Chapter 24: Code blue

“Charlie, when is your birthday?” Kellen asked, realising he didn’t know the answer. They were waiting for their togo order of drinks, and were grabbing a few since Kellen was planning to use them as bribes to let them use a space he was technically banned from. It was the reason he hadn’t considered his own office.

If any of the scientists saw him, it was pockets full of snacks and being shoved out of the office space. It had already happened once, and Maeve had been a force to be reckoned with when it happened.

He’d just been there to grab some books, too. Not working. They would have none of it.

“Oh, I’m a winter baby.” Charlie said. That meant his birthday could be around the corner. Fall was here, winter only a few weeks away.

“Okay. What month?” Kellen asked and Charlie looked at him blankly.

“Does that matter? I’m just a winter baby.” Charlie said and Kellen didn’t like where this was going. He had thought he was asking a rather innocent question, maybe that wasn’t the case.

“Okay. So you know you were born in the winter. Do you know the day exactly and the month?” Kellen asked carefully, watching as Charlie seemed even more confused. He couldn’t be unaware that others celebrated birthdays, could he? Wouldn’t he have seen that at the Guiding Center?

Kellen had seen a few birthdays celebrated while he had been working at Guiding Center B. Granted, they were two completely different locations, but still!

“I don’t know the date. Is that important?” Charlie asked and Kellen had to make sure not to physically react. He could tell that the barista was listening in by the way her face twisted. She was doing her best not to react either, but Charlie could sense that something was wrong. He looked at Kellen.

“Well, normally people celebrate the day of your birthday and in the month that you were born. Not just the season.” Kellen was being careful with how he said it. Charlie took a moment to process the words that Kellen had said before he nodded slowly.

“I see. Well, there were so many of us born in winter that it didn’t make sense to have a birthday for every individual person, so we all clumped them together and celebrated on a designated day in winter for the winter birthdays.” Charlie said and Kellen nodded. Okay. That wasn’t too bad. Maybe…if Charlie didn’t remember his birthday, or if he had never been told outside of the fact that he was born in the winter, they could take that date and make it his birthday.

“What was the date?” Kellen asked and Charlie smiled.

“December 25th.” Kellen felt his face fall. He couldn’t help it. That wasn’t a date that someone would celebrate a birthday. That was fucking Christmas.

Not that people weren’t born that day, but Kellen could see the woods for the trees. He knew what those fuckers had done. He was sure it was a shitty party too. Kellen wanted to squeeze the throats of those who had ’raised’ Charlie until now.

“Pick a new day in the winter months. You can make that your birthday. We’ll celebrate it then, alright?” Kellen told the younger man stiffly and Charlie stared at him, surprised.

“What? Why would I-”

“Just do it, Charlie.” Kellen snapped, before remembering himself. “That date is already a holiday. Since you don’t know what day you were born on outside of it being winter, you can select a date that feels right to you. Nobody really gets to do this, so this is something special that only you can do.” Kellen tried to sound gentler, softer as he said the second half. He had a feeling he didn’t quite make it as Charlie burst out into laughter.

“You’re angry about something. I’m not sure what, but you’re doing a really bad job hiding it.” Charlie accused and Kellen knew that the jig was up.

“They didn’t give you a special day. They combined all of your birthdays with Christmas. A holiday that most people celebrate outside of how you were raised. It’s fucked up and makes me upset. You’ll be with us as we celebrate Christmas, so pick another damn day.” Kellen felt like he sounded grumpy and upset. He was both of those things.

The drinks were put up in these cool carrying trays that made it easy for Kellen to help Charlie carry the drinks and Kellen and Charlie headed towards the elevators.

“Okay Kellen. I’ll put some thought into it and research it.” Charlie said with a grin and Kellen glared off into the distance. He wasn’t angry with Charlie, he was angry that it seemed like every fucking person in his life didn’t have a normal childhood. What the fuck was going on? It was only him and Taylor as far as he was concerned.

Why did everyone else have childhood trauma? Especially from their parents?

Charlie was still chuckling as they stepped into the elevator and went down to Rhys’ office level. When they got there, the area was overrun with people. Everyone was busy and Kellen wondered who was going to see him first.

It was Pamela.

She was stepping out of her office on this level, phone against ear, tablet in hand, and when she spotted him, her eyes narrowed.

“We have a code blue.” She said loudly and everyone turned and glared at Kellen. Kellen felt his eyes widen. They had given him a code colour? What the hell?

That was when Rhys, who had been in his office, threw the door open and came storming down the hallway. Kellen didn’t need to be able to see him before he rounded the corner to know it was Rhys.

He was a storm cloud, his face angry as he spotted Kellen. Kellen could tell from the distance that his jaw was clenched, his face a mask of anger, and Kellen flushed. He stepped back nervously.

“Pamela! I’m not here for work! Look, I have drinks!” Pamela narrowed her gaze at him.

“Bribes. You’re a damn liar, and you brought an innocent Guide with you too. Don’t think I haven’t been warned about your schemes. I got a full debrief from Taylor when I was on the front lines. I needed something to distract me.” She said with a huff, ending her phone call and stopping to stand next to Kellen. She took one of the drinks Charlie offered as they watched Rhys move towards them.

She took the bribe and still ratted him out. Good thing she was working for their Guild.

“Rhys, it’s not what it looks like.” Kellen started before Rhys came to a halt in front of them. “I was just looking for a more private place to talk. That’s all. I wasn’t planning to work.” Kellen was speaking quickly as Rhys didn’t appear to be stopping. Pamela noticed, dropped the tablet since it was on a lanyard around her neck and took the tray that Kellen was holding from him. Rhys barreled into him, wrapping his arms around him and giving him a squeeze.

Kellen could hear the loud sniff as he buried his face into Kellen’s shoulder, his grip tight as he squeezed him some more.

“I missed my boyfriend. I missed him so much, and then he comes to visit me and tells me it’s not what it looks like? I’m going to cry.” Rhys was sniffing dramatically and Kellen rolled his eyes. He was thankful that he wasn’t actually mad at him though. He wouldn’t know how to justify it if he was actually upset.

Honestly, Kellen just wanted to be around the hustle and bustle of the others. He didn’t need to work. He just…didn’t want to be up in his apartment in the silence. Even having the t.v. on in the background wasn’t enough to distract him.

“I thought you would be upset that I was here. After all, you gave me a code colour.” Kellen accused and Rhys squeezed him more.

“Why wouldn’t you have a code colour? You’re important. To me, to everyone. I need to know if you are near me. There is also a code colour for when I need to see you.” Kellen slid his eyes to Pamela, wondering why he hadn’t been told. Pamela was smirking at him.

“It’s code yellow, in case you were wondering. He wanted code gold, but we vetoed it.” Kellen felt his face warm. Code gold? He had wanted to use gold?

Kellen smacked Rhys with his good hand and Rhys laughed. He pressed a kiss against his cheek before turning Kellen’s face and pressing another kiss to the other side of his face. Kellen wasn’t able to see him do it from the other side, just feel it.

“I was expecting that hit as soon as I knew someone was going to rat me out. It’s code yellow instead. Code blue is when you show up on your own. I’ll be counting how many I get of those and giving myself a little sticker when I reach five visits.” Rhys told him proudly and Kellen felt his heart lurch in his chest.

He better make sure that he collects those stickers, and quickly. So much so that they forget that they even had a code colour for when Kellen showed up.

“Charlie and I wanted to borrow a free room to discuss something without prying eyes. I wanted to be away from the apartment for a bit too.” Kellen told Rhys when they were finally face to face. Rhys nodded.

“Understood. We have a few free offices.” Rhys said, before glancing at the secretaries who managed the office spaces. They gave a smile and a thumbs up, both of them. Rhys turned back to Kellen and Charlie with a smile. “We have some.” He confirmed and Kellen chuckled.

“Thank you for checking.” Kellen said with a smile, staring up at him. It was a shame that he wasn’t able to kiss him, or do anything to him. While he knew that Rhys was looking out for him, he knew that this ’holding out’ of his wasn’t going to last for long. Not after the fact that Kellen had gotten the same thing he’d been getting ever since the eye patch went on his face.

No change. No news. Nothing.

One of them was going to crack, and Kellen was hoping it would be Rhys first. He just needed to make the man desperate enough. Crave him enough.

Kellen smiled up at him warmly and Rhys smiled down at him, having no idea that Kellen was plotting his downfall.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep