mattia was getting tired.
a boy could only be alone for so long before he started to feel almost insane being cooped up with his family. the italian boy wasn't used to being without his friend group for more than a few days, let alone months. the whole ordeal was getting old.
and his parents could definitely tell.
that's why, when his mom came down on that cloudy wednesday afternoon to tell him that he was going to be able to see his friends, he immediately jumped out of bed to get ready to meet his father in the car.
mattia had a few minutes to see his friends, (and no getting out of the car!) as his mom had told him as he headed out the door. the boy scrambled to text his friends, telling them he would be by to say hi, even if only for a moment. he was going to be visiting alejandro, roshaun, and kairi, of course. mattia wished he could hop out of the car and hug every single one of them for the rest of eternity. stupid corona.
"you remember what your mama said?" mattia's dad asked as he hopped on the car.
"yessir. social distancing at its finest." mattia grabbed the thin blue mask from his father, slipping it on quickly and then buckling his seatbelt. his leg wouldn't stop bouncing up and down as they drove to ale and roshaun's, driving his dad almost bonkers. "i swear, you're on some type of drug all the time," his father would always grumble. "just the adhd." mattia would usually reply in a joking manner.
visiting roshaun and alejandro was quick. mattia simply recorded them on snapchat, laughing behind the phone the whole time. he waved to them as they stood in their yards, having a quick conversation about random things. it was only probably a ten minute visit, but it was the fastest ten minutes of mattia's life. seeing them was more than enough, however. it made things feel a bit normal.
saying goodbye to them was rough. all mattia could do was wave and jokingly send them air kisses, promising a hangout as soon as all this quarantine stuff was over. he was convinced, however, that when all this was over, he wouldn't ever leave his friends sides.
the polibio boy was quiet on the way to kairi's house, lost in his thoughts. but as he saw kairi's familiar shape hopping down his front steps, he realized he was going to see kairi, his best friend. and not through a shitty phone camera and delayed screens; he was there for mattia to laugh with, to admire, to talk to in real life.
"kairi!" mattia's dad exclaimed, grinning as he slowed the car to a stop. he always loved the smaller boy. kairi helped to keep mattia on track, and always managed to make him happy. their bond was something mr. polibio hoped his son would never lose.
mattia recorded kairi on his snapchat, almost giggling behind the camera as the boys fluffy hair bounced as he headed over to the car. god, he wanted to hug him so badly. even just touch him for a second. that way, mattia would really know it would be okay. that this isn't permanent.
"you can get out," mattia's dad interrupted his thoughts gently, almost reading his mind. mattia carefully put his phone down and went to reach for the door handle, only to be stopped by his dad.
"give this to kai," he said, handing mattia one of the masks he already had on. mattia smiled, even if his dad couldn't see it, and jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
"what are you doing," kairi asked as mattia got closer to him, a look of confusion on his face. "i thought your parents—"
kairi stopped talking as the younger boy wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close and into his chest. kairi immediately wrapped his arms around mattia's waist and allowed himself to be held by him, knowing how much he really needed it.
"it's been hard," mattia said, his voice a bit shaky. he told himself he wasn't going to cry, he wasn't. absolutely was not. but having kairi in his arms made him want to burst into tears of relief.
"i know, matti." kairi replied in a gentle tone, a tone that always seemed to calm mattia down. kairi carefully repositioned himself so he was able to look up at mattia, still holding onto him. "but you're doing good. i'm proud of you. and soon enough this will be over. i promise you."
and mattia believed him. mattia always believed him; he had no choice. kairi was always right. he always said the right thing and made the right choices and helped mattia through every issue in his life, whether it be as small as something like a hate comment making him angry, or girl drama making him cry, even though he hated crying. kairi was a smart boy. the smartest in their friend group. the smartest person mattia knew. and that was only one of the reasons kairi was probably his favourite person in this world.
kairi met mattia's soft gaze and the taller of the two felt his heart melt all over again. he was definitely beautiful. no question about it.
mattia dropped his hands to his side and fluffed up kairi's hair, smiling at the boy. "if you promise me it'll be over soon, then it'll be over soon." mattia stuck his pinky out, kairi immediately grinning and linking their pinkies together. it was something they had been doing since middle school. stupid? yeah, maybe. but it was a ritual near and dear to their hearts.
mattia gave kairi his mask, joking about how it was kinda pointless now. the two boys proceeded to return to their normal banter, making a quick tiktok with each other, and joking around some more.
when mattia's dad called his name to motion for him that it was time to go, kairi's face immediately dropped.
mattia pulled him into another quick hug. "fuck social distancing huh?" he tried to joke, the tone of his voice coming off dry.
neither boy laughed.
"hey, we promised," mattia continued to ramble. "you promised me. so, soon this will be over soon," the two boys separated. kairi nodded and watched as mattia headed back to his car, hopping in the passenger side. kairi didn't even take his eyes off of him, almost afraid he would disappear if he looked away for too long. but the worst part, was that he was going to. for god knows how long.
kairi gave mattia a small wave.
mattia held up his pinky.
kairi held up his, slightly bending his finger as mattia did the same. the short boy couldn't help but smile.
both boys kept their eyes on each other as mattia drove off, starting to wave to each other like crazy. mattia turned around in his seat and blew air kisses at kairi, laughing as the older boy pretended to jump up and catch them.
mattia turned around in his seat, looking out the window for a moment.
he already missed kairi again. maybe he never stopped missing him.
when mattia got back home, he laid on the couch and watched whatever soap opera his mom had been watching before they had gotten back. he didn't bother greeting his brother and mom, who were in the kitchen. his heart felt heavy; he just wanted to mope around for a bit.
mattia heard his parents whispering in the room over slightly, only perking up when heard kairi's name in the conversation a couple times.
after a few minutes his mom came out, sitting on the couch next to him. she lightly played with his thick locks as he stared at the tv screen quietly, biting the inside of his cheek. a nasty habit.
"amore mio," his mother said lightly, giving her son a small smile. "how was everyone?"
"good," mattia said, almost in a whisper.
"do you miss them?"
mattia nodded slowly.
"how was kai?"
"he was good too."
"it must be hard on both of you, not seeing each other."
mattia looked up at his mother at this point. she still had a soft smile on her face, her eyes a soft twinkle. mattia always admired how pretty his mama was, and how kind hearted she tended to be. she was living proof that if you had a pure heart, you were gorgeous on the outside too.
"i miss him a lot," was all mattia said, his voice cracking. his mom went silent, almost a sad look on her face. like she felt bad for mattia.
"is everything okay?" mattia questioned.
his mama nodded. "of course. we were just wondering something," she hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with her son. "are you and kai dating?"
mattia was shocked. he didn't think his mother, of all people, would ask a question like that. he knew his parents weren't homophobic; they were pretty much open when it came to anything. they just never talked about it. and quite frankly, even though mattia wasn't dating kairi, he didn't even know if he was into girls, or boys, or both. he liked to think he was straight. that's what he always said. that's what was easiest, after all. but sometimes what's easy isn't what makes you the happiest. and usually what's the easy way out certainly isn't the truth.
"we're best friends," mattia replied softly, looking at his mother.
"do you know who my best friend is?" she said, ruffling her sons hair one last time, the smile on her face growing.
"who?" mattia closed his eyes gently as his mom kissed his forehead lightly.
"dad."