CHAPTER 13
Matthew
I crashed into Theo before our ‘appointment’, just outside the bathroom.
He froze up when he saw me, swallowing hard, eyes widening.
It made me grin. It made my desire for him even stronger.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
There was a pause. Theo licked his lips, eyes darting around. I, too, searched my surroundings. There was no one. Instinctively, driven by longing, I reached out and pulled him by the shirt into the empty bathroom, slamming the door shut behind us.
The second it was closed and latched, Theo walked me backwards until I was pinned against the first available wall.
“ - oof,” I grunted, my lips curling into a grin.
“Do you,” Theo growled, one hand sliding into my waves, one hand slipping up the hem of my shirt, “have any fucking idea - “
My hands gripped his waist, pulling our groins flush together, Theo cutting himself off mid-question with a groan.
“I mean, yeah, I think I do,” I sassed, keeping my hold tight and arching my back off the wall to grind against him.
I could feel Theo’s fingers slot between individual ribs, the grip in my locks tighten, and finally, fucking finally, our lips connected.
It was softer than I would have expected given the lustful expression on Theo’s face, but perfect because he always managed to make it so and because I’d been waiting all day for this, since this morning when I’d heard his name.
When I let go of his waist to tug at his shirt, he kept our lower halves connected, pressing harder against me, increasing the urgency with which I stripped both of us of our shirts, and begin to unbuckle Theo’s jeans.
It was quite the difficult task, with a raging boner and with his lips now firmly attached to my neck.
We needed to be entirely naked, preferably horizontal, now.
“Bed,” I managed to gasp out, feeling a damp spot starting in my briefs. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel Theo’s teasing smile against my skin.
“Pop quiz, first,” he murmured, sending shivers down my spine. My faculties for creative thought weren’t exactly functioning with the way Theo’s fingers were now teasing my left nipple.
“Question one. If I were under you, is that because you’re fucking me, or because you’re riding me?”
“Jesus,” I managed on an exhale, desperate to cobble together four brain cells while Theo’s wandering hand dipped under the waist band of my jeans, teasing the cleft of my ass. “Either. Both?”
“Good answer. Another question. Do you think you can beat me to the bedroom?” With that, he detached completely from my body, yanked the door open, and darted down the hall.
“Fucker!” I shrieked, chasing after him.
Stryker, in the meantime, had not been sticking to bed rest at all, completely ignoring the rest of the group telling him to.
On the third day after the accident, at five in the morning, Theo was making coffee in the kitchen whilst I, who had just gotten back from a shift, was half asleep on the sofa, exhaustion weighing me down, eyelids fluttering closed every few seconds no matter how hard I tried to keep them open, mainly because I had an opportunity alone with Theo and I wasn’t planning on wasting it- my tired and aching body, however, clearly was.
We were the only two awake.
Theo poked his head around the door “you want a coffee?”
“Uh…” My head jerked up, his voice startling me out of my umpteenth dosing episode and I had to blink a few times for the words to process in my rapidly shutting down brain. Coffee. Coffee would help. I definitely needed coffee. “Yes. Please.”
“You sleep last night?” Theo asked from the other room “before your shift, I mean.” He clarified.
I grunted, secretly fighting back a smile because for some reason I found him adorably sweet for asking a simple question, “not much.” I admitted.
“How come?”
“Had stuff on my mind.” I mumbled back.
“You sound exhausted.”
“I appreciate the concern.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
He brought me a cup of black coffee, sitting beside me and sipping at his own.
“Thanks.”
Theo scrutinised my face with his icy blue eyes that seemed to look right into my soul.
“Get some sleep today.” He said awkwardly, adverting his gaze and taking another sip of coffee.
Amusement bubbled up and I couldn’t resist teasing “why, worried about me?”
“No. Just…sleep is a basic human need that you are currently deprived of.”
“Hm.”
I leaned forward to press a brief kiss to the corner of his mouth. I stayed close, searching Theo’s blue orbs for something- for what, I wasn’t even sure myself.
“I like you.” I admitted softly, surprising myself. But it was true. I had grown to like him- beyond physically and sexually, I meant. Beyond the whole ‘seeing his beautiful face made my day better’ thing.
“You were…not the nicest for a while. But you’ve grown on me.” I clarified at his wide eyed expression, as if I’d just told him that I was madly in love with him- I wasn’t, for the record. It wasn’t serious enough for that.
“Fuck off.” Theo chortled, but he visibly relaxed and smiled “I still think you take rules too seriously.”
“So fucking you is following the rules?” I retorted disbelievingly.
It was highly illegal, was what it was. Not that I could do much about my goddamn sexuality.
I hadn’t chosen this. I felt like it made my life ten times harder than it had to be- I felt different, wrong, always afraid of being caught, of being killed, afraid I’d have to spend the rest of my life alone; I’d give anything to have just been born straight.
Fucking someone as perfect as Theo was probably the only positive thing I’d ever gotten out of it.
“Good point.” He smirked “you’re good at that. Fucking.”
A rush of pleasure and satisfaction filled me “I’m glad.” I replied sarcastically, bringing the rim of my mug to my lips. I turned my head to meet his gaze, which I was delighted to find was already on me “So are you. For the record.”
“I know.” Theo winked “I’ve been told.”
“Don’t get too cocky.”
“Just the facts.” He shrugged nonchalantly, blowing me a kiss.
I was about to say more, mouth beginning to open around the words, but Stryker suddenly appeared in the doorway, somehow having come down the stairs in total silence.
“Hotshot.” Theo greeted, tone softening.
I knew why. Stryker hadn’t exactly slept much last night, either.
As a matter of fact, Theo had had to get up twice to grab him painkillers and another time for a hot water bottle when the pain in his side had almost reduced him to tears.
He’d told me so in one long gush of complaining this morning when he’d spotted me, but I knew he wasn’t as bothered as he was making out.
Probably because of the empathy he felt for the injured teen.
“Thought you’d be in bed.”
Stryker gave a small shake of his head “no.” He replied quietly, avoiding his gaze “I, uh…”
“It hurting again?”
“Hm.”
Sensing my gaze on the side of his face, Theo nudged my leg and glared. I smiled and nudged it back.
Stryker flopped down on the sofa, head in Theo’s lap and feet in mine.
“Good morning to you too.” I greeted, shifting slightly to get comfortable.
Theo flicked his forehead “you want something, S?”
“No, not hungry.” He replied in a mellow tone.
My attention drifted to his feet, feeling a tug of anxiety. I placed a hand on his ankle, frowning when, despite my gentle touch, the pressure left an imprint dimpling his skin. I did the same on his other ankle, frowning as I felt the heat of his joints.
“S, your ankles are swollen. You haven’t walked around much, have you?”
“Not unless you count a bathroom trip and a trip to the lounge.”
“Did you eat anything salty?”
Stryker shrugged tiredly.
I kept frowning. This didn’t seem good to me.
“Matt?” Theo asked “what’s wrong?”
I pressed a hand to Stryker’s forehead, immediately retracting it at the sizzling heat there. I hissed.
“Yeah, okay. How long has it been since you cleaned the wound?”
“Mh?” Stryker blinked “uh…recently.”
“You’re gonna have to do better than that.” I replied, lifting up Stryker’s shirt. Even Theo winced at the soaked through bandage.
When I peeled it away I almost gagged.
“Jesus, S.” It was deep, his flesh seemed torn, like the elk had completely ripped his antler through his side, and it was oozing puss, the skin around it red and irritated.
“How did it get so had so quickly? It’s only been…what? Two, three days?” Theo said anxiously.
Much like my own experience and probably for the same reason. I scoffed “antlers aren’t exactly clean. I’m guessing a load of gunk got in when it happened and now…”
Even Stryker had paled at the sight of it.
“Yeah, okay. We’ll take him to Octavia?”
I gave a small nod.
Theo
Stryker had crashed on the bed in the healers’ room, where Octavia’s tutor had checked him out good and proper, tutting the whole time.
Matthew had had to go and warn Johnathan about the situation whilst I stayed with the patient.
When he awoke, he was sweating. His breath was rattling in his chest, his curls were sticking to his forehead, cold sweat was running from the nape of his neck to the small of his back.
He tried to move, tried to push himself up, but with a sharp sound somewhere between a gasp and a yelp his arms gave out and he fell back onto the bed.
“Stryker.” I croaked, jumping to my feet from the uncomfortable wooden chair I’d been perched on. “You… feeling alright?”
“I’m good” he muttered, wincing as he attempted to sit up a second time. He succeeded, blinking furiously before focusing on me again.
“We’re taking you home” I said once he had, pointing a stern finger at his face when he opened his mouth to protest “and don’t you dare argue with me. Nikolas has gone to get the horses”
“The…horses?”
“Yeah. We’re borrowing them. You won’t make it far, not at this rate.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve had way worse and- and we’re not that far from my house . Come on, Theo, I’ll be alright, you don’t need to worry Dad-“