* / youth 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃.

“sorry. there’s just no appeal to me when the pictures have no…is depth the word?” seb shrugged. he wasn’t trying to be offensive or piss someone off (for once) it was his own opinion. plus, he didn’t have to hide watching adult films because he had his own room and his brothers each had a television in their rooms. privacy was very respected. the glare from alan resulted in a quick wink from sebastian as he really did enjoy teasing. as the bookstore clerk walked away, sebastian followed him & looked more around the store. “comic books are actually a good idea. i…didn’t think of that.” he tried to think of his younger brother’s favorite superhero and looked towards alan. “who is the superhero that can climb on walls, red, and i think his uniform is a bug?” he chuckled. “help me find 5 comic books and i’ll give you a discount and a gift card to the restaurant i work at. deal?”

LOWER LIP PUSHED outwards as she attempted to pout in response to his words, but the honest truth was that alan never phased her. and that was probably what annoyed him so much about the tiny nuisance, “only a few things shut me up, al, but we’ll get to that another time,” she gave him a questioning look, “do you pretend like you know me when i’m not committing minor crimes?” eyes dropped to size him up before answering, “no. now c’mon. faster you use that arm the faster you get rid of me.”

she made a fair point, he had to give her that. alan was sure his eyes were going to get stuck with the amount of times he found himself rolling them with her around. but nonetheless, he gave in to what she wanted-- if only to avoid their ‘little adventure’ being prolonged. he glanced around them, surveying the stalls before his sights finally settled on an enormous dumbo toy. looking at the attendant managing the prizes, alan really wouldn’t have minded her starting an altercation with him. if he was lucky, maybe he’d still get to see it. “that one over there?” he questioned, not leaving much time for answers before beginning to walk in that direction.

“HOW GOOD IS YOUR HAND?” remy beelined in on them while they’d been walking through the crowd, “i’m almost positive this thing is rigged, i just want someone else to test it before i end up choking the attendant or stealing that big ass dumbo.” a bright smile contradicted her words, before she lifted a dollar, “whaddya say?” 

alan rolled his eyes once he realised who it was, already wishing he was elsewhere. she’d certainly caught him by surprise. & it was a surprise he wasn’t all that thrilled about. seriously--  did she have to be everywhere he went? sure, it was a small town, but god. he needed to catch a break. he couldn’t go anywhere without her showing up.  “i say i’d pay to see that,” not really, but the thought alone was enough to amuse him. “but if it shuts you up, then fine. & if you do end up strangling someone--  i don’t know you, you got it?”

sebastian raised his right eyebrow, wondering exactly if alan’s response was going to be a positive or negative one. the boy never minded getting in arguments, there was this thrill he got from them which was always weird to explain to other people. once the other male made a reference to him looking for porn, he immediately chuckled. “considering it’s the 90s, their are movies for porn. don’t need pictures when videos are so much better.” he commented, leaning against the counter. “no man, my little brother loves fantasy type shit. he’s likes that…book series. whatever it’s called. lord of the rings? can you help me out? I’ll pay you in money and compliments.” he jokingly gave alan a puppy dog look, just seeing what buttons he could push.

@trcshpark

there’s only a certain amount of things you can talk about when you see someone intimate who flaked out on you out in public. you can go balls to the wall and discuss the issue at hand. you can also make it known that you’re upset, through some subtle, passive aggressive digs. alternatively, you can choose to ignore them and walk away with your pride and dignity. none of these options would be picked by caitlin. “ alan, uh, hey !! nice to, uh, see you again !! “ she stuttered, feeling more and more awkward by each word she spoke.

alan prided himself on being able to avoid situations like these. he’d become an expert at running from things. running from everything that he wasn’t prepared to face, everything from angry neighbours to kids in the school yard who were much bigger than him & just as easily angered. but he was never scared of them, not really. what scared him the most was being vulnerable. a few punches to the gut hurt, sure. but those kinds of wounds healed. he could forget about them. if he knew anything at all, it was that he couldn’t forget the one standing right in front of him. this was something he couldn’t ever imagine healing entirely, despite what he’d make others believe. “h-hey,” his heart was caught in his throat, barely managing to get out a simple utterance. it would be an understatement to say he was caught off guard. he was a fool to think they wouldn’t run into each other eventually... or maybe it was just blind hope. he quickly glanced around them, trying to regain some composure. “what are you doing around here?”