Always saving me…
My hero.
“Let him in,” I sighed, crossing the room and flopping down onto the couch with my bottle of booze.
The second the door swung open, Milo came storming in, a tiny angry scowl painted across his cherub-like features.
“We need to talk, buddy,” he snapped, coming to stand in front of me and folding his arms tightly over his chest.
I slid my eyes up to meet his, already feeling loose and tipsy from the alcohol. His gaze dropped to the bottle I was balancing on my knee, and his scowl deepened.
“You’re drunk,” he accused, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Yeah.”
“Why are you here drinking by yourself? Why didn’t you come get me?”
Because I can’t do this to you anymore. I’ve already hurt you enough.
“Milo—” I sighed, trying to brush him off. My eyebrows rose as he immediately grew more irritated.
“No! Answer me! You dismissed me earlier like I was no better than freakingMelanie,and then you didn’t even come by to explain why! I thought we… You can’tdothis to me, Jay. You know what that guy did to me at school… I’ve been worried sick that you’re breaking up with me or something…”
My eyes widened in surprise as guilt crashed through me. It hadn’t even occurred to me that my avoidance would trigger him to think I didn’t want him anymore.
The issue wasn’t that I didn’t want him. The issue was that I wanted him so bad that I was putting him indanger.
“Milo… I just…” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. The room spun slightly, and I regretted drinking as much as I had. “I’m too drunk for this conversation.”
“Well, too bad!” Milo snapped, and he reached forward to grab my wrist, pulling my hand away from my face so he could look at me.
I froze, staring at where his fingers had wrapped around my wrist, and I held my breath.
‘He winced when he touched my arm on the walk over here.’Seb’s words swirled through my intoxicated mind as I waited to see if what he suspected was true.
Sure enough, after a long, pregnant moment, Milo gasped and ripped his hand away from me.
He hissed in pain and clutched the spot on his arm where I knew Luke had injected him with a key tag.
“Wh-what? What the heck?” he muttered, fear and confusion flickering across his perfect face.
My heart broke as the reality of our situation sank in, and as much as I wanted to wrap him up in my arms to comfort him, I knew it would just hurt him more.
All I ever did was fucking hurt him.
“Yeah,” I slurred, tilting my whiskey bottle in his direction knowingly. “That’s why I’m here, drinking alone.That’swhy I didn’t come to see you. I don’t want to hurt you… and now… now everything is all fucked up, and it’smy fault.”
I could almost see the wheels turning in Milo’s brain as his wide eyes flicked from his arm to my face.
“This can’t be… this isn’t possible… Okay, maybe it’s possible, but it isn’tethical!He can’t just implant stuff into people that physically punishes them for not following the rules! We’re human beings, not… notcattle!”Milo was nearly shouting now, his voice squeaking with anxiety.
“Yeah, well… Tell Luke that.”
“How come it doesn’t hurt you when you touch me? You have one too!”
I shrugged. “New tech, I guess. Mine is old, but it punishes me when I try to leave campus. Seb and I learned that a year or so ago. He just told me earlier that he had a new model injected a few weeks back, and his is more…restrictivethan mine. He thinks yours is even more advanced.”
Milo looked fuckinghorrified,and I didn’t blame him.
