It all started two weeks ago. The rain was pouring like they contained lead. Kalen missed the bus when he stopped to look at the newest comic book store's front display. Tani went on ahead without him. He was running down the street with his jacket over his head, cursing the temptation of Alien Cat's newest issue. Figuring out the streets of Thes in his mind, he took what he figured to be a short cut behind the side buildings. As he ran past a particular shut down neighbourhood, his eyes fell on a boy huddled in the corner of a paved block of land.
The boy had his backed, but he was clearly guarding something. Without thinking, Kalen walked over. "Hey, what do you have there?"The boy jumped in surprise. Kalen was a little taken aback by his eyes. He had white iris' and black where the white should be. "Uhm, er, these kitt-I mean cats, were getting wet so, er." Ha, the boy actually seemed flustered he was helping three small kittens!
"How are you, oh," Kalen thought that was clever. The boy was using some sort of magic to shield the kittens from the rain. The boy noticed that Kalen was looking and turned it off."I don't know how that happened." He clearly lied. His eyes were fidgeting.
"No, no," Kalen kneeled down next to the boy. "Continue, the kittens might get sick if you don't."The boy hesitated. "Okay."
Getting a bit closer, Kalen watched as the boy put up the shield again. He realized the boy was actually controlling the rain water so it went away from the kittens. "My name is Kalen Ruute. What is your name?""Jan. Jan Valentin."
"Jan. Huh. If you want, you can bring the kittens to my house." Offered Kalen with a smile.Jan stopped his tense posture. "Really?"
And that's how it all began. Kalen walked to his place with Jan carrying the kittens in tow. For two weeks, Jan appears in his room at night to check up on the furry things. As the days went on he spent more and more time in Kalen's room. He talked more and more. Tani was complaining about Kalen talking to himself. He reassured her it was just a drama class assignment."How come I never hear you rehearse the same lines?"
"It changes every class."Well, whatever. He didn't care if his family was getting suspicious of the talking, the meowing, or the noise in general coming from his room. He liked Jan coming over. He looked forward to it, in fact.
On the fourteenth night, Jan never showed up. This upset Kalen more than he thought it would. Of course he knew there'd be a time when Jan wouldn't come. But he always thought it be at a later date.The next night, went Kalen went to his room for bed, he yelped in freight at the sight of Jan. He was sort of slumped against his bed, his eyelids heavy. He had a bruise on his cheek and his hand was bandaged up.
He quietly spoke up. "Sorry I'm late, Kalen."Kalen almost ran to the two-tone haired boy and hugged him as tight as he could. He didn't know what happened to Jan, but he wanted to make it all better. It scared him that he could care this much for a person. "Jan, I'm sorry." "For what?" the boy sounded confused.
Kalen released him from his hold. He looked into Jan's eyes realizing they didn't scare him anymore. He couldn't imagine Jan with any other eye colour. "I wasn't there to protect you."
He didn't even realize he was doing it until it was said and done. His lips met Jan's in an innocent kiss. He held it for what felt like forever but was only a brief moment. He pulled back and rested his forehead against the other's. "Sorry. Heh, couldn't resist I guess."Jan only replied with another kiss, a little more forceful than Kalen's. A meowing stopped their little kiss fest. The kittens were pawing their feet as a sign that they wanted to play.
"I guess we're going to have to set them loose soon, huh. We don't want more interruptions." Kalen teased as he saw Jan's cheeks blush. Jan opened his mouth to say something, and that's when Kalen took the chance and kissed him deeper.Hey, Kalen couldn�t protect him, but he could at least distract him from the pain.
Site © to Becky B. Created August 7, 2008
