Falling for Ocean Blue [BxB] ✔️

Chapter Thirty two*

⚠️WARNING⚠️
MANIPULATIVE CODEPENDENCY

I apologise to Wolfe because it makes Fray happy. He texts me supportive messages up until the point I switch my phone off, at the request of my brother, and deliver my best solemn regrets. It feels fake when all I want to do is grin unbearably wide and dream about kissing him. I wonder if Wolfe feels the same way. Does he recognise this joy?

It doesn't matter.

Soren pays for the hospital bill, and we drive him home. In the backseat of the car, I can feel the heat of my brother's eyes. Though Wolfe accepted my apology, in part, to hide the truth of his amorous affair. Soren was not so easily swayed.

"I've booked you an appointment with Dr Birch." He says. There is an undercurrent of worry in his dropping tone.

We drive home in numbing silence.

My family take on the colours of my upset. I haven't spoken enough words since Monday, so they're dull and void. We arrive home with fake smiles and tired eyes. Kitty doesn't bother greeting us. We nod like strangers in the hallway. I try to make it to my bedroom but am intercepted before I reach the stairs.

"Max!" Steven is the first to welcome me into my own house.

He wraps me in a tight embrace. The boy is dressed in dark jeans and a drunken smile.

"Black tie suits you."

When he goes to reach Soren, he notices the mood and ushers into the foyer.

"Everyone, Max is here!"

An uproar of applause and shouts heat the air.

"Awesome show, Max!"

"Congratulations!"

Austin is the only when who reaches me and leans into my side amicably. When he tells me he enjoyed the performance, I know he isn't lying.

"Thanks, Austin." I say absently.

"Max, you're being rude." Soren nudges me.

I realise Peter, Minho and Grace are surrounding me in a tight circle.

"We missed you after the show, dude." Grace punches my arm.

I look into her inquisition, tiredly.

Peter frowns in my silence. The ginger, outside of his uniform, is incredibly dashing. Clad in a green shirt and blue jeans. He holds beer in his hand and in the other, Grace's waist.

He catches me looking and smiles. I marvel at the sincerity.

"Grace and I are dating." He announces one eye scanning my expression. I'm not sure how he wants me to react. I try for a beam; dim only in the places I think of him.

Minho chokes in surprise. He looks between the two, only realising the inch of intimacy that goes past friendship. The boy is wearing a button down, too close to the uniform I see him in every day. His eyes widen to saucers, so the dark of his iris looks like rippling coffee.

"How come you didn't tell me?"

Grace laughs.

"It's so obvious! I was waiting for you to notice. We had a bet, which by the way I lost. Here's a twenty."

Peter takes the note and raises it into the light.

"I thought maybe next month..."

"Congratulations." I tell them honestly.

Peter pats my shoulder affectionately.

"Redemption is a different composition than you usually perform." Minho remarks when he settles into the new normal.