Bed Sheets II

37. Delusional

Draven had his arms folded behind his head and he stared at the patterns on his ceiling. He had not gotten an ounce of sleep since last night, and as he turned over to his side, all his mind was thinking about was the conversation he had with Eric and Kyle.

He had successfully kicked both of them from his home; it had been quite difficult since he was worried that Kyle would treat Eric poorly again, but it needed to be done. Hearing that Eric was still confused between the both of them, after begging Draven for a second chance, had been enough of a red flag to let him know Eric was never going to change.

And that upset him, which was partially why he did not head into work that morning. The other reason was because he heard Rebecca had shown her face at his building to speak with him, and she was the last person he wanted to face at the moment. All those stressors was why he snuggled deeper in his sheets, and tightly held his pillow.

"The both of us?"

Eric had flinched when Kyle had screamed, storming to his feet. He had glanced towards Draven in hopes that he would protect him, but Draven did not move an inch, rather maintained a mean glare. "You love the both of us, Eric?"

After a sharp gulp, Eric had slowly begun nodding his head, and Kyle's fists had tightened terribly hard that they both thought his knuckles would shatter. He widened his arms, "After all I've been through, after all I've done for you; you're still alive because of me. And I trusted you—"

"I know Kyle, but I can't let go of him. He was someone that I cherished—"

"I'm appalled Eric, you disgust me," Kyle snapped, slowly shaking his head while examining Eric from feet to nose. "There's not a chance I'll end up marrying you now, you betrayed me."

Eric's head tilted, "Please dont say that—"

"I'm going home," Kyle scoffed, beginning to walk towards the exit. "Whether you want to come back to the apartment that's your decision, but what we had will never be the same again."

"Kyle, it was never meant to—"

"You chose this path, so don't be surprised and upset. I'm ashamed I ever loved you in the first place," his tone was harsh, filled with venom as he stormed away from Eric and Draven, heading towards the front door.

There was an intense silence that fell onto the room, until Eric suddenly heard heaving. When he glanced towards Draven, his breathing halted for a moment when he saw Draven's face filled with tears, unable to control his sobs as he struggled to breathe. His entire face was contorted, tears dripping from his chin and he placed his palm over his eyes, avoiding staring at Eric.

That shattered Eric's heart, "Draven, I—"

"N-No," Draven hissed in between sobs, clearing his throat. "D-Don't t-touch...m-me." His shoulders were quivering and he took a step backwards to increase the distance between each other. His heart was stinging underneath his chest, and he was gripping his shirt, attempting to ease the pain a bit.

There were no words to describe the agony he experiences, avoiding staring at Eric, the man that he had believed would be the one he would spend the rest of his life beside. He had accepted Eric countless times, putting aside different differences that others would not have allowed to slide. It was because his love for Eric was heavy, weighing much more than the love he had for himself, and he had always thought the feeling was both ways.

He had waited five years for him, and Draven no longer had the energy to do so.

His lips were quivering and he wiped his nose on his sleeve, attempting to calm himself down but returning to dry heaving. The longer Eric stood there, the worse it became, and he motioned towards the door, "Leave...p-pleas...se."

"I can't leave you like this—"

"I said leave!" he cried, clenching his teeth and removing his head from above his eyes. Eric noticed how red and squinted they were, but he remained grounded on his spot. That was the last straw for Draven, "You...ruined me. You've hurt me...so bad. I don't even know what to say. All I did was love you and..." his voice coiled too much that he was unable to speak, and he looked away. "We're done, for life."

"Draven, please listen to me—"

"Eric, leave," he had enough, and he reached for Eric's chest, shoving him towards the door. "Get out of my house."

"Draven—"

"I'm done with you, I'm not in love with you anymore and I'll never be again. You mean nothing to me, and you'll never mean anything to anybody if that's the entitled way you want to live your life," he shoved Eric forward once more and Eric's back slammed against the door.

Eric bit his bottom lip, his own eyes filling with tears as he pushed himself from the door, "That's not fair, you don't know how hard it is for me too—"

"You made that decision yourself!" Draven roared, reaching for the doorknob and pulling the door open. "Get out, have a nice life and don't ever show your face near me again. You're sick, you're disgusting, you're delusional, you're selfish, and you need help."

Those were the last words Draven had said to Eric, and the whole day he stared at the ceiling, re-collecting them over and over again.