No Need to Sleep Living in a Dream (Boy × Boy) ✔

CHAPTER 23: An icon

Evan Cooper

If Evan hadn't been so shaky with adrenaline, he would have loved nothing more than to see that beaten up expression on Damien's face. If he hadn't been glued to his spot, taken aback by Damien's sudden appearance, he would have gladly been the one to kick him out.

But no, all he could do was stare and hold his breath. To use himself as a shield, to make sure Damien couldn't lay a hand to the most important person in his life. He felt useless, incompetent, until he felt Junior's weight on his side.

Junior slumped into his arms, too beside himself to care about what the others might think of it. Evan didn't waste a second before wrapping his arms around Junior, pulling him closer and giving him comfort. Junior felt fragile, so unlike the Junior Evan had got to know, when he trembled and hid in Evan's arms.

"Are you okay?" Evan whispered, earning a nod from Junior. He squeezed his arms around Junior, to feel that he was still there and safe from harm. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine." Junior pulled away from the hug, lifting his chin up and steeling himself as he turned to look at the crowd staring at them.

Evan thought back at their conversation on the roof, when he had asked Junior:

'Why do you act like everyone is your enemy?'

And the quiet, resigned certainty in Junior's voice, when he answered:

'Because.. Once you start it's difficult to stop. I have enemies everywhere and they're all just waiting to get me in a moment of weakness.'

But these people, even the ones from their class, who had written those horrible things on the paper, had defended Junior. And now, seeing the trembling of his hands, the whiteness of his face, they weren't taking their chance to get him in his moment of weakness. They were offering him a helping hand.

Dario Ortiz

"Thank you for coming." Dario told for the millionth time that evening, barely glancing at the person leaving the house this time. "Have a safe trip home." He told to another girl, who was struggling to get her jacket on. "Yes, I think the tax is there." He said to another.

Dario let out a heavy breath and raked a hand through his hair, when everyone was gone. Well, almost everyone. He joined the others in the kitchen. It had been a long day, and by the looks of it, it was only going to get longer. They had a lot to talk about.

"Uh, who wants tea? Coffee?" Dario asked, wondering how he ended up in this position in the first place.

He wasn't one to host guests, or to make sure anyone got home easily. He was the one to escape to his room the moment it was deemed acceptable, the one whose only job was to sit and look pretty or something like that.

But then again, scurrying helped with his nerves.

"I'll help." Luna offered, and soon they were bringing steaming cups of coffee and tea to everyone in need of refreshments. Not that everyone had stopped drinking by then, especially not Junior, who was drinking straight from a whiskey bottle.

"If it's not too much to ask.." Dario began then, fiddling with his coffee mug. "I would like to get some sort of an explained for tonight. Nothing is broken and everything seems to be in place, so no one has to tell anything, but I'm just.. Curious."

Junior sighed, setting down the bottle and lifting his gaze to look at Dario. He was about to open his mouth, but the big guy, who had been the first to come to Junior's aid, beat him to it.

"So, uh, I told Damien not to come." The guy explained, scowling. Despite his size, he had kind eyes, which made him feel overall more sympathetic. "He has been in a warpath ever since he got kicked out from the field hockey team, but after what he did.."