#kaixwinter

Emily hadn’t expected her day out with Jay to lead her here—of all places, Kai’s shop. Their plans had been simple: lunch, a bit of shopping, and maybe she’d nudge Jay toward the arcade for old times’ sake. But the weather had other ideas. As the snowstorm worsened, they ducked into the first open door they could find, which just so happened to be here.

The air inside was warm, but tension curled at the edges of her thoughts. Things with Kai were still… off. The weight of their last conversation, of everything that had happened, lingered between them like an unsettled storm of its own.

Emily stood by the record bins, flipping through them with little focus, more for the act of doing something than genuine interest. She barely registered the sound of footsteps approaching until someone stopped beside her. A glance to the side confirmed what she already knew—it was Kai.

She didn’t look at him for long, turning her attention back to the records as if they suddenly held all the secrets of the universe. Still, her voice was light when she spoke, an attempt at normalcy in the midst of all the unspoken things between them. “You don’t happen to have anything covered in cheese in that apartment upstairs, do you?”

SAM: i'm stuck in COJ SAM: i dunno when i will be back SAM: i should have stayed. sorry :/

The masquerade had not been kind to Emily and Kai’s friendship. The events that had unfolded still haunted her, especially the fact that she had punched him. She couldn't believe she'd done it, but part of her still felt like he deserved it. The way he treated Asher—someone who’d always had his back—was beyond frustrating. And the secret that had been kept for twenty years, the one he’d spilled, had caused a rift between her and Sam, her favorite cousin. The more she thought about it, the more it gnawed at her, each passing day only making her more upset.

She hadn’t heard from him in a while. The silence between them stung, and it only made her more angry, more confused. He’d always been someone she could count on, but lately, it felt like he was slipping further away. After much back and forth, she finally texted him, suggesting they meet up at the arcade—where they'd spent so many hours as kids, back when things were simpler. She had dragged him there, often more than he wanted to go, but now it felt like a place that might hold answers.

Standing outside the arcade, arms crossed, she waited for him to show. When she finally saw him walking toward her, a mix of emotions hit her. Part of her wanted to feel relief, to feel like maybe this was the first step toward fixing things, but there was a bitter edge that wouldn’t go away. She pushed herself off the building and stood her ground, her expression hardening.

"We need to talk," she said flatly, her gaze fixed on him. She paused, letting the weight of the silence sit between them. "Asher told me you went to his place and talked to him. I thought I made it clear to leave him alone." Her voice wavered with a mix of frustration and hurt, but there was also a sadness there. Why hadn’t he come to her first? Why was he keeping things from her? It stung more than she cared to admit.

Sam sat on Ria's kitchen floor, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't disturb her or her siblings. He nursed his third beer, still reeling from the worst date of his life, the buzz starting to settle in as he leaned back against the kitchen island. His phone was in his hand, and he found himself staring at Kai's messages—those unanswered texts Kai had sent after Sam had walked out of his apartment the first time. Sam bit his lower lip, a mix of loneliness and sadness washing over him. He knew he shouldn’t reach out, knew it would be better to let it go, but the need to talk to Kai was too strong. He set his beer bottle down beside him and, with a hesitant breath, tapped out a message.

Sam: i'm sorry for texting so late Sam: i miss talking to you

The day was slow at work, and Asher found himself manning the cash register with little to do. After stocking the necessary inventory, he noticed the lack of customers, so he decided to listen to music, keeping one earbud in while listening for the bell above the door. The rhythm of the music soon got to him, and he started dancing behind the counter, singing along to the song.

Lost in his performance, Asher didn't notice the magic forming at his fingertips, causing nearby records to float. He hit a high note just as the bell above the door rang, breaking his concentration and sending the records crashing to the ground.

"Kai!" Asher laughed, looking up. "Sorry about this, man. How was your trip?"

Sofia leaned against the jukebox within the small pub as she tried to find something amongst the records inside that she actually wanted to listen to, because if someone put on Taylor Swift one more time she was probably going to scream. The selection was at least varied, jumping from Taylor Swift to Bowling for Soup and eventually, Sofia finding Selena, an internal squeal beaming inside her and showing through as she smiled.

It was only a second or two after her quarters had gone in that Amor Prohibido began to play throughout the speakers against the various pub was, some people seated at tables giving their own little headnods to the sound, while a few at the bar seemed to mostly ignored the change. Sofia herself was trying to grab dinner with some of the girls before shift, all of them at a booth at the back, drinking and laughed. Sofia herself lingered by the jukebox however, looking to see what else they had as she hummed along to the now gone latin singer.