bulldogmason:
His bag was heavier than he expected. He had grabbed just a few things before getting out of that house as soon as possible. After he was told to get out of his father’s house. Away from his father’s family. A family Moose was no longer a part of.
His hands were shaking when he knocked on the door, the weight of his bag making the strap dig into his shoulder painfully. The tears on his face had dried by now. Tears he told himself were caused by anger, not hurt, not sadness. Because that was a kind of satisfaction he would not give to his father. The words he said were meant to hurt so Moose couldn’t let them. The moments before the door opened crawled by painfully slow. His mind was racing, running over mistakes he had made, thoughts he had pushed away for a long time. He wondered if maybe he was crossing a line with this. Lines that were blurry by now, but still lines.
He thought about running, letting the Keller’s believe some dumb kids from down the street were playing ding-dong-ditch. Maybe go to Reggie or Ginger or Cheryl. But before he could even finish that line of thought, the door opened. He didn’t even know what to say. He thought about what to say on the way here, so much he remembered, but now all those carefully constructed were gone and all he managed was a weak “Can I come in?”, sounding a lot more broken lost than he ever intended.
@prepstarkevin
Kevin had been playing video games, not staring at his phone while spending his off day relaxing in the comfort of his own home. He was terrible about responding to text messages when the second screen had his attention, and he did see the messages from Moose but didn’t read too much into them until the round of the game had ended.
The knock at the door only brought confusion as he wondered who could be at the door without altering him. Days of just knocking were obsolete when you could just text someone and enjoy the awkward waiting while not having to deal with the anxiety of a parent or someone you weren’t looking to meet at the door. His game was at a position to where he could back away from the screen.
Seeing Moose at the door brought an immediate smile to his face, but it wasn’t replicated. Moose looked like his world had been flipped upside down, and the giant bag didn’t make reading the situation any easier. “Hey Moose..it’s good to see y-” Tom Keller had walked up behind Kevin, greeting Moose with the usual hello. His dad didn’t ask about the two of them to Kevin, but there had to be some idea seeing as how Moose was over often.
Kevin lightly grabbed Moose’s wrist and pulled him inside. “I have to show Moose something upstairs, Dad. We will see you at dinner?” He stated, and his dad agreed knowing something was up. Moose’s earlier tone confirmed that Kevin’s suspicions were correct, and he immediately felt awful because he didn’t know what to do. Once they were inside Kevin’s room, he grabbed Moose’s bag and placed it near his bed. Kevin brought Moose over to the bed, sitting next to him and putting his arm over Moose’s neck as an added sense of comfort. “What’s wrong?” He looked at Moose in the eyes, as he wondered what was wrong and even he was wanting to help. “You don’t have to tell me until you’re ready but I want to know so I can help. I’m assuming something happened at home if you have a bag like that packed. You can stay here as long as you want..my dad won’t mind and you know that you’re always welcomed here.”
