Chapter Nine

In Quinn's home, the space for the dining room, kitchen, and living room were the same and only separated by diffraction in flooring. The room was lit in orange fluorescence light that reflected off the old worn-out furniture and titled kitchenette floors. Quinn was sitting next to Cody on the sofa. The two boys were sipping soup with metal spoons from the small bowls they held in their hands.

"How is it?" Quinn asked, looking over at Cody who had just put a spoonful of soup in his mouth.

"Good," Cody muttered after swallowing. "It's really nice," he added, as his eyes flickered to Quinn for a bit.

Quinn smiled. "That's good to hear, my mum's good at cooking." He pulled his legs up on the couch, watching as Cody mirrored his smile. The two boys stared at each other, but their gazes were soon stolen by the window when lightning flashed, and thunder followed. It had started drizzling when they had first gotten to the apartment, but now it was a full-on storm.

"Huh, it's getting really bad..." Quinn trailed, wondering if his sister and mum would elect to sleepover at work today.

The drops of rain hitting the window made a tricking sound that got louder with time. Quinn got up then, going to grab a bowl to place under the area of the roof that leaked during storms. He headed back to the Sofa when he was done, before looking over at Cody who still had a bowl in his hands.

"Are you done?" Quinn asked, gesturing to the bowl. "I could put it away for you if you are."

"I am," Cody said, getting up.

Quinn reached out to pull at his shirt. "I said I would put it away for you, didn't I?" He smiled at the boy who gave him the bowl after hesitating for a bit. Cody sat back down, watching Quinn head over to the sink to wash both their bowls. The taller boy returned to the sofa soon after, and he sat closer to Cody than he had initially done.

"Rain sucks, doesn't it?" Quinn muttered, trying to start a conversation.

Cody chuckled. "I guess." He shrugged, pulling his legs up to hug them to himself. His feet were naked now, and Quinn could see the series of scars on them. He wondered if those had anything to do with the boy's brother.

Quinn hummed. "Everything gets all wet and sticky. My sneakers aren't going to like the mud tomorrow."

A laugh escaped Cody's lips. "But it's sort of like natural air conditioning, isn't it?" he said, staring at Quinn.

Quinn's brows farrow as he things about it "Yeah, I guess sort, but can't it be cold without you know??messing up the place?"

Cody laughed at that, and a silence swallowed the room when he stopped. The boy cocked his head at Quinn. He noticed how tired the taller boy looked under the dim lights. His brown eyes were dull, and the smile he had on barely reached his eyes.

"Are you tired?" Cody asked, reaching to touch Quinn's arm.

"Yeah, a little bit," Quinn yawned, rubbing his eyes.

Cody thought for a bit. "Maybe I should leave so you can sleep?" he offered.

"It's okay, I still have to stay up and wait for my parents to come back. I know my sister is at her friend's place if she finished her shift early, but my parents don't usually come back till ten," Quinn said. "Also, you said that you'd stay over."

"I know," Cody said, still feeling a bit self-conscious about Quinn's offer. "That's late," he said, referring to Quinn's sentence about his parents not coming home in a bit.

"Yeah, they do overtime a lot. I wish I could work a bit, but they don't want me to yet. Ah, they're that kind of parents who like to put the full burden on themselves," Quinn said.

"I just wish they live long enough for me and my sister to pay them back," Quinn muttered under his breath. He knew that they didn't have the best life, but his parents put a lot to make sure the walls of their future didn't crumble around them. So many families were dysfunctional, and many teens had already been hard cracked for their future.

"Oh," Cody sighed. The living room fell into an awkward silence, and the sound of the fan turning above was the only thing to tint it.?The sound of the fan's blades spinning and the sound of the drops of water hitting the metal bowl from the area of the roof that leaked resounded through the small apartment. QUINN eventually put the TV on, getting up to look through some CDs before selecting one to play.

"We should watch something if I plan to stay up," Quinn said when he sunk down on the sofa again.

"Yeah, I guess so," Cody muttered, cuddling his legs before staring out into the lights coming from the television. The little living room only had a sofa and one single sitter pressed against a storage shelf of DVDs. The window didn't have any curtains, and the floor would be bare if the apartment hadn't come with its own carpets.

The movie Quinn had put was an old horror film with awful film effects, and Quinn and Cody spent most of the night laughing instead of screaming in horror.

They both turned towards the main door when it creaked open, watching as Quinn's mother, a brown-skinned woman who looked to be in her early forties walked in. She was in plain blue jeans and a cream top, and it didn't take long for a man around the same age range to walk in after her.

"Quinn, is that Karl?" Quinn's mother asked as she took off her shoes and dropped her bag on the kitchen counter. The lady had afro-textured hair and full lips, and the man that had followed behind her looked more like Quinn with his wavy hair and light brown skin.

"No this is Cody, he's staying over this night," Quinn said.

Quinn's mother nodded. "Okay, did you at least feed him?" she asked as she started to take out groceries and put them away.

Quinn smiled. "Yes, ma'am." Quin rolled his eyes at his dad who hadn't said anything yet. "He likes your cooking, mum."

Quinn's father opened a can of beer. "Everyone loves your mum's cooking."

Quinn chuckled at that, getting up to go help his mother put things away.

Cody watched Quinn and his parents interact. It was fascinating to him, to say the least. He'd learned to be wary of adults??flying hands and screaming were always a possibility. Cody continued to watch in awe. Quinn's father ruffled his hair, and Quinn's mum gave him a hug when they put everything away. The two adults soon disappeared into the hallway as they headed for their bedroom. Quinn turned off the television, before giving Cody a smile.

"Let's go to my room," he said, making the smaller boy get up. Cody followed Quinn through the hallway and walked into the small room Quinn lead him into. He looked around the tiny space when Quinn abandoned him to open the windows. Cool after-storm area drifted in as Quinn hummed.

Cody didn't know what to do, so he stood by the door while holding on to his arm as he stared at Quinn's posters??they were mostly of comic heroes, but some of them were from the bands they had talked about when they first interacted properly.

"Here," Quinn said, stealing the boy's attention from the posters. "You can wear this," he added, walking over to hand Cody a pair of shorts and a shirt to change into.

Cody thanked him, turning around to take of his items of clothes one at a time before changing. He was glad to have fresh clothes, but now he wasn't sure where he was going to sleep. There was only one bed, and Quinn had already gone to lie on it.

Quinn looked over at Cody, wondering why he hadn't hopped into bed. He tapped the area beside him, shifting a little to create more space. "Come on, it's cold."

Cody didn't move. The boy just stared on with wide eyes as his chest squeezed up.

Quinn, being worried, sat up. "Is something wrong?"

The boy shook his head. "No," he said as he walked over to the bed before climbing in. The lay down in silence for a while, both of them listening to the other's breathing as a thing neither of them wanted to address loomed above them.

"It's not gay if that's what you're worried about." Quinn's words were riddled with anxiety, and the laugh he tried to mask it in didn't work.

Cody didn't laugh. He felt like his heart was in his throat. He couldn't really explain the feeling??it felt like he was sick??frustrated, panicked, distressed. Was the feeling restlessness?

Since Cody didn't answer him Quinn turned to face the wall. The rustling in bed made Cody turn to. He stared on at Quinn's back, watching as his side rose and fell with his breathing. It was dark, but Quinn had left one of the orange fluorescence lights on. It drowned the room in a light yellow-orange, and it made Quinn's dark hair look brown. Cody wanted to touch his hair. Cody wanted to reach out and touch the boy's waist.

He swallowed the spit building up at the back of his mouth.?Maybe I can wish it away. Cody thought as a sigh escaped his lips.

He knew wishing his feelings away wouldn't work, but he decided he would try. Through the night he tried his best to sleep, but he was restless for most of it.?He only shut his eyes when the deep dark blue darkness turned to a tinted morning grey. He drifted off to sleep in the early hours of dawn, one of his hands still managing to touch Quinn's back in a reach for comfort??warmth.?