Work Text:
Kevin sighs, messing around on his phone, scrolling through twitter- he thinks there’s a term for it. Doom scrolling, right? He settles on doom scrolling.
The bell stop the door rings, signaling that someone had come in. The cashier fumbles with his phone to try and put it away, like a kid who was caught with it in school. He glances up, praying it’s not those damn kids- and he doesn’t even believe in God!
His heart flutters when he sees his boyfriend, Streber, wearing the same thing he had been wearing all Halloween week. A cheap Vampire
costume- probably from Spirit Halloween. He had painted the inside of the cloak green, though. He told Kevin all about the green screen camera he had invested in for it, and of course the candy shop worker listened as adamantly as possible.
Kevin stares at Streber in pure admiration. “Well, hello there.” Tapping his fingers on the counter, he watched as the “vampire” saunters up and leans his whole body weight onto the counter.
“Hah! Helloooo, Kev.” Streber grins, highlighting his plastic vampire fangs.
Kevin tilts his head slightly. “I don’t know how you talk with those.” He comments. “You have naturally sharp teeth, too- you don’t even need them.”
Streber steps back, animatedly making gestures with his hands while he speaks. “It’s really not too hard! You just have to focus on your- uh- a.. annunciation.” He fumbles with the last word. Kevin spares a quiet laugh. “Plus, it’s more fun with the teeth!” He answers the second statement like it’s a question, then gives one of his own. “You didn’t dress up?” Streber asks, a slight frown playing at his features. It makes Kevin a little sad.
“Can’t. Remember? Work.” He sighs, looking off to the side. He hates to see the look in Streber’s eyes- he would love to go with Streber- anywhere. But he has bills to pay, and.. he can’t get fired from here. The owner could be quite ruthless, and if anything happens to the shop while he’s gone… (Especially more candy being stolen.)
Well, he just can’t spare the time. Nobody else would pick up his shift- hell, practically nobody else ever shows up! It’s always him picking the shifts up. He gets sick of it. He is sick of it.
But hey, what can you do when you’re a glorified college dropout?
Streber looks at him with that same frown and those big eyes that make Kevin wonder how anybody could ever be scared of him. “Next Halloween, okay? We’ll do somethin’ really fun. I promise.” He notices Streber’s hand idly lying on the counter. He places his hand over the other’s. “Okay?”
Streber smiles, but those big sad eyes stay, sparking like big sad stars in the sky. “Okay.” The vampire quietly echoes. His eyes lighten slightly, and he speaks up. “I have to go to the Haunted House- Somebody needs to haunt it! Or else it would just be a house.” He pauses. “And, that’s not very scary.” He specifies, in case Kevin didn’t notice the problem with that.
“Alright, Alright. You have fun, okay? Text me when you’re done, we can watch a movie or something. Maybe Dracula?” Kevin offers, playing on the whole vampire theme the other had going on. “I love you.” He adds.
He was getting better at saying that. It was never easy at the start, the words would get caught in his throat and he hated to utter them. But now, it feels more like a tradition- every time the two would part, they would share an “i love you”. Some say that cheapens the meaning, but Kevin doesn’t agree.
“I love you too, my candy man.” Streber shoots him a soft smile, squeezing his hand. Then, he pulls away, and Kevin feels cold. Cold, alone, even though the love of his life is standing right in front of him.
The feeling doesn’t get better once Streber leaves. Kevin only feels emptier.
He hates this damn job.
//
Streber loves Halloween, with all his heart. Well, okay, no, he loves Kevin with all his heart. He felt really bad leaving him alone in that candy shop, but he didn’t want to disappoint the other staff at the Haunted House.
Stepping out of his black car, he closes the door, and it makes that noise that car doors make when they don’t close all the way. The unsatisfying noise that makes Streber’s eyebrows furrow, and he slams his back against the door to close it completely.
He smiles triumphantly, enjoying the cool air of mid-fall before the brutal winter comes in a month or so. He then walks into the back of the house. “Erm- helloo?” He waves to no one. He takes a few steps throughout the area, confused over the lack of people.
Suddenly, as he’s walking past a doorframe, somebody in a particularly well done zombie costume jumps out at him, gravelly voice screeching.
He yells and jumps back, a mini-heart attack sending adrenaline rushing through his veins. The zombie- upon closer inspection, zombie pirate- laughs and leans backwards, stumbling and almost losing balance. “Woah! That was one of the best scares I’ve gotten today.”
Streber can’t help but smile (as much as he wants to be mad). “That was well done..” He comments, loudly huffing.
“Everybody else came in through the front. They’re on the porch.” Zombie-costume answers an unsaid question for him. “You’re Streber, right? I liked your application. You seem like you’re havin’ fun with this.” They grin, sticking their hand out to shake. “I’m Oliver.”
Streber suspiciously glances down at their hand, before he shakes it. Oliver’s hand promptly falls off, and they laugh. Streber panics again for a short moment- viscerally. Upon further inspection, he sees that it’s a prop. Oliver’s real arm pops out from their shirt. “Got you again.” They snicker.
“Ugh.. I’ll see you outside.” Streber feigns his anger, but he can’t wipe the smile from his face. Someone else who loves Halloween like he does! He then walks towards the front of the house, inspecting every doorframe before he walks in front of it.
He comes outside, and sees a handful of people conversating and having a fun time. It makes Streber feel special, to be in a small group of only six or seven dedicated Halloween lovers.
Or, maybe, these are just the only people who applied to volunteer.
Either way, they must love Halloween! And that makes Streber very happy. He remembers that he was manning the front when he sees the green screen camera he had gotten, making him wonder why he even came through the back. Maybe just to make preparations? A formality, even? He can’t remember.
“Vamp-man!” A younger person- couldn’t be older than 16- in a witch costume notices him first.
The others turn to him. Theres some guy in a wolf-bomb costume- maybe a reference to something he doesn’t understand-, another vampire, another zombie, and what looks like an aviator-mummy? A man in a ghostface costume moves his mask to the side, light stubble dotting his face. “Hey, bro. You’re the one who got the green screen cam, yeah?” He asks. There’s also a very tall woman in a ghost costume, but not a basic sheet over head one- she has a long, blue dress, marge simpson type hair, and a red gem on a necklace.
“Ah- yes! Would you like to see it in action?” Streber realizes he may have come a bit early, so he can bond with his co-volunteers a little. The answer seems to be a unanimous “yes”.
“Okay, okay- watch this!” He turns the camera on, then flips his cloak over himself, green side facing outwards. It shields him like an invisibility cloak, causing him to disappear in the “mirror”’s view.
There’s a small sound of shock from the others. “That’s fuckin’ awesome!” Oliver shouts, and Streber isn’t sure when they got here. “I hate to interrupt, but it’s time to get to your posts, guys.” They say.
The others nod, and say say a brief farewell to each other (and Streber) for the time being. Streber is the only one who stays outside, before scurrying into a dark area- one where he would pop out from with a smoke bomb! He can imagine the reactions now.. oooh, he’s so excited!
Streber has a good feeling about tonight.
//
Kevin has a horrible feeling about tonight.
The more he thinks about it, the more he regrets not calling out. Every Halloween something goes wrong. Part of him just wants to book it, apologize to Streber and spend all of Halloween with him. However…
He spares a glance to his coworker.
That wouldn’t be very fair.
The night goes on mostly.. boring, weirdly. He frequently checks his phone, waiting for a notification from Streber. He knows it hasn’t been that long, but… maybe an emergency could happen. Children enter the store, then they get candy, then they leave. Kevin is getting suspicious.
After giving candy to two kids- one wearing some sort of South Park costume, and the other being what he can only assume to be an axolotl- a woman in a red dress comes in. A gold necklace accentuated with a gem in the middle is wrapped around her neck. She walks up to the counter after practically shooing the two kids away, heels loudly clacking across the ground.
Kevin tries not to grimace at the strong smell of expensive perfume. “What would you like, ma’am?” He forces a smile (which is basic customer service at this point).
“Not you.” She almost spits at him, turning away with a grimace. Kevin continues forcing that smile, almost losing his cool. He fidgets with his fingers. “Hmph. Give me one of everything, and double it!” She makes little hand gestures, while still refusing to turn and look at him. The cashier’s smile falters, as he looks around.
“Uhh.. okay, Rick..?” He calls, turning to look at the box-carrying man. “Help me get two of everything.” He makes a little “two” sign with his hands to accent his words.
“Okay.” Rick murmurs.
The woman loudly snaps, causing Kevin to jump a bit. “And hurry up.“ She hisses. Kevin reels back in shock, shaking his head. His eyebrows knit together in anger, and he huffs, before getting to it.
When the woman leaves after he gets the candy, he lets out a sigh of relief. “Jesus fuck. “ He mutters, crossing his arms over the counter. This was gonna make him mad for the next few days.
//
[authors note: streber break]
After scaring a few people, Streber is having the time of his life! These two kids are running up, more excited than anyone else he’s seen, looking around in clear awe. Streber hops out, throwing the smoke bomb against the ground, making sure he uses enough force to set it off.
“Ah!” He reaches his arms towards the two kids for a minute, trying to scare them. “Velcome! To ze hauntiest of houses!” Streber throws his arms out to his sides, watching the costumed children get as excited as he is, their eyes might as well have stars in them! “And,” He gestures to the “mirror”. “I,” He drapes his cloak over himself. “Am a real vampire!” He then walks behind the two, flipping his cloak over himself.
He hears a noise of confusion from one, but can’t really see anything, so he assumes the kid just doesn’t know how this works. “NOW!” He wraps the outside of the cloak back over himself. “Get inside! And get SCAREEDD!” He wiggles his naturally weirdly sharp fingers. The two kids explode into gleeful laughter and run into the house. Streber can’t help but laugh too.
He gets back into his normal posture, adjusting his handkerchief. A man walks up behind him- dressed as that famous serial killer everybody has been talking about lately. “Helllo, little devil fellow!” He smiles. “Would you like to get scareddd?!”
//[ ⚠️ GORE INCOMING ⚠️ ]//
The man leans closer to him, and he recoils slightly. “Did you know,” The horned man keeps the grin on his face, while Streber’s smile fades. “If you eat a human brain, you’ll get a disease similar to mad cow?” He finishes his fact, while Streber’s face fades into more of a frown, and he reels back a bit more. Was the devil man- drooling?
The figure looms over him now, and Streber is starting to think this isn’t a costume. “Wwhat..?” He clasps his hands together in panic.
Suddenly, Bob is on him, and he’s screaming, and he’s kicking, and he’s yelling, and something sharp is pressing against where his forearm meets his upper arm and then it gets raised, then a loud SLAM sounds and god it hurts. He’s screaming, and he’s screaming, and he’s screaming, until his throat is raw, and it hurts too, but it can’t hurt as much as the feeling of his arm being ripped from his body. There’s another SLAM, and a SLAM, and a SLAM. He’s being fucking butchered like an animal.
Then there’s a loud, deafening, CRACK. Than a louder, infinitely more deafening SNAP. More pain shoots through his arm, sparking across his whole body and making him choke out a sob. There’s blood, there’s so much blood, Streber wants to pass out. “Stop.. SCREAMING.” Bob yells, getting annoyed, and he hits Streber in the head so hard the man’s vision blurs for a moment. It feels like his skull is caving in, the pain is excruciating.
He gets a glimpse at Bob- sees his arm not on his body, and he wants to barf. Then, Bob begins laughing, and walks into the haunted house. Streber can’t move. There’s too much pain. With the last of his adrenaline, he screams one more time, yelling, “PLEASE! OLIVER! ANYONE! HELP!”, while his vision blurs.
The last things he sees are the kids from before saying something along the lines of, “Wow! So realistic!”, the serial killer- now with the bone of his arm- which makes him even sicker- and then, lastly, Oliver. Along with the ghostface masked man, and the young kid in the witch costume from earlier. He can’t say anything.
He sees their mouths moving, but he can’t understand them. Oliver is kneeling down, shaking him, over and over. “Stay awake. Stay awake, c’mon, Jake is calling the cops.” He assumes that’s Ghostface man even with his lack of consciousness, judging by the fact he can see him on the phone.
It’s hard to stay awake when it feels like his arm has been set on fire. It’s not there anymore, he doesn’t know why it’s still burning so bad- it’s so bad. It hurts so bad.
“It hurts, so bad.” He croaks out.
“It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. Jesus, oh my god-“ Oliver clasps a hand over their mouth. “Jakey, what’s the situation with the ambulance-?!” They call.
Streber can’t bring himself to stay awake anymore.
Sorry, Kevin.
This isn’t how he wanted tonight to go.
//[ ⚠️ GORE OVER ⚠️ ]//
//
Just when he gets to calming down, he hears the door ring again. He perks up, throat catching when he sees those two damn kids in those damn costumes. What was their names? Skid and Pump? Yeah, whatever it was- he’s not doing this right now.
“Oooh, no.“ He gets out from behind the desk, tired of being professional. Rolling up his sleeves, (even though he has short sleeves, so it’s more like just pretending to roll up his sleeves), he gently begins escorting the kids out of the store. “Oh, no, no, no! Nonononononono, no.”
Pump frowns. “Bbuuht, we just want a free candy can..!” He says, in that nasally voice he has.
“NOT today.” Kevin shouts a little louder than he wanted to. “You bring me, SO much trouble!” He puts his hands on his hips, leaning forward.
“When have we done that?” Skid frowns, acting so oblivious it’s pissing Kevin off, and that makes him feel guilty, because fuck this is just a kid, but he can not handle this today.
Kevin clenches his jaw, gritting his teeth. “I got nightmares about you, you gave me-“ He does air quotes. “sugar,” He extends his arms out, leaning down a little more. “Got me attacked by your doll,” He recalls the sharp pain that shot through his leg the moment the knife made contact with him. “And not long ago, got blood all over the place ,” He gestures behind him. “THAT I HAD TO CLEAN UP,” He points at himself. “ALL. DAY.“
He takes a few sharp breaths, a little more frustrated than he expected to be. “Kkevin, it was fake blood!” Pump explains, like that makes it any better.
“Fake or not, YOU always bring me trouble!” He points an accusatory finger towards the two, before sensing a presence. He looks out the window, and sees a tall, red figure. He redirects his pointing to the window. “SEE? THAT’S. TROUBLE.”
It suddenly hits him, who that red figure is.
Oh my fucking god, That’s Bob Vesleb.
The serial killer AND cannibal.
His hand falls limp, and his eyes widen. Bob slowly steps into the store. Oh, fucking fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK. He gets in front of the kids, extending his arms to cover them. He slowly begins to back up. “Kk-kids? Why is he following you?” He asks, horrified. The near death experiences never get easier.
“I dunno! He’s been following us.” Skid answers, like that wasn’t a cause for concern, when is MOST CERTAINLY IS. Kevin hates having a particularly strong sense of smell right now, because he can smell the blood drying on the horned man.
“Uuh, Mmaybe he wants a candy can?” Pump suggests, and it starts up a plan in Kevin’s mind, despite how dumb that response was. Rick walks in from the back, and Kevin turns to him with a look that screams “HELP”.
Instead of actually intervening or helping, he just huffs, “I quit.” And drops the box. Then he just- leaves!
“Whh- what? No-! Come back!” Kevin yelps, pulse thrumming through his ears, hands trembling. He looks around for a moment, before deciding to go with the dumb plan that he had decided was a last resort, because he had already hit his last resort. How pathetic. No, no time for negative self talk, Kevin. You are NOT letting these kids die. He runs over to one of the candy machines, twisting the knob to spill candy all over the floor.
It doesn’t work as intended. Bob still stands strong, sweeping the candy away with his foot. Kevin’s eyes dart from the candy, to the big red murderer in front of him. He goes to run, but slips on the candy that was meant to thwart the killer. He slams onto the floor with a solid “thwap”, his arms aching from catching his fall. The kids walk up to him, putting hands on his elbows. “Kevin- are you okay?” Skid asks, concerned. Kevin believes that he’s totally fucked, but then, Bob walks over to the candy on the floor, kneels down, and begins shoving it into his mouth.
This is his chance. Kevin pushes himself up, groaning in pain from the hard candy pressing into his hands. “Ggh- outside, kids- quick..” He gets to his feet, rushing the two out the back, before slamming the door. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He hates the way it smells out here.
Fuck, the backup-backup better work. He’s steaming with rage. “Wwwe just want our candy can, Kevin..” Skid whines.
“Yyah, we don’t knoow why-“ Pump starts, but Kevin’s already grabbed a box and dropped it in front of them.
“HERE.” He growls, at the end of his rope.
“Reaallyy?” The two say in unison. The kids eyes practically sparkle, which makes it so hard to stay mad at them.
Kevin just points for them to get the hell away from him. He can’t take any more of this. “Thank you, Kevin!” They cheer, running off.
Rick- who he hasn’t totally forgiven for running out on him- walks up from behind him. “You deal with this every day?“
“Uhh… Kinda?” He settles on that response. A loud clanging suddenly comes from the garbage cans, and he flinches backwards.
Oh shit, it’s that fucking serial killer again-! He starts throwing candy at the figure, before suddenly they begin yelling: “WHOA- WOAH- DUDEDUDEDUDE-!” They then walk out from the shadows, continuing to scream. “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!”
“Wait.. are you- going to kill us?” He asks, before it hits him that this is just some kid in a costume. Why would you dress up as an on the run SERIAL KILLER for Halloween?!
The kid shakes his head. “No! I just wanted to tell you kids are stealing candy!” He yells, exasperated.
Kevin’s eyes widen. Of fucking course. “Shhhit-!” He rushes into the shop, yelling at the kids that “they need to pay for that”. They run out before Kevin can do anything, and he can’t be bothered.
He sighs, head in his hands.
Right when he thinks it can’t get any worse, he gets a call from an unknown number. He debates on answering it, but he has a bad feeling. He needs to answer this.
He prepares, then brings the phone up to his ear. “Hhhello?”
“Hi. Are you Streber’s emergency contact?” The lady on the other end asks.
Kevin’s heart drops, and he goes outside to the back, despite the fact he hates the smell, and he hates the way the light flickers and buzzes, and he hates the way that the door creaks.
“Uh- yeah. I am. Did- Did something happen?” He stumbles over his words.
The lady on the other end loudly sighs, seeming to pity him. “His arm was cut off and he has a mild skull fracture. It’s suspected that Bob Vesleb- the serial killer- did this to him.”
Kevin feels like he’s going to throw up. The smell of dried blood that he smelled earlier.. oh god, tell him it wasn’t- oh no. Oh God.
“Sir? Are you there?”
Kevin swallows the need to barf that was welling in his throat. “Y.. Yeah. I’m there. Can I see him?”
“Well, they say you most likely will be able to tomorrow. He has head trauma. They’re keeping watch on him, but.. he may be in a coma.” She can be heard frowning over the phone.
“.. Okay. Thank you. What Hospital is he at?” Kevin asks, trying not to show that he was so close to crying in his voice.
After being told which hospital his boyfriend is residing, he hangs up the phone, and slumps against the wall.
He cries. He cries hard. He cries harder than he had in months. He cries harder and harder and harder and the whole street may as well drown in his tears, and then the earth, and everybody will be able to feel the pain that’s welling in his chest.
He cries so hard that he almost barfs, and then he gets up, and he leaves the shop. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t say anything. He just drives to his shitty, small apartment, and he cries. He cries until he passes out, in his shitty, small bed, without even taking his medication.
And Kevin is lonely.
He is so, so unbearably lonely.
//
When he wakes up and checks his phone, with no texts or calls from Streber, and his face still having tear stains from yesterday night, he remembers what happened.
God, he wishes he didn’t.
He does have a missed call from the hospital.
He calls back, despite the lump in his throat and the pit in his stomach.
“Hello, how may we help you today?” A different person responds to the call than yesterday.
“I’m looking to see if Streber Klein is available for visiting? I’m.. his emergency contact.. so..” He trails off.
“Um, yeah, let me check.”
After a short pause that feels like it takes years, she responds. “Yeah, he is.. the Doctors suspect that he’s in a coma, though. So.. he’s in the ICU. You should be able to visit thoughhh, he’s on floor 6 and in room 639.”
“Okay.” Kevin responds quietly. “Thank you.” He mutters, before hanging up.
He chokes back another sob. He feels awfully pathetic right now. Why wasn’t he there? He should’ve been there. He should’ve been there. He really should’ve.
He doesn’t know if he can even drive right now, but he decides to try.
He brews a coffee in the keriug he keeps in his room, and decides to get ready while that happens.
He changes into something very casual- out of his work uniform, at least, and into a hoodie and some sweatpants. It’s not like it matters how he looks right now.
He sits and waits for his coffee to brew, and once it does, he takes the mug and goes out to his car. He finds a way to fit it into the cupholder somehow, then speeds out of the driveway.
It doesn’t take very long to get to the hospital, and he gets the directions on his phone. The weather was fairly nice for a cold October- No, November now- day, too. Streber would’ve loved it.
Once he manages to find a god damn parking spot, he gets out of the car, slamming the door behind him. He can’t wait another second, he needs to see Streber, even if he may not like the condition he sees his lover in.
He goes up to the counter. “Yeah- uh- can I visit Streber Klein, in room..” He checks his notes app, where he wrote it down. “639?”
The receptionist sends him a nod. “Feel free.”
Kevin realizes he may not have needed to ask, as he walks away, but he’s never had to visit anyone in a coma before this. So, better safe than sorry. He gets into the elevator alone, which is nice.
He taps the button for floor 6, the button lighting up once he removes his finger from it. The ride up is excruciatingly long, and he’s halfway to sprinting once he finally gets out of the confined space. He tries not to burst into Streber’s hospital room, but it’s hard. He pauses in front of the door, suddenly fearing entering the room.
He takes a deep breath, then gathers the courage to slowly open the door. He steps in, closes it behind him, and then looks at the man in the hospital bed.
Fuck.
It’s almost unrecognizable as Streber. He was so.. pale. Paler than usual. His arm- it was really gone, the nub all bandaged up now. He was bruised, too, and there were machines, and tubes, and Jesus Christ, Kevin was about to sob again.
He sits down in the chair next to Streber. “.. Hey. Um.. It’s Kevin. Yeah. I’m.. not sure if you can hear me, but people say that the people in comas can hear stuff outside so.. Hey.” He swallows the urge to cry.
“I’m uh.. sorry. Sorry I wasn’t there. You were right, I should’ve taken the shift off.” He continues, unable to hold back the tears that sting at his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Streb.” He apologizes again.
He doesn’t say much after that. He doesn’t know how long he just sits and watches his boyfriend’s chest rise and fall, listening to the beeps of the heart monitor anxiously. “I’m still here, by the way.” He reassures, after an extended period of time. “I wouldn’t leave without telling you.”
He sighs. “I’m sorry I’m not holding your hand, I don’t know if I’m allowed to.. and, well, you know I hate to get in trouble.” He folds his hands over his lap with a bitter laugh.
“.. I love you, y’know.” Kevin murmurs, before going silent again.
“I’ve never been good with conversations. That was your thing.” He fidgets with his hands, wringing them nervously. “It- It is your thing. Sorry. I know you’re gonna come back. And we’ll be okay. And I’ll spend every single day I can with you. We’ll do something. I don’t know what, but, I’ll do something for you.”
That’s how the first day went, mostly. A lot of crying. A lot of Kevin trying to carry a conversation. And then, some of him being on his phone. He was trying to distract himself.
Eventually, it had gotten dark, and Kevin had to leave. He didn’t want to part with his lover, but he knew he had to. He would come back tomorrow.
“And, you’ll update me, right? If anything happens?” He asks.
The nurse nods at him. “Of course, Sir.”
“.. Thank you.” He mutters, before leaving.
He goes home, then he goes to bed.
On the second day, he doesn’t feel as awful. He still feels awful, but not as bad as yesterday.
He goes back to the hospital.
He has a one-sided conversation with Streber.
He goes home.
He goes to sleep.
On the third day, he brings a box of chocolates and his guitar. He had been practicing, and thought maybe Streber would like to hear it.
On the fourth day, he gets a call in the late night, and he calls back in a panic when he wakes up.
Streber was awake. He was still a bit disoriented, but he was awake, and they said that he was lucky the head trauma didn’t cause too bad of an injury. They said Streber was strong. They said Streber was predicted to make a quick recovery.
Kevin felt like he was blessed from God himself that morning.
He sped to the hospital, similar to how he did the first day.
Oh god, he was so happy Streber was okay.
When he walks into the room, a large grin comes to his face when he sees Streber, sitting up! Awake! Alive!
It takes everything for Kevin not to rush into him to hug him.
Instead, he goes and sits in the chair next to the bed.
Streber tilts his head at him. “Hello. Um, who are you?” He asks.
Kevin’s whole world comes crashing down. “What?”
Then, Streber bursts into laughter. “I got you so good, KevKev!” He giggles, keeling over a bit. “I scaaarred you!”
“That’s not funny, Streber!” Kevin huffs, crossing his arms. “You scared the shit out of me, y’dumbass..!” He pouts.
“Aww.. sorry. Want a kiss to feel better?” Streber offers.
Kevin considers it. “Hmm.. Yeah, that’ll do.” He leans in a bit.
Streber gets closer, and kisses Kevin on the cheek. Kevin is all smiles, practically forgetting the distress from days ago.
While Streber was here, he was happy. Streber was all that mattered to him.
“Oh! I started brainstorming while I waited for you!” Streber grins.
“Sorry I wasn’t here earlier.. I was asleep.” Guilt pools in Kevin’s stomach.
Streber furrows his eyebrows. “What-? No! It’s okay- you need sleep! You know I always tell you to get sleep! Never be sorry for getting well deserved rest!” He scolds.
Kevin huffs. “Okay, Okay. What were you brainstorming about?”
“Well.. I think.. I want to be a Doctor. Or, a Nurse, maybe!” He says, excited at the prospect.
“A Vampire DoctorNurse? Sounds like a horror movie you’d find in the bargain bin.” The Cashier jokes.
“I’m serious, Kev!” Streber giggles.
“I know, I know. No matter what you decide to be, I’ll support ya.” Kevin reminds him.
Streber grabs Kevin’s hand. “I love you.”
Kevin intertwines their fingers. “I love you too.” He sighs contently. He can’t help but feel bad looking at Streber’s missing arm, but his surprisingly fast recovery and happy go lucky attitude makes him feel so much better. “Do you wanna watch a movie or something? I can pull something up on my Phone.” Kevin offers.
“Ooh-! Can we watch Dracula?!” Streber offers, before suddenly gasping, grabbing his head with his only hand. “Ah- ow- my- my head.. aha..” A headache pounds in his skull for a moment, then it’s gone. Kevin looks at him with wide, concerned eyes. “I’m okay.. it was just for a second.” Streber soothes.
“Do you wanna tell the Nurse? It’s probably a good idea to track your symptoms.” Kevin suggests.
“I’ll tell her when she comes in.”
Kevin looks at him skeptically, but decides to believe him. “Okay. Dracula it is, hold on.” His smile returns and he gets the movie going, propping the phone up on the bedside table. Kevin leans over to see it, and Streber leans over a bit too.
“I love Dracula.. it’s such a fun movie. I love Vampires.” Streber says.
“‘Cuz they give you gender envy, right?” Kevin recalls.
Streber nods rapidly. “Exactly!”
“I think you looked stunning in that vampire outfit, by the way.” Kevin compliments, watching Streber’s pale face tint a light shade of red.
“W-.. Why thank you.” Streber grins uncontrollably. “Ah- we’re missing it!” He points at the screen.
“Sorry, Sorry.” Kevin apologizes.
“It’s okay! No need to be sorry, lovely!” Streber smiles at Kevin.
Kevin might as well melt.
He loves his boyfriend.
And he loves watching movies with his boyfriend.
And he thinks, maybe, everything will be okay.
//
Streber was recovering with little to no complications, the doctors even told him that they were impressed.
After 3 days of being awake, a Doctor comes in, informing him he has visitors.
Streber, confused, decides to let them in. Kevin feels a bit paranoid. Somebody with ginger hair in a messy ponytail walks in. “Hey! Vampire dude?” They step in cautiously.
The gears turn in Streber’s head for a moment, until it clicks. “Oliver? Zombie pirate?”
“Yeah-! I’m so glad you’re okay, dude. I’m sorry we didn’t come sooner.” Oliver frowns and gets closer to the bed, before glancing over at Kevin.
“It’s okay. You basically saved my life, friend! Don’t worry about it.” Streber smiles, before noticing the two looking at each other in confusion.
“Ah- Oliver, this is my boyfriend, Kevin. Kevin, this is Oliver. We met at the haunted house, and they’re the one who helped me when they found me.” He explains.
Kevin nods. “Oh. Shit, um, it’s good to meet you.” He shakes the other’s hand.
“You too.” Oliver smiles. They turn back to Streber. “Jake and everyone else was real worried- we’re glad you’re okay.” Oliver pulls a card out from their pocket. “I got you this. It has twenty bucks in it- I would’ve given more. Sorry.”
Streber looks at the card in disbelief. “No- no. I can’t take this. This is your money. You deserve to keep it.”
“I insist. Please, Streber, right? Take this.” They push the card towards him.
Streber reluctantly takes it. “Yeah. It’s Streber. Thank you.” He smiles.
“Alright, I have to get going now, I have to work.” They sigh. “But I’ll come back- with Jake, and some of the others, maybe.”
Streber nods. “Okay. Thank you, again, Oliver. I appreciate you.”
“Don’t sweat it, man.” Oliver grins. “And hey, good meeting you, man.” They turn to Kevin.
“Uh- You too.” Kevin says, never having been good at social interaction.
Oliver leaves, and Kevin watches Streber flip open the card, a smile coming to his face.
“I made some friends, Kevin!” Streber giggles, excited.
Kevin smiles back. “I’m proud of ya, honey.” He leans over and kisses the other on the forehead. “You should try to get some rest, now, though, okay?”
Streber crosses his arms. “But- why? I don’t wanna. I want to talk to you.”
“I know, I know, but I’ll be here when you wake up. You gotta rest to get better.” Kevin slowly takes Streber’s hand in his.
Streber relents, sighing. “Okayy, okay. Night, KevKev!”
“Goodnight, Streb. I love ya.”
Streber squeezes Kevin’s hand. “I love you too.”
Everything will be okay.
Kevin is sure of it, now.
Because he has his boyfriend.
That’s all he needs.