Kian stared at his phone in horror. What had he just done? He had nodded off and accidentally send the text.
-"I like you"-
He quickly deleted it and thought up some new message to send.
Jaiel had not replied to the message and he assumed, he had fallen asleep by now.
Instead, he wrote back, -"Friends?"- A question he was eager to know, currently unsure where they stood.
The reply had been almost instant, and he knew, Jaiel must have seen the message from before, but chosen to ignore it instead.
He curled up under the blanket, the answer to the question had made him happy, but he was unsure if he could meet Jaiel face to face on Monday again. Especially with how his cheeks were starting to flush just by the rethought of it.
'Will it be awkward?'
After a while of overthinking and rethinking how he would approach Jaiel the following Monday, Kian finally fell asleep.
The week had been exhausting and his body needed a well-deserved time of rest.
The morning was chilly, fall was approaching, and the light through the window was bright, when Kian finally woke up.
He looked at his phone and saw it was already midday. 'Why did dad not wake me?' He got up and walked out to the common room, seeing his dad reading a newspaper at the table.
Food was placed on a tray and looked like it had been sitting there for a while.
Kian nodded a short, "morning," the words barely audible.
His body was screaming at him, aching to the point he could not even walk normally, each step causing pain to shoot through his muscles.
He greedily ate the food.
"Thank you" he mumbled, when he was done, receiving a short nod from his dad.
If there were one thing he got from his dad, it was the habit of using few words in certain situations.
Sometimes things just didn't need to be said, they both knew well what the other was doing or thinking, and he knew his dad trusted him.
Or more like Kian had never done anything to make his dad think otherwise.
Kian had not told his dad directly that he was gay.
After the failure and hard resentment from Chad, he just had lost the courage to say it out loud.
He had no doubt it would turn out ok, even if he did tell him, but he felt his dad already knew, and since neither of them had brought it up, it had just stayed as something silent between them.
"You got any plans today?"
Kian looked up, he had barely finished his food and the question may have seemed generic and normal, but it was new to him.
"No... not really" He replied. He got up and cleaned up his plate.
"Come shopping with me," His dad said, not directly looking at Kian, but occupied by whatever he was reading in the newspaper he was holding.
It was not even a question, more telling him too.
'Do people still read newspapers?'
Kian thought for a second, but he did appreciate there was no noise from the tv, his mind was tired.
He got ready, and together they left the apartment, greeting the old ladies who would come out to check who was going down the stairs.
Kian assumed they must have nothing else to do, somehow there were always three old ladies who would peek their heads out of their doors or windows, whenever someone came and left the building.
'They must be so bored.'
He waved at one, an old lady with grey curled hair stuck close to her head like she had had a hat on it, pressing it down.
The lady "humphed" and went back to whatever she was doing.
He followed his dad, passing the convenience store. he had thought that was their dedtination, but his dad continued past it.
Somehow his old man always had a plan of some sort.
They turned to one of the main streets, and his dad stopped in front of a large store.
The mannequins in the display windows portrayed flashy young-style clothing.
"You like this stuff?" His dad turned around looking at him with a slight smile on his face.
"S..Sure." Kian Exclaimed after a moment of confusion. Was his dad getting him clothes?
"Let's go in and check it out."
His dad continued, walking in through the front door, with Kian following suit.
Kian wanted to say it was not necessary or they could not afford it, but he remembered the day before.
He had sat in that restaurant with Jaiel, and he had felt very out of place next to him.
He had to admit, he wanted the confidence to stand next to Jaiel.
Maybe some nice clothes would help.
They looked around, and Kian found a few sets of clothes he liked, but every time he checked the price tag, he would calmly put the item back down.
"This is too much." He mumbled out loud.
"Don't worry about it." His dad had heard him, and picked up the shirt he had just put back on a rack.
"If I cant do this much for you, what am I working for then."
Kian squeezed his eyes and turned away. He wanted to say no, but something inside him, couldn't.
He honestly did want some new clothes.
"Ok, maybe we just get that one."
The store did not have a lot of customers, and it seemed the staff outnumbered the current people shopping in there.
A young woman walked up to them. She was dressed neatly and had a smile on her face as she approached.
She eyed them, and her smile became stiff.
"Can I help you two with anything?"
She addressed Kian, probably because he was younger and the style of the clothes were directed at young men.
"We will get this and this."
His dad handed the lady a couple of items, Kian had been looking at earlier.
"Oh," the lady looked confused, as she had expected a reply like: We are just looking.
"Can you pay?"
She suddenly bursted out in a low voice.
"You see, I don't get my commission, if the payment ends up being declined later, you can see my predicament right?"
Kian felt a rage build inside. 'how dare she' and stepped forward wanting to tell her off, and crack that annoying smile she still displayed.
If anyone were to look, it would look like they were the ones bullying her.
"Yes, I can pay." His dad placed a hand on Kian's shoulder, and gave the lady a smile back, in the same style as hers.
"You see, it was my boy's birthday not too long ago, this is his present, I came prepared."
Kian was sure he heard her scoff slightly, as she turned around showing them the way to the register.
His insides felt sour, and could not understand why his dad would just take that kind of treatment.
They had done absolutely nothing wrong by being there, even if they had not decided to purchase anything.
The lady gave them a total, and his dad paid without more words, besides a quick and unfounded, "Thank you".
They left the store and Kian was given the bag of clothes.
He looked at them, feeling a bit weird about the whole thing. With this experience, would he even be able to enjoy them?
He looked up and saw his dad smiling at him. Not like the smile he had given the lady inside the store, but a big bright smile, like he was happy with the gift he had given Kian.
Kian smiled back and scratched the back of his neck.
"Thank you, I will make sure to take carr of them, so they will last."
"So how did it go?"
"Huh?"
Kian looked up, he had been admiring the set of clothes in the bag, and his first thought was what Jaiel might think if he showed it off.
"Your date yesterday?"
Kian stopped walking and stared confused at his dad.
"My da..?"
His face suddenly took on a slight red color, thinking of his day with Jaiel.
He had not even told his dad...How did he know? Well, it had not exactly been a date, it was only one-sidedly that Kian had seen it like that.
He noticed his dad waiting for a response and gave him a shy smile
"It was ok."
"That's good," was all his dad said, and they both continued Their walk back home.
"Did you see those two?" a lady in a store asked her coworker as she watched the guy and his dad she had just helped leaving the store.
Another lady nodded.
"I bet the payment won't go through." She clicked her tongue and continued annoyed.
"I could have helped someone else and gotten a better commission."