He had to make sure Chad had a life to come back to, and forcing his way into his hospital room was a sure way of destroying him and Chad in the long run.
It was his job to make sure Chad had a life to come back to.
“Come on,” Romeo said.His voice came out gravelly.“Let’s get you breakfast.”
The sun had started to appear on the horizon, hitting the fog lingering on the fields, making it look as if he was surrounded by pools of gold.
Romeo didn’t feel its warmth on his back when he went inside the house.
He led Mercutio into the kitchen and filled up his bowl.He collapsed down on a kitchen chair, propping his head up with his hand, and closed his eyes.
He swore to himself he only shut them for a few seconds, but his arm slipped, his head jolted, and he blinked back into the present.Mercutio had curled up in his bed, and orange shone through the slats of the kitchen blind.
The need to text and call Josh itched at him, but he couldn’t handle being ignored again.He couldn’t risk blowing up and leaving Josh a threatening voicemail.
Mercutio’s ears pricked, and he lifted his head.Romeo frowned, then ten seconds later, he heard it too.A car.Romeo’s heart picked up, and out of nowhere he thought of Chad, like he was the one driving up the track road.It was impossible and stupid, but Romeo was beginning to learn that about having a heart, it wasn’t always rational.
Romeo snatched up his phone about to check the cameras, but it was dead.
“Shit,” he hissed, getting to his feet.
He shut Mercutio in the kitchen and went upstairs, not risking even a glance out of the window.
He’d already compromised them enough.
Romeo narrowed his eyes at the sound of a car door opening, crunched steps across the gravel, the scratch of a key, then the front door flew open, striking the wall.
“I’m sorry, bud!”
Romeo stiffened at Josh’s voice, so different to the tone he’d used on the phone to Romeo.He rushed into the house, flinging the door to the kitchen open too.
Mercutio yipped and yapped, and there was the distinct sound of the mutt knocking into things as he greeted Josh.
Chad had told Romeo Mercutio adored Josh, and the feeling was mutual.
It was quiet for a moment, then Romeo picked out the sound of dog food being poured into a bowl.Romeo snorted softly.Mercutio was enjoying a double helping of breakfast with the soundtrack of apologies from a breathless Josh.
“I’ll be right back.”Josh said.
Romeo backed away from the stairs, stepping as quietly as he could, but the floorboards creaked.He hurried into his and Chad’s bedroom before slipping into the bathroom.Josh’s feet pounded the stairs, taking two at a time, he was suddenly there, on the other side of the door.
Romeo listened as drawers were pulled open, and he managed to peek through the gap in the ajar door.Josh was packing a bag, presumable for Chad.Which was at the least, some kind of positive.Romeo clung to it, grounding himself for a moment.
“I haven’t gone anywhere, bud,” Josh shouted as he packed, flinging in underwear and socks.Romeo’s gaze darted towards the sink in the bathroom.
Chad’s toothbrush and deodorant spray were there.
He didn’t have a convenient shower curtain to hide behind.
If Josh came into the bathroom...
Something sharp prickled the back of Romeo’s skull.
He almost gasped.
The monstrous part of him had stirred.It sunk its teeth in and filled Romeo’s brain with a static buzz.He dug his nails into his palms as his fists shook.
If Josh stepped into the bathroom, if Josh saw him, Romeo would have to kill him.
