Six- Remy Reed.

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height




When Remy climbed into the passenger seat of Sydney's car, the blonde boy was chewing his lip. It was obvious that there was something on his mind, something he wanted to discuss, but Remy wasn't one to push for those things, so he let the older boy stay in his head for however long he needed to. "Hey," Sydney greeted after a long pause and Remy just nodded in acknowledgement.

While this was a typical response from him, it wasn't because of his usual reason of not wanting to speak. For, not the first time, Remy was stuck in his head, thinking about the words and theories of his therapist over their appointment.  

"Maybe you should get out of the house more," and, "maybe you should try opening up and talking everything out with Sydney".

Remy didn't want to do any of these things, especially the talking to Sydney one. He didn't understand how that would help him. If talking to a specialist wasn't helping, why would talking to Sydney help. This therapist claimed that sharing his past with her, and sharing his past with someone he cared about would be different, but Remy highly doubted this. Besides, troubling Sydney with his issues was something Remy didn't want to worry about.

When Sydney asked, "How did your appointment go?" Remy convinced himself that Sydney didn't really care and was just asking for courtesy. It was easier to tell himself this rather than actually tell Sydney how it had went. It was easier than telling him that all the money his parents were paying towards his well being was wasted. That he didn't feel any better after talking it out because he still felt nothing when he talked about it. The appointment, as always, had gotten him nowhere.

Remy grunted in response, turning to look out of the window for a moment before changing the subject. "How was Atticus this morning?"

"He was alright. Asked me about twelve times why I was taking him instead of you, and then started crying because your dad left out a pair of navy swim trunks instead, and I was trying to find the maroon ones, but I couldn't-"

"They're in the drawer with his shorts-"

"Well I found them eventually. I tried to convince him that Navy was one of your favorite colors too, but he was not having it. Kept crying and saying but it's not his favorite favorite! And I was willing to tear apart his whole fuckng room to find those damn maroon swim trunks," Sydney claimed, and Remy just nodded in understanding. He understood better than anyone how frustrating Atti could get when he whined.

It was quiet then, and when Remy glanced at Sydney, he was back to chewing on his lip, thinking about something. Judging by the rapidly furrowing eyebrows, Remy gave Sydney ten seconds before he gave up on silence and came out said what was on his mind.

Ten.

Sydney began to drum his fingers against the steering wheel.

Nine. Eight.

Absently, rent ran his fingers over his cracked knuckles and thought about how vigorously he had scrubbed his hands that morning after waking up drenched in sweat.

Seven.

A sharp inhale, one that would typically be followed by words, but none came.

Six.

Another sound. "I-"

Five.

Silence.

Four.

"Remy, I..."

Three.

Silence.

Two.

"Cecil is-"

When Sydney cut off this time, Remy couldn't stand waiting the second before he spoke about him.

"Cecil," Remy cut in and Sydney's eyes widened a fraction. "What about him?"

"Huh?"

Now he was annoyed. "Cecil Clarke. You were about to say something about Cecil Clarke. What were you going to say?" Remy demanded, curling his hands into his fists to keep from reaching out and snapping in Sydney's face.

"It's just," Sydney paused again and Remy wanted to strangle him. "Well, He's really not a bad guy, you know". And then he was silent. Remy was confused. There was no more lip biting or nervous taps against the steering wheel. Sydney had said what he wanted to say, and that was it.

"What?"

Sydney smiled at him. "I mean, he's a good person. We got coffee a few times and he's nice and all. His girlfriend dumped him a couple of months ago, so, you know," Sydney said. His eyes moved back to the road, but he was grinning a grin that Remy knew was meant for his eyes.

"I know what?"

"Nothing". Remy clenched his teeth and pressed his fists into his lap, hard enough that he knew he would find bruises when he went to take a shower that night. "It's just that, he's single". Rendered speechless, Remy just gaped at Sydney, who was still smiling at the road like some lunatic. He wanted to argue with what his friend was implying, but Remy knew that if he let any words out now, they'd come out broken and stuttered. "Take a deep breath, Rem".

He did, but his anger remained, so he still took a moment to compose himself before speaking. "I'm not interested in him that way". 

"Then in what way are you interested in him?" Sydney spoke in a teasing voice, and Remy glared.

"I'm not interested in him at all," Remy lied, and Sydney just looked at him knowingly. "What?"

"You're more interested in him than you have been in anyone before". While this was true, Remy didn't want to admit it, so he just scoffed. "It's true, Remy. You can't deny that you feel something for him- and if you say annoyance you're just proving my point".

"Look, I didn't ask him to kiss me, okay. He just did". The short kiss was still bothering Remy, and he still didn't understand how it happened. When he looked back at it, one second Cecil was smiling at him with intimidating pale green eyes catching the light in a certain way, taunting him with a stupid dare, and then his warm lips were on Remy's and then they weren't.

"I know you didn't but... I don't know, Remy. Maybe you should give him a chance".

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not telling you to date him or anything. You could be friends or something like that. I just think that you should try and let him into your life or something. It could be good for you," Sydney said, putting the car in park suddenly. Remy, who had been glaring at him all this while, looked out the window to see where they had stopped, and was immediately surprised that Sydney had remembered that he worked that afternoon.

Without anything to say, Remy climbed from the car. "Hey Remy". He didn't turn back to Sydney, but paused to listen to him. "Cecil says hi".

Remy slammed the door. He would think about Sydney's words, he decided, but only if he ever saw Cecil again.

***

He saw Cecil again.

Remy had been standing at the counter with Henry three hours after being dropped off. They were both reading, their attention on their books and the occasional customer, but never one another, and then he walked in.

His silver hair was damp, as if he had taken a shower earlier, and he was wearing a pair of thin framed glasses. He didn't look up at the counter when he came in- it actually looked as if he was going to walk right past it- and Remy for some reason opened his mouth and spoke.

This was a shock to him, because it wasn't something that just occurred spontaneously for him. Ever. Even Henry started from alongside him and looked up quickly.

"Why am I not surprised," Remy asked, and Cecil froze at the sound of his voice and then turned towards him with very wide green eyes framed by glasses. Remy found himself liking the look, but this was something he was thankfully able to refrain from saying. "Are you everywhere?"

Cecil walked over to the counter and leaned against it. His eyes shifted to Henry for a moment. "Hey Stone". Henry made a soft noise of acknowledgement before looking back down at his book. "Hello Princess, how are you today?"

Remy hated the nickname with a passion, and made a big deal of narrowing his eyes at Cecil for a long moment. He recalled Sydney telling him to befriend Cecil, but at the moment it seemed impossible.  "Leave me alone".

"As much as I'd love to flatter you, sugar, I didn't know that you worked here, and I'm not here to see you. I actually had a book that I was hoping to buy," Cecil claimed, knocking his fist against the counter. "I'll be back in a moment. I know exactly where I'm going".

Cecil disappeared into the aisles, and Remy looked after him with a frown. "You like him". This was Henry, and Remy turned to glare at him. The point didn't seem to get across as Henry continued to stare at his novel.

"I do not".

"You've just said more words to him in that three minute time span than you've ever said to me in your life, and you started the conversation because you wanted his attention". This was all true, so Remy opened his mouth to point out that none of this really meant that he liked Cecil, but Henry continued to speak. "He's alright, I guess. Attractive when his hairs not dyed that ridiculous shade, though my best friend did steal his girlfriend, so I'm guessing that was a sort of coping mechanism. Anyways, he's smart, made the dean's list both semesters last year, but he also has a ridiculously high alcohol tolerance after drinking his whole high school life away".

"Why are you telling me this?" Remy demanded, "I don't want to know this. I don't care about any of-"

"Alright, sweetheart, I'd like you to check me out. While I'm sure you're very good at it, Henry, you're not as good to look at as the little one," Cecil said, throwing his book on the counter. Remy growled at being referred to as the little one and dropped his eyes to the countertop to see which book Cecil had chosen.

Hamlet.

"You read Shakespeare?" Remy couldn't keep himself from asking, glancing up at Cecil with what he hoped was a blank face. Henry Stone snorted and rounded the counter.

"If you're taking care of that, I'm going to go do another aisle check," his co worker said before walking away. Remy watched him go, contemplating whether not not to point out that Henry had already done the exact same check only minutes before Cecil had arrived.

"Don't you recall me quoting Romeo and Juliet to you the second time we met," Cecil asked, and as he said it, Remy did. It made him warm to Cecil a bit more, which annoyed him.

"Whatever," he grumbled, picking up the book and looking at it for a moment before moving to scan it with the gun.

He could feel Cecil's eyes on him and when he glanced up, the green eyed boy was staring at his cracked hands, probably thinking about Remy overwashing them in the ice cream parlor. Remy dropped his eyes and parented not to notice Cecil noticing.

"Have you ever read it?" Cecil asked, surprising him. "Hamlet, I mean". Remy snorted.

"One may smile, and smile, and be a villain," he quoted easily, examining the edition Cecil had picked out before handing it back to him. A soft hum came from the tall boy as he looked down at Remy's cracked hand for a second before his eyes shifted to the book. His green eyes moved over the cover quickly as if seeing something he hadn't before.

"Why that quote?" Cecil questioned and Remy shrugged.

"Why not?"

"Do you trust me?" Remy didn't see how this question really applied to the conversation, unless Cecil believed himself to be the villain Remy had been referring to.

"It's just a quote, Clarke". Remy picked up his own book from the counter, some fantasy novel that Sydney had wanted him to read, that surprisingly wasn't actually terrible.

"Hey," Cecil spoke softly. "Answer the question please". Remy still didn't. "Come on, Remy. For me?"

"I never understood why people think that pointing out the obvious by telling me that the favor I'm doing is for them would make me want to do it more," Remy said, exacerbated. He looked up at Cecil then to find the boy still staring down at his copy of Hamlet. It was quiet for so long that Remy almost spoke.

"How much is it?" Cecil asked, looking up a him then and Remy just shook his head. "What's that mean?"

"Don't worry about it".

"Huh?"

"I owe you for ice cream," Remy reminded and Cecil looked to be thinking for a second before he sighed and grinned.

"Well now I need to pay you back". Remy shook his head, about to tell Cecil he wouldn't accept his money, but the silver haired boy surprised him yet again. "Let me take you out some time-"

"Jesus, Clarke, how many times do I have to say-"

"As friends, Remone. I would like to officially earn the right to call you Remy," Cecil declared, and Remy paused. He was about to say no. It was easier that way, for both of them, but he thought of what Sydney had said to him that morning, and the words Henry had spoken just minutes before, and Remy realized that he didn't want to say no.

So he didn't, and upon hearing Remy's first acceptance of spending time with him, Cecil Clarke's whole face lit up.

And how could that ever be a bad thing.


A/N Awww, Remy actually has human feelings.

Honestly though, I struggle writing for him so much. I'm such a happy person all the time and I love to laugh, and writing for someone who, six chapters in, still hasn't smiled or even chuckled once... it's difficult. I love him, because he's Remy, but it's sooo hard.

Cecil's joy makes up for it though :)

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net