Muse

Chapter 14 (Mike's POV) (lightly NSFW)

Mike's POV

I turned my head to the sound of someone knocking on my door. I wiped my hands with a dish towel before walking out of the kitchen. I dropped Eddie off at Chris' house hours ago, so I wasn't expecting anyone.

I opened the front door for... Eddie? With a duffel bag? I was so confused and surprised, the several questions I had came out in what could hardly be considered words.

"Can I come in?" he asked in a low voice.

"O-of course," I stepped aside to let him in before closing the door.

He set his bag down against the wall in the foyer, covering his face with both hands and letting out a long sigh. He shook his head, and his arms dropped to his sides.

"You wanna..." I lifted a hand in the direction of the living room. "...sit down and relax before we start talking about this?"

"About what?"

"About why you packed a bag and came back?"

He sighed. "Yeah."

While he sat down, I ran to the kitchen and brought two cans of beer with me to the living room. I sat beside him and handed him one. He thanked me and accepted it, cracking it open and practically chugging it.

"Slow down, I got more in the fridge," I said.

He swallowed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Sorry, man. I just..."

He shook his head, setting his beer down on the coffee table before running a hand through his hair. Instead of interrupting him with questions, I opened my own beer and took a sip. If I had to guess, it had something to do with his boyfriend. We spent half our time away from the rest of the band and our friends discussing his relationship. When he and Chris got back together after the fight two years ago, things seemingly weren't the same between them. And lately, things weren't going so good at all. It wasn't my place to point a finger at anyone, but from what he told he, the problem was Chris.

"He saw the hickey you gave me."

I must have coughed or something in the middle of my second sip. Some of the beer spilled out of the can as well as my mouth and landed on my shirt and my lap. "Fuck..."

"Yeah, 'fuck' is all I'm thinking because I specifically asked you not to leave any marks. How many times have I asked you not to leave any marks?"

I took a tissue from the box in front of me and wiped it across where the beer spilled, the real reason why I said "fuck," but I wasn't going to challenge that. That was besides the point. Eddie was right, though. He was very adamant about not creating evidence, as he put it. What I wanted to tell him was that if he was that concerned about evidence, he would ask me to wear a condom more often before going home to do it all over again with Chris. But I didn't, because the last thing I wanted was a punch in the face.

"Mike," he raised his voice.

"Sorry, what?"

"Answer the question."

"What question?"

He rolled his eyes. "How many times did I ask you not to leave any marks on me?"

"Every time."

"So how come--"

"The room was dark," I shrugged my shoulders. "And you told me not to stop. Sorry, I guess."

Eddie went into one of his pockets and pulled out his cigarettes. He took one out of the carton and put it between his lips.

"I can't keep doing this," he said before lighting it.

"Doing what?" I asked as I took out one my own smokes. "Cheating on him or the relationship with him?"

He blinked slowly while taking a drag. "I don't know. At this point, I really don't know."

"I don't want to force your hand here, but at some point you need to pick one of us. It's not fair to me, and it's even less fair to Chris. I'm not telling you who to choose, but you need to make up your mind."

He didn't answer me. Instead he took a another long drag, and stared at the TV that wasn't on.

"Eddie," I looked directly into his eyes until he gazed back. "I'm serious. You can't keep doing this to him."

He shifted in his seat. He could frown all he wanted, but it was the truth. I only told him that because I was just as guilty as he was in betraying Chris' trust, even if I wasn't close friends with the latter.

"Eddie--"

"I want you, Mike," he said, finally making eye contact with me. "Just you."

For some reason, his answer surprised me. He was mostly clear about the way he saw me, and our relationship. The bottom line being I was more than a shoulder for him to cry on and a body to play with. I had to pry that out of him one night, because I was confused and fed up, and probably had a bit too much to drink. I enjoyed what we had, even if we had no label to define it. Even if it was wrong.

But why didn't he choose Chris?

He brought his cigarette to his lips for another drag. He cast his eyes down to the ashtray to stub it out. He blew the smoke past his lips and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Mike," his voice cracked. "Putting you through all this, I--"

"Don't be," I sat closer to him. "Not to me. You need to tell Chris, though. You should apologize to him."

"I know, Mike, but I-- I'm not ready to face him again."

Oh yeah. The band. As if this wasn't complicated enough.

"You have to tell him tomorrow. If both of you show up to Jeff's--"

"Fuck, I-- I don't want to do that with everyone else around," he whined.

"Do it after," I said before drinking some of my beer. "Or before. I don't care. You need to tell him."

He groaned, dragging his hand down his face. "He'll probably kill me the second he sees me."

"Eddie," I set the can down in front of me. "Imagining every worst possible scenario isn't gonna do you any good. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but..."

"I know, I just need..."

I leaned toward him. "What do you need?"

He inched forward, closer to me. He closed his eyes and kissed me. He pulled away quickly before doing it again, his hands holding my face while his parted lips met mine a second time.

"Oh, I need you, MIke," he drew back to breathe. "I need you so bad."

I lay across the couch, and Eddie straddled my hips as I pulled him down with me. I uttered a noise into this kiss when he rutted his hips into me, my blood immediately flowing south.

When I joined him in bed afterward, he put his arm around me and shifted closer. I sighed quietly and held him before I closed my eyes. Before then, we rarely embraced one other when we finished. If we didn't take a rushed shower before meeting up with the band, Eddie went to class or returned to Chris' place. But that particular night was different. So different that I contemplated telling Eddie I loved him. But I fell asleep before making up my mind. If he meant everything he said, I would see him by my side in the morning.