34B. |raylijah

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Rayan clasped his hands together as he backed away from Elijah—his expression was rigid as he began to speak carefully. "Wow, Elijah." He shook his head, cracking a smile in disbelief. He stood to his feet as he looked down at the man who was suddenly cowering. Elijah glanced up at him, his eyes welling with tears. "You're crying?" He laughed, watching as Elijah quickly wiped at his eyes.

He didn't know what to say. "Ray, I–"

"Ray, what?" The man snapped, his features now hardened. "Now that you're caught up, you don't know what to say? You've made up all these excuses before but now you can't?" His eerily calm voice was the opposite of how he felt. Inside he was fuming and broken; it was taking everything in him to not to destroy everything in sight. "Speak up!" His voice was loud now.

"I'm sorry, Ray, I really am."

"That's it?"

"What else do you want me to say? I'm sorry and I really do mean it."

"Save that shit," His boyfriend hissed. "You had sex with someone else and this is all you have to say to me right now?" He inhaled, looking away from the man. His blood was boiling.

"Look," Elijah pleaded, now standing up. "I'm sorry. He was just...there and you were pushing me away at the time–"

"Push you away? Elijah, I have never!"

"That's hardly true and you know it."

"Hardly true? What the fuck do you know about the truth? I never lied to you!" Elijah grew a pained expression, watching as Rayan wipe at his eyes.

"You had a fucking kid and you didn't tell me!" Elijah yelled, now catching Ray's gaze. "You didn't tell me you were actually going deaf! I felt like I didn't know you anymore but I had to suck it up because I love you and it hurt! And you didn't understand that–"

"I gave you fucking time!"

"No you didn't! You just wanted me to accept it," He huffed, tears now racing down his cheeks. Rayan mimicked his hurt expression, tears streaming down his face as well. "Mike was there and he was a friend. He made me feel good when you didn't. When you pushed me away, he opened up to me and that was all I ever wanted from you."

"So you fucked Mike because he gave you a shoulder to cry on when I live ten fucking feet away?"

"So we're going to act dense here, Ray? You didn't get me how he did! We look through life through different pairs of lenses and it's fucking hard–"

"Elijah, you could've fucking talked to me!" His voice echoed throughout the apartment. "Y'know what," He huffed before catching his breath. "If I say anything else, it'll only be rooted in anger and you don't want that." He grabbed his jacket and phone then proceeded to brush past Elijah.

"Wait," He attempted the grab the man's arm but it was quickly snatched away. "Ray." He shuffled after him as he headed for the door.

The couple were so engulfed in their heated argument that they hadn't noticed the commotion in the hallway until they ran smack into it. The two reeled back at the sight of Chresanto having a screaming match with a man. "You can't just take them like this!" He yelled, his fists resting at his side.

"Says who?" The man shot. He was the same height as Chres but huskier—his stubble was grey, along with his short curls. The man looked like he was drunk, honestly.

Jacob seemed to be hysterical as he tried to wriggle out of a woman's grasp—they were headed for the stairs and she seemed to be holding him by his hair. The action was mimicked by the man yelling with Chresanto—his hand was lodged into Josh's head full of hair, tightly squeezing as the boy was practically forced to his knees. "What the fuck is going on?" Ray yelled, trying to near the chaos.

"Back the fuck off," The frail woman ordered, pointing her free hand towards the two. "These are my fucking kids." She continued to try and tug Jacob—the boy wailed.

"Why the fuck are you holding them like that?" Elijah yelled, forgetting how crazy he probably looked with no shoes or glasses on—his face was wet with tears but that wasn't his concern.

"Back the fuck off!" She repeated as Elijah neared—her eyes were wild and darting over the hallway. The man snapped his neck in their direction—Chres spared him a look that nearly told him to mind his business. "I'm going to call the police on all of you pedophiles!" She threatened. Jacob pushed at the woman before dropping to the floor—the decision was smart. The skinny woman struggled to lift him.

"Elijah," Josh winced, grabbing at the man's hands in attempt to alleviate the pain in his scalp. He assumed it was their father. "Please don't." The plea caused him to loosen his fists, same with Ray.

"We'll go, we'll go—don't do anything, please." Jacob finally spoke, his voice was quivering as he attempted to speak loudly. His raspy voice was barely heard.

He seemed to underestimate the woman's strength because she snatched Jacob up and in no time. Soon Jacob and Josh were disappearing down the stairs, in the hands of their parents.

"Fuck!" Chresanto cried. He glanced over at the two and parted his lips—he wanted to say something but decided against it. He slammed the door instead.