a/n: Hey, guess who followed through on their promises? I actually did manage to get it up today somehow. I'll tell you guys when I know the next upload date, but it should be relatively soon. Also, fair warning, this chapter does contain some smut near the middle to end, so tread carefully if you're not comfortable with that. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter and have a good week!

The next Newspaper Club meeting was two days later on the following Thursday. Kayden mostly had the article written, he just needed to do a bit of editing before he turned it in to Elias for advanced edits and finalization. The interview had mostly gone to plan. Kayden killed an hour talking to Elias about class president things, asked a few questions, and spent about eighty percent of the time finding creative ways to redirect the conversation until Elias caught on and dragged the topic back to what they were supposed to be discussing. He thought Elias looked like he was having fun anyway, and the guy definitely needed more fun in his life. The more Kayden found out about him, the more he realized that Elias didn't have downtime, he was genuinely burning the candle at both ends and had no problem doing so. He wrote poetry and smoked, but that was it, he had very few escapes from his academic life. Kayden couldn't imagine how someone could love working so much, but Elias seemed to devote himself completely to everything he did. He did wonder, though, how long it would take before the wick burned down completely, and how long Elias had been living like this already. He seemed to bask in the glory of his achievements, but nobody could keep up such an unscathed and perfect image forever, even marble statues cracked over time.

The second meeting was mostly boring. Kayden worked on his article, Grant and Ezra whispered back and forth about formatting and design, and the others quietly typed or clicked or sighed. There was nothing particularly wrong with the meeting, Kayden was just tired and didn't particularly want to be there. His day hadn't been bad, there had been no disasters or tragedies, it had simply been long. Perhaps it was the worst thing in the world to be miserable without extenuating circumstances. 

"Kayden," Elias said, not moving his eyes from the paragraph he was reading over. 

The redhead looked up, "Yeah?"

"You've been staring at your screen blankly for the last ten minutes," Elias briefly glanced back at him. 

"I've got a lot on my mind, I guess," He murmured, getting back to work on the article.

"Well, box it up and put it in the back of your head for later or something," Elias muttered.

"Not everyone can compartmentalize things away. If I could, I would."

"It's a skill, not a trait,"

"It's unhealthy."

"It's necessary."

"Would you two shut up, please?" Arlo asked, glaring at the two of them. "I'm trying to color grade this picture and I need quiet."

"Sorry," Kayden mumbled. 

Elias silently went back to his work, calm and collected. Unphased as he always seemed to be. 

---

Shortly after the meeting ended, there was dinner, and after that, Kayden went back to his dorm to sit alone in his silence. He wasn't sure where Theo had gotten off to, but he figured he'd probably gone for a walk in the woods. In any case, Kayden was left to his own devices. He laid in bed and listened to music, paced, and read a few pages of a book, but in the end, he only served to fuel his own restlessness. He was so bored that he'd rather be in pain than sit around feeling as useless and empty as he did. It was an all-consuming state of being that wound tight around his bones like cellophane and made his skin feel too tight and too loose simultaneously. He wanted to do something, go somewhere, find something to occupy him. He wanted to scream. 

As he walk the length of his tiny dorm, he opened drawers, looking for some kind of answer. What he found was a little yellow crumpled-up post-it note. He hadn't thought about it since that day, but as he picked it up and carefully unfolded it, he considered that old proposition. No feelings, no strings attached, just a simple transaction with equal give and take. 

He sat down on his bed for a few minutes, reading over it.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

-Henry

He let out a soft breath, thinking it over. He thought he was far too sober to be considering an option like this. But really, what did he have to lose? He could also ask what he had to gain from empty sex, but it was something to do at least. He thought it might distract him for a little while. He didn't want to think about grades, or tests, or Elias anymore, he just wanted to be numb, maybe Henry could give him that. 

Before he knew it, he was typing in the number and hitting the call button. It was only when he heard Henry's voice that he fully realized what he was doing.

"Who is this?" 

"Oh, hey, it's uh...it's Kayden- from the party...and the antique shop." 

"I knew you'd come around," His voice sounded smooth with a tone of cockiness. "So what's going on?" 

"There's nothing going on."

"Why would you call me out of the blue if there wasn't?"

"Maybe I just...y'know, maybe I realized I want company, maybe I'm pent up," Kayden said. 

"Mm...maybe, but you don't seem like the type." 

"The type to want company?"

"The type to fuck because you're pent up."

"What makes you think that?"

"You're an escapist. You fuck because you're stressed or sad or overwhelmed, not because of a need for it." 

"How could you possibly know that?"

"So I was right." He could hear the grin in Henry's voice. 

"You made a good guess," Kayden said. "Look, do you want me to come over or not?"

"The house is empty tonight, you know where it is...unless you want me to pick you up." 

"No, it's okay, I can get there. Just give me half an hour." 

"Alright, I'll see you then." 

---

Kayden never got used to how big Henry's house was. He thought it must be unbearably lonely when it was quiet. He wondered if that was why Henry always filled it with music and people whenever his parents were away. He couldn't stand to sit with himself, he was terrified of what would happen if his thoughts got away from him and he remembered how horribly desolate he was inside. Maybe Kayden was just projecting though. Maybe Henry was nothing like him and he was filled with joy and love. Kayden thought he saw something different in him, though, that all-too-familiar desperation. He didn't think Henry knew what he wanted, but if he did ever come to find out, he'd never get it, never let himself have it or enjoy it, and he could never reconcile with that, but he couldn't ignore it either. Maybe Kayden's type was empty boys who reminded him too much of himself and that was why he'd never find love that lasted longer than a night.

Henry welcomed him in with a smile when he knocked on the door and walked upstairs with him to his room. It was bigger than Kayden had imagined with a king-sized bed, balcony, two grand bookcases, a darkwood desk, and flat-screen tv. Henry asked if he wanted a drink, to which the answer was yes, and for a while, they took sips of dark brown liquid out of crystal glasses, exchanging comments back and forth. 

"Do you have pets?" Kayden asked.

"No. I wanted a cat, but my mom's allergic, and my dad hates dogs," He said with a shrug. "What about you?"

"None, we move too much."

"Why?"

"My mom's a whore."

Henry quietly choked on a laugh at Kayden's flippant and uncaring delivery of it. He said it like he had accepted it long ago and it no longer phased him to think about, mostly because it didn't. 

"What do you mean by that?" Henry asked after regaining his composure. 

"I mean she marries rich men and moves into their houses, then she cheats, divorces, and moves on with the new one. It's an ever-repeating cycle that knows no beginning or end," Kayden said, taking another long sip. "Sorry, I know that's probably a mood-killer," He set down his drink with a small sigh.

"Well," Henry started with a small smile, hand moving up to gently play with one of Kayden's curls. "Do you still want me to fuck you?"

Kayden looked up at him, suddenly aware of how close they'd become, sitting next to each other. "I wouldn't still be here if I didn't."

"Then I'd say the mood is just fine," He smirked, cupping Kayden's cheek as he pulled him in closer to kiss him. It was slow at first, soft and gentle, then harder and faster as Kayden grabbed him by the collar of his sweater, moving to straddle Henry's lap. The redhead ground against him, moaning into his mouth. 

He knew who he wanted wasn't who he had, but he thought if he enveloped himself in this entirely, lost himself against Henry, it wouldn't matter. That was what he did, hungrily grabbing and scratching and pulling out every semblance of desire and heat he could. 

As Henry flipped their positions, Kayden began working at the blond's belt, thin fingers desperately slipping it off and undoing the button on his trousers.

"Maybe you are pent up." Henry chuckled, unbuttoning Kayden's shirt and pants. 

Kayden grinned, "It's working in your favor if I am." 

"I wasn't complaining," He murmured, pulling Kayden in for another kiss as he slipped a hand into his boxer briefs, seeming to enjoy the whiny moans he elicited from him. "You're so goddamn pretty."

"Fuck off," Kayden muttered with a small smile as his hips jerked up against Henry's hand. 

Henry only grinned and pulled away to open his bedside drawer, rummaging around in it until he found lube and condoms. Kayden was quick to kick off his underwear before Henry pulled his legs apart, sitting one on his shoulder. "I get the feeling you're not very good at taking compliments." 

Kayden let out a huff, looking at him. "Stop psychoanalyzing me and pick up the pace already." 

Henry seemed to focus after that, taking a few minutes to make sure he was properly prepped, but by that point, Kayden was begging him to speed up again and Henry complied, pushing himself in and moving almost immediately. Kayden didn't have much time to adjust, but he didn't want it. He liked the pain if he was honest. 

It didn't take long after that before they'd settled into a steady pace, and Kayden was finally getting what he wanted. He wanted to be numb, out of his mind, fucked senseless. Every time he asked for more, Henry gave it to him, he was predictable like that, and Kayden wanted that at the moment, a sense of stability.

When it was over, Henry pulled out and lay on the bed next to him, panting softly. Kayden ran his fingers through his hair, tugging his clothes back on and tying his shoes as he looked at himself in the mirror to make sure it wasn't obvious what had just happened. 

"You want anything before you leave?" Henry asked, sitting up a bit. 

"I'm good. Thank you, though. I should get back. Walker will be coming around to make sure everyone's inside soon," He said, redoing his tie. "We should do this again sometime." 

"I agree," Henry said with a small smile. "Have a good night."

"You too." Kayden returned the smile before he stepped out, closing the door behind him and making his way out of the house. As he got on his skateboard and started back towards Antisto, he could feel the chill of winter air rush through his clothing. And that biting breeze, he thought, was the most sobering thing in the world. To be surrounded by the freezing night, the stars hanging above him, little twinkling specks in the sky. It began to snow before he got back to the dorms, the slightest flurrying in the air. There, riding through town, as wind and snow rushed around him, he thought about Elias.