Suffocation

After another bad movie, Dae slowly gets to his feet and stretches. After a moment he drops his hands and extends one to Leilani with a smile. "We should probably get you home."

"Fine, dad." Leilani sighs playfully and grabs Dae's extended hand allowing him to pull her to her feet. She turned to Evan who had taken the chance to also stand up, "Thanks for being so dope, Evan."

Evan smiled, taking a step forward, and wrapped his arms around Leilani in a hug that surprised both Dae and Leilani, herself. The redhead spoke in a whisper that Dae almost missed, "Any time, Leilani. You're a delight. And if someone can't see that, fuck him. He doesn't deserve you."

When the two pull away, Leilani looked like she was going to cry again, but a smile stayed plastered on her face. Dae cleared his throat awkwardly in the silence that followed to grab Evan's attention before he headed towards the door with a small wave. That smirk rested on Evan's face once again as he waved them out the door.

While contemplating whether he should've hugged Evan instead of just waving like an idiot, a strong breeze broke him out of his thoughts as he shivered unprotected against the cold. Glancing down, the realization that he left his jacket inside Evan's house dawned on him for the first time. "Damn."

"What did you do?" Leilani glanced at him before realizing that he was without his signature leather jacket. She shook her head, a small teasing smile on her lips. "We could always go back to get it for you. I'm sure Evan would enjoy that."

Looking around briefly, Dae realized from the storefronts that they stood in front of, that they must have been walking in comfortable silence for some time because they had gained some distance from his home and Evan's. Steeling himself against the idea of a long cold walk, Dae readied himself to reply when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, followed by a quiet huffing sound.

Turning in surprise, Dae and Leilani were both met with the sight of a flushed and extremely out of breath Evan behind them. Barefoot and breathing heavily, the redhead locked eyes with Dae while holding the worn leather jacket that Dae had forgotten, "You left this. Sometimes, I swear you're lucky you're cute."

Dae reached for the jacket as Leilani failed to stifle a laugh. That seemed to snap Evan out of his intense stare and the blush of his cheeks redoubled. The redhead rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and slowly took a step backward, "Well that's my good deed for this week. I'll be going now. See you guys around!"

Dae clutched the leather jacket for a moment longer, watching as Evan waved and started walking home in no rush before Leilani slapped his arm. Pulling his gaze away from Evan's retreating form, Dae turned to face Leilani who just smiled. "Put it on stupid."

"Did he..." Dae started slowly slipping his jacket on, "Did he really just run all the way here to give me my jacket? We literally live next door to each other...And see each other in school...And live next to each other."

Leilani gently nudges his shoulder before she starts walking once again. "Guess he's in love with you too. But I thought that was obvious."

She laughed lightly before glancing back to Dae. The humor drained from her face as she realized what she had just said.

It was that one word...

That one word made his feet stop working, and his breathing become labored.

Dae felt like he was suffocating.

Again.