Austin was driving with his fingers tapping the wheel. He was breathing heavily. His eyes fixated on the road ahead, trying hard not to stare Kaden's way. Austin wasn't sure any of what was happening was a good idea. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Kaden. Nor was he sure how he'd explain what happened the other night.
He didn't know what came over him that night. Of course, the thought would come by, but almost having the thought become reality was entirely different. And Kaden wasn't to blame. He was the culprit. He was to blame, but he had been treating Kaden as if Kaden is the one to blame.
'You missed the turn,' Kaden sighed.
'We're not going to the beach,' Austin said. 'We're headed to my house.' He didn't even slightly turn his head to make his reply any bit personal. He was angry at himself but Kaden seemed to be paying for it.
XXX
Kaden sat, not knowing what to do with himself. Austin hadn't spoken to him for a couple of days, despite the promise. After day one of silence, Kaden knew Austin needed space. After day two, Kaden needed space because he was overthinking way too much. After day three, Kaden started to get pissed. And on day four, Kaden wanted to march to Austin's house and demand Austin speak to him, but Austin had texted him to be ready the next morning.
What was the point of Austin picking Kaden up if he was going to be cold? The question continuously circled back in Kaden's mind. He honestly would have much rather did whatever it is they would be doing on his own porch than having to endure the iciest car ride before getting to what Austin wanted to say.
The only other time Austin had treated Kaden coldly was when things had become serious with Rachel, and Kaden had started to let the affectionate part of his friendship with Austin go. Kaden thought it was becoming hopeless to hang onto a fantasy with Austin since Rachel was a full-on buy roses and chocolates for, hickey giving, scrunchie lending, PDAing, actual girlfriend. Kaden had tried not to be as affectionate or be Austin's tail anymore. Well, he didn't have to decide on that one. Austin made it clear he didn't need a tail.
With newfound time and slightly too much affection to give, Kaden had started being more aware of the other guys at his school. He had even taken the time to get to know the boy who sat next to him in Biology. His name was Leo Petrillo, which Kaden loved because of The Golden Girls. Leo hadn't the faintest idea of what Kaden seemed to be impressed by until one biology project, which took two days and an impromptu sleepover to complete, introduced Leo Petrillo to Sophia Petrillo during a much needed break that lasted the entire first season of The Golden Girls.
Leo got hooked on the show, and Kaden got a new friend. They got closer and closer. And Austin became annoyed when Kaden's line would be busy or seeing Kaden at his locker, smiling and laugh with Leo. That had seemed to frustrate Austin. Kaden remembered him being extra icy in the mornings and never warming up. And when Kaden had made time to see him, Austin would be distant and uninterested. He would show up to Kaden's house with a bitter attitude and not talk to the boy, unless he could fit in Rachel into the conversation, causing Kaden to fume.
Kaden had wanted to address Austin's crappy behavior. But before he could, Leo told him he was moving and would have to change schools. Kaden became distraught, but Leo promised to keep in contact. And he did, for the most part. The distance did change their friendship though.
Kaden hadn't been thrilled about having a new bio partner or losing his very own Petrillo. He retreated into his antisocial shell. With Leo gone, Austin got to console Kaden and they went back to normal, which dug up the hopeless, romantic feelings Kaden tried to forget.
Austin's current attitude towards Kaden might have been similar to that situation, but this was different. Kaden was more anxious than he'd ever been around Austin. His eyes focused away from the houses they passed to his reflection on the car window, a tear had streamed down his cheek. He didn't even notice when it formed. He wiped it away and cleared his throat when the car came to a stop in front of Austin's house.
XXX
Kaden paced up and down in Austin's room as he waited for Austin to come up with drinks and snacks. He recalled all the great times that they had in this room since they were kids. From Austin's closet, where he'd hide in during a game of hide and seek, to the bean bags sitting beautifully in front of the TV, where they watched hours of cartoons in the middle of doing homework.
'Will we be okay?' He sat on the bed, looking out the window.
'I hope so,' Austin sighed, entering the room with his hands full.
Kaden stood up as Austin placed the food on his desk. Austin gestured to Kaden to come to take something. Kaden grabbed a soda and sat back down. Austin leaned on the door of his closet.
Silence took over the room. Neither of them looked at each other. Austin sighed a few times, making Kaden think that he was ready to start talking but Austin kept quiet. As much as Kaden hated it, Kaden knew he needed to be the one to start the conversation.
'Austin, last week was-'
'I don't know what happened,' Austin interrupted. 'I didn't mean for anything to happen, Kaden.'
Kaden laid on his back and placed a hand over his eyes.
'Kaden, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I've been home for the past few days trying to think of some sort of explanation. But there's nothing I can say to you to explain what happened.'
'Nothing happened,' Kaden stated, lifting his hand from his eyes. He raised his brow and stared at Austin. 'Nothing happened.'
'Yeah, but something nearly did.'
If this had been a few years earlier, Kaden wouldn't even question anything and would have just been happy that Austin felt something. But he felt as though he deserved to know.
'Why?' Kaden asked. 'Why did something nearly happen?'
Austin was taken back by the question. Thoughts flooded Austin's mind. He took one glance at Kaden and he knew. He left the comfort of standing and took a moment before sitting next to Kaden.
'Honestly?' Austin whispered.
'Honestly,' Kaden repeated as he sat back up.
Although they were sitting side by side. Austin still had a few inches over Kaden, making it easier to avoid total eye contact.
'Kaden, I-'
'Can you not use my full name? It feels weird.' Kaden interrupted.
'Why?'
'Cause it's either Kades or some snarky nickname making fun of my height. You calling me by the name that everybody uses makes me feel like I'm not going to be important in your life anymore.'
Kaden's hands were noticeably shaking, and his left leg twitching. It brushed up against Austin's leg. Austin firmly put his hand on Kaden's leg. It stopped twitching. Kaden looked up at Austin. Their eyes locked. Austin stared at Kaden for a moment.
'You'll never stop being important to me, Kades.' Austin turned himself so he could face Kaden properly. 'That night, that whole day actually, you just brought up these feelings inside of me. From talking about that date and how you lit up talking about it, to you and I helping Grace out. And when we were parked outside your house, those few minutes in there were incredible. And when I-' Austin looked away.
Kaden was biting his thumb. He threw his gaze to the window for a second, before returning it to Austin.
'When I got on top of you, it was just meant to be fun. But our eyes met. And it felt as if I was looking into your eyes for the first time and I was finally seeing your attractiveness. I didn't understand it, but I knew that I wanted to have your lips on mine for just one second.'
Austin turned back to Kaden, who gulped when Austin's gaze met his
'What are you saying, Treetop?' Kaden asked, sounding a bit delighted but still shaken.
Austin breathed in. 'I wanted you.' Another deep breath. 'I guess, I still want you. But I'm still so confused. And I don't know if you feel differently.'
Austin knew that Kaden felt the same. Beyond the same, probably. He knew that Kaden liked him. For a long time, he'd always feel Kaden's glances linger too long and his hugs last too long, and a need to always be Austin's pet. Austin didn't mind because he was secure with himself. But all sense of security went flying out the window the other night, and he was just exposed.
'I don't. Feel differently, I mean. I don't. I want you too.' Kaden turned his body to be parallel to Austin's. 'I've always wanted you. I did want you to kiss me that night too.' Kaden stared at Austin. 'But you still took the call.'
'What?' Austin questioned.
'The call. You took Rachel's call.'
'What was I supposed to do? She's my girlfriend.'
'I know.' Kaden stood up and walked to the window. 'And I'm your best friend.'
'Kades-'
'She comes first, right? What else is new?' Kaden turned around, looked Austin in the eye. 'I just thought that, because you felt something too, maybe you'd put us first. Just for once. To have one moment that was beyond friendship. I thought you would be there, with me. And go there with me. But as soon as the world threw in one distraction, you gave up.'
'I didn't give up,' Austin declared as he stood.
'Four days? Four days, Austin.' Kaden snapped.
'So, we're back on real names now?'
'I'm pissed.' Kaden yelled. Tears streamed down Kaden's face. He quickly wiped them away and walked past Austin. He sat on Austin's desk.
'I get needing space from the person you nearly kissed. A person that isn't the person you're dating. I understand that completely,' Kaden sighed. 'But I'm your best friend, and you didn't talk to me for four days. You finally send a text, a shitty one at that. And then you pick me up today and made me feel like I'm an inconvenience that you needed to deal with.'
'Kades, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like that. It's confusing, you know. I'm not supposed to feel this about another guy, let alone you. It's just making me feel like there's something wrong with me.'
Kaden's eyes widened and he nodded with an enraged smile.
'I didn't mean it like that,' Austin reassured as made his way towards Kaden. 'There's nothing wrong with feeling like this. It's just that I'm not supposed to be feeling like this.'
'I understand,' Kaden whispered. 'It is confusing. And you're probably going out of your mind trying to figure out why you're going through these feelings. I can't blame you for that. Nonetheless, I am the one person who understands you the most and can help you figure it out. Yet you're treating me like I'm a piece of gum stuck on your shoe.'
'Kades, you're my best friend and I love you. I don't want you feeling like you're not important to me. I don't want to mess us up. I don't want to lose you.' Austin laid his hand on Kaden's shoulder. 'I want to figure out what I'm feeling.'
Kaden felt weak as Austin leaned him in closer with his hand. His head was on Austin's chest. He couldn't help but feel satisfied for a moment. He lifted his head, looked at Austin. He was met with a smile.
'You want to figure this out?' Kaden asked.
Austin nodded.
Kaden couldn't be too happy because the thought of one person was burning a hole in his mind. 'What about Rachel?'
Austin pulled away. 'What's Rachel got to do with this?' He crossed his arms.
'She's your girlfriend, Austin.' Kaden's shoulders leaned back. He raised his eyebrow.
Austin gave Kaden a blank stare.
'You wanna figure this out while you're still with her?' Kaden asked.
'I love her, and I don't want to give her up,' Austin declared. 'What do you want me to do?'
'I don't know. Take a break or something. Cause I'm not going to be somebody's secret. Not again.' Kaden shook his head.
Austin seemed puzzled. 'What do you mean not again?'
Kaden stayed silent.
'What do you mean?'
The door opened just as Kaden was about to speak.
'Austin, I need-' Austin's mom smiled at Kaden. 'Hey, Baby-Whisperer. I haven't seen you in a week. I almost thought you were avoiding us. I wouldn't blame you. It's a madhouse here. And no one cooks.'
'Hi, Mrs. James,' Kaden smiled.
'You good?' she asked.
Kaden nodded.
'That's great,' she responded. 'Austin, can you watch the twins tonight? I have a prospective client that I'm meeting for dinner.'
'Mom, I told you I have plans tonight though,' Austin stated.
'Huh? With Kaden?' she asked.
Austin didn't respond and shifted his eyes far away from Kaden.
'Oh,' she sighed, nodding. 'Movie and dinner with Rachel. I forgot.'
Kaden glanced at Austin, who was trying to not stare his way.
'Can't you do it another night?' she suggested.
Austin shrugged.
'Alright, I'll cancel,' his mom said with a disappointed sigh.
'You don't have to. I'll do it,' Kaden said softly.
'You sure? Don't have plans?' she questioned.
Kaden shook his head.
'Okay. Thank you, sweetie,' she glared at Austin. 'I'll tell Danny to pay you this time.'
'I doubt he will. I'll just add it to his tab,' Kaden said with a shallow smile.
She smiled, 'Okay, I'll get out of your guys' hair. I need to get a few things at the mall.'
'Can I catch a lift back home with you, and then I'll ask my mom to drop me off later before her shift at the hospital starts?' Kaden asked.
'But we're still hanging out,' Austin declared.
'I think you should be prepping for your date. You should look good for your girlfriend.'
'Kaden's right, baby. You could use with a shower and a bath after that,' she laughed. 'Give me a minute, Kaden, and then we can go, okay?'
Kaden nodded. Austin's mom closed the door behind her.
'Why are you leaving?' Austin questioned.
'Cause you have a date,' Kaden hissed.
'That's later tonight,' Austin said with a big frown on his face.
'Yeah, but I don't want to be with you for the rest of the day.'
'What? Why?'
'You're not stupid, Austin.'
'What do you mean?'
'You have a date tonight. Why am I here? Why would you bring me here? Why would you say all these things to me and still have planned a date? A date that you have full intention of still going on. Why am I here?'
Austin couldn't find any words to say. They heard a honk coming from his mom's car.
'Bye, Austin.'
XXX
Mrs. James walked into the kitchen. 'Okay, what do you think?'
Kaden looked up from his book to see Mrs. James twirling in her LBD.
'Wow, Mrs. J. Incredible. It's simple yet so stunning,' Kaden answered. 'Love the off the shoulder look. And your waist? Snatched. What Spanx? Don't get me started on those highlights, girl.'
'God, I love you,' she said with a giant smile. 'What I wouldn't give to trade one of my boring, hetero children in for you.'
'Well, I've had tons of practice with my mom. She wanted a daughter, and when she caught me with a makeup brush in my hand, she nearly died of excitement.'
'I hope she knows how lucky she is to have you.' She hugged Kaden.
When she let go, Kaden smiled at her and said, 'Mrs. J, I don't mean to overstep but-'
'Sweetie, you're practically my child. Actually, you sometimes use this oven, so that makes you like a mom to me. Feel free to overstep.'
'Well, there's a big difference between a dress for a business dinner and a dress for a date.'
Mrs. J pursed her lips and leaned on the counter.
'Unless I have it totally wrong,' Kaden uttered. 'I probably do.'
'You don't. I do have a date. It feels so weird to say out loud. I have a date,' she finally laughed.
'That's great, Mrs. J,' Kaden smiled. 'Where is it going to be?'
'At some restaurant somewhere in the city.'
'Sounds cool.'
'I've been debating canceling all day, but he's already texted saying he's nearby.'
'Good, Mrs. J. You deserve some happiness,' Kaden smiled.
'You're such a sweet kid.' She squeezed Kaden's hand. 'I know you and Austin tell each other everything but can this stay between us? I haven't gone on a date since Tim died and I just-'
'Mrs. J, don't feel like you have to explain anything to me. I won't tell Austin. I doubt we're on speaking terms right now.'
'What did that dumb child of mine do?' she questioned.
'Nothing you need to worry about before your date,' Kaden smiled.
There was a knock on the door.
'Kades, can you answer it? I need to do a drive-by the mirror to make sure I still look the bomb diggidy.'
'Word of advice, Mrs. J. Don't use any word like tonight,' Kaden said shaking his head and gritting his teeth. 'Or ever again.'
Kaden made his way to the front door. He opened the door and a man with flours stood, looking quite puzzled at Kaden.
'Hi,' Kaden smiled.
'Hello,' the man said. 'Are you one of Lauren's kids?'
'Yeah.' Kaden nodded his head. 'She adopted me from a small village in Siberia.' He pretended to get teary. 'It was so hard being the only kid of color in that entire country.'
'Kaden!' Austin's mom yelled. She laughed as she walked to the door. 'He's joking, Henry. This is Kaden, my son's best friend.'
'Hi,' Kaden laughed, offering his hand to the man.
'You nearly had me for a second.' Henry shook Kaden's hand. 'These are for you.' He gave the flowers to Lauren.
'These are gorgeous. Let me quickly get these into some water.'
'I'll take care of that. You two crazy kids get going now,' Kaden urged.
Austin's mom passed the flowers to Kaden. 'Thank you, Kaden.' She walked out with Henry to his car. She looked back at Kaden. 'Have anything you like, okay? And I left money for pizza on the counter.'
Kaden waved to Austin's mother as she made a gleeful strut to Henry's car. He smiled the flowers and sighed as he went back inside the house.
Ten minutes later, Danny dropped off the twins in the house. Danny was Austin's eldest brother. He was a sports therapist for the city's basketball team, so he'd have to start his work hours in the evening some days. And his daughters would get to spend nights with their grandma. But that evening, Kaden was their babysitter. The girls didn't mind though.
The twins loved Kaden. Their eighteen-month-year-old faces lit up whenever they saw him. He didn't know whether it was because he was actually good with kids or that they just were excited because they had someone with curly, wavy hair that didn't mind it being tugged incessantly. Either way, he'd have no problems taking care of the kids and everyone would praise him.
'You are a lifesaver, Kaden.' Danny walked into the living room with the last overnight bag. 'I don't know what you see in my brother to keep doing us favors, but can you never stop seeing it?'
'I claim to be here for Austin,' Kaden started as he walked to the strollers. 'But really, it's all about these gorgeous faces, isn't that right ladies?'
The twins sprung up and busted with laughter when they saw Kaden smile at them. He picked up Lily, who started squishing Kaden's face in excitement. And Danny picked up Emily. They walked to the door.
'Okay, I think you have everything. Did ma tell you when she was coming back?' Danny asked.
'No, but we'll be okay until she or Austin get back home.'
'Cool.' Danny handed Emily to Kaden. He kissed his daughters goodbye. 'Okay, I'm off. You girls better behave for Kaden or there'll be trouble.'
The girls stared at him blankly and went back to giggling with Kaden. Danny closed the door behind him.
'Alright girls, what will it be tonight? A little dinner, some Paw Patrol and some hot gossip as a bed time story?' Kaden glanced at the girls, who bounced at the mention of their favorite TV show. 'I know you both like the back of my hands.'
After feeding the girls and watching more episodes of Paw Patrol than Kaden needed to see, it was playtime before he put them down to sleep. Kaden sat next to them on the living room floor.
'I hope you girls don't have to grow up. It really sucks,' Kaden stated to the girls.
Lily stopped crawling, tilted her head and smiled at Kaden.
'I'm serious, Lils. Trust me, you don't want to grow up and have to deal with confusing feelings about boys.'
Emily bit Kaden's finger.
'Ouch,' Kaden said lifting his hand away from Emily's grasp. 'But you're right, Em. I didn't mention girls, genderfluid people or a non-binary significant other. It was wrong for me to just assume. Hopefully when you start dating, teenagers aren't so complicated. You guys deserve not to be going out of your mind asking yourself if you should carry on being in love with someone who might never be in love with you.'
The twins babbled as they crawled back to their toys.
'Yeah, maybe I am being stupid hanging onto him. But he made a move in my direction, does that mean I should carry on hoping that it will happen, eventually?'
Lily put a toy in her mouth and Emily continued to babble on.
'But I can't do that right?' Kaden asked, glancing at Emily, who seemed to be the only one listening to him. 'It's kind of stupid wait on something that might not happen. But I can only see myself with him. But that doesn't mean he feels the same. Who knows what Austin's thinking?'
The girls sprung up at the mention of their uncle's name. They crawled up to Kaden. He smiled at them as he saw that their eyes were hit by the sleep fairy. He picked them up and went to sit on the couch. The girls sat on his lap and he started rocking them.
'You know, I sometimes have that same reaction when I hear your uncle's name too,' Kaden smiled at the girls. 'He's got an effect on us. That should be illegal, right girls? Send his butt to jail. Wouldn't that solve our problems? Well, mine anyway.'
The girls were babbling at a slower, rhythmic pace. Kaden started humming alongside their chatter, sending the girls off to sleep.
Kaden kept rocking the girls and humming for a long while after they fell asleep.
'You're good with them,' Austin whispered from behind the couch, frightening Kaden.
'Why would you do that?' Kaden said checking if he disturbed the girls' sleep.
'Sorry.' Austin sat on the couch.
'How long have you been here?'
'Since you told the girls I should be sent to jail,' Austin smiled.
Kaden frowned. 'And I was right. What psycho stalks behind a couch and then whispers to let his presence be known?' He handed a sleeping Emily to Austin.
'It didn't seem that bad from my side,' Austin grinned.
'I rest my case,' Kaden stated.
The twins slept peacefully in their cot in the living room. Meanwhile, Kaden and Austin were in the kitchen waiting on the pizza Kaden had ordered. They sat next to each other. Kaden was on his phone and Austin was just playing with his fingers.
'Why'd your date end so early?' Kaden flatly asked.
Austin thought about it for a moment. He didn't want to tell Kaden the truth about how he was outside Rachel's house and he couldn't bring himself to face her. So, he drove away before she came out of her house and he called her to cancel. He wasn't going to let Kaden know that he spent a good couple of hours on the beach alone, thinking about what they were going through. Let alone telling Kaden that he spent half an hour sitting in his car, on the side of the road, trying to gain the courage to walk into his own house.
Austin glimpsed at Kaden out of the corner of his eye. 'Rach and I just had dinner. She was feeling a bit feverish and didn't want to make it worse. So, I took her home.'
He noticed Kaden didn't react to this. Kaden continued to stare at his phone.
'Kades,' Austin began. 'Can we talk?'
Kaden stopped scrolling, put his phone on the counter. He nodded but didn't look at Austin.
'There's no rule book on how this is supposed to go,' Austin spoke softly. 'I don't know what to do or say. I want to figure this thing out before it makes me go crazy. But I wish we could keep things the way they are while we're doing it. I don't want to lose anything. I don't want to lose you, as my best friend because of what we might be feeling now. And I love Rachel too. She's become as important in my life as all the people I love. I don't want to mess things up with her. So, I'm not taking a break with her. I'm not going to jeopardize what I have with her. I cant.'
Kaden dug under his fingers, biting his lip as he turned his head to face Austin.
'I also can't. I can't figure anything out with us if you're with someone. I don't want to be someone you're with only in the shadows, while you walk hand in hand with someone else in the light. And it's not even about Rachel. It's not. It's about me. I just don't want you to kiss me when we're alone and then have you walk past me like I don't exist.'
'Kades, I'd never do that to you.'
Kaden shook his head. 'You don't know that for sure. You can't promise that.' Kaden covered his face with both hands and took a deep breath before removing them. 'I'm so stupid. I should have thought about this from the beginning. I've imagined us being together in so many different scenarios and not one of them factored in the one where you might be like him.' Kaden held his hand over his mouth and bit his thumb. 'I can't go through that again.'
'You keep saying that,' Austin stated. 'Go through what? Who's him?'
Kaden closed his eyes and hung his head down.
'Kaden, tell me.'
'There was this guy. We were seeing each other. It didn't last long. He was trying figuring himself out when he started getting to know me. Told me that he just wanted to keep things to ourselves, so that things didn't get over complicated. I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of that. But I went for it since he was the first guy to have any real interest in me. We were only together when the doors where closed. It felt like a fun rush at first. But once the initial excitement wore off and it was just me waiting in the janitor's closet for one kiss. It got unbearable. He was fine with it. I wanted us to grow, but he was pretty strict with how we did things. Even seeing each other in public. He made it pretty clear that we weren't supposed to know each other in the real world. One day, I greeted him in front of his friends, and he ignored me. When I saw him that afternoon, he went crazy. And he shoved me into some shelves, face first. And I-'
There was a knock at the door. Kaden headed to the door.
Austin sat in shock. He didn't know any of what Kaden had just told him. He and Kaden never kept secrets from each other. He frowned, trying to think of when all of it could have happened.
As Kaden walked back into the kitchen with the pizza, it finally dawned on Austin.
'Last year, right?' Austin questioned. 'You missed school for a week, and you didn't want to see anyone, including me. That's when it happened.'
Kaden put the pizza on the counter, opened the box and just nodded slightly.
'That's when it ended. After that day, he threatened to give me a real ass-kicking if I told anyone. He came to my house to apologize when I didn't show up at school after a couple of days. The apology turned out to be another threat and he punched me. But my dad threatened him with the entire police force if he ever bothered me again.'
'What? Why didn't you tell me? Kades, who is this asshole?' Austin demanded.
'You'll wake the girls,' Kaden said gushing Austin. 'He hasn't tried anything since. It's okay.'
'No, it's not.' Austin pulled Kaden closer to the chair. Kaden sat. 'You can't just let him go.'
'Austin, I've moved on,' Kaden tried to reassure. 'It would be pointless to dig it up again.'
'Fine.' Austin took a slice of pizza. 'You really think I'll treat you like that?'
'No, not like him. But I think that this, between us, would change. Quite tragically. We wouldn't be us anymore.'
Austin leaned back and he looked into Kaden's worried eyes. He couldn't help but feel the need to protect Kaden.
'So, what do you want to do?' Kaden whispered.
'I think we should consider our friendship. I don't think I want to mess with what we have. And I don't want to spoil what you have with Rachel. Let's just keep things the way they are.'
Austin nodded, 'Maybe that's for the best.'
'Yeah.'
'Okay.'
XXX
The drive had been quiet. Kaden had been worn-out and half-asleep. Austin drove slowly, trying to prolong the drive a little, so he could enjoy Kaden's slumber filled cuteness. He saw Kaden fight hard to try to keep his eyes open but was losing the battle. He eventually shut them. Austin smiled at Kaden, who had instinctively reaching for the blanket in the back seat.
The thought of someone hurting Kaden angered Austin. He wanted to know who it was, so he could give them a piece of his mind and fists. No one treats his best friend like that. Everyone at their school knew that they were a package deal. And Austin's ranking at the school ensured that Kaden wasn't messed with or they'd have him and some of his jock friends.
Austin couldn't understand who would be daring enough to play with Kaden like that and think they'd get away with it. He knew it couldn't be anyone who didn't know they'd face him. Maybe it was one of the big mouth bullies of the school, Austin thought. But they were all bark and no bite and had been no bother to Kaden since he tutored some of them. Maybe one of his jock friends. That made more sense because they hid behind the safety of the group. Heaven help them if it was one of them, Austin thought as he glimpsed at Kaden.
Austin stopped the car outside Kaden's house.
'Hey, Goldilocks,' Austin teased. 'Time to find a bed that's just right.'
'Okay.' Kaden scratched his head and slowly opened his eyes. 'Goodnight, Gandalf.'
'Goodnight, Frodo,' Austin smiled as he watched Kaden drowsily make his way to the door.
He didn't drive off until the light in Kaden's room lit and for Kaden to be standing by his window shooing him off.