Miscommunication (boyxboy)

Chapter Thirty-Three

TW: mentions of drug abuse
~ Adam ~

The ride back to Spring Creek was quiet. Cole was visibly tense as he sat in the passenger seat, phone tapping against his knee as he stared out the window with an unreadable expression.

Adam wouldn't say he looked angry. He looked, strangely, like he'd expected this somehow. Maybe he had. From what he'd told Adam, his brother had issues of his own to deal with.

Adam spent twenty-five minutes of the drive tossing up whether to ask the question or not. Eventually, he said, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now, please." Cole had said in monotone. He inhaled a sharp breath, sending a cursory glance Adam's way. "I'm sorry, it's not you. I just don't want to say anything I'll regret so I'd rather not speak yet."

Adam nodded and went back to focusing on the road. "It's fine. Take all the time you need."

They stopped briefly at a petrol station so Adam could replace the fuel. He then drove them back to Piper's suburb. Night had well and truly fallen by the time they were pulling up in her driveway.

"Thankyou." Cole said, not looking at Adam. He began to climb out of the car. "I'll text you later."

"Wait!" Adam scrambled to climb out of the driver's seat and met Cole at the rear. He reached out to catch Cole's arm before the other boy could take off down the footpath. "Let me come with you."

"Adam, no." Cole shook his head sharply. "This is not a side of my family you want to see, believe me."

"You're clearly not in a space to deal with this alone," Adam said before he could stop himself. Cole didn't look angered by his words, just curious. "Maybe it'll be easier having someone with you."

"This isn't my first time picking Max up from a police station."

Adam didn't know how to respond to that. "Look," he said gently, "if you really want me to stay, I will. But I just want you to know that you don't have to do this alone. I'm here when you need me."

The words felt unfamiliar on Adam's tongue. It had been a long time since he'd said those words to anyone and maybe it was too soon to mean them yet. But then Adam remembered Cole telling him stories of his family, the curl of his upper lip when he was secretly amused, the feeling of his mouth on Adam's, cold and dizzying, like someone had let a fire erupt in his core that he had no intention of stopping. He wanted to let that fire burn, if only to remind Cole that there was warmth somewhere on the other side.

He didn't know what Cole was thinking; the other boy's expression never changed. But then he simply said, "Okay," and that was that.

Adam's eyes widened. He'd honestly thought Cole would shoot him down. "G-great," he stuttered, holding up the car keys. "Just let me drop these off to Piper and we can be on our way."

Cole climbed into the Nissan to start the heater running as Adam jogged up the path to the house. Piper opened the door after two knocks, smiling, but her expression changed when she noticed Adam's frown. "What happened?"

"It's a long story. Thankyou so much for lending me your car."

He made to dash off the porch but Piper stopped him. "Adam, wait!"

He halted to a stop, turned and looked at her. Her eyes were wide with worry. "Is everything okay? Where's Cole?"

Adam didn't want to reveal Cole's personal business. He said, "Something came up. Cole's waiting for me in the car. I'm sorry. I'll do my best to explain everything later."