Chapter 20: A swift end

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Dual perspective in this chapter. Enjoy x

"I'm sorry, Ezra... I think I misheard you." Stavros smiled, a big toothy smile. He laughed a little. He even did what Colby would define as a dad move — the classic slap on the leg. He stared wide eyed at Ezra, his mouth hanging open in a wide smile. "You know Steven?" He asked.

Ezra was not so jolly. The colour had drained from his face. He'd been unnerved already after Colby punched Steven in the face (his knuckles still stung a little bit, but he didn't think it was the right time to bring it up) but now he was even paler after walking in on Stavros kissing his dad's forehead (he kind of had a feeling they had a thing going on, but he didn't think it was the right time to bring that up either). Ezra's hung loose at his side, he kept his mouth so closed that a vein bulged in his neck and his Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly. It was as if there was an entanglement of words trapped his mouth and if he opened it for even a second, everything would come pouring out.

Colby reached out, he brushed his finger against Ezra's pinky. He wasn't sure if Ezra would want to hold his hand at this time, but it usually worked. Ezra grasped Colby's hand with a sudden strength. Worked as usual.

"Steven and Ezra," Colby spoke as Ezra could not, "are father and son." Despite his better instincts, the dreadful silence compelled him to fill it. His muscles shrivelled up and he shrugged, he smiled and laughed awkwardly just as Stavros was doing. "Haha, awkward!" Stavros and Colby laughed at each other. Taking turns to laugh louder than the other and say a few words: 'how crazy', 'can't believe it', and 'wild'.
The laughing slowly puttered out until the room went back to nothing.

The smile had never quite reached Stavros' eyes. The cracks formed from there, the slow realisation of who he was sitting next to. One small crack, became two, became four, became eight. His smile slowly fell, his eyebrows raised and he whispered something in Greek for himself. The language was lost on Colby, but there was something quite universal about a man expressing how fucked he was no matter what language he said it in.

"Ezra-" Steven suddenly spoke up. Somehow the man in the middle of all of this had disappeared into the background. Colby had noticed this about Steven before. He was like a chameleon. Take your eyes off of him for one moment and Steven would will himself to turn invisible. He would cast down his eyes and sit so perfectly still, you forgot he was there. He placed a mask so flawlessly unemotional on his face that he looked as if he was made of porcelain. It was so strange, impressive to an extent. It should be difficult to look over a man who only ever wore suits and had a regal presence about him most the time.

Ezra's hand slipped from Colby's. He turned and left the room. His footsteps steady and slower than Colby would have expected. He was dazed, Colby knew that, his poor Ezra's head was probably spinning. One thing to get sentimental about his father's past, another to be caught of guard with what he was doing in the present.

"Colby." Steven called out to him. That mask had fell off. It was strange to see Steven so emotional, to see him close to tears. Like seeing the monster under your bed as a kid was nothing but a teddy bear the entire time. He'd seen so scary when Colby was seventeen. "I- I didn't know. I had no idea. I swear."

Colby nodded his head and offered a gentle smile. "I know. I'll tell Ezra. I don't think he's angry—I don't really know if he is, but it doesn't seem like something he would." Colby paused for a moment so that he would stop knotting his words together. "I'll talk to him about it. It'll be fine." Hopefully.

"I'll speak to him." Stavros stood and left the room. His hands kept flexing and unflexing which made the variety of tattoos he had across his hands and arms stretch in odd ways.

"Guess it's just you and me then." Colby tried to say with levity.

"Yes." Steven smiled back, but it faltered immediately. He cast down his eyes and seemed to find solace in tearing apart the blood soaked tissues in his hand.

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