Devil's Fate

S.O.S.

Forty minutes later, Jason was stepping out of an elevator into an apartment building he'd never seen. It was nothing like what he'd pictured, based on the little information he had about Rob, which was mostly negative. He was surprised the hallway looked and smelled clean, absent of zoned out druggies the way he'd imagined on the long drive over. It looked perfectly acceptable. A little outdated, but nice enough, and Jason's anxiety took a tiny step back. Maybe it's not really that bad. Maybe he's just dabbled. Maybe yesterday was the first time. This doesn't look like the kind of place a bunch of strung out losers would live.

He mentally crossed his fingers and hoped for the best as he walked down the hall, looking at numbers on the dark green doorways. Halfway down the hall he came to Rob's door, and Jason paused before he took a deep breath and knocked. It was a polite knock, not too aggressive, but plenty loud enough to be heard inside. He waited, glancing each direction down the quiet hall, but nobody came to the door. He checked the scrap of paper in his hand again. It was the correct apartment, he was certain, so he knocked again, this time a little louder. A few moments later the door opened a crack, not enough for Jason to see into the apartment.

"Yeah?" came a scruffy voice without a face.

Jason tried to see into the crack, but it was darker in the apartment than it was in the hallway. "I'm looking for Rob Bourdon. Is this his apartment?" Jason asked, more or less politely. He was irritated that the person answering the door couldn't be bothered to show his face, but it only took a second after he asked for Rob, until the door opened wider.

"Mr. Wakefield?" Rob asked, his face scrunched in thought. He wasn't entirely sure he was awake. The last thing he remembered was from the night before, when Sam bopped into his place with a few baggies of the good stuff, ready to share. Rob was pretty sure he hadn't even had to talk Ryan into snorting a line like he usually did, and he vaguely remembered how the sex had gone down between the three of them after that. But that was all he remembered. He scratched his head, thinking it must be a work day. "Why are you here? I don't work for you anymore." He didn't let Jason say anything before he laughed. "Ohhh! Oh! I know why. You're looking for Shuck. Man, he's still asleep. But I'll tell him you stopped by."

Jason put his hand out as soon as Rob made a move to shut the door in his face. "Wait, just wait a minute. Is he here? Is Ryan here?" He tried to look around Rob, but it was like trying to see around a boulder at the moment.

"Of course he's here. This is where the party is." Rob hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "Is that what you're here for?" He leaned his head out the door and looked both ways down the hall before he whispered, "Sammy brought the good stuff last night. You want a hit?"

"No! I don't want a hit," Jason hissed, taking a step back before remembering he was trying to get inside, not leave. "I need to talk to Ryan, can you let me in?"

Rob shook his head. "Nah, he doesn't want to see you. I know that much." He crossed his arms over his naked chest, his biceps popping as they flexed.

Even though Rob looked a little intimidating, Jason stepped forward as he tried to close the door again. "He will, if you'll just let me in," he insisted, and this time he pushed the door back toward Rob. He was surprised when the other man just moved out of the way, and suddenly he was staring right into Rob's apartment. The shades were drawn, giving everything a shadow, but it only took Jason a second to scan the room and spot Ryan.

He was on the floor between the coffee table and the couch, slumped over on the table. He looked like he was sleeping, but Jason wasn't sure. He only glanced at Rob before he stormed inside.

"Hey, you can't just walk in here, you know. This is like, my place. I told you, he doesn't want to see you."

Jason whirled around, only a few steps away from Ryan. "You don't get to speak for him. Look at him!" He dropped to his knees, his hands out to make contact with his ex-boyfriend, but he stopped. Jason could see the mirror on the coffee table, the razor blade and the line of cocaine that hadn't been snorted yet. "What the fuck, Rob? You worked your ass off cleaning my pool so you could go to school, and you're here on a workday, getting high?" He knew what he was walking into, but seeing it was totally different. Despite his easy access to money once he'd walked through the doors of YRS, drugs had never been a part of Jason's life. "Fuck you, you know that? Just fuck you."