Page 26 of Pippin & Nacho

“You’re not disgusted or disappointed?”

“Are you kidding me right now? Never. That wasn’t your fault, Sam. And I’ll stick with loving that no one has ever touched you the way I have. Those perverts don’t count. They never count. It was against your will. Do you understand?”

He nodded and relaxed his body against mine. “Okay. I’ll try.”

We kissed for a while again before drifting off to sleep. At three in the morning, we were going to be tired, but if Sam had a quiet night, we could sleep in for a bit.

My mind drifted off, not to pleasure and comfort with Sam next to me, but to his pain and those who fucking hurt him.

I would’ve burned that entire building down if I had the power.

His story proved once again how strong and brave he was.

I’d texted Stix an hour ago, and he still hadn’t answered. So I headed to his house on my skateboard since he didn’t live too far away and crossed my fingers that he was home by the time I got there. I needed help and some answers, and I was too impatient to wait. I could talk to our other friends, but Stix and I talked the most about personal shit. I also didn’t want to talk about this with Sam. Well, I probably should, but I didn’t want to look like an idiot. Plus, I wanted to surprise him.

I reached their old townhome that Stix had recently purchased, which was in the middle of being painted, but it was coming along nicely. It wasn’t located in the nicest part of town, but it sure was better than the shitty old apartments he and Stone used to live in. Our apartment wasn’t much better.

Sam and I would probably never make enough money to buy something nice, but hell, at least we had a roof over our heads, and it was way better than living on the streets. I would never complain about our living situation. As long as Sam was in it, I would forever be happy. While I didn’t need to be rich, I wouldn’t snub my nose if I came into money either, but that would never happen.

When I stepped up to their door, which was stripped of paint, exposing raw wood, I knocked on it. Not long after, Stix’s mom answered the door with a smile on her face and white paint speckling her skin and hair.

She was the fucking nicest person I knew, always kind to Stix’s friends. She became like our adopted mom. And if we needed a female figure to talk to, we could talk to her without shame. We all adored her, along with Stix’s little sister, Nova, who’d recently turned six. And she was like our adopted sister. Stix had been taking her out skateboarding more, and we all helped out if we were around.

His Mom was still relatively young since she had Stix at a very young age. Her thick, brown hair was piled high on her head, and her dark brown eyes matched Stix’s.

“Hello, Nacho,” she said, instantly pulling me into a hug. “It’s good to see you, sweetie.”

“Hey, Ms. J. How’s it hanging?” I asked, hugging her back, trying not to pine over my lack of having a mother I could hug.

“It’s going well. Come on in.”

I stepped inside to chaos with the house in various states of repair. The place didn’t have much furniture since they weren’t exactly rolling in money either, but they’d been slowly working on fixing up the place, so there were home improvement supplies everywhere.

“Sorry about the mess. Since we’re doing the improvements ourselves and it’s expensive, it’s slow-going. At least I can get some things done while Nova isn’t here. That girl keeps me on my toes.”

I smiled and nodded. Nova was the sweetest kid I knew, but what did I know? I knew nothing about raising kids. “It looks great, and it’s going to be beautiful when you’re done. I’m so happy for you all and your new home.”

“Thank you, Nacho. So, what can I do for you?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Uhm. Is Stix here?”

“No, he’s out at the skatepark with Nova and Ajax, but Stone is here. He just got home from working at the fish market about an hour ago. I’m sure he’s out of the shower by now.”

“Uh…” I guess I could talk to him, though he scared me a little. He was intimidating as hell, and I’d only seen him smile and melt for Stix, but no one else. Even then, his smiles were small. But I was impatient enough to talk to him. “Sure?”

She snorted a laugh. “He looks big and scary, and rarely smiles, but I promise you, he’s sweet and patient. You seem like you really need to talk to someone, and he’s available. Or you can talk to me.”

My face incinerated. “Yeah, no can do. Not about this.”

Her smile was kind and patient. “I understand. Just go on upstairs. Stone is in his room.”

“Thanks, Ms. J.”

I ran up the stairs and stopped in front of the closed door to Stix and Stone’s bedroom. With a deep breath and a tumbling stomach, I knocked. At least Stone wouldn’t laugh at me since he rarely laughed at anything. And he wasn’t the type to tease people, either. That was Stix’s job.

Stone quickly opened it, scanning me with hazel-green eyes without an expression on his face. God, he was so hard to read. His dark brown hair had grown out since we’d first met him, usually keeping it close to the scalp. His long bangs fell, still wet from his shower, dripping a little bit down the sides of his freshly shaven face and onto his gray T-shirt.

“Nacho?” he said.

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