Drabble 38
Abandoned
"Oh, look at it! It's so cute!"
Julian was squatting on the sidewalk, peering closely at a little kitten that was lying in front of him, breathing shallowly and mostly dead.
"Jules…" Logan was standing behind him, biting his lip and very concerned about Julian's attachment to a little animal that probably wasn't going to live for any longer than five minutes.
"Look at its face!" Julian was scooping it up now.
"Don't touch it!" Logan exclaimed. "It might have a disease or something…"
Julian stood up with the kitten in his arms. "Just look at it, Logan, and tell me your heart doesn't melt a little bit."
Logan had a pained expression on his face. "Julian, that kitten isn't doing very well…"
"We can take it home and nurse it back to health!" Julian's eyes were bright and excited.
"Um, Jules… I don't know if it'll even make it back home." It was a cute kitten, and as much as Logan wanted to agree with Julian and take it home and make it better, he knew how the world worked.
"Sure it will. We can take it to the vet." Julian started in the direction of home, looking down at the kitten lovingly, but Logan stayed where he was, watching apprehensively.
Sure enough, Julian stopped after a few yards.
"Jules…"
"You were right." Julian turned around, crestfallen. "I can't believe you were right, I hate you."
Logan didn't say anything, just waited for Julian to come back to him. When he did, Logan gently took the limp body of the kitten from Julian's arms.
"We'll dig up a nice hole in the backyard and we can bury it with a proper ceremony, okay?" He tried to put a smile on his face, but he hated seeing Julian's heartbroken expression.
"Okay." A beat, and then. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Jules."