In the Beat of a Wing {boyxboy}

Chapter Thirty-Seven

~Sunday 14th April 2013~

"Alright, up," Eden blatantly ignored Lex's voice, burying his face further into the pillows, "Eden, get your ass out of bed," Eden clutched onto the covers when he felt Lex trying to pry them away from his hands. He was warm, he was comfortable, and he was not getting up. He groaned when Lex's grip didn't let up on the foot of the covers, knowing the man, although only a human, was far stronger than him. He wasn't going to win the tug of war.

"Leave me alone, I'm tired," Eden whined, scowling at Lex when he finally dragged the covers off him, "what?" he snapped, hoping he didn't sound too venomous.

"We're going to Leon's," Eden rolled his eyes, resting his head back on the pillows and curling up, hoping to retain some heat whilst Lex hoarded the covers away from him.

"Good for you, have fun," Eden grimaced when Lex drew the curtains, light streaming into the dark room, burning his eyes, "why can't you just leave them closed?"

"You're coming with me and Wyatt, alright? We're all going down to Leon's because you haven't seen Audrey in like a week and I know that affects her too."

"She's fine with it, Lex," Eden rose from the bed, tugging the curtains closed, stopping in his tracks when Lex prevented him from returning to bed, "she's all caught up in her relationship with Tian, she probably hasn't even given me a second thought."

"Is that your problem? Are you jealous that she doesn't rely on you anymore?" Eden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, the change in lighting in the room having brought on a headache. Or maybe Lex was the cause, Eden couldn't be quite sure.

"No, Lex, my problem is I want to go back to sleep, alright? I'm tired, I don't sleep well, you know this."

"So why aren't you taking your caffeine pills? You used to cope perfectly well with your crappy sleep schedule when you were taking the pills."

"I haven't taken anything since I passed out after Rei fed from me. Ari gave me some enchanted stuff I took for a few weeks but my sleeping got better and I ran out. I never bothered to ask for any more," Lex looked as though he was going to sigh, but not out of anger. He looked concerned, exhausted, and Eden wondered whether his own pit of depression that he had allowed to fester had begun to spread through that apartment and affect others as well.

"Y'know, Eden, I think I know the problem," Lex turned away, leaning over the bed and collecting something from under the pillow, "I think this is the problem," Lex held up a crumpled white t-shirt with a black tie wrapped around it, "you're allowed to be frustrated, Eden, you're allowed to not like the situation you're in. Mal isn't expecting you to be ecstatic about this whole thing, that isn't the point," Eden took the shirt from Lex, running his fingers over the silken fabric of the dark tie woven around it, biting down on his bottom lip.

"If I stay in here, I don't have to see it. I can pretend it isn't happening and I can wait it out," Eden's voice was quiet, almost defeated. When he had said he was tired, he didn't mean physically.

"Eden, this isn't how you deal with something like this, you're gonna drive yourself insane. You're making yourself sick, can't you see that?"

"I'd rather be sick than see them together," Eden perched on the edge of the bed, bringing the shirt up to his face and inhaling that rich cinnamony scent. It was fading, and fading fast. Eden had been meaning to ask Malcolm for another, to replace the one that he had forgotten there the other week, but hadn't had the opportunity.

Malcolm, for some reason, wasn't just in some state of concern for how cautious they were, he was completely paranoid. They weren't just distancing from one another physically, it was becoming some sort of a mental aspect too. Malcolm wouldn't even allow calls, or texts, in case the phones were tapped. Eden was completely cut off from him, other than the pictures and articles in the trashy magazines Lex and Wyatt bought.