two • (mxm)

chapter two

my first night in the apartment was perhaps a teensy bit better than seeing someone else balls-deep in my girlfriend. good thing spencer's bed was a king-size, because i wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

at first glance he didn't strike me as gay, but he sure as hell convinced me that he was at least bisexual after that conversation we had. i was also convinced that being alone with him wasn't good for my health.

i learned two things that night: the first was that spencer moves a lot in his sleep. i deduced that he has insomnia, because he kept waking up and then pretending he was still asleep. the second was that i absolutely cannot fold clothes at three in the morning.

i climbed out of the bed very stealthily at around 2:30 and took my clothes out of the boxes. i didn't want to wake spencer, even after his annoying comments earlier that day. he looked peaceful, and even halfway resembled a nice human being when he slept.

i decided that, instead of folding the clothes, i would just shove them in the drawers. i stacked the empty boxes (again, is just two a stack?) in the corner of the room, right by the edge of the dresser. they landed with an empty thud that buried my heart even deeper in the dirt, waking spencer up at the same time. and this time he didn't pretend to be asleep.

"what in the earth are you doing?" grumbled spencer sleepily, making me jump a bit. i turned around to face him, only to see him squinting up at me in the dim light of the hallway.

"on earth, actually. because we're on top of it," i corrected. "sorry for waking you up," i added sheepishly.

"i'm about to be on top of you if you don't get back in bed. i'm exhausted and you're not helping," he sighed in response.

"sorry," i repeated lamely, walking around to my side of the bed and pulling the blankets over me. i felt them be yanked over to his side, leaving me with less. but it was still enough to sleep beneath, so i didn't bother with it. "i just don't understand why being on top of me would fix your sleep issue."

"shut up."

the next morning, i woke up alone. the entire blanket was piled on top of me, ready to swallow me whole. and spencer was nowhere to be found. i assumed he'd left for work. i heard the shower running, and then i realized that my brother had to be home by now.

hurriedly, i made my way to the bathroom and welcomed myself in without knocking. "alex, your roommate is a bastard."

"i see you made it here okay," alex chuckled. i could barely hear him over the water, so i took a step closer. "i'm pretty sure spencer's parents were married long before he was born, though."

"you know what i mean," i replied, sighing as i looked into the mirror. a thin film of steam covered the glass, allowing me to see my broken nose and swollen cheeks. bruises covered my jawline. this was the first time i'd actually seen myself since getting pummeled. i stepped towards the mirror, hands pressed palm-down on the counter.

"he gets nicer with time, i promise," alex assured me as i studied my bruised reflection. i looked pathetic. and dirty. my sandy blonde hair was a shaggy mess of wavy curls.

"oh, he's been nice," i replied, sighing inwardly as i remembered mine and spencer's conversation. "just not in a way i'd prefer."

alex laughed, peeking out from behind the shower curtain. i looked over at him, watching the water cascade over him and onto the floor. "no way. he flirted with you?"

i shrugged. "not exactly."

alex's eyes scrunched up in focus; he couldn't see me very well without his glasses. "wait, what happened to you?"

"the guy beat me up," i breathed, running a hand through my tangled locks.

alex shut the curtains quickly, going back to his shower. "how is it that you're always getting hurt?" all humor had gone from his voice; he sounded concerned like an older brother should.

"well, i did punch him," i admitted.

"you're acting like it was your fault that she was cheating on you. you had every right to be mad. he just wanted to avoid talking to you," alex rambled, sounding angrier by the sentence.

i smiled softly, happy for his concern. it was nice, after how spencer had acted the day before. i heard the water shut off and immediately grabbed the towel off the side of the sink. handing it to alex, i left the bathroom to let him get dressed.

as soon as i heard the bathroom door click shut, i heard the front door swing open. my stomach dropped until i heard a female voice. "guess who's got rent!" the voice called.

she walked down the hall, and our eyes met perhaps milliseconds before she squealed. "you're fucking adorable!" she tackled me in a hug, squeezing all ounces of breath from my lungs. "you're micah, right?" she asked, pulling away to correctly study me.

"that's correct," i mumbled flatly. "you must be spencer's sister."

that was blatantly obvious. they looked very similar. same nose, same sea blue eyes. i only hoped that she was more tolerable.

"unfortunately," the girl replied jokingly. she reached out a hand to shake mine. "ariana."

i took her hand gently. her skin was really soft. reminded me of diana. their names were pretty similar too. except i had a feeling that i had little to no chance of even dreaming about ariana. i dropped her hand, shoving mine into my pants' pocket.

"alex is in the bathroom," i informed her. "and i think your brother left for work."

"is that what he calls it?" ariana deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she brushed past me to get into the bathroom. i heard her mumble something to alex, and then giggle. someone was pushed against the door, and i know alex didn't get dressed that quickly.

my stomach churned. "oh, god. now everyone's getting laid but me."

i trudged back towards mine and spencer's room, grabbing some clothes to wear to work. i made sure to shut the door; i didn't want to hear my brother having sex on top of what i witnessed yesterday. that would've been horrific.

as i was changing, i heard a loud-ass knock on the door. it made me jump and almost fall out of my pants. "just a second!" i called, hurrying to get to the door after correctly dressing myself.

it was fucking spencer. "i thought you were at work," i grumbled, making sure that he knew i was not happy to see him.

there was a dull panic in his tone as he glanced over his shoulder. he looked back to me, frowning at my tone. "just let me in, kid."

"what permits you to call me a kid?" i mutter as i open the door for him to push past me. he shuts the door and locks it behind him.

"because i'm twenty-three, and you're nineteen. therefore, i outrank you, and i can call you what i please," he said, quickly rushing the words from his mouth. "now, you don't know me. got it?"

i rolled my eyes, nodding shortly. "right. i wish i didn't know you."

"that's the spirit," spencer said before rushing off down the hallway and shutting his – scratch that – our bedroom door behind him.

and then, as if to punctuate the beginning of my awful new life, yet another loud-ass knock echoed through the tiny apartment. my heart sunk into my stomach. this one sounded angry, rather than panicked. lovely.