Painkiller (BoyxBoy)

22. Regret

Shane

After Ethan and Dave hashed their differences, Mitchell was reintroduced to the group. The girls had no problem welcoming him which Shane was happy about. He was still skeptical of how Dave perceived the blue eyes boy. Shane could see that Mitchell was also a big wary. It would take a while for Dave to warm up to him but there was no doubt that it would happen.

Once in class, before the teacher arrived, Shane turned to his friends to ask about going to the mall with him and Meghan. Having the rest of the group there would make it seem less like a date, which was what he hoped for. Maybe he could even tell her that he was gay.

"So mall, gay or nay?" Brown eyes went wide at the slip-up. Shane glanced at Ethan who shared his expression. What had gotten into him for him to make such a blunder?

"What?" Dave questioned as he glanced at the two of them quizzically.

"I... I mean, yay or nay? Slip of tongue," Shane quickly corrected himself. Couldn't he have just said do you want to go to the mall? Why did he have to be so extra? He wondered.

"Nice save," he heard Ethan say. Shane's shoulders slumped in relief but he knew he was not out of the doghouse yet. Dave had clearly heard what he said and no matter what Ethan believed, Shane knew he would be questioned about it later. He watched on as Ethan and Dave argued about going to the mall. Dave didn't want to go and Ethan just wanted to mess with him.

"Argh! I fucking hate you, dude!" Dave groaned loudly as he hit the desk with his hands. "Turning on a brother like that?"

Shane just chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Don't be pissy just because you lost."

Annoyed and knowing that he wasn't going to win, the curly-haired boy turned his attention to Mitchell who squirmed under his gaze. "So what's it gonna be, Mitchy? Yay or Nay?"

Shane and Ethan watched the two boys closely with the same thoughts lingering in their minds, fearing that a repeat of lunch would happen. Was Dave going to say something insensitive and was Mitchell going to run away? Mitchell gulped and leaned back in his seat, muttering a small no that made Dave cheer.

This made Ethan roll his eyes. "We're still going though," he said to the blue-eyed boy.

"It's two against two, bro. We ain't going nowhere!"

"You don't get to decide. I know Tris and Meghan will want to go," said Shane. But it didn't really matter if his friends went or not. It would be better if they did but either way, he was going to talk to Meghan.

When school ended that day, Shane hurried to speak with Jeremy before their friends came out of the building, telling him that it was finally going to happen.

"Are you sure?" Jeremy was apprehensive.

"Of course," Shane said, trying to sound optimistic since apparently, Jeremy didn't believe in him.

Jeremy sighed. "It's not that I don't trust you," Jeremy stated as he traced Shane's lips with his thumb. "It's just that she's been avoiding you for two weeks now. What makes you think she won't do the same today?"

Shane pursed his lips, pouting as he looked up at Jeremy through his hair. He wasn't sure what to say to that. There was no doubt in his mind that Meghan would try to avoid him yet again.

"Just let me know how it goes," Jeremy stated and leaned down to kiss Shane softly before driving away. Shane watched him go until the white Porsche was out of sight.

Shane was now desperate. He wanted to be able to call Jeremy his boyfriend, to kiss him in public, in front of his friends, to proclaim his love for him. He hated that he was being held back from doing that and resented the person responsible with every fiber of his being.