"Dylan!" Riley's voice shook Dylan out of his sleep. He groaned and threw a pillow over his face to shut out the light that persisted to shine in through his windows. Riley called his voice once again and Dylan sat up in the bed, frowning deeply, as she entered the room
"Why are you waking me up this early?" He grunted, pulling the covers closer to his body to not lose any of the warmth.
"Early? Don't you have a clock? It's not early." She pointed at his alarm clock that was sitting on top of the nightstand. Dylan turned his head and watched just as the numbers went from two-sixteen to two-seventeen.
Wow, he thought, being in school must have caught up to him as he usually never slept in. Not even when he tried.
"Anyway, I need you to drive me," she chimed.
Dylan sighed. He should have understood that getting a car and a driver's license would mean driving his sister everywhere. "Alright, give me a minute."
"Cool, thanks," she left the room, closing the door behind her.
He threw on a tee and some jeans, not really caring about how he looked. Riley was already waiting by the door as he trudged down the stairs and grabbed his jacket. The both of them left the house, not bothering to lock since Dylan was going to get home within a few minutes anyway.
"Thank you," Riley grinned, throwing the bag in the back of the car and then sitting down in the passenger seat.
"You're welcome," Dylan responded, mirroring the happy expression Riley wore, "I'm guessing that you're going to Nelly's?"
"That would be correct," she said, placing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"And you're sleeping there?"
"Yeah, if that's alright."
"I'm not mom. Of course, it's alright," Dylan remarked, backing out of the driveway. "Do you know when they left?"
Riley nodded. "At about eleven, I think. I'm surprised that you didn't wake up when they left since dad did his usual 'we're leaving!' and then slammed the door."
Dylan agreed, it was strange that he'd slept through it all. Well, at least he'd have a lot of energy over for when Chris was coming. He veered to the right, almost missing the exit.
A while later, he slowed down and stopped in front of the house where he knew Nelly lived.
"Thank you again," Riley beamed, reaching into the back to grab her bag.
"Anytime," Dylan replied. She closed the door and started walking up toward the house.
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After Dylan had gotten home, he made himself some coffee and cooked a few pancakes for breakfast. It was Saturday, so he deserved a treat. When he was finished, he hopped into the shower where he stayed for about half an hour.
"An hour left," he breathed to himself as he roamed the empty house in nothing but a towel. There wasn't much more that he could do except walk around. That was until he realized that he should probably go shopping for some snacks if they were to watch a movie.
He went back into his room and dressed in the same clothes as he'd worn when he'd driven Riley to Nelly's about an hour and a half ago. He hurried down to the car, wanting to have as much time as possible to spare.
Surprisingly enough, the store wasn't that crowded. He didn't waste any time, going directly to the snack section. A few minutes, he decided to be as basic as it got and grabbed some popcorn bags and flavoring.
"Some Saturday snacks, huh?" The cashier gave Dylan a bright grin. Dylan nodded, grabbing the plastic bag and giving the cashier a quick smile as he hurried back to toward his car.
He'd only just got into the kitchen when he heard a car pull up in the driveway. His heart started beating faster, no matter how much he tried to calm it.
The sound of knocking on the door echoed through the empty house and Dylan hurried to get it, opening it and letting Chris enter.
"Hey," the taller smiled, embracing Dylan in a hug, "how are you?"
"I'm good," Dylan grinned, feeling unusually small. Chris wasn't even that much taller than him, but still. Dylan backed away first, gesturing for Chris to hang his jacket on a hook and come with him to the kitchen. "How about you?"
"Better now," Chris smirked, leaning against the doorframe.
"Wow," Dylan laughed, "that was cheesy, you have to admit!" Chris grinned.
"Yeah, I admit," he agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. Dylan smiled, walking over to the bag that he'd left on the counter when he'd gone to open the door. He unpacked the snack bags, but since they were for later, he turned to put them in the pantry.
"What have you done today, then?" He finished the unpacking and turned back toward Chris, he, too, crossing his arms. Chris started intently at Dylan before relaxing his stance.
"Nothing much," he smiled, "I, uh, I drew some, I showered, and that's basically it."
"What did you draw?" Dylan inquired, taking a step closer to the other.
"Someone that I saw in a magazine," he shrugged. "You usually wake up early, don't you? What have you done until now?"
"I did not wake up early today, at all, whatsoever," Dylan scoffed, "Riley- my sister- she woke me up at two-fifteen to make me drive her to a friend. I guess waking up early every day is really getting to me."
"Who isn't it getting to?" Chris added, raising an eyebrow.
Dylan smiled, walking past Chris toward the living room. "Anyway, I was thinking we could order Chinese. I know a good place that offers really quick delivery."
"Chinese food sounds really good," Chris nodded, taking his usual seat in one of the armchairs.
"Great," he chipped, taking his phone out and looking through his contacts until he found the number. He quickly ordered a variety of foods and hung up the phone. "They'll be here in about half an hour."
"Perfect, I'm already starving."
"That's good, though, 'cuz I ordered a lot," Dylan laughed at Chris as he rubbed his stomach to show how hungry he was. Chris looked up and smiled.
"Yeah, I heard," he answered. He got up from his seat and instead opted to sit down on the sofa where Dylan sat. "I still have your hair tie, by the way."
Dylan stayed silent, a smile tugging at his lips. He had a sudden urge to kiss the other boy.
He leaned forward, their lips touching briefly and softly. He pulled back and opened his eyes, seeing Chris's, too, flutter open. Then, Chris brought his hand up to cup Dylan's neck at the same time Dylan cupped his cheeks. This time, there was more urgency on both parts.
Dylan moved closer, letting go of Chris's cheeks and instead wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him down with himself.
Chris readjusted, shifting his weight as to not crush Dylan. They broke for air a few minutes later. Dylan rested his head against the sofa's pillow and let out a huff.
"You have very soft lips," he mumbled with a smile. Chris laughed lightly, pulling away. He sat back on the other side of the sofa and watched as Dylan sat up straighter.
"Thanks, I guess," he smiled, "you do too."
Dylan sighed and shifted in his seat, though he was still leaning back against the backrest. "I really need a break from school right about now."
"You've got any plans over winter break?"
"Not really, I just don't want to be at school anymore," he smiled weakly. "Do you? Have plans, I mean."
"Mom and dad wanted to go to Spain or Portugal," he met Dylan's gaze, "but I don't know if I want to come with."
"Spain? That's pretty far away, must be quite an experience."
"Yeah, and it's not that I don't want to travel, it's just that I don't want to travel with them," he explained, and Dylan nodded. Traveling with his parents wasn't the most fun thing to do.
"Where would you want to travel to? Without them, that is," he asked, scooting a bit closer on the sofa.
"Where do I want to travel?" Chris thought aloud. "I don't know, maybe-"
He was interrupted by the doorbell, making Dylan stand and with haste make his way over to the door. Once he'd paid for the food, he returned to the living room, his arms filled with different sized boxes.
"Before you continue your answer, I must ask: why did you knock instead of ringing the doorbell?" Dylan smirked as he put all of the boxes down and then took a seat on the floor. Chris slid down from his seat to also sit on the floor, though on the opposite side than Dylan.
"Dramatic effect?" He said, more of a question than an answer. Both of them laughed.
"Okay, now tell me. Where do you want to travel?"
"Maybe..." he grabbed a carton and a pair of chopsticks, "Greece? They have some impressive statues that I wouldn't mind sketching."
Dylan smiled. The Mediterranean had always been one of the destinations on his travel-bucket-list. It would be perfect to get a SCUBA certificate, and he planned on going there either this summer or the one after.
"That's a good choice." Dylan reached forward and stole some of the other's noodles, grinning widely at his offended look.
"The audacity," Chris uttered, feigning being absolutely betrayed, "Where do you want to go?"
"Anywhere, really, but Spain or Italy are at the top of my list. And maybe Australia. I would like to go SCUBA diving and learn how to surf."
"Wow, I'm dating a surfer boy," Chris exclaimed, "A sksk-vsco boy." Dylan laughed aloud, throwing his head back.
"Please never do that again!" He howled, throwing a pillow at Chris, who caught it effortlessly. He was, after all, a football player.
"Don't throw stuff around the food," the dark-haired boy retorted, putting his box down and quickly crawled over to where Dylan was sitting. Before Dylan had even reacted, Chris had dug his fingers into his sides. He yelled out, moving to get away, and even kicked gently in Chris's direction.
"Don't!" He threatened, holding up his chopsticks as some sort of weapon, "I'm not afraid to use these."
Chris laughed a hearty laugh that Dylan liked very much.
"It's unfair that you know my biggest weakness. Tell me yours!"
"First of all," Chris sat back on his heels, grinning profusely, "that is not how that works. Second, I don't have any weaknesses." The grin turned into more of a smirk as he preened, brushing his shoulders.
Dylan cocked an eyebrow. "Everyone has something. I will find out what yours is." He crawled closer, then sat up to make it easier for their lips to meet.
When they broke apart, Chris smiled. "I don't, I'm special and different."
Dylan laughed again, before grabbing a half-eaten box and digging into the rest of the food in it.
About an hour passed. The empty boxes now lay discarded in a heap on the coffee table and Dylan had gotten tired of sitting on the floor and moved back to the sofa.
"Hey," Chris looked up from where he was leaning against the sofa, "I was promised a movie."
Dylan smiled, reaching over to where he knew the remote usually was. "And a movie you shall receive," he turned the TV on as Chris climbed up on the sofa. "I'm going to go pop some popcorn."
He stood up and walked toward the kitchen, but then suddenly Chris passed him. "Not if I do first!" The taller yelled.
Dylan laughed. "You are a child." He hurried after, finding Chris sitting on the counter.
"Where are they?"
"In the pantry."
Chris hopped down from the island and opened the white wooden door, looking through the shelves. When he found the package, he let out a loud 'Aha!', making Dylan grin even wider if that even was possible.
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