Choose Me

Panic attack

He approached the door, as he looked for the key. Eventually, Anthony gave up and opted to knock instead, hoping Ian would be there, but a voice stopped him.

"Did ... Did you just say 'escape with Anthony'...?"

That wasn't Ian. It was Alex, but he sounded somewhat upset, and he was talking really loud, since Anthony could hear him. Why was Alex there late at night? Were they arguing? About what? And what did he have to do with it? Something didn't feel right. He tried to open the door but it was locked, forcing him to look for the key again.

"Is that what stops you from marrying Melanie? Anthony?" Alex sounded hurt. What?

"He's straight, Alex, and he has nothing to do with this." That was Ian. But... "What I meant was that I would escape with Anthony, my best friend," he emphasized "from Melanie and from everyone." ...he sounded... insecure. And scared.

"And you will?"

"I DON'T KNOW. I don't know what to do yet, I'm still not over Melanie.

"And you love me. And you are also after Anthony. Can't you fucking choose already?

"I never said--" Ian sounded angry, but he suddenly stopped, and that's when Anthony finally could open the door. He then walked to the living room as fast as he could, dropping his suitcase.

Alex was kissing Ian. Grabbing him by his shoulders, not letting him go; Anthony was so shocked he couldn't move.

Alexander slowly put his forehead against Ian's, after breaking the kiss. "Choose me. Please" he whispered, not daring to open his eyes. "How long will it take you to realize that Melanie isn't--"

"Get out."

"Ian..."

"I need to be alone. Please, just go." Ian released himself from Alexander's grip.

"But I--"

"He said he wants to be alone. Get the fuck out."

Alex flinched at the voice that came from behind. He slowly turned around to glare at Anthony, who was trying his best to not punch him in the face. He then pushed Anthony out of the way and walked towards the door, closing it loudly behind him. Anthony turned to Ian, who was still in shock.

"You're alright?"

"... You're back" Ian blurted. It actually took a few seconds to process that his friend was, in fact, in front of him. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough. I knew that bastard was no good." He stared at the door and then back to Ian. "Did he hurt you?"

"We just argued, don't worry. And, you know, he... Well, you saw it, right?" Ian looked downwards. Anthony scratched the back of his neck, knowing what Ian was referring to.

"I don't want to be nosy about it, but... why was I involved in your discussion?" Before he could even realize, Ian started walking away from him, slowly making his way to the kitchen. "Ian?" Anthony followed him, but got no response. "Is there something I should know? ...You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" He hesitated, but he only made Ian run away from him. Well, not literally running, but he was indeed fleeing from him. Anthony ran after him, but Ian locked himself in his room before he could do anything. "Ian!"

"I'm not in the mood to talk." was all he got as an answer after he knocked.

_________________________________________________

"Morning." Anthony flinched at Ian's voice. It was nearly 11:00 am, and there was tension in the air; Ian wasn't going to talk about that discussion with Alex— he had made that clear last night after not opening the door of his room even though Anthony spent at least 10 minutes knocking, so Anthony wouldn't ask.