Chapter 6

Another week passed and Messiah was at Walmart, stocking shelves on autopilot while his mind kept drifting. He ain't been sleeping right lately - too many old memories creeping up when he tried to close his eyes. His cat had been extra clingy too, like he could tell something was off.

"Yo earth to Messiah," his coworker called out. "Your phone been going off."

He pulled it out his pocket to see mad notifications from the team groupchat. Coach had cancelled practice cause of the storm warning. He was switching to his messages when someone walked up to his aisle.

"Damn they got you working hard huh?"

Messiah looked up to see Javier standing there in some sweats and a hoodie, hair kind of messy like he just woke up. He had a basket with random stuff - snacks, drinks, and what looked like art supplies.

"Unfortunately," Messiah said, continuing to stock while they talked. He ain't seen Javier since that day in the library and he'd been trying not to think about why he felt weird about missing the recital.

"How was your sister's thing?" he found himself asking, immediately wanting to take it back.

"It was good, she killed it." Javier was leaning against the shelves watching him work. "She was kinda nervous at first but once she got out there she was straight."

Messiah just nodded, focusing on organizing the cans in front of him. His hands was moving automatic, having done this shit a million times.

"You look tired as hell," Javier said after a minute.

"I'm at work, the fuck you expect?" But it came out without any real heat.

"Nah I mean for real. You good?"

Something about the genuine concern in his voice made Messiah pause. He glanced over, seeing how Javier was looking at him all focused like he did when he was tatting.

"I'm straight," Messiah said, turning back to the shelves. "Just ain't been sleeping much."

"Yeah I feel you. Had them kinds of nights before." Javier's voice was quiet, understanding. He ain't push for more details though, just shifted his basket to his other hand. "You off soon?"

"Bout an hour. Why?"

"Was gonna grab some food after this. You should come through."

Messiah's hands stilled on the shelf. Part of him wanted to say yeah - he was hungry as hell and something about Javier's energy always made him feel... different. But that's exactly why he needed to maintain distance.

"Nah I got shit to do." He started stocking again, movements more mechanical now.

"Ight well if you change your mind I'll be at that Mexican spot by campus." Javier pushed off the shelf. "Try to get some rest my boy."

Messiah just nodded, not trusting himself to look up again. He listened to Javier's footsteps fade away, then let out a breath he ain't realize he was holding.

His phone buzzed - Dom asking if he wanted to play 2K later since practice was cancelled. He typed back "maybe" even though he knew he was probably just gonna go home and try to sleep.

The rest of his shift dragged by slow as hell. When he finally clocked out, the sky was dark with storm clouds. He sat in his car for a minute, rain starting to hit the windshield. That Mexican spot was right on his way home...

"Nah," he muttered to himself, cranking up some music and pulling out the lot. He'd learned the hard way what happened when you let people get too close. Didn't matter how genuine they seemed at first.

But driving home, windshield wipers beating steady, he couldn't stop thinking about how Javier ain't push when he mentioned not sleeping. Just understood and left space for whatever Messiah wasn't saying. That shit was different from how most people acted - always trying to get in his business or fix him or some shit.

His cat was waiting at the door when he got home, meowing loud as hell about his dinner being late. "Yeah yeah I know," Messiah said, dropping his keys on the counter. He fed the cat then headed straight for the shower, trying to wash the work day off.

Later that night he was laid in bed, bonnet on, scrolling through his phone but not really looking at nothing. Thunder crashed outside and his cat jumped up next to him, pressing close.

"At least you ain't complicated," he said quietly, scratching behind the cat's ears. But his mind kept drifting to how Javier looked at him in the store - like he saw past all Messiah's walls but ain't try to break them down. Just stood there offering food and understanding like it was nothing.

Messiah rolled over, forcing himself to close his eyes. He wasn't trying to think about any of that shit right now. Or ever really. But sleep was a long time coming, and when it finally did, his dreams was full of gentle hands and quiet understanding and all the things he told himself he didn't need.