Rose Tinted (boyxboy)

Chapter 12: Scars

"We had fun. That was all." 
☆

"Here he is!" Tayce says with enthusiasm as he catches Jerry in the locker room, changing into his home clothes. They hadn't really spoken over the Saturday due to everything happening with both of them, but despite Tayce's trauma, he was still managing to present a flawless facade. No one would ever know. 

"Ah stop." Jerry says, trying to mask his smile as he pulls his t shirt over his head. 

"I'm not stopping until you tell me all the juicy details." Tayce says, leaning against the locker, looking across to Jerry. "Remember, I helped make it happen." He nudges Jerry's arm slightly with his elbow. 

Jerry pulls his lips into his mouth, still trying to suppress the smile on his face. "We had fun. That was all." He says, now letting the smile grow wider. 

"And...are you going to see him again?" Tayce asks, hanging on to every word.

"I don't think so." Jerry replies, his face a mixture of happy and sad. "I mean don't get me wrong, he was amazing, but he's not boyfriend material, not like your Frank." Jerry replies, turning away from Tayce to get his hoodie from his locker. 

He doesn't catch the crack in Tayce smile. Frank...boyfriend material. Something in that sentence made Tayce want to laugh in amusement, or was it cry with pain, or maybe it was kind of true? Frank could be the perfect boyfriend when he wanted to be.

"Well he's not available." Tayce finds himself saying. Too ashamed to tell his best friend what really goes on behind closed doors. He wants to change the subject...."So, he was amazing...that's all you're giving me?" He pouts. "Spoil sport." 

He goes to tickle Jerry on his sides, with Jerry counter attacking, not even stopping when Max enters the locker room. 

He heads for his locker, opening it and pulling his phone from the small space before sitting down on the low level bench to check his notifications. 

Max felt a little in limbo sat there on the bench. It looked like he was ignoring Tayce and Jerry and their tomfoolery, but Max was very much in tune to it all...especially Tayce. 

Max wanted nothing more than to ask what happened when he left his apartment. To make sure Tayce was truly ok. He knew by now that what Tayce was portraying to the outside world wasn't necessarily a true representation of what lied beneath the surface, so Max had to work out his own methods to find out if Tayce was really ok. So when he hears an "ow." Leave Tayce's lips, he glances up. 

"You tickle rough!" Tayce says, laughing off the pain as he rubs his shoulder. Jerry now stops the antics and pulls his bag from his locker. A smile still on his face. "Na. You're just losing your skill." He jests, before pulling his backpack over his back and slapping Tayce playfully on the back, making him again wince at the contact. 

Jerry doesn't see the flinch in Tayce's body, the way he tenses from the slight shock. But Max does, he sees it all.

Max waits until Jerry has left the locker room, before he gets up from the bench. He slips his phone in his back pocket and begins to walk towards Tayce. 

Tayce tries to avoid eye contact with Max. He knows what Max is going ask him. But Max doesn't say a thing. Instead he just stands opposite Tayce, looking him up and down. Then Max outstretches his hands and rests them on Tayce's shoulders, causing Tayce to now look at Max in confusion. "What...what are you doing?" He asks, a little unnerved by the unusual physical attention he is getting from Max. 

"Shhh." he hushes as he slowly turns Tayce around so his back is facing him. 

"You're making me a bit nervous." Tayce says under a light chuckle. "I mean if you wanted to join in with Jerry and.."

"I said shhh!" Max repeats. Letting his hands leave Tayce's shoulders. Max now places his finger tips on Tayce's shoulder blades. He then slowly and very delicately begins to run his fingers down the length of Tayce's back. 

Tayce tickles slightly under the touch. "You know, that's not quite how it's done." Tayce jokes. But his smile soon drops when Max hits a spot on the left side of his back. 

"Sss." He hisses, flinching slightly, then instantly regrets it. Max pulls his hands away and Tayce feels he needs to leave. "I gotta start my shift." He announces, as he begins to turn around to head out of the door. 

"Show me." Max says all of a sudden, making Tayce once again stop and turn around. 

"Show you what? I need to get to work." Tayce says, now feeling hassled.

"You know what I mean, your back...show me." Max now steps a little closer. 

Tayce looks at Max and his whole facial expression changes. "You're worrying over nothing." Tayce insists. 

He turns around, pulling up the hem of his polo shirt so the skin by his waist is exposed. Max looks to see the soft silky skin, blemish free.

"Higher." He insists and Tayce does so, just a fraction. 

"Like I said, you're worrying over nothing." Tayce repeats. But Max isn't satisfied. 

"Take off your shirt." He says.

Tayce now freezes. "I don't have to do anything. I've got nothing to prove."

"Then you should have nothing to hide." Max insists. "Please Tayce, just...please prove me wrong and I'll leave it." 

All at once, Tayce feels that wave of emotion which he felt the previous hours wash over him. He feels his eyes begin to water, his heart pound, he feels shameful, he feels like dirt and he does one of the bravest things he has ever done. 

Slowly and carefully, Tayce lifts his shirt over his head, taking it clean off to expose his back to Max. 

Max stares at the bare skin before him and his heart sinks to the floor. "Shit." He utters under his breath as he gazes upon what look like belt marks criss crossing all over Tayce's back. 

"I should have made you stay with me." Max says as he steps forward and wraps his arms around the back of Tayce's waist, pulling him in for a back hug. "He will never do this to you again." 

Tayce didn't know why, but Max's touch felt familiar, like he had sensed it before somewhere. It felt comforting. Tayce finds himself pulling at the arms to hold him tighter. They felt like protection. Tayce felt safe. 

They stay like this for a few moments, before Tayce moves, slowly, trying to turn as Max retracts his hands. "What did I do wrong?" He asks Max. "What did I do that was so wrong?" 

Max's heart breaks a little at the pain on Tayce's face. He places a hand on his cheek. "Nothing. You did nothing wrong ok?" 

Tayce feels a sense of relief leave him, knowing that someone else could see that this situation wasn't right. It was so wrong and for the first time, Tayce feels like he may have take a step out of the darkness.

A/N now it begins...