19. Chris #2
“Guess I’ll just have to find someone with more flexible ethics to meet my needs,” Isaiah drawled. He started to inch out of the booth, standing unsteadily as he scanned the club.
Chris wasn’t stupid. He knew the ethics comment was meant to be a dig at him, but in that moment, the only thing he could think about was making sure Isaiah didn’t end up being taken advantage of by one of the gorillas he’d seen eyeing him since they arrived.
Yes, he’d noticed, okay? Nothing could draw his attention quite like Isaiah Owens, even in a crowded club, filled with beautiful people covered in fucking glitter, dancing with their arms in the air.
Isaiah was like a magnet for Chris’s gaze.
He slid out of the booth and reached for his arm.
“No, you’re going back to the flat and sleeping this off. ”
“Who’s gonna make me?” Isaiah snarled.
“I am.”
“You’re not my dad, Green.” The minute the words had left his mouth, Isaiah’s face slackened. The anger left his eyes for just a moment. He recovered quickly, but the fire was gone, replaced by something devastating.
“No,” Chris replied softly. “I’m not.” Then he picked Isaiah up by the waist and hiked him over his shoulder.
“This is not making me less interested in fucking you, Green,” he shouted over the music.
Near the door, Jacob and Malek blocked their way.
“Everything alright here?” Malek asked with that intense glare that had made Chris wither in the light of the flat, but with neon lights dancing across his face, it hardly gave him pause.
“Don’t worry, besties, Green doesn’t want to fuck me,” Isaiah shouted. “I’m not as pretty without the ring light.”
Chris really wanted to smack his arse for that, but he knew in this state, Isaiah would read it wrong. Or right. “I’m taking him back. He’s drunk and a fucking danger to himself.”
Jacob snorted. “Sounds about right.”
“We’ll come with you,” Malek announced.
“You don’t need to,” Chris insisted. “I’m not…”
“Maybe not.” Malek’s eyes softened just a touch. “But he’s our best friend.”
“Fucking cockblock,” Isaiah said. “Now I definitely won’t get any.”
“You weren’t going to anyway,” Chris retorted hotly.
Jacob ordered a taxi, and minutes later, the four of them were piling in. The driver eyed Isaiah’s state nervously and pointed to his sign about clean-up fees.
“I’m not going to vom,” Isaiah insisted.
He was right, but he did pass out on Chris’s shoulder about two minutes into the short ride.
Between the three of them, they were able to haul him out and into the lift up to the rented penthouse.
Jacob and Malek went to tuck Isaiah into bed, while Chris put the kettle on and dug three mugs out of the cupboard for tea.
Malek came out first. “Jake’s mother-henning,” he said with a fond smile. “He’s always like this.”
Chris handed him a cup. “You been friends long? With Isaiah?”
Taking a sip of tea, Malek nodded. “Since our first year at Oxford, Isaiah’s second. We all ran cross-country together.”
“Of course.”
Malek turned to face him fully. “Did you know?”
Chris furrowed his brow. “Know what?”
“Did you know who he was the whole time?”
A low sigh escaped as Chris fiddled with the string of his teabag. “No. Did he say I did?”
Malek shrugged. “He thinks it.”
“Fuck,” Chris whispered. “This is all so fucked.”
Dark eyes were fixed on him when he looked up, studying him. “It is.” Malek didn’t blink as he spoke. “You care about him though. I can see it. Hell, anyone could. You fell for him, didn’t you?”
Chris swallowed a gulp of tea. His eyes burned, but he was too tired of everything to lie. “I know it’s stupid. I know I was falling for an act, a persona, but…”
Malek tilted his head. “I’ve never seen the show, for obvious reasons—” He waved his hand. “—so I don’t know about the whole persona thing, but I do know Zay wouldn’t have been nearly so broken up about this if you hadn’t mattered to him in some way.”
Silence fell between them. Chris didn’t know how to respond.
Jacob padded out, smiling at Malek and then at the tea. “Ooh, perfect,” he exclaimed in a stage whisper. “Our boy’s out like a light. He’ll be feeling it in the morning and probably very much regretting the packed itinerary he planned for tomorrow.”
Malek snorted. “That’s his own fault on both accounts.”
Malek and Jacob shared a soft kiss and Chris felt a hollowness in his chest. He let their voices wash over him as he finished his tea and placed the mug gently in the sink.
He peeked in on Isaiah, just for a moment.
The duvet had been tucked around him with care and lavender hair spilled across the white pillow.
He was snoring softly. Chris took a breath, and then retreated, retiring to the small twin room he was sharing with Stefan.
Dawn light filtered into the room, casting shadows over the sleeping forms of not one, but two bodies in the twin bed just a few feet away from Chris’s. He held back a snort of laughter as he took in Alfie’s hulking form draped over Stefan and halfway out of the small bed.
The rest of the flat was quiet as he pulled on a hoodie and joggers, then made his way to the kitchen. He popped a pod in the coffee machine and scrolled on his phone as he waited for it to brew.
He replied to a couple of messages from Sam and Mila. Even Alex had asked him how the weekend was going so far. He couldn’t bring himself to be honest with any of them, because he didn’t even know how to describe the feelings this weekend was bringing up.
Life had been so simple once.