Chapter Text
Felix sat down in the chair and I draped the towel around his shoulders.
“Okay, gimme the box.” I held out my hand and he held the small box up. I grabbed it and read the instructions on the side. “Okay so first is the bleach. Have you bleached your hair before?”
“Yeah, one time.” Felix nodded. “That was back when I was a kid though. My mum did it for me.”
“Should we call her for help?” Felix shook his head at my suggestion.
“I’m sure you’ll do great.” He turned and flashed me a smile. I smiled back and took a breath. He was right. I could do this.
“Okay, your hair is pretty dark, so the bleach has to stay in for a while. Is that okay?” I asked as I messed with his hair.
“Yeah, it should be fine.” With his confirmation, I put on gloves and opened the box of hair bleach. I used a medium strength packet instead of the strongest one because I was afraid it would kill Felix’s hair. I figured I'd rather do another bleach session than do it all at once and have his hair fall out. I put aside the prepped dye and began to section off his hair using small claw clips.
“You look silly with your hair like this,” I said and secured the last section.
“Just because you said that I’m going to wear my hair like this forever.” Felix shook his head, making the clips swing around. I held his head still before he could fling any of them off.
“Okay, now the good stuff.” I grabbed the brush and bowl of hair bleach. Felix clapped his hands and bounced in the chair. I got to work saturating his hair in bleach, going section by section. It stayed relatively quiet as I worked. When all sections were done and trapped in bits of foil, I threw the brush and the bowl in the sink.
“Alright,” I sighed and took off my gloves. “Now we wait.”
“What are we going to do while we wait?” Felix asked me. I thought for a moment. It was hard thinking of something to do that wouldn’t jeopardize the dye job.
“Movie?” I suggested with a shrug.
“Alright!” Felix stood up, careful to keep the towel on his shoulders. “Can I pick?”
“Sure.” My response made Felix cheer. I followed him out to my living room.
“Here,” I rushed past him and pushed a throw pillow off the couch and onto the floor. “Sit here so you don’t mess up your hair on the couch.”
“Wow,” He shook his head. “You value your couch more than me?”
“No, you goober!” I snorted and sat on the couch. “Now come here.”
I grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the spot in front of me. He smiled and sat on the pillow anyways.
“What do you want to watch?” I asked and gently pulled him back to rest against the couch.
“Wall-E, please.” Felix never failed to remain polite. I turned on the TV and loaded up Wall-E on a streaming platform. We sat and watched the movie, making comments here and there, until about 40 minutes had passed. With the movie still playing, I checked under the foil on Felix’s hair.
“How does it look?” He asked.
“Looks good actually. Let’s go wash it out.”
Felix paused the movie (of course) and we headed back to the washroom where we had forgotten the chair earlier. I turned it around so that his back would be to the sink, took off the foil, and told him to sit.
“Hot water or cold water?” I asked and put my hand under the running water.
“Is warm an option?”
“Yes, it is.” I chuckled and adjusted the water temperature. “Okay, tilt your head back.”
Felix slowly bent his neck back and I got to work rinsing out the bleach. I used a small cup to pour water on his hair and massaged his scalp to make sure I got everything out. While I worked, I noticed Felix close his eyes. He let out a soft hum every once in a while. I was glad he had his eyes closed because I couldn’t stop smiling at him. He looked so peaceful and calm as I washed his hair. Something about it all made my heart flutter. Unfortunately, I couldn’t wash his hair forever, so I turned off the tap and grabbed a small towel.
“Lift your head,” I said and wrapped the towel around his wet hair. I rubbed his head and dried his hair as best as I could. When I finished, I took a step back to look at him. The sight endeared me. His eyes looked a little sleepy and his hair was sticking out everywhere. The new reddish-brown hue of his hair brought out the pink tones in his face.
“Does it look okay?” He asked and wet his lips. He reached up to touch his damp hair as if he would be able to feel the color change.
“Oh, yeah. It’s great.” I blushed and joined him in touching his hair. “It’s brown, but a little on the red side. Is that okay?”
“I don’t know what that means, but probably.” He laughed and shook his head like a puppy.
“Take a look.” I grabbed his hand as he stood up and turned him to face the mirror.
“Wow!” Felix smiled wide and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s great. You did a really good job.”
“Thanks.” I bit my lip and stood slightly behind him to hide my ever-growing blush. I watched him in the mirror as he continued to mess with his newly colored hair. My heart felt warm in my chest, and it scared me. I wasn’t allowed to get too caught up in my head because Felix soon turned to face me.
“Want to finish that movie?” He asked.
“Sure,” I did a little hop. “And this time you can sit on the couch.”
“Yay!” He cheered and headed back to the living room. I followed behind him, deciding to leave our mess for later. When we reached the couch, however, Felix stopped in front of it and didn’t make a move to sit.
“Something wrong?” I asked and peered past him to look for anything strange.
“No.” He said. “I was just wondering… maybe I could sit on the floor again.”
“If you want to, sure.”
He moved out of the way so I could sit down and he sat on the ground in front of me. I was confused but resumed the movie and figured I’d just let Felix be Felix. About 30 seconds later, Felix tilted his head back to nudge me. I raised my hand a little and he leaned his head into it. My heart leaped into my throat when I understood what he wanted. I put my hands in his hair and combed through its length. I played with his hair and massaged his scalp. I forgot about the movie playing on the TV, too focused on the tingling in my fingers. When I brushed his hair back from his forehead, he titled his head back to look at me. My chest felt like it was on fire. His eyes twinkled as he gave me a small smile. He looked at me so sweetly and I didn’t know what to do.
“Thanks,” He said softly. “I love spending time with you.”
“I love spending time with you too.” I smiled like an idiot. And in a moment of lapsed judgment, I placed a kiss on his forehead. A small peck as I held his hair back. When I sat up, it felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I watched Felix open his eyes and try to hold back a smile. I was amazed and relieved. He didn’t seem put off by the gesture; in fact, he seemed rather the opposite. If the light flush in his face told me anything, Felix liked my forehead kiss. He pulled his head back up and continued to watch the movie. My fingers kept playing with his hair and my head was mush. My heart was beating so fast that if I had been wearing a FitBit, it probably would have logged the moment as a medical episode. I wondered if Felix could feel the shaking of my fingers. If he did, he didn't say anything. The rest of the day passed as any other day together did. He hung around and left before dinner. He hugged me goodbye at the door as usual and I watched him jog next door and go inside. I remember hoping Mrs. Lee wouldn’t be too upset about his new hair.