Slowly Dying Out: When Dreams Come True

The way Kellin's walking around, it like he thinks he hasn't done anything wrong.

Honestly, Nikko probably wouldn't have seen a thing wrong if Richy hadn't kept her posted. She can see straight through Kellin's sheer little façade now, and the carefree attitude, the innocence, it is eating away at her core. He's all hugged up on Alex, face in Alex's neck like he's trying to hide.

It would be cute if he weren't trying to cause so much discomfort in her best friend, see.

"Hey, Kells," she says a bit hesitantly, never one for confrontation. "You mind pulling away from your boyfriend for, like, a second or two?"

Kellin looks up at his darling Alex lovingly before pulling away, walking over to her with the sweetest of smiles. He looks so soft, no threat, and Nikko would no doubt fall for it if she hadn't been told that he had been trying to play on old, old games.

They go behind the house for a sense of privacy, her hand wrapped around his wrist. She takes a breath and rubs her eyes, sighing, "Kellin, what the fuck are you doing?"

He frowns, "Huh?"

Right. Okay.

She inhales sharp, pinches the bridge of her nose and tries to keep calm. Kellin continues to wear this mask of confusion, his eyebrows furrowing like he's clueless.

"You-you fucking with Richy. Why're you messing with him? You can't just leave him alone?" She asks, messing with her ponytail now to keep her hands busy. Kellin crosses his arms over his chest, sticking his hip out a bit to the side and pouting like a child.

"I don't know what you mean. What did I do?"

"You know! Aren't you happy with Alex?"

"Of course I am, which is why I don't get you. . .why would I be messing around with Richy?"

Nikko could strangle him. But that would make her a murderer. And she would go to prison. And she wouldn't survive in prison. And the endgame would be all kinds of unpleasant.

"You keep coming too him and making him uncomfortable and then you get nasty when he turns you down why." She pulls at her hair, walks in little circles as Kellin relaxes against the wall of the house. "Why are you playing fucking dumb, what are you doing, dude? You weren't an asshole. What happened to you in that-that asylum?"

Kellin looks away from her, bites his lip until he feels ready to speak. He kicks at a rock, loose gravel from the walkway, and mumbles, "Shit," like it answers all of her questions.

She goes to ask him again, but he starts to walk off, his shoulders hunched and his muscles tense like one more question will cause him to snap. Nikko backs down, lets him go. Maybe, now that he knows she knows, he'll ease up? Maybe he'll come to his senses?

Maybe pigs will fly. For fuck's sake.

Nikko goes around to the front of the house and finds Alex leaning against the car, Kellin nowhere in sight.

"Where's Kell?" she asks, hands in her pockets. He shrugs, smiling because he thinks nothing is wrong.

"He went in, which is probably what we should do, huh?"

Alex links arms with her, so sunny and happy to have his boyfriend back. Nikko holds back a sigh, bringing forth a smile of her own. Maybe things would be fine.



"What, so you're just going around trying to give me a bad fucking name?"

He has Richy's wrists pinned to the wall, his aqua eyes narrowed into angry slits. He grits his teeth and spits, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing! I'm not doing anything!" Richy responds, his eyes filling with tears. This boy has a hell of a grip and he just wants to get away. He can't even understand what he did, why Kellin is zeroing in on him, what he even wants. Does he live to cause misery now? What happened to make such a sweet boy such an asshole? "What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Kellin growls with a roll of his eyes. "Nothing happened to me, okay? Nothing. Now you're gonna stop running your mouth, am I right? You're gonna stop being a little fucking tattletale?"

"I'm not-I'm not telling anyone anything!"

'I'm just letting you tease and taunt me for no goddamn reason, actually.'

But why say that? So Kellin can flip shit? Again?

"You serious? You sure?"

Richy nods, wanting nothing more than to get away from the boy he used to be able to trust, the boy he was so close to. How did he become so nasty?

"Yeah. I'm sure. Get off."

Kellin glares.

Jesus.

"Please?"

Kellin nods.

He releases Richy with a huff, mumbles, "Fuck outta here," as if Richy was the one in the wrong the whole time. Richy sneers, not to Kellin's face, and storms out of the bathroom. His face is red with embarrassment. All he wants is to get away from that boy. Something happened to Kellin during his time in the asylum; no one becomes such a teasing, taunting asshole for no good reason.

But.

Whatever it is, Richy is not going to be the one to find out.

He'll be damned if he spends more than a minute alone with Kellin again.



When Andy opens the door, Nikko is quick to slip past him and look for Richy. He's not in the living room, not downstairs. . .where could he be? Her arm is still intertwined with Alex's, but her mind is only on wondering if Kellin and Richy have acted on their hostility, if Kellin has tried anything more, if things have changed for the better or the worse.

"Something wrong?" Alex asks, watching her watch the room.

"Uh, no. I'm fine. It's fine."

So she's kind of the worst liar ever.

Andy starts talking to Alex, typical guy talk, distracting Alex and unintentionally loosening the strength in his grip. His arm slips from Nikko's and she breaks away, starting towards the stairs. She hits the first step when Richy appears, looking unsettled but not particularly upset.

"What happened?" she asks quietly, her voice escaping Alex's ears. "Where's Kellin?"

"The bathroom," Richy mumbles. He looks away, rubs the back of his neck. "I don't know what his problem is. But I'm not gonna be the one to find out."

Nikko lets him by, allows him to try and slip into normalcy with Andy and Alex as they wait for more people. She stares at the top of the steps for the moment, bites the inside of her cheek and stands there. What is she waiting for? Kellin? The world to fall apart? She has no idea.

So she moves.

Taking a seat on the couch, she tunes in slightly to Andy and Alex's conversation. Alex is asking about the arrival times; apparently, they were early. Whoops. Then they move onto something more boring, more vulgar, and she tunes them out, opting for the television instead. She settles on a show she has never seen and is only somewhat interested in.

And when Kellin drops to sit beside her, she doesn't say a word.