We’ll Be Young Forever

Kellin was twelve when it happened. His dad was abandoning his family and leaving with his mistress. The confused teenager couldn’t feel anything else but anger. How could his father do that? He said his loved his mom and he would always be there through anything, no matter what. But it looked like it was all bullshit.

With anger rising in him, he wanted nothing to remind him of his dad so he changed that one feature of his that reminded him of that monster the most: his hair. Everyone always commented how much he looked like him and how they had the same exact hair. So, without telling his mother he went to the drugstore and bought the darkest hair dye he could.

Wasting no time on going back, he was thankful nobody else was home. He ran upstairs and locked himself in the bathroom, following the instructions closely and within an hour tops, his blond hair had been replaced by raven black. There was a small frown on his face while he pondered if he liked it or not, but in the ended he decided he did. He liked having black hair.

To say his mother was pissed when she saw what his oldest son had done would be an understatement. But she realized that maybe that was his way of coping with the things going on in their life.

They had to switch houses to the other side of town since his mom's job couldn't afford to pay the bills anymore, so that meant he had to switch schools too. He didn't mind for the most part. Of course he got anxious for being the new kid in middle of the school year but that changed the instant he saw two familiar mops of hair sitting in the lunch room.

A redhead was sitting next to a short blond boy while they chirped to a couple of other guys. A black haired kid and a brunette boy with hazel eyes who stared at him curiously when he went to stand by their table.

Jesse turned his gaze to the strange boy, taking in his black hair, pale complexion and blue eyes but it wasn't until Kellin smirked that the redhead recognized him and smiled back.

"Kellin! How have you been, dude? It has been months since we last saw you." He said, his head nodding to Kellin's hair. "What's with the whole black hair thing though?" He said while eyeing him curiously.

Kellin looked down at his tray nervously while biting his lower lip but he settled for shrugging. "I needed a change." He said looking up hesitantly to meet the ginger's eyes, who caught on the fact the shy boy was still standing and he moved his own tray to the side, pushing Justin just a little bit to the other side of the bench.

Jesse motioned the blue eyed boy to sit and he did just that. He sat there not daring to look up at the boys who were staring at him curiously. He didn't like to be the center of attention but he was well aware no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to change that in a couple of weeks or until a new kid appeared, but he was also well aware that wouldn't happen in Grand Rapids, specially in middle of the school year.

"Why did you switch schools?" Justin asked from the other side of the bench, his voice pulling Kellin out of his thoughts. And although he didn't mean to make the raven haired boy uncomfortable, Kellin couldn't help but feel the heat creeping up his neck and settling down on his ears.

"My parents got a divorce so my mom, sister and I moved to this side of town." He said in an small voice, fiddling with his fingers that sat on his lap. An awkward silence fell on the group of friends, who didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry, man." Jesse said patting Kellin's back, a sympathetic look on his face. "But hey, I promise you're gonna have fun in this school." He said trying to soothe the youngest's boy fear, who smiled at him gratefully.

"This assholes right here are Jack and Gabe." Justin interrupted, catching Kellin's attention and pointing to the dark haired boy, who smiled and waved at him enthusiastically with a goofy grin on his face, and the brunette boy with hazel eyes, who smiled at him politely.

"It's nice to meet you, guys." Kellin said quietly, his shy nature showing.

"Same here." Jack said cheerfully, looking at Justin and Jesse for an instant before going back to the pale boy. "How did you get involved with these fools though?" He asked, leaning his elbows on the table as if he were a small child who was settling to hear an interesting story.

Kellin shifted a little on his chair, mouth pursuing while he remembered that summer about six years ago when he attended camp with his best friend Vic.

"Uh, I met them at summer camp about six years ago but we didn't hang out much considering I lived on the other side of town." He answered, finally looking up and catching both strangers staring at him with intensity. Their eyes darted among his face, taking in his feminine features and how he held himself. And although he was sure they didn't mean to stare in a rude way, he couldn't help but feel self conscious.

"That's cool, man." Gabe finally spoke, staring at him. "I remember that summer perfectly." He said as if he were remembering some really good story and that had Kellin paying attention at him.

"How come?" He asked, blinking rapidly and staring at a smirking Gabe who settled down on his chair and started to tell a story about how the group of friends had gotten in trouble at school and although his and Jack's parents hadn't been as harsh on their punishment, Jesse and Justin's had, sending them both away during summer.

Soon enough Kellin found himself feeling comfortable around the group of friends who would laugh at the silliest things and they wouldn't force him to talk if he didn't want to. He had been looking for a group of friends like this back home and he couldn't believe he had finally found them. He knew this would be the start of something good.



Kellin had his head resting against the car's window while he looked at the warm passing scenery. His mom drove to the Fuentes' household by his side while Kailey was in the backseat chirping about how excited she was to be back in California. The raven haired boy had earbuds plunged in his ears, completely oblivious to whatever was being said around him. It had became a normal occurrence since his father left. He'd turn to music whenever he felt anger rising inside of him instead of yelling and rebelling against his mother.

Lisa had caught on that, and although she was worried about him, she was glad he had found a nice group of friends he hung out with regularly even if they weren't at school. She was glad his son got his mind distracted. The least she wanted for him was to be stressed about something that wasn't his fault at all.

Pulling in the familiar driveway, Kellin groggily paused his music and shoved the tangled earbuds in the pocket his iPod rested in. He took his seat belt off and opened the door, letting California's warm air hit his cold pale cheeks. Sighing, he followed his mother and sister down the steps.

Vic was laying on his bed when he heard his mother scream from downstairs “Vic! Come down! The Quinn’s are here!” and he couldn’t be more happy to oblige. He had missed Kellin so much it wasn’t even funny.

But he frowned when he remembered his parents had told him and Mike about the divorce and although he and Kellin had talked over the phone a couple times, the topic hadn’t been brought up and he respected that, really. But he needed to know what his feelings were. He knew for a fact that bottling feelings up was never good and he didn’t want the palest to have a breakdown.

Sighing, Vic exited his room and ran downstairs, instantly met by Lisa’s grin and Kailey’s cheerful laugh while they spoke to his mom but he didn’t expect to see a raven haired kid standing next to them. He frowned and looked the stranger down and up, finally meeting his eyes and that was when a small grin appeared on his face. Those turquoise eyes were what gave Kellin away.

“It’s been a long time, Kels!” Vic beamed, stepping closer to Kellin and hugging him fondly. The youngest returned the hug straight away and let himself savour the strong cologne Vic seemed to be wearing lately. How had he missed to be this close with someone. Not that his mother hugs weren’t good, but Vic’s embrace had something that made him feel calm instantly. Like it always had.

Both boys stood in middle of the living room for a couple minutes, Vic eventually pulling away and observing Kellin’s hair curiously. It wasn’t that the color didn’t suit him, because it did. His pale features contrasted perfectly and his eyes stood out even more than they did before, but he kept wondering why. So he ruffled the youngest’s hair and then looked down at him looking for an explanation but the only response he got was a shrug. He didn’t want to push it, so he dismissed the topic and went to say hello to Lisa and Kailey with Kellin trailing right behind him.

It had been a couple of hours since Kellin and his family had settled down in the Fuentes’ house, and both boys were upstairs laying on Vic’s bed while the mexican ran his hand absentmindedly through the youngest black hair deep in thought. Kellin was cuddled against Vic’s chest, listening to the quiet heartbeat and growing sleepy with each thud ringing in his best friend’s ribcage. He felt at complete peace laying right there, like nothing could ever go wrong. But that wasn’t the case. At all.

Frowning, he remembered his father and how much it hurt him to watch him leave like his family were nothing, like he was nothing to him and suddenly his lose grip on Vic’s shirt turned onto a balled fist. His breathing went to calm to raged in an instant, and although he shut his eyes tightly to prevent the tears from escaping, it was useless. The next thing he knew was that his whole body was shuddering against his best friend’s while the mexican ran his hand up and down Kellin’s back, trying to soothe him. He told himself a million times he wouldn’t cry over that monster he used to call “dad”, yet there he was; pouring his eyes out locked in his best friend’s embrace.

“Shush, Kellin.” Vic cooed, his chin resting on top of the youngest’s head. “Everything will be okay. You just wait and see.” Kellin nodded weakly, sniffling and trying to make the tears lessen with each second passing.

“I just hate him so much.” He mumbled through cracked voice, his face still hiding in Vic’s neck. “Why did he leave? Were we not good enough for him?” He asked, his voice lacking anger and faltering by the end. The comment making the mexican frown immediately. He knew the youngest like the palm of his hand and he saw right through that question. Kellin couldn’t be blaming this on himself. It wasn’t his fault and he had to know it.

Pulling away from him, he forced the blue eyed boy to look at him. “Look at me Kels.” Reluctantly, the youngest looked up, meeting Vic’s brown eyes and the oldest couldn’t help but feel his heart break when he saw the state his best friend was in. “Don’t you ever think this is your fault.” He said sternly, with a frown on his face while his eyes scanned Kellin’s features and it was until then that he saw the black bags under the youngest’s eyes and how his usually pale skin looked even paler than usual, not missing how the hand running up and down Kellin’s back kept bumping with more bones than he'd like to admit. “He’s the one missing out on seeing a perfectly young man growing up to be someone of good, and I promise you he will regret it one of these days. But I know you’re strong enough to get through this.” Vic said looking into Kellin’s sad eyes. “You don’t need him anyway.”

Kellin’s bottom lip quivered, tears pouring out of his eyes in an fastest pace and he did nothing else but bury his head deep into his best friend’s neck again, sobbing harder than he had been doing before. He was clinging onto Vic’s body like his life depended on it. It wasn’t a bad thing, really. It was quite the contrary. He had always thought so low of himself, he couldn’t believe someone else thought such things of him.

Vic kept his strong hold onto his best friend’s frail body, still running his hand up and down Kellin’s spine, who shivered at the gesture. Eventually he heard the sobs quieting down and the blue eyed boy’s breathing going back to normal. Sighing in content, Kellin pulled away and looked up at Vic’s face, whose gaze was focused on the ceiling right above them while he seemed deep in thought.

“Thank you.” Kellin mumbled shyly, instantly catching Vic’s attention who looked down at him curiously. “Thank you for being always there for me when I need you. Thank you for caring about me like no one else does.” He said quietly, a small blush falling on his cheeks and he found that weird. He had never been like that around Vic. Why was this happening now? Why did he feel so vulnerable under his best friend’s gaze? Why did his stomach did flips whenever Vic touched him? But he wouldn’t dwell on it and and instead went back on snuggling close to Vic’s body.

Vic squeezed Kellin’s shoulder, moving his head down to Kellin’s and leaving a small kiss on the youngest’s forehead. “Anytime, Kels.” He whispered. “I love you.” But that simple phrase didn’t feel the way it did before. Kellin felt a warmth spreading through his body when Vic said those words out loud and although he was confused of his changing feelings too, Vic knew he would never let go of the young boy curled up in his arms no matter what.