Good luck finding it.
2. Love
It was warm and muggy, but that did not change the fact that Tre wanted hot chocolate. It was just something that he always had when it was either snowing or raining.
Perhaps… He thought to himself, holding the hot chocolate mix. It would be nice to try it with ice cream, or even cold?
Placing the mix down, Tre walked over to the refrigerator, opening up the freezer. Picking up the carton of ice cream, he tossed it to the counter, knocking a few spoons and such over. Then he waltzed over to the cabinet, taking out a bowl and a spoon. Using the spoon to scoop some ice cream, he gave it a quick lick when he was finished, using his free hands to open the hot chocolate mix, pouring it over the bowl. Giving the spoon one last lick, Tre began to mix the ice cream with the mix. Soon enough, the colors mixed together producing a light brown color. Taking a spoonful, Tre put it in his mouth and after a moment of sucking, decided that it was pretty good. Keeping the spoon in his mouth, Tre walked over to the couch and plopped down, reaching for the remote he turned the television on.
Quietly flipping through the channels, Tre did not see a single thing on: the occasional news channel, a couple of kids’ cartoons, nothing much. Scooping another scoop into his mouth, he found it necessary that he should bother starting his homework. Leaving on a children’s cartoon, Tre finished off his ice cream and began to wash the bowl and spoon.
As he squirted the green colored dish soap into the bowl, Tre discovered that he actually needed more. Taking a mental note that ne needed more; the teen quietly scrubbed the bowl, thoroughly cleaning it before starting on the spoon. The sound of the television could be heard in the back, accompanied by the sound of the rain.
It was odd living alone.
Tre’s green eyes stared at the spoon in his hand. Turning it over, he looked at his reflection. Strangely enough, the obscurity to it actually entertained him.
Smile crossing his face, Tre grabbed a towel, drying the dishes and putting them back in their respected spots. Tossing the towel aside afterwards, he made his way back into the living room, plopping down on the couch. His sigh filled the room. Tre did not particularly want to do his homework at that moment.
Then a thought came to him: check the mail! Maybe he had something from Morgan.
Morgan Bell was Tre’s solider pen pal. He had been writing to him for a good three years. Tre felt as though he knew Morgan his whole life, they told each other everything about one another. Morgan was a 47 year old man, who has been married to a lovely woman by the name of Clara and they had a total of three kids (two boys named Andrew and Abe, and his little girl named Victoria “Vicki”, Tre had heard that she loved the letter ‘I’ and refused to have her nickname spelled any other way.) He had been stationed for a total of three years, the amount of time that they had been writing. At first, the writing to a soldier thing was just for a school project, but Tre did not have the heart to break it off, he learned to love this stranger.
Walking to the door, Tre reached around for an umbrella. Finding a small one, Tre opened the door, and then opened the umbrella. Stepping under its protection, he made his way to the mailbox. Forcing the door of the mailbox open, Tre reached in without bothering to look and pulled out a stack of letters. Rushing back into the house, Tre opened the door and tossed the mail to the ground. Shaking the umbrella out a bit, Tre left it by the door to dry. Picking the mail up, he threw aside some of the unimportant things such as the junk mail, advertisements, bills, looking for a letter from his friend. To his own surprise, he found one. The envelope appeared to be a different color from the rest of the concealed mail, almost having a tint of yellow.
Grabbing his letter opener from the kitchen counter (normally, he would not care, but it was different in the case of Morgan’s letters). Gently sliding the knife across the letter, Tre popped it open. Excitement began to build up inside of him as began to read it.
Dear Tre,
I’m sorry college life isn’t what you thought it would be. Living alone in a house instead of a dorm may have something to do with that though, son.
Son. Tre felt his chest tighten as a smile stretched across his face. He loved being called things like that (such as dear, honey, etc.), though people rarely did. Yet, when would somebody find the time to call him those names?
The dorm life seems to be what everyone talks about for college. But I think you are in a lucky place. You have your own place and no distractions from drunken roommates (the good old days).
You have to send me some of your work sometime; I’m really interested to see what you’re creating with that mind of yours (I’m sure it’s great).
The guys say hi.
Sincerely,
Morgan.
PS. Go do your homework.
Tre felt slightly disappointed by the letter’s short length (especially that last line). Perhaps it was busy there while he wrote it, or even tired…
Picking the letter and it’s envelop up, Tre made his way into his room. He had to put it away with the others before he started his homework. Walking into his room, Tre hopped onto the bed, leaning over it to pull out what appeared to be a normal shoebox. A normal shoebox to the average person.
Opening the top, Tre smiled at the organized letter collection. Placing it at the back of the pile, Tre slipped it back under the bed, accompanied by five other boxes. Smoothing out the bed sheets, Tre walked out of his bedroom and back into the living room. Sighing deeply, he fell onto his sofa and gave a quick look around.
Picking up his text book, that is when he noticed his notebook was missing.
It wasn’t just any notebook. It was the MOST important notebook for that class! It had all of his notes in it from lectures!
Violently leaping off the sofa, Tre ran over to the door, grabbing his shoes. Slipping them on in a hurried fashion, Tre looked out the window, noticing that the rain was still sprinkling. Limping towards the closet, Tre pulled out an umbrella. Rushing over to the door, Tre opened it, putting the umbrella before himself. Opening the umbrella Tre jumped into the rain (but not before carefully locking his front door).
Rain pelting against the ground, Tre ran towards his school.
It had to be open.
The class had to be still open.
Skidding to a stop, Tre caught his breath. Leaning forward, he pressed the cross walk button. Quickly glancing at his watch, Tre saw that it wasn’t too late… The class should still be open.
A few people beside him began moving. Looking up, he noticed that the cross light was now that little stick figure instead of the hand. Quickly rushing across the dark grey street, Tre hurriedly made his way back to the school.
He should visit the professor before entering the class… Tre decided for himself, approaching the teacher’s room.
“Professor?” He asked, knocking on the door.
The short, balding man looked up from his desk. “Oh! Tre, hello.” Standing up, he walking towards the door, letting Tre in. “What brings you here?”
“Professor Gimmons, I left my-” Tre’s voice trailed off as his elder pulled out his blue notebook.
“Your notebook?” He asked, a smile on his face as he handed it to his pupil.
Tre reflected the smile as he took it. “Thank you sir!”
The professor laughed. “No problem.” Turning to his desk, he suddenly muttered. What he muttered, Tre was not sure, but it didn’t sound very good.
“Sir?”
“Oh.” Professor Gimmons gave a nervous smile. “I forgot to buy something on the grocery list.”
“I can go and buy it for you! It’s no problem.” Tre offered.
After a moment of muttering to himself, the professor eventually gave in to his student’s pleading.
“If it isn’t out of the way for you…”
“Not at all, I need to buy some things too.” Tre lied.
The older man gave a nervous smile. “Thank you, when you go…” He began to dig around in his pockets, pulling out a few bills. “I just need a carton of milk.”
Taking the bills, Tre nodded. “And I just come back here?”
“If it’s not troublesome.”
“Not at all!” Tre stated, smiling. Putting the money into his pocket, he turned and left his professor in his room.
Stepping out into the sprinkling rain wasn’t too back. It was better than earlier at least.
Clutching the notebook to his chest, Tre began to ponder the closest grocery mart. The only one that he could think of that sold both milk and… what did he want to buy?
He felt himself frown.
Well, this gave him a chance to procrastinate on his homework. If he was procrastinating now, he might as well go to the one near the park. It was a nice, little market anyways.
Though it was dark and misting, the part still had a good amount of people in it. Couples walking with one another under an umbrella, kids playing in the puddles (what they were doing out at that time, Tre had no clue) and so on. Tre continued to walk down the path, distracted by the little things people were doing.
That’s when he saw the body.
It was a bit in the distance, but it was a body nonetheless. Shivers running down his spine, Tre quickly ran over to the body. It seemed to be covered in newspapers… and then, he realized that a bright blue umbrella was next to it…
Panic slapped him in the face. It was Lex!
Running towards the body, he skidded, slipping on the wet mud, smashing into Lex’s body. Both men screamed, their bodies shooting up.
Lex stared at Tre for a moment, his eyes wide in bewilderment. Tre on the other hand, sat next to him, panting and out of breath.
“What are you doing on the ground?” Tre asked, trying to sound angry, but all he did was sound tired.
“Trying to sleep.” Lex muttered, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes.
“What about a house?” Tre continued, slowly getting his breath back.
Lex broke their eye contact and looked towards the ground. “I got…. Kicked out of my last living arrangement.”
Tre suddenly knew why. “You mean money?”
Lex looked back up towards Tre. Paused for a moment, and then said: “You can say that.”
Standing up, Tre held his hand out to Lex. “Why don’t you come live with me?”
Lex stared at Tre, emotions dancing around his face. Giving a tilt to his head, he only said one word: “Why?”
“Why? How long have you been sleeping like this?”
Lex muttered something, causing Tre to ask him to repeat it.
“A few weeks…” He muttered shamefully.
“A few weeks?” Tre repeated, clearly shocked. “But the weather’s been so bad!”
The blonde shrugged, laughing a bit. “Yes it has been.”
Tre shook his head. “You need to come and live with me. I don’t care what you say.” Tre then held out his hand.
Lex stood up, ignoring Tre’s hand. Leaning towards him, a smile stretched across Lex’s face. “How can you just let someone like me wander into your house?”
“Like you?” Tre asked, a nervous smile crossing his face. What was that supposed to mean?
Lex leaned back, eyeing Tre. “You really mean it, hm?” His lips curled into a real smile. “Well! Aren’t you sweet?”
Tre stared at him for a moment, as Lex bent down and started to pick up his things.
What was that about…?
After picking up a few items, clearing the little area that Tre assumed Lex used as his home, Lex swung the bag over his shoulder. Scurrying over to Tre, Lex slipped his wet arm into his. Almost instantly, Tre felt his arm get soaked. The blonde gave Tre’s arm a tight squeeze.
“Wanna hold hands?” Lex asked, an unusual smile stretching across his face.
Tre felt himself jump. Was he serious? Face heating up, Tre opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by Lex pulled himself away, laughing.
“I’m kidding.” He held his hands up. “We both have umbrellas, right?” With a smile, he shook out his blue umbrella and opened it. “See?”
Tre gave a quick nod. Why did his parents raise him to be so nice?
“What are you doing out at this time anyways?” Lex asked, peeking over at Tre.
“Ah. I left my notebook at school.” He stated, holding it up. “And our professor needed something from the grocery…”
Lex’s smile faded a bit, and replaced with his lip sticking out slightly. “Oh?”
Tre nodded. “Just some milk.”
Lex nodded. “Yup. Alright.” He twirled the umbrella handle, eyeing Tre.
“And I want to get something.” Tre lied, avoiding Lex’s eye contact as he started to walk.
“Oh?” Lex asked, leaning a bit towards the other, as he too began to walk.
“Just some bread.” Tre said the first thing that came to his mind.
“Bread.” Lex repeated in a dull tone. Giving a quick shrug, he quickly changed topics. “So…”
Tre looked over at Lex, catching a hint of red to his cheeks.
“What’s…your house like? Do you want me to do chores?”
Tre felt his heart give a sight lurch. “You can just live there… ya know, as an equal. No need to force a payment on yourself.”
Lex frowned. “That’s not fair.”
“No, it’s fine. Trust me” Tre smiled, waiting for Lex to just accept the fact.
“How about I paint you something?” Lex chirped excitement in his voice.
“Paint?” Tre asked, tilting his head a bit as he watched Lex spin his umbrella again.
“I’m an art major, you know.” Lex stated, a smile on his face. “I could paint you something nice for…your house?”
Tre nodded.
“House.” Lex finalized, and then shrugged. “Well, ya never know.” Twirling the umbrella again, he flashed a smile. “Shopping now?”
*~*~*
“You’re such a good boy giving the professah his change~” Lex sang, jumping into a puddle, splashing Tre a bit.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Tre frowned at his pants.
“Dunno, kids can be jerks.”
Tre sighed, shaking his head. “True.”
“But you aren’t a jerk.” Lex looked back at Tre. “You’re sweet.”
Tre stared at him for a moment. Lex was such a strange person. Should he really be letting this guy sleep in his house?
“Thanks.” Tre muttered, walking up the stairs to his house, Lex following him closely. Placing the key into the lock, Tre pushed it open, stepping inside.
“Welcome home.”Tre said, a smile forming on his lips.
The wet blonde stepped inside of the doorway, his honey eyes looking around in awe. “This is where you live?” He breathed, dropping the umbrella by the door.
Tre nodded as he walked over to the umbrella, picking it up.
“Ah! Sorry about that.” Lex stuttered, reaching for his umbrella. Tre felt himself shiver as the boy’s hand touched his own.
“That was rude.” Lex laughed nervously as he proceeded to ask where to place it.
Tre shook his head. “Just take your shoes off and I can take care of it.” Stepping out of the room for a moment, he went straight towards the bathroom, dumping the umbrellas in the bathtub. Making sure that they were all set, he went back into the living room.
His green eyes examined Lex. He was soaking wet. “Do you think you’re my size?” Tre asked, watching Lex take his shoes off.
“Hm?”
Peeling off a layer of his own clothing, Tre tossed it into the kitchen. “You’re soaked. You can’t stay like that.”
Lex looked down at himself. “Well, what do you know? I’m a bit wet.” He smiled up at Tre as the darker man continued taking off another layer. Tre stopped midway when he realized that Lex was staring.
“Oh!” Lex took off his own jacket, tossing it to where Tre threw his and then continued stripping.
“Woo~” Lex breathed, tossing his shirt aside. “That feels a lot better!” Shaking his hands out for a moment, he started to unbutton his jeans.
Tre felt his cheeks redden as he rushed over to the other man, grabbing Lex’s hands.
“What are you doing?!” Tre yelped, pushing Lex’s hands downward.
Lex’s eyes widened, glancing down at where they connected. “I was just taking my pants off…”
Tre stared at him for a moment. “But why are you stripping in front of me…?” What the hell was wrong with him?
“You were~” Lex sang, leaning towards Tre.
Tre felt his cheeks redden. There was no argument there. He was practically stripping in front of Lex…
“I-I wasn’t taking my pants off.”
Lex frowned. “Touché.” The blonde then buttoned his pants. Hands on his hips, Lex looked at Tre. “Well now, what do I do?”
Tre sighed, times like this, he wished that he still lived with another person. “Well…” Giving a quick look around the room, Tre’s green eyes caught sight of a trash bag. Rushing over to it, he picked it up and tossed it over a chair. “Just sit there, I’ll get some pants.” Turning to leave the room, Tre could hear Lex sit down on the bag.
Rushing into his room, Tre opened his sweat pants drawer and dumped it out. Taking off all of his wet clothing, Tre put on a new outfit. Then a thought crossed his mind.
Underwear.
What the hell was Tre supposed to do about Lex needing underwear? Frowning at his clothes, Tre picked up a pile of sweatpants. He had nothing to worry about at the moment. Guys didn’t need underwear like girls did, Lex would be fine if he needed underwear. Rushing out of his room, Tre kicked the door shut. Walking back to Lex, Tre held out the pile of pants to the blonde.
“Here.” Tre said, placing them into his hands. Lex gave Tre an odd look, then stood up.
“Thanks.” Standing up, Lex knocked the bag off of him. “So just go to the bathroom?” Lex asked, nodding towards the bathroom.
“Sure. Unless you want to use my room.”
Perhaps that was a mistake.
“I can change in your room?” Lex asked, the expression on his face was full of curiousity.
Tre felt his stomach sink. “It you really want to…”
Without another word Lex skipped by Tre. Juggling with the pants, Lex was able to open the door to Tre’s room and successfully shut it.
That left Tre, alone in the living room without a Lex. Looking around, Tre sat himself down on the couch.
What was Lex doing in his room?
Nah. Changing of course. Lex wasn’t the type to actually look through someone’s stuff. That didn’t stop Tre from feeling uncomfortable though.
“Thanks~” Lex shouted, emerging from Tre’s room. “I put the other pairs of pants on your bed, ok?” The blonde flashed Tre a smile.
“That’s fine.” Tre said, looking at what pair of pants Lex had chosen. It seemed as though he just picked a normal, navy blue pair of sweatpants. He however was still not wearing a shirt. “Don’t you want a shirt?”
Lex looked down at himself. “Well…” It almost appeared as though he was questioning the idea of wearing a shirt.
Tre mentally slapped himself. Who was he to say if Lex could wear a shirt while he slept? It was rather hot out.
“Yeah.” Lex said after a moment of looking at Tre. “I’ll see if I have a shirt.” The blonde began to look around.
Tre sighed. “No, I’m just tired. Do what you want.” Tre forced himself to smile. “I get kinda cranky when I’m tired, sorry.”
Lex returned the smile. “Don’t! It’s cute, you’re like a kid.”
Tre felt his cheeks blush. “Well. Don’t bother putting your wet things back on.” Walking towards Lex, Tre took his clothing bag. “I can put these in the dyer, just pick something from my room, ok?”
Lex looked at Tre for a moment, then piped up. “You want me to look through your drawers?”
He had a point.
“Well…” Tre started, looking around the room. “Never mind, you can just come with me and I’ll get you something.”
Lex smiled as he skipped after Tre. Walking into his room, Tre put Lex’s bag on the ground and went to his drawers. “What size are you?”
“I like large.” Lex said, eyes traveling around the room.
“Hmm~” Tre hummed under his breath as he tried to find a shirt that the other boy would like. Picking up a blue shirt, Tre held it up to Lex, only to frown. He looked weird in blue. Tossing it aside, Tre pulled out a red shirt.
“I love red!” Lex said, holding out his hands. Almost as though he were nervous, maybe he did actually feel awkward about standing around without a top.
Tossing it at the blonde, Lex caught it. For a brief moment, he fumbled with it and placed it over his head. Flashing a smile at Tre, he thanked him.
“No problem.” Tre gave a quick look around his room. “Do you want a blanket?”
Lex laughed. “Isn’t it kinda hot for one?”
Tre frowned. He himself could never sleep without something on, but apparently Lex was different.
“Uh… Ok! I’ll take a sheet.” Lex said rather nervously.
Tre dug out a sheet and tossed it at him. “Do you mind sleeping on the couch?”
Lex shook his head. Grabbing a pillow off of his own bed, Tre walked into the living room, fluffing them up on the couch.
“There.” Tre said, a smile on his face. “I hope that’s nice.”
“I’m sure it will be.” Lex said, tossing the blanket on the couch. “You should sleep now.” He laughed as he adjusted the pillows.
“Yeah.” The two of them stood awkwardly for a moment, Tre could almost feel the tension that appeared in the room. “Night.” Turning on his heel, Tre left towards the kitchen.
“Wait!”
He turned back to the blonde.
“What-”
The breath was knocked out of him as Lex hugged Tre.
“Night.”
Pulling away from Tre, Lex smiled. Reaching forward, Lex patted Tre on the head, then returned to the couch. Turning away from Lex, Tre wondered back into the kitchen. Heart beating a step faster than it normally did, Tre forced himself to ignore it and poured himself a glass of water. Taking a sip, Tre peeked into the living room, watching the other curl up on his couch. By the way he was laying down, Tre thought he looked as though he needed something to hug in his sleep, like a toy or another pillow. Finishing off the cup, Tre placed it in the sink. As he walked back to his bedroom, he couldn’t help but look back at Lex. He was such a weird kid…
Curled up on the couch, Lex was attempting to get some sleep, however, Tre could tell that he was having trouble.
“Need any help?” Tre called, leaning in his room’s doorway.
“Hmm?” Lex asked, head raising. “Nah, I’m fine, night Tre.”
The blonde curled into the couch once again, closing his eyes. Tre smiled at Lex, although he was weird, he wasn’t too bad.
Walking into his room, Tre shut the door and tucked himself in. Eyes glued to the ceiling, Tre couldn’t help but wonder if he did the right thing: taking Lex in like that. Being homeless like that… Tre couldn’t imagine himself on the street.
Of course it was the right thing to do.
He told himself as he turned over. Eyes looked to the clock, 10:24 PM. It seemed a lot later than what it was. Sighing, Tre’s mind wondered back to Lex.
Now that he thought of it, the idea of Lex being homeless seemed so different. How could someone like Lex have been homeless for so long?
Tre couldn’t blame himself. Until recently, Lex had just been that kid at the back of his class. He was literally a nobody to Tre.
Eyes slowly started to drift shut. Arms clutched around a pillow, Tre let himself squeeze it. Lex was such an odd person.
Wow, that was useless.
