BANE

CHAPTER THREE - BLAME (Part 2)

Holden's head snapped forward to look at Victor. "No. He can't know, not after what I did. Do you have any idea what new level of awkward it would bring things to?"

Victor shrugged his shoulders. "Personally, I think it would be stranger if a guy I thought was straight did that, but what do I know? Either way, drink up. Relax for tonight and worry about Corbin tomorrow," He clinked his beer against Holden's bottle. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Holden laughed.

Two more hours passed and Holden was ready to pass out. "Alright, Goldilocks. Time for bed. You can have my room tonight," Victor scooped himself under Holden's right arm and helped walk him to the bedroom.

"How tall are you?"

"6'4"," Victor chuckled. "Why?"

"I'm 6'1" you know?"

"I figured as much..."

"I don't know many people taller than me."

"What's your point, drunk-?" Victor's teasing was cut short when Holden kissed him. He pulled away and burst into laughter. "Oh, I'm never going to let you live that down! Hurry up and come out to everyone so I can mock you openly, okay?"

Holden flopped down unceremoniously onto the bed. "Okay, Corbin."

Victor wiped his mouth and walked out of the room with a shake of his head. He answered a knock at his door, and was not surprised to find his best friend. "Well, speak of the devil."

"What?" Corbin looked up at him quizzically. "Is Holden here?"

"Yeah, I just sent him to bed. He's pretty drunk," Victor let him in, but stayed close. "He needs to sleep it off."

"I just need to talk to him. I said some really shitty things today and I can't sleep."

Victor sighed. "Yeah, Holden told me all about it. I think you two definitely need a heart-to-heart, but tonight is not the right time."

"Please, I just need to apologize. Vic..."

Victor waivered. He wasn't used to seeing his best friend beg. "Fine. You can try, but don't expect much. He's pretty out of it, you probably won't even wake him up."

"Thanks!"

Victor grabbed himself a blanket from a small closet in his hallway and began to prepare his couch for sleep. He cleared the empty beer bottles from the coffee table and left them on the kitchen counter instead. He walked to his room to grab his pillow, but was met at the bedroom door by a startled Corbin. "Holy-! You almost gave me a heart attack," He quickly grabbed his pillow and followed Corbin out of the room. "What's with that look on your face?"

"It's nothing."

"For crying out loud, just tell me!"

"...He kissed me again."

"Again? When was the first time?" Victor raised his eyebrows.

Corbin rubbed his temples. "Remember the night at the warehouse? That night, before he took off," He frowned when he noticed a skeptical look on his friend's face. "What?"

"Holden told me what happened that night... but he didn't mention kissing you."

Corbin avoided eye contact. "...He doesn't know everything that happened."

"What? Corbin, what the hell? A kiss is so benign compared to—oh, I get it," Victor nodded knowingly.

"Get what? There's nothing to 'get' here. It was uncomfortable enough, I wasn't going to go into more details than he needed to remember," Corbin huffed.