C3 Kailan

Dark eyes peered up from behind the rim of a coffee cup. He surveyed the faces in front of him, taking in the drowsy laughter that bathed the pint-sized diner in its soft, harmonious guffaws.

They were all strangers whom he'd bumped into during an early morning orientation event. He knew none of them, yet they had invited him to lounge with them during their breakfast. They all seemed young and vibrant—around his age with a fondness of crafting new friendships toward anyone they thought interesting. The most sociable of which sat straight across from him with an engaged smile.

"It's Kailan, right?" she asked, wispy purple hair falling down in large curls over her shoulders. He found her voice endearing, the silvery tone foreign to him.

He responded with a nod, taking a nip of the Colombian brew.

"What are you majoring in?" she inquired once more.

"Art," he spoke up, causing one of the few men at the tables to snort. He raised his eyebrows in response. "It's a wonderful major. You should try to be an artist."

The stranger shrugged, spearing a chunk of egg with his fork.

"You got a dorm, or are you in an apartment?" This time it was a light haired young man with vibrant green eyes, Chris was his name. Before Kailan could answer, Chris spoke up once again, "Dorms suck. You're dealing with some ass-wipe every time you don't have classes. I tell you, I've never once had a decent roommate. But it's cheaper than an apartment. Fixing a headache is easy, bills and debt, not so much."

Kailan ran a hand through his hair and chuckled. He'd allowed it to grow out far too long over the past year or so, but it hardly bothered him. He was never one to care for his appearance, even if it did paint him as a stereotypical sensitive bohemian artist. It was Seattle after all; he blended in rather well.

He tied the long locks out of the way, pulling the strands back into a messy bun as he spoke: "I could only afford a dorm, but I missed the first day of classes. Poor guy probably thinks he owns the place."

April, the lavishly purple-haired girl snickered. "Any hope of privacy will be crushed when you walk through the door."

The young woman beside her laughed as well, tracing April's hand with small fingers. They were quite the cute couple; even though Kailan himself detested relationships, he could admire their subtle affection.

Kailan rested his chin on his hand, mirroring April's grin. "I'm known to be a dream killer." The taunt was joking, of course, causing her to raise her eyebrows comically.

"Well, only if it's toward others; don't kill my dreams."

They chatted among themselves for an hour longer before the couple decided to give him a quick tour of the best parts of the city. He once knew this place like the back of his hand, but it had been ages since his last visit. They managed to lose themselves twice, all the while April insistently claiming to know where they were.

He felt out of place. They were fun people, but it was rare for strangers to treat him like a simple person, let alone a good friend. It'd been three years since the word left anything but a bittersweet taste in his mouth. Friends were something of the past.

He still regretted it, leaving without a trace. It'd happened so suddenly, and he had no time for goodbyes before his parents had packed all of their things and left their home behind. They fled town, as if history could be erased with a simple change of address. A new beginning in a new chapter of a new life. One without Kailan in it.

He was the coffee stain that had smeared the ink, after all. A detrimental fuck-up to their perfect little family. And in a day, he was gone. No contact, no explanation, and not a single goodbye.

He sighed, refusing to linger on the thoughts. There was no reason to; they were just memories. Sage and Vincent had surely forgotten about him by now. It'd been years since he'd seen them last—he probably never even crossed their minds. He was an adult now, almost twenty. The times they shared were washed away with age, and no one cared anymore if he pulled outlandish pranks or got into heaps of trouble. That was life, and it fucking sucked.

"You okay there, Kai?" A voice brought him back from his thoughts, and he couldn't help but smile.

"I should probably get to my dorm; I have classes this afternoon."

April didn't seem very happy with his response, but she smiled and nodded in understanding. "Well, you have my number, give us a call some time." With that, she was dragging her petite partner away into the crowd, waving farewell.

Kailan fastened his earphones into his ears, flicking on his music as he watched them disappear.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he took a gander at his surroundings. He hadn't the slightest where he was, and he cursed aloud as he noted the time on a passing clock. It would probably take him another hour or two to find his way to the college, and it was already ticking past eight in the morning.

"This sucks." His tone was light-hearted at most. He didn't exactly feel inconvenienced by the situation—there was no harm in being late. If he had really wanted to, he could probably pull up directions from his phone, but he decided he'd rather just wander.

All of his belongings were in the process of being shipped in by his parents, so he hardly had to carry anything other than a backpack and one duffel bag. Instead, he enjoyed the city for a bit longer, adventuring at his own pace. It'd been awhile since Kailan was left to his own freedoms, all of which were stripped like bark when he was tossed into military school.

He didn't know what his parents were trying to prove—if they thought it would discipline him or not. The first year was rough, and he was constantly getting in trouble. Things smoothed out afterward, but he was never comfortable in the place. He missed his friends—he missed Vinny—but he had no say in what happened. Three years came and went, and by the time he had graduated, he wasn't sure that getting in touch again would have made much of a difference. So he left those memories where they belonged. In the past.

It took less time than he expected to make to the college. Though, he actually got lost in the damn place itself. Finding himself in the front office, he gave a thankful sigh; his feet were hurting from persistent walking, and he lacked the fare for a bus or a cab. Ignoring the trying pains, he talked to the front desk for a long while, receiving the information he had missed out on during his absence. The young woman in charge shuffled around for the key to his dorm, but it seemed to have disappeared.

"Shit, just come back later and we'll have a key made for you. I'm sure your roommate is in there." She seemed genuinely upset that she couldn't grant him his own tool of entrance, but Kailan was tired, so he only nodded and set off to find his dorm room.

It wasn't hard—thank god—finding where he was going to be living for the next two semesters. All of the doors looked nearly identical, aside from a few with various posters and things of personal interest. The rest were only defined by the numbers stenciled in their large metallic plaques.

A few passing students paid Kailan little mind as they laughed among themselves, but once they were gone, the corridor fell eerily quiet. Sighing, Kailan knocked on the door, maybe a bit too hard with the contrasting silence. To be fair, he was tired of lugging around his shit, and he was hoping to rest a bit before his first class.

"Hey, let me in. I don't have a key." The words weren't loud, but with the silence stirring around him, he felt as if he had shouted it.

Behind the very walls, Vincent awoke to the boisterous noise. He enjoyed sleep more than anything in this world. That's why, when some arrogant shit-head thought it a good idea to pound on his door, Vinny let off a grumble into his pillow.

"Piss off." The shard-like remnants of his Irish accent were making an appearance as they often did when he was too tired to mask his heritage. Ten years in America, and it still clung to his tongue like a bad taste. But his cursing was quiet, and Vincent thought twice about ignoring the visitor at the door. It could have been that pretty petite brunette from the elevator earlier.

Sure as hell didn't sound like her, though.

With two strong arms, he hoisted himself up from the mattress. His feet met the hardwood below him, and he deemed it unnecessary to put on a shirt as he made his way to the door, nearly stepping on Archibald in the process.

Sleep stained his face as he lazily ran a hand up his cheek, over his forehead and into the disheveled mess atop his head.

"The hell do you want?" he grumbled as he reached for the knob.

As a mess of unruly blonde hair swung the door open, Kailan froze. In his moment of bewilderment, his phone slipped out of his hand, the motion enough to snap him back. He quickly caught the device before it hit the ground, eyes never leaving Vinny.

He recognized him immediately, though his appearance had taken a drastic turn. The last time he had seen Vincent, he was wearing polo-shirts and slacks. His hair had been neatly trimmed, and was combed in the most pretentious of fashion. It was hard to believe the same person was standing in front of him now, half-naked and painted in tattoos and devious piercings.

His muscles had broadened, his features chiseled. He hardly looked the same as the seventeen year old boy Kailan once knew, but he was definitely Vincent. And it showed in the all-too familiar expression he wore: brows furrowed together just slightly and head tilted a few degrees to the right, like he'd never seen anything so peculiar in his life. He, too, was trying to assess the situation.

For the longest time, their expressions nearly mirrored one another. Vinny, who was Kailan's best friend since he was ten years old. The same one who he had spent half of a lifetime with. The same messy-headed blonde was standing in the doorway of his new home, looking all too much like a confused puppy. The situation was laughable, honestly—and Kailan did laugh, while the initial shock and confusion melted away into a very crooked grin.

"Rough night?" was the only thing Kailan could think to say, his expression resembling something akin to a kid who'd just received the world's best present.