"That's not the point," Kaz said softly. He wasn't quite sure at first, but he genuinely cared about Vaughn. And he worried that if Vaughn left he might do something rash, like turn himself into the cops, or…or try to do what Kaz had done before. And he'd be damned if he let anyone suffer through that when he could have done something to help. "Look, you may not like it but I'm your friend now. And I'm not going to let you go home and suffer when I can help."
Vaughn let out a sharp sigh, rubbing at his jaw. Dammit, I really need to shave still. “Alright.. But I would feel much safer going back to my place,” he murmured, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket.
"Then we can go to your place together," Kaz suggested, already reaching for his hoodie and leather jacket he had thrown on the back of the couch
Vaughn nodded and walked to the door, making sure Kaz would follow before walking out into the hall. He lowered his head a tad in an attempt to hide his features a bit more.
Kaz followed behind him, throwing his hoodie and jacket on before turning to lock the door behind them. He sped up a little until he was walking next to Vaughn. Noticing the way he was ducking his head he walked a tad bit in front of him, standing up taller to help hide his figure in case someone saw them
Vaughn left the building, walking over to his truck that was parked across the lot. He fished his keys from his pocket and walked to the drivers side and unlocked the truck. He got inside, and once Kaz was in, he started it up.
Kaz got in quietly, wrapping his arms around himself as he looked out the window. It had really begun to rain now, the sound of it muffled inside the truck
Vaughn drove down the road in silence. It was growing dark by that point. He wondered how long he had slept at Kaz’s. It was before the afternoon when he went over. He must have been there for a while. Kaz must have been sleeping on top of him for a while. He didn’t like the feeling that bubbled up in his stomach when he thought about it. Eventually, he pulled up to the abandoned gas station and parked in the lot before shutting the car off.
Kaz got out of the truck, putting his hood on to keep his glasses from getting wet. It bothered him when they were smudged, so he tried his best to keep them clean all the time. He squinted at the gas station. "You live here?" he asked, more curious than anything. He had assumed by the way Vaughn dressed he would be at least staying in a hotel or something
Vaughn hummed in response and nodded his head. He got out of the truck and walked over to the front doors, not seeming to mind that he was getting soaked by the rain. He unlocked the front doors and stepped inside, walking over to the counter towards the back, shrugging his wet suit jacket off.
Kaz gulped a little at the sight of Vaughn, his white button down half-wet and clinging just a little to his body. He shook his head a little, trying to shake the thought from his mind. He took his hood off, walking to the counter. He hopped up on it, legs swinging idly. "Smart. Smart place to live, I mean. People won't really look for you in an abandoned gas station."
Vaughn ran a hand through the longer section of his hair, smoothing the dripping strands away from his eyes. He leaned against the counter next to where Kaz was sitting, slightly bent over. He looked up at Kaz before shifting his gaze away again. “Mhm. I would prefer something nicer, but that’s impossible with my face plastered on most news channels. Besides, I’ve got all I need here,” he said, gesturing to the Isles.
"Yeah. Definitely smart," Kaz said, looking around the isles. "You've got everything you need, at least until the food expires. But this is a minimart, so there's probably something in here that'll never expire," he joked
(true)
Vaughn gave a hum in acknowledgment and pushed off the counter so he was standing up straight again. “I check dates every once in a while, throw out expired things,” he said, fingers tracing circles on the smooth counter top.
He glanced down at him then, frowning at his wet clothes. “Excuse me while I go change..” he mumbled, walking around to the other side of the counter. He pushed open a door and went inside, shutting it softly behind him. Now in the backroom, he unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it aside, his undershirt coming off afterwards. He walked to one of the shelves taking down one of the boxes. He shifted through the clothing items, feeling the various fabric types with the tips of his fingers.
Kaz stared down at the tiles, his fingers drumming on his knees as he swung his feet absently. He glanced around the minimart, seemingly trying to memorize every feature while he waited for Vaughn to finish
Vaughn tugged on a tshirt and a black sweatshirt, then changed into a pair of dark grey joggers. He stepped out of the backroom, drying at his hair with a small towel. He had another draped over his shoulder, which he tossed to Kaz. “You can use that to dry off with, I don’t know how well any of my clothes would fit you,” Vaughn said, sitting down in the desk chair as he watched Kaz closely.
Kaz caught it, still in the process of a small double take at the sight of Vaughn dressed in anything except formal wear. He reached up to dry his hair with it before shrugging his jacket off and taking his hoodie with it. He took his glasses off, cleaning the glass with the corner of the towel before putting them back on. "Thanks," he said, setting the towel down next to him
“Welcome,” Vaughn said, having watched Kaz as he was going so. He rolled up the sleeves to his sweatshirt, revealing the tattoo on his left forearm for the first time. He leaned back in the chair, kicking his feet up onto the countertop next to Kaz. He decided it was too quiet and reached over, flicking on the old radio and switching though channels.
Kaz caught the tattoo in the corner of his eye. He turned, squinting at it for a moment. "You've got ink too?" he asked, smiling a little
Vaughn did a slight double take, looking down at the messily written letters that spelled Adeline. A memory flashed in his mind of her. He was 12, she was 5. He remembered that his sister got bullied during school, due to a slight lisp she had when speaking. He remembered her coming to him on the playground during grade school, a complete mess of tears. He remembered asking her what had happened, and how she had showed him her skinned elbow. He had been filled with anger when seeing that, and after dropping his sister off in the school office, he had gone out to the kids she had been playing with. He remembered yelling at them, threatening to hurt the kids if they hurt her again. A teacher had come over and scolded him for that, sending him to the office as well. So he had sat there with Adeline in the office until their mom picked them up. He had been a hell of a lot of trouble, but he remembered feeling happy that he helped his little sister.
Vaughn blinked a few times as the memory faded away again. There was a tense feeling in his lungs when he remembered his sister, but it went away. “Yeah,” he simply mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
Kaz's face fell a little at the way Vaughn hid the tattoo. "Um. Sorry. Sorry for asking," he said, leaning forward and resting his head on his hands
Vaughn exhaled slowly and shook his head. “No, no, it’s fine. You showed me yours, so I’ll do the same. We will be even,” He said hesitantly, uncovering the tattoo. “Adeline is my sister’s name. I had it done in her handwriting,” he explained softly, fingers tracing over the ink.
Kaz shuffled a little closer so he could see the tattoo better. He smiled a little. "The best tattoos are the ones that have meaning. Almost all mine have some reason for being there." He rolled up his right sleeve, turning his arm so that the abstract, lined diamond was visible on the inside of his forearm. It had an eye in the center of it, with the eye looking sort of like a goat's. "I got this one for my cousin. He doesn't know I have it, I got it right after he went missing."
Vaughn frowned softly. He got up from his chair, standing next to Kaz now. He traced his finger over the shape of the diamond. Kaz’s skin was soft under his fingertips, and he got a craving to feel him elsewhere. But he scolded himself mentally. What was he thinking? He couldn’t be thinking those sort of things, not right then. He dropped his hand away from the tattoo, letting his hand rest on the countertop. “I like it, it’s nice,” Vaughn said slowly.