Chapter 10
-Wesley-
“Oof!“ Kirrill exclaims, falling over again. He has terrible balance, as it turns out. Every time I jump near him, the moment I come back down again, Kirrill goes shooting up in the air. And he never. Ever. Manages to stick the landing.
Bending over, sides splitting with laughter as I hold my stomach, I grab onto Kirrill’s arm to steady myself before I can fall over from my laughter. Kirrill smirks, grabbing my wrist and pulling me over.
“See how you like it, dickwad,” he jeers, a shit-eating grin on his face. Grabbing Kirrill’s shoulder, I use him to pull myself up, flipping him off and trying my best to scowl and just generally look pissed-off.
It super doesn’t work.
“Careful there Wesley, you might accidentally murder me with your death glare. Or possibly,” Kirrill continues, his eyes twinkling with amusement, “you might give me such a fright that I have a heart attack, your stare is so terrifying.”
Elbowing him in the ribs, I try to stop smiling but again, it super doesn’t work. I need to stop having so much fun with Kirrill or else I’m actually going to catch feelings for him instantly. And that’s just silly, I mean he’s in love with my ex best friend and he’s probably not even attracted to men anyway, like it just wouldn’t be a good idea to crush on him at all.
Someone please tell that to my heart.
Kirrill jumps right next to me, catching me off guard and sending me tumbling to the floor of the giant inflatable room essentially. Arms flailing, I grab onto the nearest thing I can touch in order to save myself from falling - and that happens to be Kirrill’s shirt as I end up dragging him down with me.
Landing side by side, I can’t stop the laughs which explode out of me in endless tsunamis, tidal wave after tidal wave, my cheeks hurting with laughter. Kirrill rolls onto his side to face me and I automatically do the same, mirroring him.
Smile soft, his eyes are unbelievably gentle as they meet mine, his smile growing slightly. “Thank you for bringing me here, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life,” he practically whispers, his voice so low and quiet, grating yet smooth to my ears at the same time.
Fuck.
Rolling onto my back so that I can no longer see the man making my heart feel things that I haven’t in a hot minute, I stare up at the ceiling. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Normally I get bored just staying in one place for the whole visit, but strangely enough…I didn’t this time. You’re fun to hang out with,” I mumble, sucking in a deep breath as I muster the courage to ask what I’ve been wanting to ever since last night.
“Can we be friends?"
Out of my peripheral vision, I watch as Kirrill’s smile widens. “Sure, I’d love that,” he replies softly, sending unwarranted flutters straight to my heart.
Fuck.
I know that I’m one to fall hard and fast, but I’ve never been so- so enamoured with someone before. So utterly entranced, to the point where even though I know that we’ll never be together in the way I want, I’ll still put myself through that pain, just so we can be friends.
I want to be Kirrill’s friend.
I’m so curious about him; his life, his likes and dislikes, his opinions and beliefs. I want to spend time with him, because he is, quite honestly, lovely.
Yes, he triggered me, causing me a panic attack.
Yes, he scared me, causing me nightmares.
Yes, he’s part of a fucking gang, and undoubtably, he’s done terrible things. Hurt people. Made many people cry, I’m sure. Hell, he’s already made me cry and we barely know each other.
So everything tells me that I shouldn’t pursue this, not even as a friendship.
But I can’t help it. Kirrill is unlike anyone I have ever met before; his surprising gentleness, his loyalty, his optimism and cheer…his undoubtable bravery. I want him in my life.
And if he wants to just be my friend, then I couldn’t ask for anything more. This is perfect enough.
Maybe I’m making a mistake by letting Kirrill into my life. But if so…this is a mistake I want to make. And if I have to suffer the consequences of this, somewhere down the line, then…so be it.
I’ve made my decision.
I want to see him again.
—————
-Kirrill-
On the drive back to Wesley’s home, we spend the entire time chatting about random shit, just…getting to know each other. It’s nice. I haven’t let anyone into my heart in so long, and it’s- well it’s just really nice having a friend.
Wesley is a really great guy.
Ekaterina doesn’t know what a wonderful friendship she was lucky enough to experience.
Talking of Kat, when Wesley parks his car, a sinking feeling brews in my stomach at the sight of a recognisable motorbike.
“Isn’t that…” Wesley trails off, glancing at me nervously. Nodding slowly, I let out a sigh. “Guess she decided it was time to pay us a visit. Or no- pay you a visit. She has no way of knowing that I’m here too.”
In fact, this’ll be a fun surprise for her, finding out that I’m just casually tagging along, staying at her best friend’s house, when she herself was kicked out by Wesley.
This is going to be just a tad awkward.
Wesley and I share a look of mutual apprehension before climbing out of the car. Ekaterina isn’t by her bike, so most likely she was let into the house by someone in Wesley’s family. They don’t seem like the kind of people to do that knowing that Wesley doesn’t want to talk to her, so they probably don’t realise the whole situation.
Unlocking his front door, before opening it Wesley turns back to look at me. “We don’t have to hear what she has to say, you know that right?” He asks me gently, placing his hand on my arm. Nodding half-heartedly, I tap the back of his hand. “You’re the one she’s here to see, so it’s your call to kick her out or let her stay.”
Letting out a long sigh, Wesley grimaces slightly. “Fuck, losing friends sucks huh,” he mumbles before pushing the door open. The first thing I notice is the recognisable boots laying next to the doormat.
She’s here.
She has refused any contact with me since she ran away. She doesn’t know what happened to me at all - she doesn’t even know that I left. It kind of hurts, actually. Knowing that she came back for Wesley but not me, that she didn’t so much as call me.
I’m supposed to be her brother, but maybe I’m the only one of us who thought that.
“Wesley, there you are! I- I want to talk. Will you…will you let me?”
Standing next to the door, I don’t move from my spot. If I follow Wesley into the kitchen, she’ll see me. And I don’t want to know what kind of expression will be on her face. Would it even be regret? Would she be remorseful whatsoever?
What if she isn’t?
“You should apologise to Kirrill before saying anything to me,” Wesley says, his voice oozing finality. Shit, well I have to go into the kitchen now.
“What? What happened? Is he ok?”
Wesley laughs harshly, the sound horrible to my ears. I only ever want to hear Wesley laugh happily, like he was just an hour ago. I don’t want to hear him like this; full of brittleness and sarcasm.
“Maybe if you gave a single shit about him, you would know.”
“Wesley you do not get to say that to me; he’s my brother we grew up together, he means the literal world to me.”
Pressing myself back against the front door, I take a deep breath.
“Really? Is that so. Because your actions really show that; always leaving him to clean up your messes, always making him take the fall for you. And no, that isn’t his job - he doesn’t have to do that for you, and he shouldn’t have to. You fucked up royally this time, Kat.”
It’s…really nice, actually, having someone stand up for you. I’m not familiar with the feeling, but it makes me happy that Wesley is doing this for me.
Fiddling with my rings, I suck in another deep breath before finally walking towards the kitchen and stepping inside. I don’t meet Ekaterina’s eyes, instead choosing to only look at Wesley. He chews on his lips, looking apologetic.
Maybe he’s worried that I’m upset about what he said. But I’m not; I’m glad he said it. I’m glad he stood up for me.
If I can’t stand up for myself against Kat, then maybe…maybe he can do it for me. Maybe we can help each other where we lack the strength to do so ourselves.
Maybe he can help me. And maybe I can help him too.
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