four - meeting king

the art of meeting king

- - -

"So Ali came back to my place after she went out and holy shit, Saint, I swear it's never been that good. She did this thing with her tongue right and-"

"Drix!" I shouted, horrified at her description as she rolled her eyes back, as if recalling the feeling. "I don't need to know!"

"Dude, yes you do! As your best friend is it my national and legal duty to inform you of my sex life on a regular basis - this is just an update!"

"Hendrix, you're already the human embodiment of 'TMI'. Trust me, this isn't necessary."

"Oh, go and choke on your ice cream!"

I scrunched my face up, eyes crinkling. "Is that even possible?"

She smiled sweetly, holding her green pistachio ice cream with one hand. "Do you want to find out?"

"Do you have an off switch?"

"Yes, want to find it?" Hendrix rebutted instantly, cackling the moment she spoke. I'd never met anybody who found themselves as funny as she found herself.

It was concerning, but we support it. Hendrix found herself awfully funny, Jem thought they were always right, and Sacha loved himself enough for anyone.

"Oh my shit- Saint!!"

Hendrix's loud gasp pulled me away from my thoughts, staring at the newly green haired girl in alarm. But when I spotted the tiny dog lapping away at my ice cream cone, my mouth dropped open in amazement. Hendrix was looking at me with wide eyes, a soft grin on her face as she watched on in amusement.

"Shit," I stretched out the word, falling short as I started to laugh. My eyes flickered between Drix and the black dog, who looked like it was enjoying my vanilla ice cream much more than I was. "Hey, buddy."

I reached over to pet the pup's head, giggling when it leaned into my touch while still lapping at the cone. I watched as Hendrix whipped her phone out, fingers flying fast as she texted someone.

"Dude, what are you doing that's more important than our new best friend?"

"I'm telling Ali that we've got a new addition, given that we don't find his owner. God, he's so cute." Hendrix practically gushed, smacking my hand away and picking up the pup, improving his access to the nearly finished snack. "Look at that face, he's so beautiful!"

I couldn't help but smile as I watched the dog, not even bothered that I didn't have any of my ice cream left. In fact, I was grateful that it wasn't anything toxic to dogs. God knows we didn't need to be taking a random dog to the Veterinarians.

"Drix, he's probably got an owner searching for him, so tell Ali th-"

"King!"

Hendrix freezed at the sound of the familiar voice. And suddenly, her carefree grin is replaced with a more mischievous one. I wanted to run and hide. New York is insanely massive, humongous even. There was no way in hell that he was her-

"Saint?"

My breathing hitched in my throat, which was slowly but surely becoming a common sensation whenever this stupid man, with his stupidly dumb face, and his stupidly cute dog was near me. Everything in me froze when I saw him walking up to us. His usually messy fluffy strands were held down by a bandana, and I couldn't comprehend how it looked that good.

"Fuck, there goes my ovaries." Hendrix whispered, eyeing him up and down.

My eyes narrowed, head whipping around to glare at her. "You're a lesbian."

"Let Mama appreciate you, child." She grinned, eyeing me knowingly before sending Kareem one of her cheeky smiles. "So Kazza, this is your dog?"

"In all his glory," He answered, smirking when his eyes met my hand, which was running along the pup's fur. "He's cute, ain't he?" Kareem was looking at Hendrix but from the look on his face, I knew his question was directed at me.

Why do dogs automatically make people more attractive? I internally groaned, wanting nothing more than to pick the dog up and run away.

And at that, I had to hold back my own laugh.

Funny. I don't run. Ever.

Unless it's from my problems. Then Usain Bolt has some competition.

"I've seen better." I muttered loud enough for him to hear. They both turned to look at me. I watched as Hendrix's smile somehow widened from the corner of my eye, as I stared at Kareem almost daringly.

"Lying doesn't look good on you, babe." He rebutted almost immediately, making my smirk fall. "You know, insulting King isn't cute."

"Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?" I kissed my teeth, cocking my head innocently as Kareem so blatantly fought against his lips tugging up. "Oh, and Drix is planning to steal your dog. You're welcome for the warning."

He chuckled lowly, before bending down and crouching in front of us. His hand moved out and he ran his fingers through the dog's fur. He seemed casual, which was the complete and utter opposite of what I was feeling. I tensed up at our close proximity, breathing hitching as I forced myself to not visibly react. I could smell his cologne, and the faint smell of cigarettes that seemed to work so well for him.

"Nice hair," Kareem directed towards Hendrix, "Major Bisca Mulan vibes, especially with the bangs."

And I released the groan, throwing my head back as Hendrix practically lit up. She straightened her back, legs jumping up and down as she stared at Kareem. "You like Anime? Fairy Tail?"

He laughed at her expression. My entire body froze at the sound, something uncomfortable twisting in my stomach at the friendly interaction. I was starting to like being around him too much, alarm bells were ringing in my head.

"Duh," He rolled his eyes, a smile still on his face. "I thought the pink was nice but the green looks really cool."

"Thank you." Her face softened, to my utmost shock. Her next words were quiet, sad. "Aaliyah said she preferred the pink."

Something in my gut twisted at how meek her words sounded and I rushed immediately to dispute her girlfriend's words when Kareem spoke up instead.

"I don't want to be rude, because I know she's your girlfriend and you value her opinion, but trust me when I say it looks really nice. It suits you, and you're going to look fuckin' dope in the bakery because it matches the back wall."

Hendrix pondered over his words before she started nodding, "Yes, you're right! Saint, you need to sort yourself out and dye your hair too so we can start advertising."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." I deadpanned, despite being endeared by Kareem's attempt to cheer her up. It wasn't often that Hendrix was rendered timid or even shy, but Aaliyah always managed to bring that side of her out, regardless of how much I hated her having that power.

"Maybe I can persuade Sacha. He'd support me." Hendrix wondered out loud. "And himself, to be honest. Selfish little shit."

I snorted, having caught Kareem's look of confusion. "My little brother." I clarified, "His band always performs at Dexter's with his band hoping a music producer or something will be in."

"Smart kid."

"Oh, he's really not." Hendrix laughed, scratching King's stomach as he rolled over on the concrete. "But his music isn't terrible so we let him stay."

"Always such a nice person, Drix." I snarked playfully, well aware of how much she cared about my brother. The insults were just her way of showing affection.

"Thank you." She said entirely seriously, "I deserve all the appreciation."

And the hubris too.

"See what I have to put up with." I said to Kareem, gesturing to Hendrix whose eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean 'put up with'? If anything, it's me that has to put up with all your shit. You're lucky that I pity people otherwise we wouldn't be friends."

"Oh, can you do that again and leave?" I said back sweetly. Kareem laughed at us both before clipping a lead to King's harness.

He dismissed himself quickly, claiming he wanted to get back to his home so he could go to the gym. Hendrix squealed the moment he was far enough away to not hear her.

We headed back to her apartment quickly and I attempted ( and failed ) to tune out her hopeless fangirling.

"Oh, Jemmy Baby!" Hendrix shouted as we barged into her apartment. Jem's head popped out from their bedroom door as they began to walk into the living room, where Hendrix and I had sat down. "Motherfucker, you'll never guess what?"

"Did you meet someone famous?"

"No, better."

"Did you find a child that had been bitten by a radioactive spider?"

"Better." She sang, causing me to look at the girl in disgust. Hendrix could not sing, at all.

Jem hummed, sitting in their usual spot on Hendrix's disgustingly pink loveseat. She claimed it added a bit of color to the otherwise monotone living area but I argued that it just added misery. It wasn't even a nice shade of pink. Suddenly, Jem gasped, mouth wide open for dramatic effect. "Oh my shit, Hendrix, are you pregnant?"

Hendrix burst out laughing, throwing her head back at the concept. She hated kids with a passion, even more so than me, often avoiding them in public places because she 'didn't want to catch a communicable illness from the small, disease-ridden goblins'. The idea of her ever having kids was a strange one, given her distaste for all child related matters in general.

"Imagine," She snorted, laughing harder. "We ran into Saint's future husband."

Future husband bad bitches say what?

I groaned. Hendrix's words caught Jem's attention, however, as their eyebrows shot up. "Oh?"

"Mr Kareem was walking his dog when the little Pup ran into us." Hendrix cooed, "He's good with dogs, has tattoos and looks like that. Honestly, Saint, if you don't marry him, I will."

I rolled my eyes, unable to fight the smile from appearing on my face at the mental image. "Shut up, Drix."

Jem looked between us silently, but the expression on their face told me they were biting their tongue. I'd known them for too long to not know when they had something to say, especially if that was something that I wouldn't want to hear. My smile dropped.

"I'm not joking," Hendrix insisted, oblivious to the shift in the atmosphere. "He seems like such a sweetheart too, and he was totally flirting with you."

Just as I was about to respond to Hendrix's fangirling, I noticed Jem's face twisting up. I set my stare upon them, eyes narrowed. "Is there an issue, Jem?"

"No, I-" They started before cutting themself off. Jem sighed, "Do you really think this is a good idea?"

I blinked, trying to keep my face blank. Hendrix cocked her head to the side as I spoke. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you really going to risk everything again?" Jem asked, before adding. "After everything that happened last time?"

"Are you implying that 'last time' was my fault, as I took the risk?" I bit back immediately. I kept my head up, not allowing them to see the impact their words had on me.

"No." They said without hesitation, "But surely you'd be smarter now. This is a bad idea, Saint. It could happen again."

I recoiled back as if they'd struck me, eyes wide and genuinely upset that they'd have the nerve to say that. As if I hadn't considered the possibility, as if I wasn't terrified of the past repeating itself.

Jem helped Hendrix at the bar that night, helping try to set us up alone. What had changed?

I'd spent years avoiding relationships, avoiding commitment with people in the chance that they'd leave. Am I destined to spend my life alone? All because the past could repeat itself? It wasn't fair.

"For all we know, he could be another judgemental prick who just wants to fuck." They continued, not seeming to sense my inner turmoil. "You don't know him. Just because he looks good and can talk doesn't mean he's any different to Emery."

That's it.

Shaking my head, I tried desperately to stop my voice from cracking. "You're a fucking dick, Jeremiah Tait."

I think I would've preferred them to hit me.

I heard Hendrix sigh, mumbling about how she wanted food and how Jem needed to learn to shut the fuck up, before I slammed her bedroom door shut.

I sulked for a while, annoyed at Jem's words. It wasn't their place to judge my actions, with the knowledge that I was already hesitant and knowing full well why those trust issues existed in the first place.

The door creaked open slowly, "Waffles?"

Not looking up at Jem, I just nodded my head, not being able to resist the promise of food. They sat down next to me, placing the plate in front of me.

"I'm sorry, S."

"What'd Hendrix threaten you with to make you apologize?" I bit out without thinking, feeling a little bit regretful when I see them wince.

"Don't do that to me."

"I'm sorry," I muttered back, "But you can't make comments about him when you were one of the ones who pushed me towards speaking to him in the first place."

"I know," They agreed easily, leaning forward and laying down next to me. Jem rested their head on my shoulder, nudging the plate closer to me, as they wrapped both their arms around one of my own. We'd always been like this, closer than siblings but we definitely argued like them too.

"I can look after myself, you know?"

"Yeah I do."

"Are you sure?"

"Saint-"

"What?"

"It's hard for me to forget."

"What is?" I questioned before I realized what they were referring to.

Suddenly, I didn't want to hear their answer.

"I remember how awful it was when Emery left you."

Emery Hood. My first official boyfriend.

We'd been together for most of High School until Emery decided it was time for our relationship to move forward. I wasn't interested, never having gained any shread of interest from sex or porn or any of the things he used to say. But I still tried it, just to be sure.

Emery dumped me the moment I told him that I was asexual. Arguing that it was a personal attack on him, claiming that I lied to him about being gay.

It was devastating.

We'd planned everything together. Our futures, our goals. We were a team.

And then we weren't.

The whisper escapes me without my permission. "That was a long time ago, Jem."

"I know," They said gently, speaking softer than usual. "But I just don't want to see you get hurt like that again."

"Not everyone will be like him." Please don't let Kareem be like him. "And something might not happen with Kareem anyway, he could be straight." I added on as a distraction.

I can't go through that again.

"I know that too," Jem linked our arms together, snuggling into my side. "I just want you to be happy. You deserve to find someone who respects who you are, not who they want you to be."

"I don't think I could go through that again." I admitted timidly, not liking the feeling of anxiety clogging up my lungs, making me feel breathless.

"I'll kill him." Jem swore, and I knew they weren't joking. "We've got you, dickhead."

I guess that was one thing that would never change. Despite it all. The world could crumble tomorrow and I knew deep down that I'd always have my home team stood right behind me ready to face the storm.

A/N

saint really breaks my heart sometimes :/

what do you guys think so far? any characters you particularly like/dislike??

all the love