Page 111 of The Amber Sunburst

He just wants… he wants to go home.

A light pinging sound from his ring pulls him out of his thoughts. The alarm he set for eleven ten. He knew he’d lose track of time when he came out here, but he didn’t want to miss tonight’s meet-up with his friends.

They decided a few days ago that today, the day after the Trials, they would meet in Alexander and Zeno’s room at a quarter past and do nothing together after so many days working non-stop.

He scrambles up, pulls his shoes on, and jogs toward the door. He’s eager to get there for two reasons. One, he can’t wait for a relaxing night with his friends. Two, he hasn’t seen Kallias all day—not at meals or in class—and he’s starting to get worried.

He knows he’s not Kallias’ keeper, okay?

But he’s also definitely established that he has huge, more-than-friends feelings for the guy, and he can’t help but be put off by his absence.

So Alexander takes the steps two at a time and when he bumbles into his room at eleven sixteen his friends are already huddled on the floor, laughing with each other. He smiles at them, then scans the room.

“Where’s Kallias?” Zeno asks, beating him to the punch.

“I thought he’d be here.”

“We thought he was with you.”

Alexander, you’re not his keeper. You’re not his keeper. You’re not his keeper.

“I’m gonna go look for him,” Alexander says, because he’s weak for Kallias and, keeper or not, he needs to make sure he’s safe.

Ophelia stands and picks up her shoes. “Do you want our help?”

“No, no. If something’s actually wrong he’d prefer it just be me.”

“Okay. But come back and tell us when you find him. We care about him too,” she responds, sitting back down.

He wishes Kallias could hear her. Kallias seems to think that their friends don’t consider him anything more than an extension of Alexander, and maybe that’s how he sees them too. But Kallias is sort of overwhelmingly lovable once you get to know him, and Alexander’s friends have fallen to his charm.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Alexander walks three doors down to Kallias’ room—probably the best place to start—and knocks twice. When that doesn’t work, he tries his usual ‘banging incessantly’ tactic. Two minutes and multiple bruised knuckles later, he can confidently say Kallias isn’t in there.

Which is bad, isn’t it? What if he’s in trouble? What if he’s—No! This is ridiculous. Because there are plenty of other places he could be. He doesn’t spend that much time in his room anyways. So where else?

The Library? He should try that next. And if Kallias isn’t there then he can start freaking out. Because if he isn’t there, chances are he’s dead somewhere or he tripped down the stairs and broke his neck or he fell off the cliff or he jumped off the cliff or he…

Once he bursts into the Library, his anxiety a live wire, all of his worries fade away. Because there’s Kallias, curled up on a beanbag and covered with three different blankets he probably pulled from the top shelf of the back wall.

Alexander approaches him slowly and stares at how perfect Kallias looks when he’s sleeping. His face is blank, and not the forced apathy he uses during the day, but true contentment.

It’s beautiful. Everything about Kallias is. But he thinks he prefers awake Kallias, with his cute permanent scowl and his striking black eyes.

Alexander crouches next to him and pushes some golden hair out of his face. “Kallias. Kallias, gorgeous, wake up.”

Kallias’ eyes squeeze together, and then he cracks one open like a cat. When Alexander reflexively smiles at him, Kallias sits up and rubs his face with his hands.

Alexander thinks he sees something purplish under his right hand, but he doesn’t look too closely.

“What are you doing here?” Kallias asks, not unkindly, still adorably groggy from sleep.

“I could ask the same of you. We’re meeting in my room tonight, remember?”

“What?” he says, tilting his head. Then his eyes find the pearly windows where moonlight drifts in, and he jolts all the way awake. “Shit, Alexander, what time is it?”

“It’s eleven thirty.”