Verse - 14. Chapter 14

“Wanna talk?”

Luka shook his head, instead snuggling closer to Noel’s body. It was a bit difficult to do, considering the two were already arm-in-arm, leaning against the bed’s headboard. The Lager guestroom was quite decorated, complete with an desktop—albeit an old, by the looks of it—and a television.

“Angst sex?”

Luka snickered, squeezing Noel’s stomach. “Not anymore.”

Noel grinned, giving Luka a squeeze. “Well, shucks.”

“Sorry… I’m just really tired.”

“Dude, it was a joke. I’m not lying here with you expecting to get laid.”

“Oh…”

Noel pouted and glanced at Luka. Though taller, the latter had positioned himself lower on the bed, ensuring his eyes got a good view of Noel’s neck. He’d pressed his face against it, just to be sure. “Did you… did you really think that?”

Luka laughed, his breath and movements tickling Noel’s body. “Maybe.”

“Oh…”

“I’m sober.”

“Oh…” Noel stirred as his hands tightened around Luka, squeezing him closer. “I doubt you’re an active sleeper.”

“I do kick sometimes.”

“I’ll be upset with you.”

“You’re always upset with me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I totally do.”

“That’s not nice.”

“I never said I was.”

“Just fucking fuck already!”

Startled, the two jumped up and stared wide-eyed at the door. “Dammit Raquel,” Soren’s voice came through. “Way to give us away.”

“The hell are you doing out there?” Luka demanded, laughing despite it.

“It’s eight!” Raquel voice returned.

“And it is my house,” Soren added.

“Shouldn’t you be with Cody?” Luka barked.

“Still here, bro.”

“Even you’re outside that door?”

“Soren made me do it.”

Luka sighed and smiled at Noel. “This is why I didn’t want to talk,” he whispered.

“But you were willing to fuck?” Noel rolled his eyes.

“I’ve rather loose morals, love.”

“You really are terrible!”

Luka giggled, and the two leaned back against each other. “The door’s unlocked you know,” Luka shouted at the door.

“You really do have loose morals,” Raquel said, shoving the door open. Cody and Soren followed her inside, though Evelyn was nowhere to be seen. “Got dragged away by daddy,” Raquel explained, noting Luka’s silent inquiry.

The boy nodded, shrugging lightly. He wasn’t too aware of her situation, neck-deep in his own.

“Says the one standing outside the door…” Noel whispered.

Raquel shrugged. “Two guys going at it just turns me on, like, no lie.”

Cody and Soren shared a blush, the latter clearing his throat as he sat at the foot of the bed. “Glad you’re okay after all,” he said, looking at Luka.

“I’m resilient,” Luka muttered.

“I can see that.”

The two shared a smile, which lasted until their corresponding lovers coughed loudly. The culprits flustered, turning their eyes from one another. “These two are just the worst,” Raquel said wisely.

“Agreed,” both Cody and Noel added.

“Oh, shut up,” the Worsts barked.

Laughter filled the room, lasting until well after Mrs. Lager came in with a soft smile on her face and a tray of snacks in her hands. Eric followed her in moments later, carrying the coffee pot and several mugs.

“Well, kids,” Eric began cheerily, “settle in. Soren knows where to find the movies. Raquel, do tell your brother you’ll be spending the night.”

“But he doesn’t—“

“Do it anyway, darling,” Mrs. Lager interjected.

Raquel rolled her eyes, “Fine.”

Eric nodded, preparing a coffee. It took a few moments, but he finally handed it to Luka and took a seat beside the boy. They’d never met before in their lives—though Eric did recall once seeing his son playing with Luka—and now the boy was staying in his house.

“Luka,” the man began steadily. “I’ve talked with the police. You’ll be staying here for a few weeks—at least until the situation is resolved.”

The boy nodded, gripping the warm porcelain cup in both hands. “Okay…”

“Do you attend school?”

Luka shook his head, “I’m homeschooled.”

“Ah… contracted for the school year?”

“I think so.”

The man nodded, setting his hand on his chin as he thought. “I doubt he’d mind letting you go for a few days. You’re supposed to be in shock, lad.”

“Heh.”

Eric smirked, standing. “There’re almost no rules in this house, but I do ask you don’t burn it down.”

“Lights-out’s at eleven on school days,” Mrs. Lager inputted.

Her husband nodded. “That’s the only rule, actually,” he said sagely, “obey the wife.”

The woman snickered, pushing her husband out the bedroom door. “There will be no alcohol or drugs in my house,” she continued, maintaining eye-contact with Luka. “Morning exercise’s a six-thirty, breakfast at seven-sharp, and there will definitely be no sex after lights out.”

The boys burned red, as the woman retreated. Soren dodged Luka’s eyes like the plague, as Cody and Raquel broke into heavy laughter.

“Is she serious?” Luka asked weakly.

“Pretty much,” Soren answered. “It’s why I sleep at Cody’s on the weekend. If I so much as sigh, she will be all over us.”

Luka scowled. “I get nightmares a lot.” Both Noel and Soren looked wondrous, as they watched the boy. “It’s why I smoke.”

Raquel snickered. “Dude, serious? Nightmares? You’re what, sixteen? Seventeen?”

“He does get nightmares,” Noel whispered. “Pretty bad ones.”

“No lie?”

“No lie.”

“I could hook you up…”

Soren’s eyes widened. “What??” He demanded. “You never offered to hook me up.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “That’s because you’re a major pussy, Sory. It’d be wasted on you.”

“Not cool.”

“No, you’re not.”

Luka smirked, studying the girl. She was everything he imagined her to be. “Helping me break house rules already?”

“She did say in the house.”

“Good point… I’ll need some daily.”

“Don’t hold back, do you?”

“Nope.”

Raquel shrugged, nodding slightly. “Alright. I don’t mind.”

“Bastards,” Soren muttered. “That’s my mom you’re pulling one over on.”

“Hey,” Luka returned, “if you want to wake up in the middle of the night for the next few nights, feel free to stop us.”

“Eh…”

“So,” Noel began, after a few moments of silence. “Are we gonna watch a movie or what?”

~.~.~.~

“I hate you.”

“What?” The car shook as Evelyn’s father jeered it sideways—almost crashing into a parked vehicle.

“I hate you,” Evelyn repeated. There was a scowl on her face, a near-reflection of the one on her father’s face.

“You don’t hate me,” the man replied, shifting his eyes to stare out the window.

“No,” Evelyn returned. “I don’t. But I do hate what you do.”

Her father restarted the vehicle, watching the street carefully for an opportunity to slide out. “I’m only trying to protect you.”

“Well, it’s a bit too much.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“And if I do?”

“You don’t.”

Evelyn jumped. Her father rarely took that tone, which made it clear there would be no argument. Of course, that may have been because he rarely needed to use it; she’d been far too easy to control.

At least, in the past.

“I do.”

Her father glanced at her, splitting his attention between the red light ahead, and the teenage daughter at his side, the latter just within arm’s reach. He hesitated. “Those kids are bad influences,” he muttered instead, as the light changed and his SUV took off.

Evelyn rolled her eyes, settling them on the passing streets outside the tinted window. The sun had set, though a few people were still out there, walking aimlessly. Or maybe they had purpose; she wasn’t sure. “They’re my friends. And they needed me.”

The man stayed silent the rest of the drive home.

It was a long one too, almost across the school district. Their house was large, in the upper-echelons of society. The yard was wide, surrounded by a tall, black-steel fence. The several-story manor inside made it clear Evelyn was the best-off of her group, at least economically.

The two stayed silent, as they both slammed their doors shut, the thuds echoing lightly in the tree-spotted yard, and setting off a pack of dogs behind the house. The animals went ignored as the pair strode up the patio stairs and through the unlocked door.

It was silent inside as well, the only sounds coming from the grandfather clock that stood across the foyer, and the humming of the air conditioner.

Evelyn’s steps resonated through the house as she ran from her father into the family room and the arms of her grandmother. The old woman looked surprised for only a moment, before she wrapped her frail arms around her granddaughter and shot the man who followed her in with a sour look.

“Jonathan Matthew Mayne!” the woman bellowed. “I thought I raised you better than this!”

The man frowned, taking a seat in the armchair beside his mother’s couch. It was an old thing, in the family for nearly as long as the estate. He had it restored for her birthday a few months back; she rarely left it after that.

“Sorry, Mother,” Jonathan whispered.

The woman merely sighed, one hand rubbing her temples, as the other patted Evelyn’s back. Though unaware of the specifics, she understood vaguely why her granddaughter was in her arms, crying her heart out.

Evelyn rarely got any space from her father. The man would hover over her twenty-four/seven, if her grandmother wouldn’t force him to give his daughter more room. And it was embarrassing for both of them; Jonathan considered himself the pinnacle of fathering, while she didn’t enjoy interfering in his parenting. She only did as his decisions weren’t the best, not since his wife died.

“Stop crying, Darling,” the woman sighed. “You know your father means well.”

It didn’t really work.