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“Why?”
Kruger scratched his jaw. “Because he refused testing.”
I started to ask why again, but Kruger made a sound. “If you want to know about that, you can ask him.”
I nodded.
“I can tell you that misophonia and tinnitus are not yet considered to be on the spectrum even if they do have similarities.”
“Right,” I said.
“Does it matter?” he asked, a hard edge in his tone.
“If he’s on the spectrum or not? Diagnosed or not?” I questioned but didn’t give him time to reply. “No. It doesn’t matter.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because I want every detail. I want to know everything when it comes to him. And asking you seemed kinder.”
“You can’t avoid the hard stuff with him. He comes with hard stuff.”
I smirked. “I hope so.”
“Bro. Did your mom get fined for littering when she dropped you off for school?”
“Do you have a book filled with bad one-liners?” I asked.
“That’s what Google’s for.”
I got back to the subject at hand. “What’s the deal with his parents?”
The air around Kruger changed distinctly, and shutters seemed to drop over his green and brown eyes. If I thought he’d been protective before, I was wrong. This was different… This was icy.
“Why would you ask me about them?” His voice was monotone.
“Because when I asked him, he didn’t take it well.”
“This is what I’m talking about,” Kruger said almost to himself. “I never should have encouraged his little crush on you. I should have listened to him?—”
He was so busy berating himself that he didn’t even see me move in and didn’t notice my hands were on his shoulders until I gave his body a shake. “Kruger.”
“What?”
“Did you just say he had a crush on me?” An unfamiliar flutter filled my core, the jittery sensation making me impatient.
“So?”
“So for how long?”
His eyes did that closed-off thing again.
“For a while?” I pressed.
He threw his arms out, dislodging the hold I had on his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter.” He paced away. “Because he was right. Since the second he did more than just stare at you, he’s been struggling hard.”
“And you don’t think getting arrested and moving are the reasons?” I asked. “You think this is all me?”
“They think I’m out getting milk,” he said, a pained expression on his face.
