“I had to find myself, too.” Rus stared up at Kaiden, his beautiful hazel eyes a bit glossy. “Turns out, I’m slowly finding myself in you and Dylan.”
“You’re sweet.”
“You’re comfort.”
Kaiden leaned down, kissing Rus’ forehead and enjoying the silence together.
Their moment was quickly interrupted by a swift succession of buzzes from Kaiden’s phone.
“Ugh.” Kaiden grabbed it, swiped away from the flurry of texts, and switched it to silent.
“Who’s that?”
“Stepfather.”
Rus glowered.
“Ready for my truth bomb?” Kaiden asked with a chuckle. “It’s not nearly as serious.”
Rus’ expression shifted to something calm and curious.
“The electric is due,” Kaiden said. “They need money to pay it.”
“They can go fuck themselves,” Rus retorted. “Didn’t you just pay for the month?”
“That’s for room and board.” Kaiden scoffed, hating how much he spent to share a room. More like to hide in the basement at this point. “Honestly, if I don’t pay it, it’ll screw me over, too. Trust me, no electricity would suck. I’ve done it before.”
“I hate your family.”
“Me too,” Kaiden replied a little too casually.
It almost frightened him how easily that slipped out. He paused, trying to think about what he loved from his family, moments or bonds or something significant. He truly couldn’t find anything of importance that linked him to those people other than blood and pain and hate.
“I’ve always had to cover utilities,” Kaiden explained. “My stepfather pisses through money the second he gets it, so there’s never anything left when due dates roll around.”
“You should leave.”
“Easier said than done.”
“The apartments here are way cheaper.”
“They’re for students.”
“No, these are off campus,” Rus countered. “They give students a nice discount because we usually pay for the whole semester. It really depends on a person’s financial aid package, but yeah. They rent to anyone, though. Most of the folks living here are just looking for affordable housing. This is the closest thing to it.”
“Yeah…”
“Look, I’m not suggesting you move into my place; that would be weird and a little too soon. But the complex is huge. Like, seven apartment buildings huge.”
And each three-story building housed close to thirty residents.
“Weird? Psst. I practically live here already,” Kaiden said with a laugh.
“Truth!”
“But I’m going to pass on the complex,” Kaiden answered. “I have a plan. It’s just going to take a minute to come together.”
And he did have a plan. He just didn’t know if it was possible, truly possible, on his own. But Kaiden wanted to prove he could do something on his own. That he didn’t need rescuing, and he didn’t need his family.
