The Victorious [BxBxB] ✓

Therapy Is A Tall Mountain

Morning came too quickly.

Victor was missing. James figured he was fine, yet he still got up. He got dressed and brushed his teeth before leaving Oliver's room. It seemed that everyone was still asleep.

He found Victor outside, sitting next to the pool. He had a cigarette hanging from between his lips, and his arms were around his knees. James joined him.

"You should quit," James said instead of a greeting. Victor ignored him for a moment. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out a long stream of smoke. Victor was lethargic, pale.

"Yeah," Victor said, his eyes fixed on the water.

"Do you have another one?" James asked. Victor took out his pack of smokes and offered him one. James held the cigarette in his mouth and watched Victor's hands reach for his yellow lighter.

James wished to grab his hands again. To kiss his palms, to press them against his own face. He yearned to drag his thumb over his pulse.

"Are you ok?" James asked.

"I'm fantastic," Victor said. James could taste those words in his mouth, like lemon peels. He touched Victor's back with the tips of his fingers. Everything around them felt like glass. He was afraid he was going to ruin something.

Victor's phone vibrated, and both of them looked down. The device was on the ground between them. There was a new crack on the screen. It wasn't a text. It was a call, and Victor's eyes didn't leave it until it stopped ringing. James could've sworn he didn't breathe either.

"Are you ok?" James asked again, feeling a fist grip his heart.

"No." He puffed a smoke circle and smiled. Then he tried again and failed. "Damnit, it's harder than it looks."

"Yeah," James agreed. He wanted to be brave, he wanted to be strong, he wanted to be able to be there like a crutch or a pillar or a ladder, or whatever it was that Victor needed. "Do you want to ta...-" He started and stopped the moment Victor shook his head.

"Ok, but maybe coffee?" James asked. Victor grabbed the phone off the ground and shoved it in his pocket. He put out the cigarette on the pavement and held onto the butt. James did the same.

They dragged themselves into the kitchen. Sebastian was there, at the table, reading something on his tablet. James imagined him as the sort of man that read the news daily. He imagined him as someone that knows a lot about politics and history.

"Morning, boys." Sebastian smiled. He had straight teeth, and yet it looked like Oliver's. It reached his eyes, warm and kind.

"Morning," James nodded.

"Good morning," Victor said, more formal than it was needed.

Both of them still felt awkward calling Sebastian by his name, and they avoided it as much as possible.

"Food? Juice? Coffee?" Sebastian put the tablet on the table, giving them his full attention.

"Coffee, please," James said.

They sat together, drinking from big pastel colored mugs. Oliver's dad made them pancakes with fruit and syrup.

"Ollie told me you like drawing," Sebastian said to Victor.

"I-ugh, that's not exactly -, I sketch."