Page 21 of Septembers

He tutted. “Aren’t you the one who said we need to eat real food?”

“No, I said you need to eat real food. I had breakfast, like an adult.” Despite his words, Dae’s eyes still followed the brown bag of culinary promise until it landed in front of him. Or maybe he just didn’t want to look at Theo.

“Did I push you?”

“What?” Dae sat back, his arms rising slightly, his hands poised to swat the words away. Theo should’ve led into it gently, but that had never been his strong suit.

“The party. You don’t have to go. I mean, you never had to go, but if you felt pressured⁠—”

“No.” He ran a hand through his hair. It was in that fluffy post-shower state between damp and dry, and it flopped right back over his forehead. “I mean, yes, a little, but you were right.”

“Okay. Then…” He probably shouldn’t have started a sentence he had no idea how to finish. Then what were you going to say? No, that definitely fell under pushing. “Then,” he blurted out instead, “follow me.”

Dae seemed weary of his intentions. “Where?”

“Just follow.”

He sighed but got up anyway. “I told you the tiny door in the basement isn’t a secret home for murder-dolls, it’s the breaker.”

Theo led him into the bathroom and rooted through the bag he had yet to unpack. There, at the very bottom (of course) was…yes, perfect. He’d been scared he’d thrown them out.

“No.” Dae shook his head as Theo held up his cutting sheers.

“Please.”

“No.”

“Trust me.”

“With those?” He backed away, but didn’t leave entirely, which was encouraging.

“I took a course.” A YouTube tutorial. “And I cut my mom’s hair all the time.” Twice. “It always turns out great.” The second time was fine. “Dae, people want to see those baby browns.”

He scoffed. Well, not really, but he seemed slightly dubious, which was what passed as a scoff from Dae. “What people?”

“Okay, me. I want to see those baby browns.”

Dae glared at the scissors like they would come to life and attack him, but then his shoulders dropped in defeat. “Fine.”

Theo tried not to get too excited as he climbed into the bathtub and Dae reluctantly sat on the edge. He’d wanted to do this since their reunion last year. Dae was so handsome, but it seemed like he was trying to hide that fact behind his hair. And since Theo had made it his personal mission to help Dae be more social, then it fell under his duties to make sure everyone could see how unnervingly beautiful he was.

He started in the back, only snipping the ends, not taking any risks. Running his fingers along the base of his neck to grip the hair made Dae full-body shiver, the muscles in his back clenching.

“Do you not like being touched?”

“No.” The word echoed off the tiles. “That’s not—I mean, it’s fine. You’re fine.”

He was fine. But others weren’t? No, that kind of thinking was dangerous. “Let me know when it’s not.”

“It will always be okay, Theo.” The words were so soft, Theo wouldn’t have heard them if they didn’t ricochet off the bathroom walls.

Danger.

“Well then, turn around.” He awkwardly shuffled out of the way as Dae swung his legs into the tub. At first, he sat primly with his hands in his lap, like he was having his school photo taken, so Theo knocked his knees with his own. “You do realize I need to stand here, right?”

Dae didn’t say anything, but he did spread his legs so Theo could stand between them. This close, Theo could smell not only his spicy shampoo, but the Dae-ness of him: his sun-kissed skin, still warm from a shower, his earthy natural musk, and the chocolate on his breath.

Cutting the front took a lot more concentration, and the pressure of the situation made his heart thud like it was overworked.