Chapter 5

Friday morning had Javier tired as hell, dragging himself across campus for his 10am class. He'd been up late finishing a piece on this client who couldn't sit still, then had to help his sister practice for her recital when he got home. His mama had made him take some leftovers though - the container of arroz con pollo still warm in his bag.

He was headed to the library to finish some homework before class when he spotted a familiar face. Messiah was knocked out at one of the tables, head resting on his arm, airpods in. His dreads was falling over his face a little, textbook open in front of him.

Javier walked over, dropping into the chair across from him. Messiah ain't even move. After a minute, Javier reached over and gently pulled one airpod out.

Messiah's head snapped up quick, looking ready to fight whoever was messing with him. When he saw it was Javier his face changed, but he still ain't look happy about being woken up.

"The fuck you want?" he mumbled, voice rough from sleep.

"Damn you always this sweet in the morning?" Javier kept his voice low cause they was in the library. "You good? Looking rough."

Messiah sat up, running a hand over his face. "Had a game last night. Been here since 6 trying to finish this assignment."

"You eat yet?" Javier was already pulling out the container his mama sent. "Got some extra food."

Messiah looked at him for a minute like he was trying to figure out his angle. "Nah I'm good."

"It's my mama's cooking. Way better than that cafe shit." Javier pushed the container across the table. "Plus you falling asleep cause your blood sugar low."

Messiah stared at the container for a long moment. Finally he reached for it, still looking suspicious. "Why you being nice?"

"Can't a nigga just share some food?" Javier pulled an extra fork out his bag. "Stop being difficult and eat."

To his surprise, Messiah actually took the fork. He took a small bite, then a bigger one. "This shit actually good as hell."

"Told you." Javier pulled out his laptop, getting comfortable. "My mama always makes extra."

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, Messiah eating while trying to focus on his textbook, Javier working on his assignment. After a while Messiah spoke up.

"Your moms cook like this all the time?"

"Yeah, she love feeding people." Javier glanced up from his screen. "You should see when my sister got friends over. She be trying to send them all home with plates."

Something passed over Messiah's face real quick but he covered it. "That's cool." He pushed the empty container back across the table. "Good looking out."

"No doubt." Javier took the container, noticing how Messiah seemed different - less guarded maybe, or just too tired to keep his walls up. "You got class soon?"

"Nah just trying to finish this." Messiah gestured at his textbook. "Got practice at 2 though."

"Bet. Mind if I post up here for a bit? Got class at 11."

Messiah shrugged, already putting his airpod back in. "Do what you want."

But Javier noticed he ain't move to another table or try to leave. They just sat there working, the silence comfortable between them. Every now and then Messiah would stretch or shift in his chair, and Javier found his eyes drawn to the movement before catching himself and looking away.

After about an hour Javier had to head to class. He started packing up his stuff, then remembered something. "Aye you doing anything tonight?"

Messiah looked up, guard instantly back up. "Why?"

"My sister got this dance recital. Just wondering if you wanted to come through." Javier tried to keep his voice casual. "Dom can come too if you want."

"Nah I'm good." Messiah was already looking back at his book. "Got shit to do."

"Ight well if you change your mind it's at the community center at 7." Javier stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Thanks for letting me crash your study spot."

Messiah just nodded, but right as Javier was walking away he heard a quiet "Thanks for the food."

Walking to class, Javier was thinking about how different Messiah looked when he was sleeping - face all peaceful instead of mean mugging everybody. Plus the way he went from ready to fight to almost relaxed once he saw who it was. Made Javier wonder what else it would take to get past them walls.

Meanwhile Messiah was still at his table, not really reading his textbook anymore. His mind kept drifting to how natural it felt sharing food and space with Javier, how dude ain't try to force conversation or get him to be more social. He even caught himself considering going to that recital for a second before shutting that thought down. He ain't need to be getting comfortable with nobody - that never ended well for him.

But he could still taste Javier's mama's cooking, and something about it made his chest feel tight in a way he wasn't trying to think about.