by C. L. Stone
“He might not be able to get offstage if he’s replacing Victor for the entire night,” I said. “Should we go back for Silas?”
“He didn’t say he needed help,” he said, but his hands twisted on the steering wheel while he drove. “I don’t like it.”
“Can we drive by?”
“We’ve got the time,” he said, and he turned the car around, heading back downtown.
♥♥♥
Gabriel had a brilliant idea to go behind the Morgan estate via side roads and not in front where the traffic was backed up still.
Only when we got to behind the estate, we were stopped immediately by a collection of people, including some security.
Gabriel rolled down the window to talk to one of the security people. “Hey, I know you,” he said.
The security guard seemed to recognize him immediately. “Hey, Gabriel,” he said. His badge was covered, so I couldn’t tell what his name was but he had dark hair and dark eyes, and looked bulky under the security uniform. “Do me a favor and run these people over, will you?”
Gabriel smirked at the joke. “Why?”
“Reporters,” he said. He shook his head. “First Mrs. M wanted them on the street only. Pictures, but nothing up close and nothing beyond the gate. Then it’s let one or two in the gate but pretend to suddenly catch them like they aren’t supposed to be there. Then it’s let them back out and keep them far away. Only now they won’t go.”
That didn’t make any sense. Or maybe it did. Mrs. Morgan wanted good press, and if Victor had acted badly... this wasn’t good.
“Is Silas with you?”
“He’s been running background checks with Ralph in the guardhouse, making sure everyone is who they say they are. We needed more hands on deck for this.”
Gabriel looked at the collection of reporters and nodded. “You know how to get rid of them?”
The guard shrugged.
“In like five minutes, start talking with one of the other guards about a celebrity sighting downtown. They’ll go chase that for a while.”
“Maybe,” the guard said. He waved goodbye as Gabriel made a U-turn to go back the way we’d come.
“Great,” I said. “They might have caught the whole incident.”
“They’ll be lucky if someone with their cell phone hasn’t uploaded it to YouTube already.” He started to head back to the highway but stopped the car suddenly in the middle of the road. He leaned over and looked at me. “I don’t want to go far. Just in case.”
“Then go somewhere close,” I said.
He drove the block until he spotted a place to park on the road, where we were within walking distance to the estate but tucked out of view from all the crowds of reporters. The block was quiet, with other cars along the street parked. No one seemed to be around.
Gabriel sent a quick note to Silas to let him know we were keeping nearby for a bit. He turned the engine of Kota’s sedan off. It rattled and clunked a bit before it actually silenced.
“This old piece of shit,” Gabriel said. He slapped his hand against the steering wheel. “If I had the money, I’d buy him a new one and tell him to get over it if he complained.”
“We could get him one,” I said quietly. I considered how much it might cost to buy a car. “I guess the Academy money doesn’t buy cars for us.”
“Naw, we don’t need them for buying things like cars unless we were completely out of options. We try not to spend it on things like that.” He leaned back in his seat and picked up one of my hands, bringing it over. “By the way, I owe you.”
I didn’t understand until he bit the tip of my finger gently, more gently than Nathan ever did, who would leave teeth marks usually. Gabriel’s bite tickled a bit and I giggled. “I’m kind of glad the night is over.”
“Yeah,” he said. “We got out of an entire evening of pretending to just be friends.” He winked at me and leaned over, and whispered close to my cheek. “Let’s get back to being more than friends for a while.”
I reached over, placing a palm at his cheek as he leaned further to kiss me at the edge of my mouth. For a moment, my mind was still occupied, worried about Victor, and Luke, and Mr. Blackbourne having to cover for Victor, and Silas on his own.
But Gabriel’s lips drew a warmth out of me. My fingers drifted up to the short hair at the base of his head, where he’d shaved a good portion. I ran my fingers through it while he kissed gently at my cheek and nuzzled near my ear.
And he purred. Like a cat.
I used my fingertips, rubbing at the base of the scalp more.
He lowered his head until his forehead pressed against my shoulder. “Fuck... Yeah.” Suddenly he popped his head up. “Come on, Trouble. Let’s make trouble in the back seat.”
My heart sped up, not sure what he was meaning, but still excited. It was the first time in a while where I’d been more alone with one of them.
We wedged ourselves between the front seats. Gabriel bumped his head on the roof of the car before he slid down on his back in my lap. “Ow,” he said, holding the top of his head.
I reached down to his scalp, and this time just massaged around where he was holding where he’d bumped it. “You okay?”
“Oh yeah, if you keep doing that,” he said. He settled and closed his eyes. He pointed to where he hit his head. “Just not this spot.”
I giggled and massaged at his scalp some more. His hair at the base of his neck was soft, like fur, and the longer lengths of hair on top, the blond and russet mix, cut to his chin, had gentle waves near the base. I wondered if he styled it that way. After massaging his scalp for a bit, I braided one of the locks of blond hair in a loose braid.
When I finished, he felt the braid and chuckled. “Does it look weird?”
“I don’t know. Sit up?”
He did, and he fluffed the rest of his hair with his fingers, leaving the braid to hang loose.
It was the crystal blue eyes that captured my attention. In the moment, maybe with some outside light shining just the right way, it just made me realize, again, how handsome he was. He had his own sort of rock style, like he belonged in a band or on stage somewhere.
My cheeks heated because I was staring at him for so long without answering.
He gazed at me for a long while, and then leaned in and kissed me.
His lips pressed hard against mine and within moments, his tongue teased until my mouth opened up and accepted it.
He held me for the longest time, and we kissed. For the first time in a while, everyone was so occupied elsewhere that he and I had nowhere to go.
No parents to consider. No school to get to the next day.
It was a strange feeling. Like I didn’t trust something to not happen, and yet I tried to enjoy the moment.
And then Gabriel shifted, until I’d slid onto my back in the back seat, and he knelt over me, still kissing, although he adjusted his legs multiple times.
At one point, he breathed in sharply near my mouth and sat up over me. “Fucking Christ, I hate this car.” He reached back, rubbing at his calf. “Leg cramp.”
I sat up next to him, rubbing at his arm. “Maybe we can just sit up.”
“Or we could...” He adjusted until he was sitting up in the middle and I was sitting in his lap on top of him, with knees on either side that wedged a bit into the padding of the back seat.
Like this, I was nose to nose with him.
“I think I like this,” he said.
I couldn’t say the same. The skirt I was wearing was riding up, but cutting into my legs. “I wish I had something else on.” I adjusted the hem of the skirt.
Gabriel drifted a hand down until it was at my knee and slowly slid upward, to the skirt, feeling my hip. “Could just take it off.”
I blushed, unsure. He’d seen me in a lot less, even naked, but this was different. We weren’t changing for school or trying on clothes together. When he looked at me with those eyes, that gaze that never ceased, I was thrilled and petrifie
d at the same time.
I wanted to do what he was asking, but I was too nervous to do it. Not to mention we were in public.
Gabriel gently continued to slide the skirt up, and I didn’t stop him. But my cheeks heated.
As if sensing my hesitation, he stopped. “It’s still kind of light out.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly.
He pressed his nose to mine, and then puckered.
I kissed him, just once.
My phone buzzed to life, surprising me.
Gabriel snorted. “Don’t tell me, someone broke a leg or something.”
I checked it. It was just a message from Kota. “We’re to fill up on gas before we get home.”
“Oh. Well, why didn’t he text me?”
“He probably thinks you’re driving.”
“Oh yeah.”
I was going to say more but a car parked not far from us. We paused where we were, and I eased down until I was sitting next to Gabriel instead of in his lap.
“My bad for picking not a great spot,” Gabriel said. He waited until whoever it was got out of their car and went into their house. After, he turned to me. “We’ll just keep it over the clothes.”
I blushed, but I agreed.
Apaisé
(Fr. Calmed)
Victor
Dr. Green’s office was dark when they opened the door, and Kota flicked the light on.
No one was inside.
“Weird,” Kota said. “Thought at least Luke would be here.”
“Maybe he’s somewhere puking,” Victor mumbled.
Kota sent a text, and he was shortly given an answer. “He’s taken over an empty hospital room. Let’s go.”
Within moments, Victor was led through more hallways within the Academy hospital, to a room at the end of one hall. He really didn’t see where or how they got there. There might have been an elevator. His mind was foggy and it was very hard to focus. He wanted to just look at the lights and stare into oblivion.
Inside, Luke was alone, playing with a TV remote in one hand and the bed’s remote in the other, making the foot of the bed go up and down at random while flicking through TV channels.
He didn’t stop as they entered. “Finally, different company. They won’t stop yelling at me.”
“Well, you’re about to get a partner in crime,” Kota said. “In the other bed, Victor.”
Victor was excessively tired. He wasn’t going to complain his way out of this, so he walked over, sat on the bed, and tried to take his shoes off.
Before he could unlace, North and Dr. Green materialized in the doorway.
North’s face said everything to Victor. He was in trouble.
“Hang on, don’t yell at him yet,” Luke said. He flung the blanket he had over himself and hauled himself up. He wore just the hospital gown but otherwise was completely naked.
“I said you didn’t have to wear that,” North said.
“I was naked, but the nurse kept coming in to check on me,” Luke said and he walked over to the bathroom, not bothering to cover up his butt as he walked by. “Let me pee first. I want to hear the story.”
North rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to Victor.
Only he didn’t say anything, he just waited for Victor to say something.
Victor didn’t want to say something. He didn’t feel like anything. He simply took his shoes off, positioned himself on the bed, and laid down. Partially he did it because he knew it would make North mad. Mostly he was tired and hoped they’d just let him sleep this off.
Only he sensed something falling out of his pockets.
Before he could figure out what it was, North came over, picking up Victor’s set of keys, and a tiny green pill.
He scowled down at Victor. “What’s this?” he asked, holding the pill between two fingers.
“Brie gave it to me,” he said.
“Is this what you took?” North asked. “One wasn’t enough?”
“She said to save it for later.”
“What the hell is the matter with you, Victor?” North shouted at him. “Taking random pills and drinking until you’re out of control?”
“It wasn’t random pills,” Victor said.
North held the green pill closer to his face. “Then what’s the name of this one, Victor? What doctor prescribed this to you?”
Victor tried to hold his glare at North but his eyes didn’t seem to want to hold, and instead drifted to the flickering television.
North rolled his eyes and brought the pill to Kota. “Do you know what this is?”
“Something anti-anxiety, supposedly.”
“Brie didn’t lie,” Victor called to them.
“Well maybe we should bring Brie here and we’ll decide,” North said with heavy sarcasm. “And who the hell is Brie?”
“I’ll tell you later. And stop yelling at me.” Victor turned around on the bed and covered his head with one of the thin pillows.
“Kota,” North called, although to Victor it was a little muffled. “Talk to him.”
“He should probably sleep off the alcohol and the pill effects,” Kota said calmly, as if telling North the time. “The pill we can figure out. We can ask the pharmacist or check a pill identifying database.”
“I don’t care about that. Get him to talk to us. I want to know why.”
“Because you weren’t there,” Victor called to him through the pillow. “No one came to my birthday when I needed you. Now go away. I’m still mad at everyone.”
The room fell into silence for several moments, and then there were footsteps and the lights went out.
When Victor turned over a moment later, Kota and North were gone, leaving the TV on. Voices were out in the hallway. They were leaving him alone, talking in the hall.
“Good,” Victor mumbled to himself. He was mad at himself, of course, but he was really disappointed, too. His birthday was miserable.
A toilet flushed. A beam of light came from the bathroom. A minute later, Luke appeared on the side of the bed Victor was facing and peered down.
“You okay?” Luke asked.
Victor shrugged. He was just sad, and his head was foggy and he couldn’t focus on much.
“Scoot over,” Luke said.
Victor did, thinking Luke was going to sit down, but instead, Luke laid down, facing Victor, gazing over at him with his head propped up on his arm.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”
“Not your fault,” Victor said.
“It is,” Luke said. “And then Nathan and North had to be late. Dr. Green was going to try to make it but with me being here, he stayed behind and then they asked if he could do a few rounds...” He sighed and the drape of the hospital gown slid a bit on his body, and he adjusted it. “I wish you’d said something. I would have puked in your bathroom. It wouldn’t have done much good, but I could have made an appearance now and again.”
Victor snorted, trying not to laugh.
Luke paused. “Was it that bad?”
“They don’t want me around, Luke,” Victor said, his voice strained and feeling the worthlessness he’d felt the moment his parents had made the announcement to him, among a bunch of friends of theirs so he had no choice but to stand back and take it in the moment. “They wanted me to go to the school Brie goes to. In Europe... somewhere, I don’t remember.”
Luke blew a raspberry. “But you wouldn’t go to that.”
“They tried to make me sign some contract tonight,” Victor said. “And when I said I wouldn’t do it until later... and then I... got on stage... I lost it. I said so many things.”
Victor paused, dropping his head, closing his eyes. It was the most miserable moment in his life. Alone, or he thought he was, facing so many people he didn’t like personally, or didn’t know, and his mother making an announcement about his birthday presents to the crowd on top of introducing him, and with all the alcohol in his system, he couldn’t stop himself.
Victor suddenly sniffed h
ard, trying to not think about the evening anymore. “I just want to sleep.”
Luke reached over and embraced Victor in an awkward half-hug. “They aren’t going to take you from us, and you know it.”
“I know it,” Victor mumbled through the deep emotional thickness in his throat and the watering at his eyes. “I just hated... after all this time... they didn’t like who I wanted to be or who I spent time with, so they wanted to send me off, with Brie... somewhere else... to be who they want.”
Luke held on to him. “Yeah, that really sucks.”
Victor sniffed again, realizing that Luke had been through similar, though at a younger age. “I didn’t think I cared anymore.”
“You’re still in the middle of it,” Luke said. “And the stuff you’re feeling is just stuff we grew up believing we should have. Parents that actually care. But we care, even if we’re idiots who miss your birthday party.”
Victor huffed once but didn’t say anything. The words simply wouldn’t come.
Luke didn’t move. He let Victor go, turned over to gaze at the television, but he didn’t move from the bed. He stayed there, with Victor, until Victor eventually fell asleep.
Custos
(Symbol at the end of a staff of music, indicating the pitch for the first note of the next line, a warning as to what is to come)
Sang
“It was awful,” I told Nathan the next morning. Gabriel and I had stayed out late. Eventually, he had to drop me off, promising to go pick up Silas. Nathan had been sent home too.
Kota let us know what Victor said, that he was disappointed in us. He tried to suggest that it was the others, not me, but I felt pretty guilty, too.
Lethargy filled every part of my muscles until it felt like I was carrying extra lead weights along with me. Anxiety hit hard after the crazy day before. My palms shook. The sleep shorts I wore were mismatched from the loose T-shirt, as I’d just grabbed whatever and fell into a hard sleep. I didn’t even notice Nathan crawling into the bed. My clothes from the party were still in a pile on the floor. “You should have seen their faces. They were stunned. I don’t know what he said to them before I got there.”
