Badass Omega [MxM] - A Reimagining of Carmen

Chapter 18 - Playing Catch

After

"Charlie!" Morgan called out, sweet and cheerful as ever. "Late night?"

"Sure," Kit answered distractedly. "Pretty late, yeah."

"Want to hang out with me today? I was going to go to the arcade down in Manitou Springs with Justin this weekend, but his paper's due, so... Do you want to come with me?" he asked, glancing shyly at Kit through his bangs.

"Manitou Springs has this really big old arcade with lots of games and you can get saltwater toffee there and retro-style milkshakes and - "

"Why not?" Kit replied, latching on to anything that might take his mind off the look on Dan's face when he had seen him with Darren. 

"I'm down. Just let me grab a quick shower and get changed."

Dan told himself it was not because he'd found Charlie in his brother's house. He should have done this long ago, for his pack's safety. He had been blinded. This was the responsible thing to do. 

And he wanted answers. If Charlie wasn't going to give them, Dan would find them for himself. 

He had gone straight home after their encounter, then made up his mind and drove right back. Striding in though the still open door, he refused to look at his brother, on the couch with his head in his hands. Charlie was nowhere to be seen. 

Dan walked up to the coffee table where - among the general debris littering every surface in the  house - stood two half empty glasses of water. 

"Which one is his?" Dan asked gruffly.

Darren twitched and looked up. Dan wondered briefly if he would pick a fight - and today, Dan did not feel up to being generous. He would show his little brother why he was the one with the higher rank between the two of them, beta or no.

"That one," Darren croaked, pointing at the closer glass. Dan picked it up carefully and eased it into a clear plastic bag. His brother watched him.

"What are you doing?"

"What I should have done from the start." 

He left without looking back and got into his car.

The concealed weapon, the way he had appeared - injured and destitute - out of the mountains, the scars, the hints of a troubled past. Dan should have checked up on it from the start. He had focused too much on helping Charlie and getting to know him. 

On falling for him, his unhelpful brain supplied. 

What if, instead of being just a kid down on his luck, Charlie was dangerous? What if Darren had been right from the start? 

Dan's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel and he pressed down on the gas pedal, driving towards the police station in Manitou Springs.

"Oh, man! I haven't done this shit since... I haven't ever done this shit!" 

Morgan laughed. "Yeah, this is fun. Let's get some soda. You've got so many tickets!"

"You've got more. Is it enough for a prize, though?"

"Hm...maybe if we pool them. I know one game that gives you lots of tickets, come on..."

This was just the distraction Kit had longed for. Fun, without harmful consequences. Manitou Springs was a quaint little town at the foot of the Rockies, full of colourful tourist traps and old buildings. 

Rivers Crossing, with it's one diner and gas station, seemed little more than a bleak pit stop in comparison. 

They had already played skee ball, thrown basketballs into hoops, raced in plastic cars, and played countless other games. Now they headed over to an old game depicting a black and white flat maze on a square screen. They traced the maze with their fingers, racing each other and giggling more than really seemed justified.