there's the whole gang, in their usual sims form ;-)

I wobbled home in one piece, my stomach and ribs sore. I opened the door, noticing Levi opening some mail at the kitchen table.

"Hey, pal," I pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

He smiled at the sight of me, "How's things been for you?" Levi pushed the opened mail to the side, sipping a glass of water.

"Pretty okay," I said, "just okay."

Levi let out a half hearted laugh, looking down at the wooden table, changing his tone, "You've been spending a lot of time with Caspian, huh?"

I looked at him, puzzled that he even thought about that, "How do you know?"

"Where else would you be?"

I frowned and thought about my family, I thought about how much time I've recently spent away from this house and these people.

"Missy is gone again, apparently better," Levi shrugged and ran his fingers through his brown hair, making me feel like I've been gone for a year.

"That's good, that she's better," I bit my lip, thinking about Caspian and Liv now. I tried not to focus on them.

"I got a girlfriend," Levi blurted out, smiling proudly, "the same girl I went to study with. She gives good blowjobs."

I laughed at Levi's observation, trying not to picture a girl sucking him off because it totally ruined everything.

"Always a bonus," I added awkwardly.

He sighed once again, putting the mail in a tight and orderly pile. "I'm glad it's the weekend, but I'm exhausted."

Levi yawned and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms.

"So, Caspian isn't that mean after all?" He stood up from his chair, leaning against the table, waiting for my final words.

"No, he's a nice kid."

I thought about the groceries he bought me, and the way he wanted to protect me from Ed. Even if he didn't realize it or want to admit it, he was protecting me in one way or another.

"Good, if he's your friend he's welcome here anytime."

Levi pushed his chair in, heading towards the stairs without saying anything. I scratched my head, thinking about nothing for a few moments before heading upstairs to sleep.

The following morning, I didn't bother getting breakfast ready. I felt slightly guilty, but I knew what I had to do outside of the house.

I quietly escaped through the back door, bending down to tie my shoes. They were old and dirty, but they still ran fine against the cement.

I started jogging before my body wanted to go faster, running now. My heart was pumping by the time I reached Casp's house, slamming on the door with my fist. I took a few deep breaths and backed away, my hands on my hips to catch my breath from running so fast.

Caspian answered the door with a cigarette in his mouth, looking at me with sad, nostalgic eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said quietly, moving out of the way so I can step inside.

I smiled when I saw him, same black hoodie and plaid pajama pants as last night. Liv was asleep on the couch, one arm hanging off.

He looked at me for a while, seemingly studying my half healed but still bruised face. He shook his head slowly, removing the cigarette from his mouth to blow smoke up into the air.

"So you're gay, huh?" Caspian said, an upsetting tone in his voice. He stepped closer to me, one hand curling around my neck and jaw, the other holding his cigarette down by his side.

In that moment, I didn't care how much he smelled like nicotine. His hands were warm and soft, holding my head level to his. He looked into my eyes, searching them for something unexplainable.

Suddenly, and abruptly, he removed his hand and backed away. He threw his cigarette in the ashtray next to the door, laughing as he leaned against the wall

"Well, shit," He mumbled.

I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, the same spot he was just holding, catching a glimpse of his beer bottles from last night scattered across the living room floor.

"Hale, get out of my house," Caspian said in a matter-of-fact tone, pointing to the door, "I have a headache and I don't want to think about anything right now."

I shook my head at his sudden behavior and walked over to the door, looking over at him before leaving, "Come to my house when and if you want to talk."

I started to close the door, surprised he didn't say anything sassy back to my comment. What didn't he want to think about?

The sidewalk outside was empty and lonely, a few people walking on the other side. I made my way back home with my hands in my pockets, wondering where those other people were headed. Probably some place better than where I was going. I wondered why my neck and jaw didn't burn and melt when Casp touched it.

Instead of going inside, I sat out on the front porch steps alone. I knew Caspian was too self centered to come back and talk to me, so I wondered why I sat alone on concrete steps. I wondered why Liv had to open her mouth last night when Caspian could clearly hear us from downstairs. This would just be another opportunity for Casp to beat me up. I wondered why I was gay, but I guess there's no definitive answer to any of the questions I was thinking about.

Several minutes later, which felt like hours, footsteps creeped up in front of me. I tilted my head upwards to see who it was, since staring at the gum-covered cement was getting boring.

Caspian stood in front of me, hands tucked into his front pockets.

He lowered his eyes to where I was staring, "I don't see anything?" He questioned, pointing to the ground, "what were you staring at, space boy?"

I held back a laugh, shrugging to the unkown answer of his question. I'm almost certain he noticed the smile I tried to hold back.

"Sorry about a little bit ago, I was just kinda hurt," Caspian ran one hand up the opposite arm, looking off sideways into the sidewalk's vast distance.

"It's okay. I know I should have told you about it but—"

Caspian shook his head which made me stop talking. He took a seat next to me.

"You didn't have to tell me anything. I know we've always been on kind of bad terms, so the least I can do is finally be nice to you and buy you some groceries. You make Liv happy because you're honest with her. But you weren't honest with me and that's okay."

I stared at Caspian, unable to process the words he just spoke.

"It's okay?" I fidgeted around to face him, furrowing my eyebrows together. I definitely didn't mean to not be honest with him.

"Yeah, It's okay. You're kinda fun to be with and I like being with you for the most part, so..."

Caspian trailed off his sentence, looking around at the empty sidewalks again.

"So what?" I asked, looking down to tie my shoe. A smile crept onto my lips, and when I got done, Caspian was smiling too.

"Do you wanna hang out more? We can go to a bar, I got a secret way in and one guest is allowed with me," he shrugged and immediately hid his smile, standing up from the porch step.
"I'll come by tonight," His normal tone of voice was back, loud and unforgiving, like we didn't just have the conversation we did.

"Wait, so is this like a date or something?"

I teased him, smiling because I knew he would get upset with the question. I wouldn't mind if it was a date. Caspian stopped walking and turned to face me, pulling a cigarette out of the box. He pointed at me with his cigarette, nearly shouting from twenty feet away.

"Shut the hell up."

I saw him try not to smile again, the cigarette now sticking out from between his lips.

I watched him walk away and I started laughing once he was around the corner, my feelings coming face to face with reality for the first time in a while.

***
thx for reading!! comments and votes are greatly appreciated.