Same Time

five.

I sigh, "It doesn't matter, Shay. See you later."

"Wait," He says, "You're not even going to make sure I get home okay?"

"You're grown, aren't you?" I raise an eyebrow.

"But I'm injured." He whines, holding up his hand dramatically. "You can't expect me to drive with an injured hand."

"Bye," I press, walking away before I have the chance to look back.

When I'm halfway down the sidewalk, I sigh. I suppose I shouldn't just leave him, not after he's just defended me. With a huff, I turn around and start to head back to where he's still stood by his car.

I jolted to a stop when I was finally within talking distance with him, my heart rate immediately picking up as I stared at him. I wasn't even sure he knew I came back, with his eyes glued to his phone that was clutched in one hand, a small trail of smoke drifting up from the cigarette that he held in his other.

Taking a step closer, he tensed but didn't look at me. The slight tilt of his head was the only thing that told me that he knew I was there. I chewed on my lip, regretting changing my mind as his head finally snapped towards me. This time, I averted my gaze as he took another slow drag of the cigarette.

"I didn't know you still smoked." I cringed at my choice of words, cursing myself for my awkwardness.

His lips twitched up as he shrugged, putting his phone into his back pocket. "Four years later an' I'm still trying to quit."

I nodded, watching as he put out the cigarette and put it into a trash can. My eyes skimmed over the rings decorating his fingers, the new and unfamiliar tattoos on his arms that filled the spaces that were empty when I left them.

"I wanted to say thank you..." I muttered, finally lowering my pride. His dark eyes were intense so I tried to focus on something else instead. The loose tee he was wearing, his braided hair that seemed so different from his old curls, the way his jaw was tight in concentration- and suddenly, my mouth was dry. "You didn't need to defend me but you did. I don't want you to think that I'm not grateful- I'll always appreciate you having my back."

"That's what we do, right? Look out for each other?" His eyebrows raised as if daring me to disagree, "He had it coming anyway, was a bastard in High School too."

"I didn't recognize him."

"He used to fuck around with Cameron. Pretty sure they made a vow to fuck all the cheerleaders by the end of Senior Year." Shayden just grunts, hopefully not noticing how I tense at his words. "Never liked the Fucker."

My eyebrows shot up, and the question slipped out of my lips before I could stop it. "Why?"

"Because you can't just treat people like that- like meat. I told Cam countless times that I didn't want him associating with people like that and me. I didn't like how they spoke about the girls or how they treated them, it was weird."

His words eased my nerves slightly but I just shrugged my shoulders, attempting to act as casual as possible. "Let's just go before your knuckles drop off."

+++

We're in Shayden's apartment, talking about something completely random as I make him ice his knuckles. He'd offered me some of his tequila, to which I politely declined, and I could tell the alcohol in his system had made him more carefree.

His laugh decorates the arcane setting and I can't help but keep my eyes engraved on the way his own crinkle at the sides and the way his nose scrunches up so innocently. The sound itself sends butterflies around my stomach, only intensifying the tension between us.