it a mansion if i wanted, having never seen a residence so large in my life. it was completely brick and stone with long pillars lining the front. of course, there was no fountain or anything of the sort but, then again, that would be pushing it.

i press the doorbell and wait for the boy to answer, only to be met by a pair of bright green eyes instead of the hazel ones i'd expected. the person's hair is very dark, falling over his eyes, a stark contrast to darwin's.

"who are you?" i ask.

the person raises an eyebrow, looking me over carefully. "who are you?"

"i'm darwin's...friend."

he stares at me skeptically, eyes slightly narrowed. "you don't sound too sure of yourself."

just then, a hand pushes the guy out of the way and darwin appears from behind him. "i'm sorry about him," he says before turning to the guy who was now lying on the floor. "fuck off, aspen."

aspen quickly gets off the floor, dusting his shirt off as he does so (though i'm not quite sure why, considering the house is spotless). "well, excuse me for being cautious of letting strangers into our home." he scowls at darwin before walking further into the house.

"that's my brother," darwin mumbles, motioning for me to walk through the door. i comply, analyzing my surroundings. the interior is beautiful, like it came right out of a home decorating magazine.

"you're rich," i blurt out.

he looks taken aback for a moment but composes himself. "i am not."

i scoff. "you are. look around you, darwin. why the hell do you work at a shop when you could easily afford that car you're saving up for?"

he's quiet for a moment, staring intently at a random spot on the wall beside us before bringing his focus back to me. "it's a matter of manhood, okay?" he sighs. "everything i own...it's been paid for by my parents. i need to feel like i earned the car by hard work, you know?"

i snort. that's something you don't hear every day. "alright." i nod, clapping my hands together. "so what are we going to be doing today?"

darwin pulls his sweatshirt off a coat rack and over his head, and i try my hardest not to giggle at the way he's struggling to get it on. "you're going to hold my hand today," he says, wiggling his eyebrows and pulling at the hem of his hoodie.

my nose involuntarily scrunches in disgust. "i have to touch you?"

"don't act like you don't want to," he smirks, walking out the door.

i follow him, disbelief on my face. "i'm not acting."

"you will be in a few minutes," he mutters, shifting his gaze to my hand and wrapping his long fingers around mine.

a/n: aspen is played by the loml, young rob lowe (the way he looked like in "the outsiders" as sodapop).