Killian couldn't stop thinking about West, and when lunch time came around, he found himself scanning the crowd in the cafeteria for the boy with hair as dark as night.
He was overcome with a feeling of great disappointment upon spotting him sitting side by side with a red-headed girl, sharing a tray of fries. The gentle smiles, hearty laughs and fond gazes directed at each other made him wonder if there was something going on between the two, made him wonder why he even cared. West was clearly not interested.
"Earth to fuck face!" Harper exclaimed, as he violently snapped his fingers in front of Killian's face.
"Huh?"
"Were you even listening, man?"
"Yeah, definitely..." Killian nodded absentmindedly, "Do you know who that guy over there is?" He asked, subtly pointing to West and Brittany's table.
"Winston, Weston... something. Why?"
At the mention of his name, Killian's table fell into a hushed silence, his teammates exchanged conspiratorial glances, like they knew something he didn't.
Killian caught on, "What's the big deal, guys?"
"His name is Weston Rickert, and you don't wanna go there, man. That Vietnamese kid is bad news. I heard his dad is on crack or something, he probably smokes crack too. Or deals it." Fletcher, their team captain answered, his voice dripping with venom.
Harper was unimpressed. How and why did they know this information? "We're friends with gossipmongers, Lord save us." He remarked.
Clancy, their wide receiver, however, took it upon himself to have the last word, "He's bad news. If I were you, I'd stay the hell away from him."
-
That afternoon, Killian and Harper were on their way home when they decided to pass by the local skate park so Harper could get some practice in.
As always, he was rambling on about his Meme page that had over 100K followers. Killian didn't really understand the concept of memes, so he just nodded at everything his best friend said, adding a "hmm" or a "that's funny" wherever necessary.
"...and the pikachu memes are literally gaining so much traction, I'll be at 200k before the year ends, see?" In an effort to flaunt his Instagram page, Harper forcefully (and on purpose) shoved the phone in Killian's face, colliding with his nose on the way.
"Whoops, sorry." Harper said, without a single trace of being apologetic in his tone.
Killian brushed a finger over the tip of his nose, shooting Harper, who only giggled, a glare at the same time.
They continued walking through the park until they came across the ramp.
They hadn't expected to see the one and only Weston Rickert, though, who'd just executed a Darkslide on a kink rail without breaking a sweat.
"Holy shit..." Harper cursed, his mouth falling wide open. The Darkslide was a difficult trick to master, and he'd been skating for over 5 years. Witnessing West do it so effortlessly suddenly made him feel like a noob.
Killian had the exact same reaction, except he wasn't just impressed with the boy's skills, there was something else behind his eyes, something akin to adoration. "Holy shit is right."
Harper noticed the look Killian was giving West, he'd seen it before, one too many times. It never ended well.
So, that's why he was asking all those questions earlier.
"Nope." He asserted, tugging Killian away from the ramp.
Skating would have to wait another day.
Killian was caught off guard, he tried to shake him off but Harper's grip on his wrist was strong, "Dude, what the hell?"
"Not gonna happen."
Harper knew his best friend well. He knew that when Killian liked someone, he'd stop at nothing to get that person's attention. Gender wasn't something he particularly stressed over, to him, everyone was free range.
"What are you--" Killian finally understood. "Oh..."
Oh.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, exerting all force to pull his wrist free from Harper's hand, stopping them both in place. "Listen," He began, but even he knew what he was about to say was complete and utter bullshit, "It's not like that at all--"
"Really?" Harper scoffed in disbelief.
"The way you were looking at him? I hate to say this, but Clancy was right, stay away from West. He's just a trainwreck waiting to happen."
"Since when are you so judgy?"
"Since." He snarled, "Your last relationship ended in disaster. And the one before that."
That seemed to shut Killian right up.
Harper laid a hand on Killian's shoulder and made him look him straight in the eye, "I'm only trying to look out for you."
"That West? He's just like Hunter, just like Steven. I can smell the trouble on him. He'll take what he wants from you and leave you stranded. And guess who'll be left to pick up the pieces."
They both knew the answer to that. From the moment they became friends, which was a little over two years ago, Harper took it upon himself to protect Killian and keep him out of harm's way, to be the older brother ( even though they were the same age ) he never had. But sometimes Killian was just too stubborn for his own good, which is exactly how he always ended up hurt.
Harper would be there in the aftermath, putting Killian back together again. He'd always be there.
He held out his pinky finger. Because pinky promises were the most legitimate foundation of trust in the entire world, "Promise me you'll stay away."
Killian intertwined his pinky with his best friend's. He wasn't about to break a pinky promise, that would be barbaric. "Yeah, whatever, asshole. I promise."
"Now, let's get the hecky heck outta here."
--
Killian spent the entire afternoon at Harper's, only getting home after 6 PM.
He'd expected to find his family in the middle of dinner, but was pleasantly surprised to be met with an empty home. Absolutely no kids in sight, nights like this were rare.
He relished in the peace and quiet.
Killian made his way upstairs to check if he was truly alone, he was about to knock on his mother's door, when he thought he heard sniffling coming from the inside. He pressed an ear against the door, and sure enough, he could hear his mother sobbing on the other side. He waited a whole minute, before reluctantly pushing it open.
"Mom?"
Killian's voice startled her, she hurriedly whirled towards the wall so he wouldn't see her face before wiping the tears from her bloodshot eyes, "Hey, hon, how was school?" She asked, forcing a smile.
Killian panicked, his first thought being his siblings. "Mom, what's wrong? Where are the kids?"
"They're fine, they're at Justin's house."
Justin was the twins', Dove and Sparrow's best friend. All 3 were 12 years old, then there was 6 year old Trenton, Killian's youngest brother, who followed the twins everywhere they went. They were Killian's whole life.
"What's wrong?" He asked again.
"Marcy's closing down her shop. I'll be unemployed by next week."
His mother, Linda, was their only provider. Her income was small, it was barely enough to care for 4 kids, but they managed to survive, they were doing alright.
"I'll have to start... looking for something else real soon."
An idea struck Killian, before his father died, he'd put together money for him to further his studies, he'd done the same for the rest of his siblings. They didn't have to struggle, not when they didn't have to.
"I have a college fund right? We could use that money to get by. Until you find a job."
Linda shook her head, she couldn't take her son's money, not when she had no guarentee she could actually pay it back. College was months away. "That's... no. Your father left that money for you."
"We could always replace it."
"No, Killian. That's final."
They sat in silence for a while. Neither of them knew which step to take next. Killian hadn't expected, nor planned for his mother to be out of a job, just when he thought they were doing okay. As okay as okay could be. They weren't exactly swimming in money, but they weren't exactly starving either.
He wondered how things would be if his father was still alive. Things were definitely much easier back then.
He decided then and there, that he'd get a job. His dad was gone, and now, his mother was unemployed. The time had come for him to take matters into his own hands.
_________________________________________
yikes