Kid and Nia had gone to the nearby drug store and picked up two packs of fourteen pads. Neither of them had been sure of what to get so a woman offered her assistance, specifically after Nia revealed that her mom was deceased. While talking to the woman, Nia had been able to recall which pads her mom had used when she was alive, after which the woman suggested she get the same ones advising her, "it isn't a golden rule but sometimes a girl's cycle can mimic her mother's."
He'd noticed that Nia's mood seemed to shift a little upon hearing this, but he wasn't going to press it. If she wanted to tell him, she would. Unfortunately they also ran into a girl with sandy blonde hair cut into a short bob with a fringe, she had a pale complexion and freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She was stocking shelves in the drug store and seemingly hadn't noticed them.
Kid hated how his heart still skipped a beat when he saw her. This time it was Nia who noticed a shift in his mood, and had grabbed the side of his shirt to distract him from the other girl. Kid had in turn glanced down at Nia and they'd left the store together.
They had cooked together, with Nia making the mashed potatoes and green beans while Kid fried up the steaks in a frying pan.
As they ate dinner they sat in front of the laptop and watched Percy Jackson: The lightning thief. It wasn't exactly what he'd normally watch but he figured it was a good middle ground between his taste in movies and hers. He was more into action flicks and sci-fi while she enjoyed dramas and fantasy. Her favourites were the land before time series and The Never Ending Story, while his were Alien and Rambo.
He took note of how differently they ate. While he got a bit of everything on his fork for every mouthful, she mixed her green beans into her mashed potatoes. She then alternated between a forkful of steak and a forkful of potatoes with green beans.
After that movie was done he put in another one, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. He didn't bother to wash the dishes right away, but after about thirty minutes he noticed that she was struggling to stay awake.
"You wanna get into your pajamas? You can change in the washroom, I'll put some clean sheets on the bed," Kid suggested.
She nodded a little as she stood up from the couch, Kid briefly thought to himself that she looked a little pale, but then he remembered his ex would get pale if she was really tired. He didn't think about it for long though, they did have pepto if her stomach went wonky on her.
When he heard the bathroom door close he went into his room and pulled back the curtain that lead into his closet. The door had broken a few months ago and the landlord had refused to fix it, Killer had tried but couldn't get it to work again. So he removed it off the hinges and put up the curtain so Kid could have some semblance of privacy for his clothes.
He grabbed an old bed set that he had, based on what he knew of her preferred movies he figured she might like this bedding set. It was covered with dinosaurs. He smiled a little as he removed the fitted sheet and replaced it with the dinosaur patterned fitted sheet. Within five minutes he had the bed sheets changed over and was picking up miscellaneous laundry items.
He made a mental note as he cleaned up to put his dirty laundry in the hamper from now on. She appeared at the doorway as he was putting the items into the hamper, she looked as if she was about to fall over on her feet.
Kid watched as she got into the bed and he helped her pull the covers up over herself. As he finished tucking her in he asked, "are you alright with the lights off?"
She nodded her head a little but murmured something he wasn't too sure of, it sounded like something about nightmares or bad dreams, but he wasn't certain. Either way, he decided he'd forgo his usual habit of listening to music with the earphones on and instead catch up on some recent news until Killer got home. As long as one of them had an ear out he didn't feel too bad about having the head phones on.
He lightly chuckled to himself as he realized this almost seemed like a babysitting gig than a hang out with a friend—but not really. She was capable of doing things for herself, it's just that the law stated anyone in their area under the age of 15 had to be accompanied by someone who was at least 15 years of age or older, and children under ten couldn't be left unattended by someone 17 or older for more than four hours.
He went back to the living room and flopped down on the couch, and sitting in front of the laptop went to the online newspaper site for his area. His phone pinged, and he looked at the screen expecting it to be Killer but instead saw a number he didn't recognize with a message that said: Dad couldn't cope, she's next.
'What the fuck is this? Who the hell would—' his thoughts were cut short however when he heard glass shatter followed by Nia screaming. He didn't stand up but put his weight onto one arm, using it to leverage himself up and over the back of the couch and bolted for his room, he quickly noticed the busted glass and the brick that had been thrown through the window with a note attached to it.
He ran straight to the window and looked out, recognizing two teenagers climbing down the fire escape. The tall blond teenage boy he knew to be Basil Hawkins, and the other was an auburn haired man he only knew as Drake. Celestial Dragons, what were they doing in his neighbourhood? This place was jam packed with Pirates, they'd have a real turf war on their hands if any of his former buddies caught them lurking around.
He turned his attention to Nia who was quiet. He realized he'd instinctively grabbed his phone and turned the flash light on, quickly scanning the bedding and the area. Luckily there didn't seem to be any glass in the bed sheets. He checked her hair and asked if she had pain anywhere. She answered that she didn't.
Once he finished examining her and the bed area she sat up and threw her arms around his neck. He was taken aback for a second before he wrapped his arms around her and assured her, "you're safe with me. I'd be scared too if I was you though. That's quite a weird scenario, huh?"
She nodded a little, as she cuddled into him a bit more. That's when an idea came to him, "Hey—I got an old sleeping bag… you want me to camp out in here with you? I'd be on the floor but I'll be close by."
Nia nodded her head a little. Kid nodded his head in agreement as he confirmed, "Okay. I should run a vacuum in here first. So, sorry about the noise, but once that's over I'll get changed, get the sleeping bag out and join you in here."
Another nod of her head and he inwardly grimaced. He really hoped word of this didn't reach her grandfather. A fifteen year old boy rooming with a thirteen year old girl, yeah that didn't sound suspicious in the least. He knew it was innocent, Nia knew it was innocent but he was well aware that too many people thought being a teenage boy meant being an out of control hormone crazed ape. He could readily confess that he did think about physical intimacy frequently, about six to twelve times an hour if he was being honest, but that didn't mean he lacked self control.
He was also willing to admit that the same may not be true for other boys his age though. Then again, he'd be willing to bet they didn't have the same history as he did.
