Under A Paper Moon

XII

Micah could feel Elias' eyes on him during class. He turned to look at the blonde boy, wondering what was up with him. Even though Elias' gaze were fixed on Micah, his mind seemed elsewhere. Micah raised a brow in question, but Elias' face still remained emotionless and blank, he had zoned out completely.

Micah tried to catch up to Elias after class but the other boy just pulled his arm from Micah's grip and rushed away, using the crowd in the hallway as a cover. To say that Micah was confused and worried would be an understatement.

"Micah!" Dom yelled, running up to Micah with a concerned expression on his face.

"What?" Micah snapped.

"I'm so- I'm so sorry. I didn't meant to.. I didn't know that.. fuck I'm just so sorry. I didn't realise he was your.. till it was too late. I'm so fucking sorry." Dom rambled.

"What are you on about?" Micah questioned.

"Uh, Elias.. he told me he knew about me, about us. So, we were just talking about werewolves and I didn't know how much he knew and it just slipped.." Dom trailed off.

"You told him about mates," Micah connected the dots and Dom nodded, "And now he knows he's mine."

"I'm sorry." Dom bit his lip.

"Fuck! You don't know what you've done!" Micah yelled, trying his best to control his anger, "Fuck! You ruined everything!"

"I didn't mean to.. I didn't know.." Dom looked so terrified it seemed like he would pass out any second.

"I can't exactly blame you," Micah signed, calming down a bit after looking at how petrified Dom was, "I should've warned you about this. And I should've told Elias too. He's not dumb, he obviously would've figured it out sooner or later."

"I'm still sorry he figured it out because of me."

"Whatever, just- just get the fuck out of my face. It's not your fault but I can't look at you right now." Micah said. Dom didn't need to be told twice, he quietly scurried off.

~~~

Micah waited for half an hour in the parking lot before he accepted that Elias probably took the bus. He didn't know whether he was hurt or relieved. He was scared of confrontation, but he also knew he had to face Elias and the truth sooner or later. And knowing the type of person Elias was, sooner would be better.

With his heart racing and his hands trembling, he drove to Elias' place. As he stared at the steering wheel for a solid fifteen minutes, Micah sighed and started driving again, back to his own home.

Elias felt trapped, suffocated in his own room. He needed to get out of the house as much as he needed orange juice, so he walked to the grocery store. The way Micah looked at him the rest of the day made it crystal clear that Micah was aware Elias knew about mates.

Elias didn't fail to notice Micah's car parked outside his house for a good few minutes either. He had always known Micah to be brave and strong, so seeing the boy drive away surprised Elias. The mates matter was clearly much, much more serious than Elias could ever comprehend. And that's what scared him the most.

He wasn't mad at Micah for hiding it from him. He was, at the beginning, but the secrecy was something that he could understand. It's a huge deal, and Micah isn't obligated to tell everything to Elias, they've known each other barely for three months.

Honestly, Elias would've preferred had he not figured out that he was Micah's mate. Not yet, atleast. Ignorance can really be a bliss at times. But now that the snake was out of the can, he didn't know what to think of it. He didn't know what to do and how to face Micah. How were things supposed to go back to the way they were?