head over heels

61 ~ talk

Evan had never seen his brother so tired, like— maybe ever.

It was like Ethan hadn't slept in a year, and now, all at once, he'd totally and utterly crashed. In a way, Evan understood. Ethan was high strung on a good day, he never gave himself a break, and now, the only thing he had to do was break.

He rose out of bed halfway through Saturday, trudged out to the couch, and promptly fell asleep again before he could do much of anything.

Evan supposed it was a good thing.

Ethan seriously looked like death. He was bruised as hell, band aids over his brow and jaw, and darkening bruises covering the rest of his face.

He and Kei still bore traces of the last week, and even Riley had a dark bruise on her cheek. Together, they looked like they'd been in one giant pile up on the highway.

Riley seemed unsure of what to do with herself as Ethan spent most of his day sleeping, and she obviously didn't want to leave him, so she just awkwardly hovered.

Evan was pretending she didn't exist.

It was quite cathartic actually.

He wasn't about to kick her out, but he was also still pissed off. One good thing didn't suddenly undo two years of shitty friendship.

Freedom was making him petty as hell.

Seriously, everything he cared about was in a far better place than last week, and every shitty thing somehow made him feel better after.

It was like therapy.

Was life giving him a fucked up type of exposure therapy? 

He and Kei sat on one armchair. Evan had one of Kei's textbooks open on his lap, and was in the midst of reading it out to him. Kei kept rolling his eyes and scoffing at his attempts, but Evan was determined to prove his earlier point.

Hell, what else were they going to do anyways.

Then, tentatively, Riley seemed to extend a metaphorical olive branch of peace towards them, Ethan still resolutely knocked out on the couch beside her.

"Hey uh, what are you guys doing?" She tried, tone an attempt at amicable.

Evan didn't look up at her. Kei however, shrugged. "Reading," he said simply, his eyes narrowing. Evan recognised that stiffness in his tone. He was peeved, for what reason Evan had no idea.

Evan shot Kei a look, to which Kei ignored.

"O-oh," Riley uttered awkwardly, "Okay."

"Yup," Kei said dryly. 

Evan was struck by the fact that these two had never had a conversation with each other. Yikes, what an awkward start. They were quite possibly the two most opposite personalities Evan had ever seen exist in one spot.

Kei, the golden retriever personality, and Riley, the catty, princess type.

That wasn't even mentioning Kei's apparent dislike of the girl.

Riley swallowed, "I uh, so— you and Ev-Evan," she caught herself, "That's— surprising?"

Oh god, she was seriously trying. Evan searched Kei. Was he actually entertaining the idea of talking to her right now?

But then Kei shrugged. "Is it?" he drawled, "Not like I ever said I was straight."

Riley blinked in surprise, "Uh—"

Evan stared.

"We've been together for like two months now," Kei continued, "Everyone else close to us guessed. How is this surprising to you?"