Paris hesitated, considering a bit before he accepted Kris' hand. He didn't weigh much, so it wasn't difficult to help him to his feet. "Alright…" He replied quietly. "You really don't have to, though. I usually don't run into too much trouble in this part of town." He shrugged and headed downstairs with Kris, still limping.
Kris shrugged as they walked. "Eh, you never know what could happen. Plus I would feel like an ass if I made you walk home alone." He chuckled softly as they made it downstairs. Kris went into the kitchen and started looking through the cabinets and such, trying to find something to eat. They hadn't been shopping in a while, so there really wasn't much. After finding a couple of packages of ramen noodles, he showed them to Paris. "Is this ok? Do you like these?" He asked, wanting to make sure it was cool with him before instantly assuming that he liked it.
Paris fidgeted awkwardly with his hands as he stood in the kitchen, not really sure what to do with himself. He looked up at the question and nodded. "Yeah, that's fine… I'm not really picky or anything." He shrugged, shifting his weight around a little to try and find a way to stand that was a little less painful.
He smiled. "Alright, cool. Oh, and uh, you can sit down if you want." Kris realized how awkward the boy looked and he sighed softly, wanting to make him feel a little more comfortable. This was the first "friend" (could he even call him a friend yet?) that he had in a long time, he really wanted him to be comfortable around him. He would have made the noodles the normal way, by boiling water on the stove, but there were no clean pots to be found, so he resorted to cooking them in the microwave. After a few minutes they were done, and he added the flavoring packets in and mixed it up before bringing both bowls over to the table. "Here you go, sir, the Kris Maxwell special: microwaved ramen." The taller boy joked as he sat down next to Paris.
Paris decided to sit down while Kris was making the Ramen, figuring there wasn't really much he could do. It was just microwave Ramen, after all. His help wasn't really needed. He glanced up when Kris came over and smiled weakly, accepting the bowl from him. "Thanks… you really didn't have to make me food, though. I could've just had a granola bar or something at home." Yeah, right… as if there's ever any food at my house.
"It's no problem, really. It's easy enough to make. Plus I like, never have company over, so, I thought I'd, you know, be a good 'host' or whatever, if that's what you'd call this." He made air quotes around the word "host" awkwardly. It didn't really seem like it was a formal enough occasion to use such terms. He ate quietly next to Paris, in sort of an awkward silence.
Paris shrugged and ate quietly as well, hoping that suddenly eating so much wouldn't make him sick later or anything. He didn't want to worry about that right now, though, so he just kept eating. "Um…" He began after a while, seeming a little nervous and uncomfortable. This so so stupid… he'll probably say no. "Uh… we can… hang out another time, if you want…" He said stiffly. "Like… you know… when we don't have a project to do…"
"Hm?" He looked over at the blond boy when he finally said this. A soft smile appeared on his face. "Y-yeah, man, of course. I'm cool with it. This was fun, even though it was, you know, kind of awkward." Kris chuckled and scratched the back of his head nervously. "But uh, yeah. Let's hang out again soon."
"Y-Yeah… sorry about that…" Paris laughed awkwardly, ruffling the back of his hair with one hand. "I haven't actually hung out with anyone in a while, you know? I don't think anyone really likes me. I don't really talk much in class, and when I do, I'm… not particularly nice. And I just don't really know what to do with other people at this point… there's not a lot to do at my house."
"Neither have I, honestly. I haven't had, like, an actual friend in forever." He twirled a noodle around his fork as he talked to Paris. "But uh, I like you dude! I think you're pretty cool. You know, like, as a friend and stuff." He said nervously, not wanting it to come off the wrong way.
Paris flushed lightly and looked away, unable to keep from smiling a bit. A friend… he hardly knows me, and he thinks of me as a friend? "Uh… y-yeah. You're pretty cool too. It's getting dark, so… I should probably head back soon. My dad's already gonna be mad I was out so late…" He sighed softly, trying to keep the fear off of his face.
Kris saw the smile on Paris's face and couldn't help but smile wider. It was nice to see him smile. "Oh, uh, yeah, let's go." He got up and put both of their bowls in the sink, making a mental note to wash them later. He then headed to the door and went out, waiting for Paris to follow behind him.
Paris followed Kris closely, holding his things close to his chest as he walked. He fell silent on the way to his house, seeming to grow more and more uneasy the closer they got. "W-Well… thanks for walking me home." He smiled weakly to reassure Kris as he headed inside, waving and not really giving the other boy a chance to respond. Hopefully he gets out of here quickly… this isn't going to be pretty.
"PARIS!" Paris flinched and carefully set his things down.
"Yeah, dad…?"
"You're late!"
"Uh… y-yeah… sorry…"
"Where have you been, huh?! Your curfew was half an hour ago!"
"I-I had to work on a project for school! I… I didn't notice it had gotten so late—" He was silenced as his father grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall.
"Typical! Always making excuses! You need to stop being so ignorant!" They continued arguing for a bit, both of them quickly growing more heated.
(Up to you whether you hear them fighting or not aha, you don't have to ^^)
Kris waved goodbye to Paris with a smile. Just as he went to leave, he heard some of the yelling come from Paris's father and he flinched. Fuck…I shouldn't have kept him so late, now he's in trouble… Feeling guilty, he quickly started walking home, not only because of what he heard, but also because it's rather dangerous out here at night. The moment he made it back to his place, he went up to his room and grabbed his phone, quickly shooting Paris a text.
hey dude, are you okay?
Paris didn't respond for about half an hour, when he finally managed to get to his room and lock the door. He buried himself under the covers, tears stinging his eyes as he looked down at his phone screen. Damn… he must have heard some of that. He sighed softly, rubbing at his throbbing cheek with one hand as he replied with the other.
Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that.
Kris was panicking for the whole half hour that Paris was unresponsive, and he tried to keep himself occupied by listening to music, but he couldn't stop worrying. His phone buzzed and he quickly picked it up, letting out a sigh of relief to see that he finally responded.
you sure? i heard ur dad yelling and stuff
Yeah, sorry he's pretty loud aha
Paris drew in a few deep, wavering breaths. Thank god London's not here right now… He sighed, hoping that Kris wouldn't worry too much. He didn't want to have to explain all of this. The foster care system was absolutely awful, and there was a good chance that he and London would be separated. He definitely didn't want that.
Sorry for the late response, had to get ready for bed
Kris sighed, hoping he was telling the truth. He sat on his bed, his legs pulled up against his chest, his headphones blasting music into his ears. He had other homework to do, but he really didn't care. Not like he would understand it anyway. Plus, he had the whole weekend to put it off. He picked up his phone again and began typing.
ok then, its fine. sorry for getting u in trouble.
Yeah, no problem. He's always looking for something to get mad about anyway
Paris curled up into a tight ball on his bed, achy and uneasy. He could hear his dad moving around in the kitchen, but he knew that they didn't really have any food in there… He also heard a woman's voice, but it wasn't familiar. Not to mention, his mother had been dead or missing for years, so it definitely wasn't her.
im sorry you gotta deal with that, man. if you need an excuse to get away from him, you can always come over here
Kris heard the front door open, so he left his room and went to the top of the stairs to see who it was. Oh good, it was his mom. He went downstairs and hugged her as she came in.
"Hey, mom. How was work?"
"Alright. We were super busy, so I'm really fucking exhausted. Head hurts like hell."
Kris grabbed his mom a bottle of water from the fridge.
"I'm heading to bed," his mom stated, taking the water bottle from him and heading into her room. "Don't bother me, hun. Love you."
"Love you too."
She shut her door and Kris sighed. This was the only time he ever really got to interact with his mom. He wished she wasn't always exhausted or sick or at work. He loved her a lot, but she was always so distant. It really hurt. He went back upstairs and shut himself in his room again.
Thanks… I should probably go to bed now. See you at school
Paris turned off his phone and took a few minutes to compose himself before he closed his eyes. As usual, it took him a while to fall asleep, and it was pretty fitful when he managed it, but it was better than nothing.
(Feel free to skip to whenever aha. Since it's Friday, you could theoretically text him on Saturday, or just skip to Monday-)
(oki! i'll just skip to monday then :>)
seeya :)
He didn't go to bed immediately. It was actually about 1 or 2 am before he finally managed to pass out.
The weekend passed (unfortunately) and Kris was soon back at school. At lunch, he looked around for Paris, and eventually found him sitting alone. He smiled when he saw him and headed right over to him.
"Hey dude, whats up?" Kris asked with a smile as he sat down across from Paris, an energy drink in his hand. He usually didn't eat lunch, and if he did, it was something light. Usually he just had an energy drink, though, since he was usually exhausted from staying up late.
Paris looked exhausted, and a bit of a bruise was visible on his cheek where he'd tried to cover it up with makeup. He was quietly eating a sandwich he'd gotten from the cafeteria, looking pretty out of it. He looked up when Kris approached and smiled weakly. "Hm? Oh, hi… did you have a good weekend?" He asked quietly. Hopefully he brought the project… we left it at his house.
He shrugged. "Eh, it was alright. Kinda uneventful." He ran his fingers through his hair, having a bit more energy now that he had some caffeine in him. "How was yours?"
Paris shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. "About the same… I didn't really do much of anything. Had to walk my sister to the middle school earlier, so I had to wake up earlier…" He yawned and sighed. "Didn't get much sleep…"
"Damn- I didn't sleep much either. That's sweet of you to walk your sister to school though." He paused for a moment. "You want some of this?" He gestured to his drink. "I stayed up late, so it's my own fault that I'm tired- you need it more than I do."
Paris held his hand up and shook his head. "No, I'm alright… probably just hungry or dehydrated or something. I'll just drink some water and I'm sure I'll perk up soon, yeah?" He sipped at his water bottle and sighed.
He shrugged. "Alright then." Kris took another sip when he noticed the partially visible bruise on his cheek. "Hey, whats that on your cheek?" He asked, hoping he wasn't making him uncomfortable with this question.
"Hm?" Paris glanced up and touched his cheek with one hand, his heart racing when he realized that the bruise must have been visible. "O-Oh, uh… it's nothing. Just fell again. I'm really clumsy." He laughed nervously and drank some more water as an excuse to not talk.
Kris frowned, not really believing him this time. "Really? You managed to fall on your cheek like that?" He questioned. He then checked the time and it was almost time to go to class. The bell sounded overhead. "Nevermind, we can talk about it later. If you don't have work after school, wanna come over to my place? There's something I wanna show you."