Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 40

Shorter chapter, I'll upload the next one tomorrow!

Joe stared at his phone, before shaking his head to stop himself from reading her texts. He threw the phone to the ground. All of the light that he'd gained from spending time with Brian had gone out. He was right back to where he'd been before; broken. He could feel his anxiety stirring inside of his chest and terror striking into his heart. How was it that just a second ago he'd been shamelessly flirting with Brian—Zoey completely forgotten?

"Are you—Joe, are you okay?" Brian asked tentatively.

Joe glanced down at him, tears running down his face. Brian had migrated to sitting at the edge of the bed, looking up at him. He looked concerned, but there was something about the look in his eyes that gave Joe the feeling that he was heartbroken too. "Yes," Joe whispered, not really believing himself. He wiped the tears away, shaking his head. "Yes, I'm okay." He repeated, more sternly. He walked back over to Brian. "I'm, I'm sorry about that."

Brian shook his head, still looking up at Joe uneasily. "You, you don't have to be sorry for your phone going off." Brian reassured. He could feel dread filling his stomach. "Was... was it Zoey?"

"Yeah. It was." Joe admitted. He could feel the anxious tears trying forcing their way out, but he fought back. No more. He wasn't going to live like this anymore. "But she doesn't matter right now. I don't care about her." Joe said out loud, not convincing himself. He sat back down on the bed next to Brian, looking at him longingly. "I care about you." Joe told him truthfully. He reached out nervously, grabbing Brian's hands. "I care about you more than anyone."

Brian stared back at Joe, before glancing down at their entwined hands. Was Joe saying what he thought he was saying? He locked eyes with him. His crush of he didn't even know how long was sitting in front of him, holding his hands, and telling him that he cared for him. Brian wanted so badly to believe him. "Joe, I think right now you just need to pause and—"

"I JUST CAN'T LOOK, IT'S KILLING ME, AND TAKING CONTROL—"

"For fucks sake," Joe growled, letting go of Brian's hands. He walked over and picked up his phone, declining the call. When he did, the texts popped up on his screen before he could avert his eyes.

❤️Zoey💋       Now
You're just going to ignore me?
_______________________________
❤️Zoey💋       Now
Missed call
_______________________________
❤️Zoey💋       2m
Pick up. Now.
_______________________________
❤️Zoey💋       2m
Missed call
_______________________________
❤️Zoey💋       10m
Where are you?
_______________________________
❤️Zoey💋       25m
You really can't obey simple orders, can you?
_______________________________

Oh god, dear god, what was she going to do when she found him? He knew that the longer he tried to ignore her, the more livid she was going to be whenever she eventually got to him. Would she hit him again? Would she humiliate him like she'd done tonight? Would she cheat on him? Of course she would; had he not just been trying to make a move on Brian? He was no better than her. If anything, he was worse than her. What she'd been doing with Sam was out of hurt. She didn't have romantic feelings for him.

Joe on the other hand? He... he had feelings for Brian. Real, emotional feelings, that went beyond simply being attracted to him. He brought his hands up to his head, covering his ears to block out everything as the realization settled over him. He hadn't planned it... it had just snuck up on him. Zoey had been right all along. How could she have known before he had?