Nothing More than an Acrimonious Dispute

Vic’s POV:

After mine and Kellin's 'talk', I haven't seen him. It was nearing 2 o'clock, which was the start of both of our breaks... and he was nowhere to be seen. Once again, my grouchy demeanour was back, mostly because I had to serve an array of angered business men, and clueless teenagers... on my own. Normally, Kellin would have graced me with his childish presence, but he had vanished. I tried to ignore it, and wait patiently for the clock hand to hit twelve, and as soon as it did, I rushed eagerly into the back. I fumbled around with my coat and put it on quickly, desperate to get away from the coffee shop. Of course, as I walked through the back door, I lit up a cigarette and leant against the wall, closing my eyes in contentment. The consecutive routine of course got monotonous but I tried to push that aside.

I must have stood there for most of my break, allowing the biting cold to numb my hands. For the best part of twenty minutes, I just stood and thought. I knew that I was quite conflicted within my own head; I could never feel one solid emotion for an extended period of time- my emotions tended to veer off into an obscure mess. So, naturally, I stayed away from people. I didn't involve myself with anyone- I lived an estranged life and that's the way it had always been.

Realising my break was about to run over, I snatched my concentration away from my muddled head and chucked my cigarette stub to the ground. Sometimes I got too wrapped up in my own thoughts. As I made my way back into the warmth, I could clearly see that Kellin had made an appearance. I was somewhat thankful as I tried to avoid serving customers as much as possible; he was the bold, confident one. Traipsing over to the counter was like an impending doom. Kellin saw me and grinned widely; obviously oblivious to the warning I had given him not that long ago.

"Viccy! Oh, I have missed you and your always beaming smile!" He said in a sarcastic voice, whilst grabbing my cheeks. Instinctively, I pulled away and sent a glare his way.

"Well then, Kells care to explain where the fuck you have been?" I spat out the vile pet name and crossed my arms to accompany my pissed off expression.

"I had somewhere to be" He said casually, shrugging his shoulders in a careless manner and turning around to mess with something.

I was expecting a little more than that curt response. I knew he was rude, but this was just being inconsiderate.

"Care to elaborate? You can't just walk out half way through your shift, you fool."

“Not really- I do as I wish. I don't take orders from many people, and I certainly do not take them from you, Vic.” He sneered, having a derisible edge to his voice.

“Well, I don't take bullshit from anyone and I certainly don't take it from you, Kellin. Now, I asked you a fucking question and you’re going to answer it, you little shit.” I was having none of his nonsense, and my stubborn streak really tended to expose itself during arguments (especially with Kellin).

“Think again Vic. Sorry to disappoint you, but you don’t control me so fuck off.” He turned on his heel, a smirk forming on his lips as he walked away, obviously pleased with the frustration he causing me.

I however was far from pleased; I don’t know who he thought he was. Unsatisfied with the lack of respect I was getting, I snatched hold of his arm, my short fingernails digging into his pale skin and began to drag him towards the store room.

"Yo Vic! The hell do you think you're doing?" Kellin writhed around a bit, but I knew I was far stronger than him and most definitely had the upper hand. A few customers peered discretely over their shoulders as Kellin began to curse.

"Vic! Let go!" Alarm was settling in and Kellin tugged harder, struggling against my stern grip. Naturally, this only made my hand vice tighter. I had definitely bruised him. Good.

I literally threw him into the back room and he stumbled into the shelves with a thud. Of course, I gave him no time to scramble away as I clutched a handful of his shirt in my hand. A smirk played on his lips and I could tell this was all a game to him; of course it would be -he's a child. It was almost like he had planned this. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.

"Seriously Vic, if you wanted to slam me against a wall and have your way with me all you had to do was ask." Somehow, that arrogant smirk spread into a full blown grin of satisfaction. "I'm mean; I'm not exactly opposed to the idea." He bit his lip and stared up at me with seemingly innocent eyes. For some utterly odd reason, a thought came into my head- Kellin looked strangely attractive when he did that. I had no idea where that idea came from, and I certainly did not like it. I was beyond shocked at my own thought pattern, so I snapped myself out of it.

"I have had enough of you; did it not sink in earlier? I meant what I said. I will literally break your fucking face." My grasp tightened and I could feel myself getting frustrated.

"Oh Vic, loosen up a bit. You're such an ass all the time. Brighten up a bit. I know it hurts you to smile but you really should try it once in a while."

That's when it happened. I really didn't mean it to, but I lost my cool. Completely. I was about to let his comment slip; disregard it completely. I even turned my back on him, ready to leave. That was until he made a final snide comment.

"That's right you condescending prick, walk away like the moody bastard you are."

What I did next was a demonstration of what winding me resulted in. I spun back around, pushed him into the shelves again, and swung for his face. My fist collided with the side of his pale cheek, splitting it open in an instant. A shocked Kellin reached for his cheek in utter disbelief. Blood began to trickle down his face, and guiltily (in back of my mind) I felt a sense of accomplishment.

"What the actual fuck?" He looked enraged and expectantly tensed up. I knew what was coming next so before he had the chance to swing at me, I shoved him to the floor harshly and sent a malicious glare his way.

"You know nothing about me. You don't know why I'm a 'moody bastard' or why I am 'such an ass'. You know nothing, and it will remain that way. Stop trying to pry your way into my life. I don't need you, I don't need anyone. Do you understand that?" My intense gaze never left his resplendent blue eyes, which held a look of hurt and confusion.

"No. I don't understand that." Kellin's voice was small, almost a whisper.

"What?"

"No one deserves to think that, I don't understand how you could. You just need a friend, Vic."

I felt my gaze soften and a pang of guilt resonated through my consciousness as I stared down at Kellin’s solemn expression. Maybe he was just trying to show me some kind of compassion or maybe it was sympathy? I felt myself wanting to apologise and help Kellin- I wanted to be a ‘friend’. But I was forgetting one thing- I was Victor Fuentes; I didn’t have friends. I was alone in this vast world, and that’s the way it had to be. So instead of helping Kellin, the walls that confided my emotions from the world remained sturdy and I walked away.

“Please Vic; just let me be a friend.”

“No. Time is precious Kellin- waste it on someone better than me.”

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Kellin’s POV:

To say I was perplexed would have been quite the understatement. What just happened? First I get punched in the face then my colleague basically expresses his lifelong loneliness. I was torn between feeling furious and feeling somewhat sad. Obviously, I was angry as I now had a busted cheek, but something told me there was more to Vic than he let on. Sure, he acted like an absolute prick most of the time, but he let that slip slightly today. He seemed genuinely sad, which was a change from his constant angry vibe. I guess that was why restrained from making any more sarcastic comments after he had given me that wounded expression. I was determined to find out more about him, even if it did mean a few more punches to my cheek. Sometimes I wasn’t even sure why I bothered with him. He disregarded me to no end, but I felt it was necessary to pester him- and I wouldn’t stop until Vic considered me his friend.

After about an hour, boredom was settling in, and the cut on my face was causing hushed gossip to travel through the shop (even though I had attempted to clean it up the best I could). The attention caused me to yearn for home, well, not home particularly- just anything that wasn’t this coffee shop. Having enough of work and being determined to cheer Vic up was enough for me to close the shop. So, being the crafty individual that I was, I decided to ring the boss. My acting skills came out to play and I made up a very dramatic and non-existent situation in which I had slipped over and hit my head. Of course, down to my fictional concussion, I had to go home to ‘rest’. I then went on to tell him that Vic couldn’t run the shop by himself so I had to close it up. Somehow, he actually believed my bullshit tale.

I then did some sneaking around- some sneaking around that was definitely normally prohibited. Someplace in the back room lay a box full of files, forbidden to others eyes of course, but I couldn’t care less. Casually, I rummaged through them all until I found Vic’s. Why was I invading his privacy I hear you ask? Well, I was trying to find his address so I could see if he was holding up ok (even though I was the one with a cut straight across their face) and possibly make him hate me less (which was highly unlikely). Unsurprisingly, I felt quite the stalker but I tried to ignore the feeling and guiltily laugh at Vic’s file picture. After gathering what I required, I locked up the shop and set out to find the route to Vic’s apartment.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. After numerous times of stopping people for directions, and about 5 wrong turns, I made it to what was apparently Vic’s apartment. Admittedly, it didn’t look like the most welcoming building in the world; the apartment block’s dismal exterior had obscene graffiti smothered all over its grey walls, and from what I could see, some of the windows across the building had been boarded up. Intimidating would sum it up nicely. Apprehension nested firmly within my mind and I was scared I was going to get jumped. Nervously, I trudged over to the apartments, scrutinising my surroundings meticulously in case of any unwanted run-ins. Upon arriving, two metal staircases stood before my eyes. Both looked tattered to no end: rust had perished certain parts of the steps away; any traces of paint had dissipated; and random pieces of metal that made the stairs were contorted and bent, making it look unbelievably unsafe. Knowing my luck, I’d probably fall straight through and get my leg stuck. Hastily, I jogged up the stairs, being wary of my footing. When I got to the first floor, I looked to the first door, seeing if I had got the right row. Luckily, I had as I could see ‘10A’ from where I was standing.

Walking down the corridor that lead to Vic’s apartment was like something out of a movie. Crappy, dim lights flickered infrequently and the eerie silence was enough to set anyone on edge. I stopped at ‘10A’ to find a hideous green door with paint chipped off it, and a hostile presence. Gingerly, I reached my hand up and knocked as quietly as I could, secretly hoping that Vic would answer. To my dismay, he did, and I was truly shocked when he opened the door.

“Errm hi?” I uttered out awkwardly whilst praying that Vic wouldn’t land me another punch.

“Kellin? Is that you?” He slurred in an incomprehensible voice. Was he drunk?

“Yes, it is me. How many other Kellins do you know?” I joked, trying to lift the awkwardness from the situation.

He laughed. Wait, he laughed!? My eyebrows knitted together in confusion and I looked at him, completely puzzled. This was odd.

“Not many, good sir! Come in! Come in!” He ushered me into apartment before slamming the door quite loudly. The initial thing that struck my senses was the profound smell of weed. Vic was high… and drunk. No wonder the poor bastard was so cheery. I couldn’t get used to how happy he seemed- I hadn’t even seen him smile before, never mind laugh. However, I wasn’t complaining; a happy Vic was far better than an annoyed Vic.

I was initially heading towards Vic's poor excuse of a couch before he fell over his own two feet.

“Oh shit!” A drunken voice exclaimed.

Before I knew what was going on, I was literally knocked out of my train of thought as a body came crashing on top of mine. Ungracefully, I fell to the ground with a brash thud. Of course, I softened Vic’s fall as he clumsily landed on me. A giggle fell from his lips and he looked down at me, his eyes glazed over from his high. He smiled contently before dipping his head down so his breath tickled my neck.

“You just can’t leave me alone, can you? Am I that irresistible, Kellin?” Vic’s voice was husk and deep as he whispered down my ear, causing a shiver to travel through my body. A lump formed in my throat as I felt his lips graze my neck momentarily before he sat back up, essentially straddling me. A bold smirk played on his lips as he stared down at me. I could feel the burning sensation that was a blush spread across my cheeks, despite my best efforts to supress it.

“So Kellin, what brings you here?”

“I-I need to talk to you” I responded quietly, extremely uncomfortable with position we were in. I felt my face begin to heat up and a flush of warmth spread through my body. “Don’t you think we sh-should move onto your couch?” I gestured towards the worn sofa behind us.

“Nope, I’m comfy” He grinned evilly, not moving a muscle.
From that, I just knew the next few hours were going to be considerably difficult…