Inside Out [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 17 - Full Moon

It started when I heard rustling of dry leaves underneath my feet. As I moved, I could hear twigs snapping close by. The touch of rough tree bark against my skin was the next sensation I became aware of. I opened my eyes to be met with complete darkness. Unable to see or hear much I wasn't sure where I was or how I had gotten here.

I struggled to move, but my legs felt numb. Then I noticed a flicker of light, and the next minute the blue sky was above me again. I was laying on a bed of grass, surrounded by massive bushes. I breathed out and squinted, trying to figure out what was going on. Still, I couldn't recall anything. My vision was blurry, and there were too many thoughts in my head I started to feel dizzy. I stood up, my knees trembling.

There were two figures standing about ten feet from me. Standing apart from each other, one was leaning against a tree, watching the other one. One of them looked familiar. It took time for me to figure out who he was.

Of course, I thought. Jace.

But something wasn't right. Before I attempted to make a move, I strained to see what he was doing, then my sight sharpened and I couldn't breathe.

He was holding a gun, putting the barrel to his own head.

Suddenly the other guy moved away from the tree to approach Jace. Instinct was telling me to keep watching, although I wanted to make a move now. My heart raced, because this time I could see clearly that Jace's finger was on the trigger. He just needed to pull it and my life would be over—I would be dead.

The other guy caught my attention again. One of his hands moved from his back to his side, and I noticed a similar gun to what Jace was holding. He took a step closer to Jace until there was no distance between them. Their foreheads touched.

"Together," I heard him say, even though they were far enough from where I was. "Let's do this together."

Jace didn't respond, and that's when everything clicked in my head.

I tried to move, but stopped when I heard my mate's voice.

"I ... I don't know, Raoul," he said.

What are you doing? I thought to myself. Move!

I took another step forward, and I tried to be fast but the ground was so muddy and sticky I had to struggle for every one of my steps. I looked at the ground, pulling my left foot hard off the damp soil. It would take forever to walk in this situation.

"How about we do it for each other?" Raoul said.

I looked up at them, their own guns pointed at each other, only this time the barrels pointed at their chests. No, I wanted to scream. Please don't do that, Jace. Please.

 "I don't think we should do this," Jace said.

A sense of panic disrupted me from breathing evenly. I tried to run faster and the mud swallowed my feet more, pulling me deeper into the ground.

But I didn't stop. I needed Jace to be free, and I wanted to scream at Raoul for inviting him to follow in his footsteps, because I wasn't the same as his mate.

Then Raoul reached to touch Jace's arm and his other hand took the gun out of Jace's hand. Raoul leaned away from Jace, holding the two guns together, their barrels pointed to the ground. He looked up towards my mate, and I noticed a smile when he threw the guns away.

I gasped.

"No," Raoul said. "You don't need to do this."

Jace smiled. "No?"