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The first of the month was the day Thomas and his friends spent the late evening to night exploring an abandoned building — only this time it was just Aris and him, this had Aris feeling slightly uneasy.
Aris held his friend's camera and bag in his arms as he watched Thomas jump the chain link fence. Thomas was very adroit in not getting caught by the cops with his strange hobby, but even with skills, Aris had qualms.
As Thomas' feet landed on the concrete with a thud, Aris threw the camera and black backpack over and started climbing the fence.
"So, why couldn't the others make it?" Aris questioned, catching his balance after jumping down from the ledge of the fence.
Thomas fixed the camera strap around his neck, "Minho had to study for finals, Newt and Sonya are visiting family, and Gally called me an idiot." He answered, his eyes riveted at the abandoned building of choice this month.
It was a one story enclosed mall that, from what Aris could remember, was promised to have significant renovations in the near future — only to quickly shut down two years after the statement.
Aris stood next to Thomas, the mall captivating his gaze as well. He felt a little melancholic to see this place go to waste, he recalled going here many times with Harriet, Sonya, and Thomas when they used to skip class in high school. He wondered if Thomas felt that same sadness as he stood staring at the building — or if it was just another day to pursue his strange hobby of taking pictures inside abandoned places.
"Sucks this place went to shit." Thomas sighed, making his way toward the side entrance.
Graffiti littered the walls outside, most done by amateurs with the same pointed S he used to sketch on any paper he had around — Aris felt a little more relaxed, graffiti was almost always a good sign when exploring.
Aris was a little surprised that the door was actually unlocked as Thomas pulled it open, he somewhat expected for it to be locked and have to do the same thing 3 months ago — climb into some open window and hope there weren't any cameras or cops patrolling otherwise they would have to exit through the same window — he was just lucky it wasn't too small of an opening. He doesn't fully understand why he still goes with Thomas after that moment, all he knows is he really enjoys spending time with him — even if it means worrying every two seconds if the sound of footsteps were his own or a squatter's.
The side entrance opened to a thin hallway that connected to several stores, he half expected Thomas to walk toward the closest door, but instead he proceeded down the end of the hall —that ended in another door. Aris stood flat against the wall as Thomas slowly opened the door, peeking around for any unwanted company.
When he was sure it was clear, he opened the door fully and motioned for Aris to follow. On the other side was the main area, as Aris stepped through the opening he saw nothing unusual — it had all aspects of a regular mall; shops, kiosks, artificial plants, and benches.
"The fountain!" Aris heard Thomas shout in excitement, he whipped his head around to see Thomas step toward the fountain that stood in the middle of the area. "It still has water in it, that's surprising." He added, putting the camera up to his face and clicking away. How he found an old fountain interesting — Aris didn't know.
Aris propped an empty graffiti spray can between the door to keep it ajar, he won't add being stuck inside of a building to the list of things he never wanted to happen again when exploring — his back still aches when thinking about the window.
"Get one of me in front!" Thomas exclaimed, words trampling over each other in excitement as Aris walked up to him — practically shoving the camera in his arms. Aris would usually get bothered if someone were to demand him of things without even a 'please', but for some odd reason, it didn't.
Aris clicked the camera once, unsure if Thomas would like the outcome — he wasn't a photography expert. He handed his camera back to him, taking in his familiar surroundings while Thomas looked over the photos.
A large octagon skylight straight above the fountain was their only reliable source of knowing how light it was outside — the sky was a hazy orange, the sun began to set. Four large artificial trees stood in their own respective invisible corners near the fountain, everything near the fountain felt oddly symmetrical. Aris was just thankful that the people who graffiti'd the wall outside didn't bring this place down in shambles — as others have before.
Without so much as a word from Thomas — Aris decided to speak first. "Did I take a good picture?"
Escaping from being, obviously, lost in thought, Thomas answered. "Sorry, yes you did. It's beautiful, come have a look!" He motioned for Aris to come close.
Aris stood right beside Thomas, leaning into him to get a better look at the camera. Thomas was right, it was a beautiful picture.
"The picture isn't blurry at all and you can even see the sunlight coming from above." He complimented, patting Aris on the shoulder.
Although these aspects also made it an appealing picture, Aris originally thought the picture was beautiful because of the person in it, not for the small details such as sunlight.
"Right." Was all he could respond with — he'd rather have Thomas think the picture was beautiful only for those reasons, and not how it was him that made the picture whole.
Thomas loudly talked to himself about if any of the stores inside were 'picture worthy'. They passed almost all of the stores on the left part of the mall — Aris worried if Thomas would find any of this mall 'picture worthy' at all, that wasn't the rusty fountain. That was until Thomas finally stopped and faced the open glass doors of a small store, a blue sign hung above and with white letters that read 'Lids.'
"Here." Aris was only able to glance at the sign for a second before he caught the black backpack Thomas threw at him, "Get your flashlight, I'll lead the way."
"No gloves?" Aris asked, a little hesitant. The gloves were used to protect their hands from glass or other objects that could harm them — Aris was always careful to avoid getting his hand pricked, but he was too cautious to not wear them .
Thomas turned his flashlight on, using the light to scan over the area, "I don't see any glass." He answered, shrugging it off and stepping inside.
Aris groaned, going inside gloveless seemed like the absolute worst idea — even if there wasn't glass around. He walked in with his gloves on, because he wasn't going to risk it.
Names of different sports teams were embroidered on hats and jerseys, the price below still labeled underneath. "$65, no wonder this place fell with the mall." Aris whispered to himself. He wasn't a sports fan so it was no wonder he'd never visited nor heard of this store when he came. It was a shame the clothes were left here to rot along with the mall. He continued to examine the different clothing — until he heard a yelp behind him.
He whipped his body around, heart thumping against his chest as he hoped that the sound behind him wasn't a lunatic squatter.
The light from his flashlight trembled around, searching for the noise, until it spotted Thomas gripping the tip of his finger.
"There was glass."
"Are you serious." Aris groaned, he wanted to commiserate with Thomas, but he just couldn't this time.
Aris sat the black bag on the, what was, checkout counter. He unzipped the backpack open and started searching for the FirstAid supplies.
"Next time wear gloves."
"Yes, sir." Thomas mocked, still gripping the tip of his finger.
Aris wasn't an expert in FirtAid, so he followed the steps his mother did when he got glass caught in his hand one time.
Examine the problem, Aris held Thomas' finger, careful to not irritate it much more than it already was. He could see a tiny shard of glass poking into his skin, it wouldn't be too hard to get out.
Calm the patient, Thomas didn't look too bothered, yet Aris still spoke small words of encouragement as he got the tweezer's out.
Give them something to squeeze, Aris looked around for something that Thomas could hold onto. He snatched a hat from the stand and threw it at him hastily, "Squeeze that, this may hurt."
Get the glass out, Aris propped the flashlight in his mouth as he watched the glass slide cleanly out of Thomas' finger — it was great help that Thomas didn't move an inch. Although from Aris' peripheral vision he could see Thomas staring at his face in a strange way that he almost dropped the tweezers.
Stop the blood and clean the wound, he carefully placed the tweezers and the piece of glass on a tissue he set out — he pulled another from the small tissue box to stop the tiny droplets of blood.
Bandage, he peeled the release liner off and gently positioned the bandaid, he really didn't want to hurt Thomas — no matter how pissed he was at him for not wearing gloves. It wasn't his first time exploring, there wasn't an excuse to skip that rule. Aris took the flashlight out of his mouth and sat it on the checkout counter.
A kiss to make it all better, as he lifted his lips away from Thomas' bandaged finger, he realized what he'd done. He moved a couple steps backward, away from Thomas, his cheeks started to burn in embarrassment.
The two stood in the dark, a thick air of embarrassment filled the store. The light from the two flashlights that sat on the counter pointed at the wall.
After a few minutes of silence, Aris spoke, "Wear the gloves."
"You won't be able to kiss my other fingers if I do." He replied, Aris could hear the smugness from his tone — all he could do was suck in a breath, in clear annoyance, and walk out of the store. He didn't wait for Thomas to gather their stuff, but he did walk a little slower.
He was just kidding, just a friendly joke — he told himself. His worries about being here alone with Thomas were mainly because he never had been alone with him for so long — even though they were childhood friends, it felt a little awkward. Thomas never acted smug or cocky around their other friends, it was mostly just Minho that took that role — so, of course, Aris' mind kept jumping back to what Thomas said in the hat store.
"Ri! Over here!"
Aris looked up to see Thomas, twenty feet away, sitting on an orange bench with another artificial plant — when had he gotten ahead of him?
"I thought you were behind me." Aris spoke as he sat on the bench across from Thomas.
"You're just too slow." He smirked, "and look, I have the gloves on, like you asked."
Aris ignored the gloves, "I'm not slow, you're just abnormally fast. I swear Tom, I'll buy one of those leash backpacks so I don't lose you." He scoffed.
"Oh yeah?" Thomas crossed his arms, leaning toward Aris as his smile grew wider.
"Yeah?" He didn't mean for it to come out as a question — Thomas was acting strange and it caught him off guard.
"I'm sure you'd love to just tie me up."
Aris felt his entire face get warm, as if he stuck his head in the sun's core for just a split second. Surely Minho was putting him up to this, this wasn't normally how Thomas acted.
Before he could ask Thomas what he was on about, he lifted the camera to his face and snapped a picture of Aris. And, as if nothing had happened, Thomas picked up the black bag and began to walk toward the fountain. Aris sat in shock, he couldn't process this complete 180 of how his friend acted and why he had taken a picture of him.
Aris didn't bring it up, and neither did Thomas — instead he examined Thomas' every move as he set a distance behind him. He didn't keep Thomas out of his sight for more than a couple of seconds — he'd look around the mall, still scared of squatters, and then he'd focus on Thomas' back as he walked, and then the mall — a repeated cycle. He only stopped this cycle when he noticed a sign up ahead that hung from the ceiling— in bright orange letters read 'Food Court'.
White chairs and tables were still in place, as if this place was closed rather than abandoned. What was glass door entrance's and exits were boarded up, along with the glass windows — their flashlight the only source of light in the food court. Aris found this place very lackluster, all that surrounded were chairs, tables, and empty food vendors.
He watched as Thomas wove through the tables, making his way to a concession stand before hopping over the counter — standing behind an empty register.
"Welcome, what can I get you?"
Aris looked around, clueless, was there some gas leak here? Why was his friend acting so strange.
Before Aris could open his mouth, Thomas grabbed two sandwich bags and water bottles from the backpack. "Too bad, all we have is this. I'll find us a table."
Aris watched as Thomas hopped back over the counter and made his way to the closest table, still in utter shock, Aris couldn't tell if he was lucid dreaming or if the person he had been with this whole time exploring was some sort of skin-walker. To alleviate this mental aguish, he brushed it off and sat in the chair across from Thomas.
It was awkward, sitting in the mostly dark food court, eating sandwiches, wondering if this abandoned mall was making his friend go psycho.
"This is like a date." Thomas spoke through his sandwich.
Aris was getting a little tired of wondering if Thomas meant anything literal, so he decided to entertain him, "Many more to come."
With his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Aris saw Thomas put his sandwich down on the plastic baggie that lay on the table, completely silent. "Really?"
Aris slowly chewed his sandwich, curious on how different Thomas was acting now — as if he had multiple personalities, he'd never seen Thomas act this way. Was it because it was just the two of them alone? Or was it really Minho putting him up to this?
Aris cleared his throat, "Yeah."
The continued buildings weren't interesting either, with only pictures of the fountain and Aris — he still couldn't put that moment off of his mind — he began to wonder what exactly Thomas was looking for in something 'picture worthy.'
"Well, guess we should wrap this up." Thomas turned around, placing the camera in the backpack. "It's getting dark, the light above the fountain is barely visible Ri." Aris nodded in agreement, he was getting a little sleepy — and he needed to sleep on Thomas and his strange antics. He would've kept thinking it was Minho, but he knows Minho would much rather witness his pranks in person, and there wasn't any sign of him.
Just as Aris was about to ask Thomas what he was up to, he heard footsteps — and something in him told him that it wasn't Minho.
"This is probably the last time we’ll be here, a little sad to-”
“Shut up!” Aris whispered harshly, putting his finger to his lips — trying to focus on how far this person was based on the sound of their steps.
“Is anyone there?” A booming voice echoed, accompanied by a sound of jangling keys — it was coming from the side entrance.
Aris shoved Thomas in one of the abandoned stores, luckily the glass doors were open.
“We didn’t trigger any alarms did we? Why is a guard here?” Aris whispered, standing flat against the wall beside Thomas — clear of view if their visitor walked by.
“I don’t know, we need to leave.”
“We can’t, he’s by our exit.” Aris groaned.
The guard’s footsteps were coming closer, they needed to leave, now.
“Give me your flashlight.” Thomas commanded, holding his hand out in front of him.
“Why?”
“Just do it, and when I say the words, book it.”
Aris nodded, unsure what Thomas’ plan was, but decided to trust him anyway.
Thomas moved to the other side of the wall by the glass door store entrance, he pressed his back against the wall.
“One,” He whispered, only loud enough for Aris to hear.
“Two,” He slowly and quietly moved toward the entrance, reeling his arm back as if he was going to throw the flashlight.
“Three.” He chucked the flashlight toward the food court, and silently slipped behind the wall again.
Aris squeezed his eyes closed, anxious that Thomas’ attempt at distracting the guard would get them caught.
Thudding footsteps came closer, the keys jangled around louder than ever, the guard yelled incoherent things that Aris couldn’t process.
“C’mon!” Aris opened his eyes just as Thomas yanked his hand and pulled him away from the wall.
Aris’ shoes pounded against the mall’s tiles as they ran, his heart thumping along in a rhythmic beat. Maybe he’d lost it too — running from trouble started to excite him, he’d never felt more alive.
Lying against a brick building in an alleyway, the two hauled oxygen into their lungs — every breath trickling with pain. They’d ran a couple blocks away from the mall, attempting to get as far as they could away from it.
“That was fun.” Was the only thing Aris could say, between forcing air into his lungs.
“What are you, an adrenaline junkie?” Thomas chuckled.
“And what are you? Minho?”
“What?”
What was an exhilarating and victorious moment, turned into something uncomfortable.
“Kissing your fingers? Tying you up? Dates? C’mon only Minho would say crap like that. Did he put you up to that?” Aris laughed, trying to ease the tension that filled the air.
Thomas cleared his throat, he moved his body upright instead of leaning against the wall. “No, it wasn’t Minho.”
Aris’ eyebrows knitted. He sat next to his friend that he’d known for practically his whole life — and yet tonight it seemed as if he didn’t know him at all, and it started to bother him.
“I thought we were-” Thomas cut himself off, as if he had said too much.
He thought we were what?
The moment he asked himself that, the dots connected — his eyebrows relaxed as a smile slicked onto his face. Aris’ hand crept close to Thomas’ until their fingers intertwined, this strange and exhausting exploration seemed worth it.
Two things were for certain, one ;he was glad they had escaped successfully from that guard, and two —
Thomas really doesn’t know how to flirt.