Kristopher

Kris can't sleep that night. His throat constricts, his mouth turns down, he takes a deep breath, he holds it in.

He can't take it.

He wants to quit, but he's afraid.

And so he tosses and turns all night, getting up to get a quick glass of water a few times during the night. He can't seem to get to sleep and if he does, he only sleeps for a few minutes.

He doesn't know if it's the stress or the nerves starting to kick in his system, he can feel the bad taste of acid coming up his throat and into his mouth. He hates bad breath, he hates it when other people have it and now he's sure other people will hate it when he has it. So, he gets up a third time to brush his teeth in the night.

He wonders if Lambert and Gokey are disturbed.

Kris takes his tooth brush and puts toothpaste on it, avoiding looking into the mirror. He doesn't want to be up at this hour, and God knows the other boys don't want to be up either. He brushes quietly and closes the door.

It takes two minutes for him to finish brushing. He makes sure to scrub the back, the roof of his mouth, his tongue, the sides, the back of his teeth - he repeats this twice. He wonders if he hadn't gotten up to do this, maybe he would be fast asleep by now.

Spitting, he rinses his mouth.

---

“So, I heard someone shuffling last night ...”

Kris looks down at the napkin folded on his lap. He frowns. He always frowns.

“Really? I slept like a rock last night.”

And he twitches.

“Yeah, you were snoring.”

And he laughs.

---

When the day ends and the three boys are heading back to the mansion, Kris is in a good mood.

He aced the practice, he hit every note fairly well - with the exception of one. And the choir was actually in a decent mood.

Kris is glowing and someone notices.

“Got something to be happy about?”

Kris glances to his left, watching Lambert with arched eyebrows, “Nope,” he licks his lips. “why would you think that?”

The taller boy grins, his white shining armor reflecting the sun.

“Actually, you have an extra pizazz in your walk today,” he chuckles and looks ahead, folding his arms behind his back, “It's nothing really, you just look happy.”

“Something like that,” the boy wrinkles his nose, almost giggling happy.

Lambert slows down to match Kris' pace, letting Gokey go on ahead, “Yeah, something like that.”

---

When dinner approaches, Kris is in the kitchen, stirring some batch in a large bowl. And when Lambert comes in, Kris automatically stops, looks down, and blushes.

“Whatchya makin'?” Lambert perches on the counter, kicking his legs beneath him. He watches Kris, almost like he's begging the guy to fess up - or something like that.

“Muffins,” Kris' blush increases and he can feel his ears get hot.

Lambert laughs, “I think you're stirring too hard.” Hopping down from his perch, he takes the bowl from Kris and begins stirring lightly. “See, you don't want to stir too fast or too hard. You'll have hard muffins.”

Kris wants to laugh, but he doesn't know if Lambert had intended it sound ridiculous. He keeps quiet and just nods his head in understanding.

“I watched my mom bake when I was a kid,” Lambert looks so intense, like he'd rather bake instead of go to parties or perform.

“Katy always said that I sucked when it came to baking, or cooking for that matter.”

“Then you have a lot to learn, Allen.”

“I guess I do.”