To Be Alone With You

1. library

CHAPTER ONE

LIBRARY

—

The smell of old books was always nauseating to Kaspian.

He loved the look of them— frayed and yellowed paper made his heart happy for unknown reasons- but they just smelled of dryness and dust to him. And Westerville Library was home to old books.

Sighing, Kaspian picked up another book, eyes skimming over the cover. Fantasy. Wrinkling his nose, he set the book back down, moving onto another section of the library.

Not many people ever visited the library— a blessing for Kaspian, but a curse for the librarian. It was a small library, a walkable distance from Kaspian's house, which meant that he spent most of his free time there.

Glancing around, a boy in a black Arctic Monkeys t-shirt caught his eye. He was sniffing a book, a grin overtaking his features. Kaspian couldn't stop the slight smile spreading across his own face.

As if sensing someone's eyes on him, the boy lifted his head, almost immediately locking eyes with Kaspian. He offered an embarrassed smile, and Kaspian responded with a slight wave.

Shit, he's really cute. Should I go talk to him?

Shaking his head, Kaspian banished those thoughts from his mind. It was more likely that he was straight than not. Kaspian averted his attention back to the books.

He frowned, having not found any books that piqued his interest. He decided to try his luck with the last section of the library, the Historical Fiction section.

His eyes travelled across the spines of all the books, before settling on a book he'd already read once before— The Book Thief.

As Kaspian reached out for the book, another hand was already on the book, grabbing it off the shelf. He looked up, mouth parting in surprise. Grey eyes looked straight at him, eyes belonging to the same boy who sniffed the book.

The boy's face broke into an apologetic smile, the originally intimidating vanishing from his face. "Sorry, did you want this book? I can pick up another one," he said, handing the book to Kaspian

Kaspian smiled stiffly. "No, it's not a problem. Not at all."

It was a bit of a problem, considering he'd spent over an hour at the library, but he didn't comment.

"No, really, take it. I've got more books at home, I can just come back next week or something. Take it," the boy repeated, pushing the book further into Kaspian's hands.

Suddenly, Kaspian was hyper-aware of the feeling of the boy's hands on his own. They were soft, fingers small and thin.

"I've read it before. Just fucking take it," Kaspian insisted, exasperated. Immediately, he regretted being rude to a complete stranger, even though the stranger did look oddly familiar.

"My dude, I was trying to be nice, but shit, okay," he said, a defensive tone taking over his voice.

Guilt flooded Kaspian's system. He couldn't believe he was being an asshole to a fucking stranger. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to be rude. But seriously, just take the book, it doesn't matter. It's a good one."

What a fucking cliché, fighting over the same book.

"No worries." The boy gave him a warm smile, eyes crinkling a little. "I'll see you in school," he said.

Kaspian's eyebrows furrowed. "We go to the same school?" He blurted. He wanted to take it back almost as soon as he said it.

The boy let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. I don't blame you for not seeing me in class though, you're always late because of your practice, I think."