The Halls of Westwood [BxB]

Chapter 26

Markos sat on the floor of the room of cheap telephones with a hand in his hair and his eyes focused on the floor. Talking with his parents always made him feel uneasy now... It always made his skin crawl in discomfort. His mum had a way of making it ten times harder for him to feel comfortable in his body. Sometimes all he'd hear when he looked in the mirror were her disgusting and cruel words circling in his mind on repeat.

He swallowed a lump in his throat knowing very well he was supposed to be meeting Jayce in the library... Or maybe he was late. He wasn't so sure how long he had been sitting there. It could have been five minutes, it could have been several hours. He had never been good with things like that...

He'd always been too caught up in his head to properly interact with the world. His mind was an endless cave of spiraling thoughts, some of which destroyed him others were as addictive as air to him. He would sit on a floor or his bed or even just stand unmoving for hours on end, lost in himself. He hated it more than anything... He hated missing hours of his life doing nothing. He hated being as detached as he was.

The boy forced himself up on legs that had gone numb a short while ago and headed outside of the telephone room - but not after catching a glimpse at the clock. He wasn't late, he had missed it entirely... Again. He sighed and made his way toward Jayce's room hoping he was there so he could apologize.

Ever since he had arrived at Westwood it had been challenging to keep up with reality. His first few weeks were the hardest with endless thoughts that jumped from place to place. He had been so out of it it took him weeks to even remember his roommate's name. But he had gotten better... He still had his bad moments like today, but he was still better.

He knocked on the familiar door, listening for the familiar 'come in' before pushing it open. He gave Jayce a sad smile when he spotted him laying out across his bed with a book in his hands. He gave Markos a warm smile before it suddenly fell as soon as it had arrived.

"Where were you?"

"Sorry... My mum wanted me to call... I didn't think it would take as long as it did" Markos mumbled. He walked over at laid down beside Jayce, feeling guilty for standing him up. He sighed in relief when Jayce pulled him into his arms and wasted no time snuggling up to him and allowing his body to relax.

"It's alright... Do you want to talk about it?" Jayce asked, running his fingers through Markos's hair. Markos loved that feeling... He loved when Jayce touched him or held him... He felt as if he was actually worth something in his arms. He felt real confidence when he was around him and not just the exaggerated confidence he flaunted daily.

"This woman makes me want to scream" Markos groaned. "She wants me to go to uni as soon as I get out of Westwood"

"And that's a bad thing?" Jayce gave Markos a puzzled look. Although Markos wasn't interested in studying, he was an exceptional student. He'd do well in a university.

"Yes," Markos scoffed. "It is when they want me to go for business studies" He groaned. "That sounds so boring... And repetitive. I don't want to work at some stupid office or run some shitshow company"

"What do you want to do?" Jayce quietly asked as he tangled his fingers in the light brown curls he had grown obsessed with playing with.

"I don't know..." Markos trailed off. "Take you to Italy? Or Peru? Or wherever you wanted..." A small smile broke onto Jayce's face as he met Markos's pretty green eyes.

"I've always wanted to go to Egypt" Jayce truthfully admitted. "There's a lot of history there"

"Nerd" Markos scoffed. "I haven't tried learning Arabic... But I think it would be cool to learn a bit over our stay"