Times Change, Friends Leave and Life Doesn't Wait for Anybody

Kellin was sitting, curled up in one corner of the sofa, blankly staring at the television. Vic was in the same position, on the other side. Kellin would occasionally find Vic looking at him too, but the other boy would immediately look back down again whenever Kellin saw him.
They remained in that way for at least half an hour, Kellin was not only getting steadily more bored, but also increasing in sadness. He missed Vic, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it. This was the angriest Vic had ever been at him. Although, to be fair, this was the worst thing that Kellin had ever done. Kellin pulled his knees closer to his chest, head lolling down as he prepared to let himself just fall asleep. That was until Kellin felt a pair of warm arms circle around his shoulders. Kellin looked up to see Vic pressed against his side, face hidden, but definitely hugging him.
“Vic?” Kellin breathed out softly.
“I forgive you.” Vic said in return.
“You do?” Kellin repeated, happiness filling him as he grinned down at the top of Vic’s head. “I’m so sorry-“
“Kellin, I’ve forgiven you. Can we just leave it at that now?” Vic interrupted. Kellin nodded happily and leaned down to press a kiss to Vic’s head.
____
“I finish work early today,” Kellin said the next morning. “So I can come and pick you up.”
“You don’t need to pick me up, Kellin.” Vic protested. “I’ll be fine. And you’ll be tired.”
“We sound like my parents.” Kellin laughed. Vic giggled shortly and nodded as he checked his bag to make sure he had all the books he needed. “But it’s getting darker. It’s safer if you’re in the car.”
“Are you serious, Kellin?” Vic shook his head when Kellin nodded earnestly and stood up. “Well, if you do, I finish at half four today so…”
“I’ll be there!” Kellin said, jumping up and hugging Vic. Vic pulled his head back slightly and pressed his lips to Kellin’s. And Kellin felt more butterflies than he had felt in a long time when kissing Vic, probably because he hadn’t done so in almost a week.
“Thanks, baby,” Vic said to Kellin once they pulled away. “I’ll see you later.”
____
“Kellin!” Vic beckoned for Kellin to come and join him, where he was standing with a small group of friends just in front of the university building. It was quite daunting to Kellin, who had never set foot inside the place, but Vic looked comfortable enough, and that was good enough for Kellin.
“So… You’re the infamous Kellin?” A boy asked. Kellin looked up and nodded before turning back to Vic, who was blushing.
“I’m James.” The boy continued, his clearly English accent becoming more prominent.
“Oh, I’m Lzzy.” A girl joined in, reddish hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Where do you go to university, Kellin?”
“I, um, I’m not going to university, actually.” Kellin corrected her, noting the way her face fell slightly.
“…Oh.” She said simply.
“Yeah, Vic’s always been the smart one.” Kellin bent down and kissed Vic on the cheek, causing Lzzy to squeal delightedly.
Kellin turned away to see Beau standing on the edge of the circle, his arm around somebody who he couldn’t see over James’ head.
“Hey, Beau.” Kellin said quietly. Beau snapped his head up and offered Kellin a smile.
“Hi, Kellin.” He said coolly. And with that, the ice had been broken, and Kellin could tell that all had been forgiven. Beau was nice, he decided. He could understand why Vic had become such good friends with him.
“Kellin?” Kellin peered around James to see that Beau had his arm around none other than Valerie.
“Valerie!” He exclaimed, not having expected to see the small girl with Beau of all people.
“You guys know each other?” Vic asked with a confused look on his face.
“Yeah we met at a music shop near the diner… How do you guys know each other?” Kellin asked, looking between Valeria and Beau.
“Beau’s my fiancé.” Valeria laughed. “How weird is that?” She giggled again, the other laughing along with her this time.
“Small world.” Kellin commented, slipping his arm around Vic’s waist.
“So anyway,” Valerie continued. “You guys should totally come round some time.”
Beau nodded happily in agreement, looking hopefully between Vic and Kellin.
“Sure.” Vic nodded, and Kellin copied the action, much the happiness of Valerie and Beau.
‘That’s great! I’ll call you some time, yeah?” She laughed once more and then waved to the group, dragging a bemused Beau by the hand away from the building and to the parking lot.
“We should probably head home too…” Kellin said. Vic nodded, leaning is head on Kellin’s shoulder as he steered Vic towards his car.
____
As soon as they got home, Vic continued work on some essay that he’d been set the previous month. Kellin had no idea what it was on, not really having understood what Vic had told him, but he’d respectfully given up the bedroom so the other boy could concentrate on whatever it was.
“No… No, no, no, no, NO!” Vic shouted from the bedroom, the sound of something being thrown then meeting Kellin’s ears a few hours on. He sprinted to their room to see Vic curled in a ball on their bed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked at his laptop, which was lying open on the carpet.
“Vic... What happened, babe?” Kellin asked softly, sitting next to Vic and tentatively wrapping his arms around the smaller boy.
“The whole thing just... My stupid laptop decided to reboot its entire fucking system and I haven’t saved it since like the first page because I’d just been leaving it open... Kellin I’d more or less finished the entire essay...” Vic buried his face into Kellin’s chest, his tears immediately soaking through Kellin’s shirt as he gently rocked the smaller boy.
“Vic... Shh, don’t worry...” Kellin cooed gently, running a hand through Vic’s hair as he sniffed. “Look, that’s what auto recovery’s for, right?”
Vic nodded and dabbed at his eyes, watching the grey bar on his laptop slowly but steadily fill with blue.
“You look so tired...” Kellin pointed out, stroking one of the bags under Vic’s eye with a frown.
“I kind of am...” Vic murmured, burying his face further into Kellin’s shirt and breathing heavily.
“Go to sleep. When your laptop decides to wake up I’ll save your work, alright?” Kellin offered. He felt Vic nod against his chest and curl up into an even smaller ball and crawl completely onto Kellin’s lap.
“Thanks, baby,” Vic murmured tiredly.
“It’s nothing.”