Detached [boyxboy]

f i v e

Noah knew it was unfair to ask, and one look at Casimir's falling face made him regret it instantly. He knew how guilty Cas felt about hiding it from him.

"Noah— "

Casimir began to speak but Noah cut him off before he could say anything. "No, forget I asked. Sorry." He said, reaching forward to grab the remote and restart the movie.

Casimir's hand grabbed the remote before Noah could reach it, switching off the television before dropping it onto the floor.

"Talk to me Noah. I'm worried."

Noah didn't know what exactly convinced him, but he had a feeling it was the raw honesty and concern in Cas' words. Either way, the words tumbled out of his mouth like a landslide.

He always seemed to lose control of his words around Casimir. Something about the brown eyed boy just always convinced him to spill his heart. If it wasn't so comforting, Noah was sure he'd find it embarrassing.

"I just feel so out of the loop. Like I've missed the last six months of my life and I know nothing at all." He said, voice cracking as he spoke. "Like everything is different, and your different, and I don't know everything about you anymore. Like I used to."

"Let's play questions then." Casimir suggested, and Noah perked up as he remembered. How could he have forgotten? Him and Cas used to play questions all the time.

"You start." He said, but it came out as a muffled mess as he shoved popcorn in his mouth as he spoke.

"Gross. But okay." Cas said, nose scrunching up as he observed Noah eating like an animal across from him.

Noah just stuck out his tongue immaturely, earning him a light shove from Cas.

"Okay, current favourite song?"

Starting out simple. That was always the was it was with their games. Start off with the easy stuff, and work deeper. So by the time you were spilling your heart it felt natural.

"Love My Way by The Psychedelic Furs." Noah replied after a moment of consideration.

"You and your eighties songs." Casimir teased, rolling his eyes in mock disapproval.

"Beats your electronic pop crap." Noah countered, making a face at the thought of Casimir's music.

"Hey, that stuff is the best."

"Whatever, we agreed to disagree when it comes to what qualifies as good music. Even though I'm clearly right." Noah said stubbornly, deep down refusing to accept that the crap that Cas listened to beat his classic eighties power ballads.

"Whatever. Ask your question already." Cas said, a small smile playing on his lips. Noah had a matching one on his face.

"Is your mom sick?"

This was not how the game was supposed to go.

Noah's mouth blurted out the words before he could stop himself, and his hand flew to his mouth in shock. He had surprised himself with his own bluntness, and Casimir too seemed taken aback by Noah's sudden straightforwardness. This was Noah after all, king of Beating Around The Bush.

"Uh.. yeah. I mean, yes. Kinda." Casimir replied eventually, awkwardly dancing around the answer.

That was the thing with Questions. You had to tell the truth.

"Shit Cas, I'm sorry. About your mom, and about being so blunt about it. I can't believe I asked you that." Noah said, guilt pooling in his stomach. Guilt and nausea. He was right, Juny was sick. This was one of the times Noah had wished he was wrong.