✔️Say Cheese!||Chanlix FF

-Truth-

(C)

Felix and I were walking to my house together, from school. We were laughing and talking to each other, just having fun.

Felix grabs his stomach, and sighs. "I'm hungry." He said. I laugh. "We just had lunch a few hours ago." I said. He pouts. "I know, but i'm still hungry. I want food." He whines.

We walked up to my front door, and I unlocked the door, letting both of us in. "We probably have something you can eat around here." I say, walking into the kitchen, and searching the cabinets.

"Hi, Ms. Bang!" Calls out Felix. I turn around, and saw my Mom in her favorite robe, walking down the stairs. "Hey Mom."I said. "Hello, boys! Back from school?" She asks. "Yup!" Exclaimed Felix. I nod in response.

"Felix is hungry, so i'm looking for some snacks for him." I said. Mom goes up to us, and takes out her wallet. She takes out two ten dollar bills. "Here. You two go buy something for yourselves." She says, handing the money to us.

"I don't need any money. Felix can have it." I said. Mom grabs my hand, and Felix's. She sticks each bill in our hands. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Go enjoy yourselves." She says, smiling. I sigh, and watch Mom head back upstairs.

"So...let's go?" Says Felix.

***

"Thanks, Mr. Ricci!" Exclaimed Felix, receiving his strawberry gelato. "Ah, anytime." Says Mr. Ricci, smiling. Felix nudges my shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want anything?" He asks.

I shook my head. "Sorry. Not in the mood for anything cold." I said. He frowns. "Okay..." He says. "Have a good day Mr. Ricci." I said. "You too!" He says.

We walk away from his truck. "You never eat anything fun." Says Felix. "I know." I said, not paying to much attention to him. I hear Felix go quiet, but then he stops walking. "Hey, look!" Exclaimed Felix, pointing to a poster that was hanging up on a convince store window.

It said "Soft Pretzels".

"Let's get you something to eat!" He says, dragging me into the store. I was hit with freezing cold AC, as Felix pulls me up to the cashier counter. An employee comes up. "Hey, how can I help you guys?" He asks. "Well, he would like a soft pretzel, please." Says Felix, still speaking for me. I didn't know what to do, so I let him take over.

I didn't like talking to new people anyway.

The employee goes into the back of the store, and comes back with a pretzel. Felix sticks his hand out in front of me. I sigh, and I reach into my pocket, giving him the crumpled ten dollar bill. "That will be $3.00." Says the employee, handing the pretzel to Felix.

Felix hands him the ten dollars in return. "Thank you for shopping here, have a nice day!" Says the employee. "You too!" Says Felix as we walk away, and head back outside.

"Can we go-" I start, but Felix shoves a piece of the pretzel in my mouth, shutting me up. After almost dying, due to coughing and choking, I repeated what I was trying to say.

"Can we go back to my house now?" I ask. "Yeah, sure!" Says Felix. "Was the pretzel good?" He asks, as we began walking back.

"Well, yeah I suppose. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't stuffed down my throat, though." I said sarcastically. "Had to get it in ya somehow." Says Felix, jokingly.

***

We walked up the driveway. My Mom's car was gone, which meant that she was at work. I opened the door, just like earlier.

"Uh, can I use the bathroom?" Asks Felix. I nod. "It's next to my room, upstairs." I said. " 'Kay, thanks." Said Felix, rushing up the stairs. I lock the front door, and head upstairs. I watched Felix shut and lock the door to the bathroom.

I head to my room, and lay down on my bed. I stared at the my blank, empty ceiling. It looked sad.

In fact, all ceilings looked sad to me. People usually decorate the walls with beautiful paintings, or colorful walls, but usually left the ceiling blank.

I stretched my hand out, reaching for the ceiling. I could decorate the ceiling, but with what?

"Whatcha doing?" Says a voice from the door. I sit up, and look over. I saw Felix leaning on the door frame. I blinked a couple of times at him. "Just thinking." I said.

Felix walks closer, and sits beside me. "About what?" He said softly. I felt that warm feeling again. "My ceiling looks so...empty." I said in an unintended low voice that sounded almost like a whisper.

"Then make it...not empty."

"How?"

"Photos. Your favorite photos. Fill the whole ceiling with photos." Says Felix. Photos. That word....it makes my heart hurt. It reminded me of Dad. A lot of things reminded me of Dad.

I haven't taken a photo since he passed away. I can't even look at a camera for more than seven seconds. Usually, I would have lashed out at Felix, like I have done before, but i've changed.

I hated myself for it. For hurting Felix. More than once. Maybe if I told him, it would stop. "Chan? Are you okay?" Asks Felix, sounding worried. I sat up and took a deep, but shaky breath and looked at him straight in his eyes.

"Felix." I said in a low tone. "You said you wanted me to trust you, right?" I asked. He nods silently. "I-I need to tell you something. A lot of things." I said.

"I'm listening."

So, I told him everything. About how my Dad and the building fire, about how much I worry about my Mom because she has to work longer shifts to provide for us, about how I feel sad almost all the time, about how lonely I am, about my fears of losing someone I care about again.

By the time I finished, we were both in tears. "I feel so weak. I feel like i'm not doing enough." I whispered. Felix grabs my hand and squeezed it.

"Chan, you are NOT weak. You're so, so strong. I'm so proud of you for getting to where you are. You are amazing, and I mean that with my whole heart." Says Felix.

I don't remember the last time someone said that they were proud of me. "Y-You're proud of me?" I ask. "Yes, Channie. Very proud." He says, smiling sincerely.

I chuckled at the name. Felix was so...comforting. I couldn't ask for anyone better. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug. Felix does the same, and buried his face in my neck

It was very silent, but a comforting silence. The only thing I could hear was our breathing. "Thank you for listening to me." I said, rubbing his back, and then pulling away. "Anytime. I'll always listen to you." He said, smiling.

Felix looks over to clock on my desk. "I should probably head back home now. I have a ton of work to catch up on." He says. "And don't worry. We'll see each other tomorrow, right?" He says, noticing my change in expression.

"Right." I said. Felix got off of my bed, and headed to my door. He turns around, to face me

"Don't forget. I'll always be here for you."

——————

A/N: I kinda got some inspiration while I saw laying in bed and listening to music, so that's nice.