Lost Inside - 23. Chapter 23

Yuri jerked up in bed, suppressing a hiss. His head throbbed, and flashes from his nightmare kept coming at him. Good thing Benny was sleeping on his stomach facing away. He mighta woken his mate up, and then Benny would make him talk about stuff.

He was tired of talking.

A drink. That's what he wanted. Yuri cautiously climbed off the bed. The lights from outside the bar shone in the window and lit up the room so he wouldn't bonk into anything. He slinked through the piles of clothes thrown all over the floor. No wonder the room smelled so strongly of his mate¾he never picked up his dirty clothes!

Then again, Cleara always nagged at him to pick up his stuff too.

Yuri rummaged around behind the bar. Ahh. Whiskey. He poured a couple of finger's worth and put the bottle back. He debated going in the kitchen for ice, but decided not to. He needed to figure out all the crap bubbling up in his head.

Not all of it made sense. He kept seeing things and people. Their names would flash in his head, and then go away again. People singing, people happy, and then people screaming. He saw Benny a lot, and he liked those dreams, but he missed the sparkle in his mate's eyes when he saw him for real. Benny was so different.

Sad. Angry.

He still loved Yuri though.

Yuri hugged one arm around his chest and sucked down a drink of whiskey. He stared at the pictures on the half-wall next to the bookshelves. They were just regular photos tacked up but he hadn't looked at them before.

Wow. Benny had been following him around for a long time. Yuri leaned in close to see one pictures of him in a tree.

"What're you doing?"

Yuri whirled and let out a startled eep. His heart raced.

"Uh. Okay." Benny flicked an ear and raised one eyebrow at him from the bedroom door.

"You scared me!" Yuri's face was hot. He tried to ignore the sound he'd made. "I almost spilled my drink!"

"Are you drinking soda? Or ginger ale? Is your stomach upset? Do you feel okay? Is it your head?" Benny hurried out of the bedroom and over to him.

"I'm fine."

Benny sniffed. "Is that… whiskey?"

Yuri took a big drink. "Yes."

His mate frowned. "Why are you drinking whiskey at four in the morning?"

"If I tell you, are you gonna freak out?"

"Why would I freak out?" Benny asked.

Oh, he hated that. "Don't answer a question with a question! It's rude, Cleara says." Yuri scowled.

"Sorry. I mean, I'll try not to."

That was probably the best he was going to get. Yuri wandered away from the picture wall over to the couch. How should he say it?

"I keep seeing things," he blurted out. He blew out the rest of his breath and slumped on the couch. "Holy shit! Cold!" He jumped back up.

Maybe he should've put some of those clothes on that were on the floor.

Benny didn't laugh at his goof. Yuri bit his lip.

"What do you mean, you keep seeing things?" Benny spoke slowly, like Yuri was stupid or something.

"Things. In my dreams. Like, memories and stuff. What, did you think I meant I saw dead people or something?" Yuri scoffed.

"I wasn't sure what you meant. Don't get snippy, just talk to me."

Yuri sighed. "I'm tired of talking."

Benny reached around him and grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch. He spread it out and then sat down. "I know." He gestured for Yuri to sit down too. "But if you don't talk to me about it, I don't know what's going on with you. If we don't tell the doctors, they can't help make you better."

"I'm tired of the tests and doctors, too." Yuri knew he was whining, but he didn't care. He drained the rest of the whiskey out of his glass. "I just wanna… I wanna…."

"What?"

"Why can't we just be normal? Why can't we be mates and do stuff, and live happily ever after too? Everything sucks." Yuri pushed at his temple where the throbbing was coming back.

Benny reached up and took the glass out of Yuri's hand and set it on the table. He grabbed Yuri's hand and tugged. Yuri let his mate pull him down onto the couch, nestling between Benny's legs and leaning against his chest.

"We are mates, and we do… stuff. Is there something else you want to do?" He rubbed his fingers along the bridge of Yuri's nose, along his forehead, and drew circles back into his hair.

"I wanna get a job," Yuri murmured. What Benny was doing felt so good. "I want you to not have to take care of me like I'm a kid. I'm not."

"Oh, stuff like that." Benny kept massaging.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, if you talk to me and the doctors, then they might be able to make the other stuff happen, Yuri. You have to crawl before you walk, though. We need to know what's going on with you. I want to know, I promise."

Yuri sighed. "Like what?"

"What was your dream about? It must be bad, if it made you get up and drink on your own."

"You were sleeping too good to wake up."

His eyes slid shut.

"What did you dream, Yuri?"

"About my mom and dad. We were alone¾on our way to see the elders. I was mad, 'cause my dad was making me go meet someone about mating to cement an alliance between Clans. I didn't want to. My lip hurt, 'cause Dad hit it and hissed at me to shut up or he'd marry me off to some vicious Alpha, like Yuisi."

Benny paused in the middle of the massage. "Who's Yuisi?"

"My brother." Yuri wiggled his head on Benny's shoulder. "Don't stop," he whined. His head was just starting to stop hurting.