Romeo stared down at the damage he had caused, his breath stuck in his throat in the form of a lump that he could not swallow no matter how hard he tried. He heaved, his chest tightening at the sight. Chris had safe worded, which was already horrible on its own, but he had also forgotten the word in the process.
Romeo placed his hand over the scars he had caused, rubbing his thumb over them in a ghost-like manner, not pressing down at all. He had gathered the boy in his arms, rocking both of them back and forth, pressing kisses to his head.
Punishing him should have eased the anger he had felt when he entered the room he was destined to be betrayed in. However, not only did this make him feel worse, but it also fueled the cracking of his soul.
It hurt. And he did not want to hurt Chris. He just wanted to go back to this morning when he had woken up next to his boy, pressing soft kisses to his face and slowly waking him up, asking him to get ready as today was the big day.
So much for the masquerade ball. So much for the plans he had thoughts of, the scenarios he would come up with during the night as his eyes landed on the boy that was sleeping on his chest. He could sometimes count the rhyme of his breathes, watch his chest rise up and down slowly.
Now, he watched as Chris shivered and writhed underneath his touch, reminding him of what he had done. And still, all he could think of was "How will I be able to forgive him? How will I be able to forget what he has done?" Because he wanted to. God, if he could just erase his memory and carry on without knowing what his love had done, erase the memory of witnessing the road of betrayal Chris had decided to walk down, he would. He truly would. Because he wanted to continue where they had left off.
But that wouldn't be possible. Chris did not love him. If he did, he would not have gone through such extreme measures to be with someone else, to please and get pleased by someone else. Romeo should have been enough for him. The Prince had started seeing a trend in his relationships now. He was never enough.
Romeo picked Chris up, wrapping the sheets around him as best as he could. He choked on his own sobs as blood soaked through the sheets. Chris' back was extremely damaged, and Romeo could already see bruises starting to form, destroying the pale complex that was Chris' skin. Chris was stick knocked out, but tears still managed to escape past his eyelids, proving that his thoughts and feelings were tormenting him even in deep slumber.
He had asked Romeo to ask Sage. Hope bloomed in Romeo's chest. If someone could only reassure him, tell him that what he saw was not what was going on, he'd get down onto his knees and thank the heavens for doing so. But this would mean that his boy was as much of a victim as he was. This would mean that he had hurt him, send him through hell and back for nothing. That he had not trusted him, that he had silenced him and hit him. All for nothing.
The thought made the hope that had started to mend the cracks disappear, which was replaced by feelings of guilt and horror. What if Chris was telling the truth. He was the victim of sexual assault, and instead of being there for him and beating the fucking shit out of the man who had calmly walked out freely, Romeo had turned his back to Chris and beat him instead.
Romeo would not be able to live with that. And even if Chris forgave him for it, he would be deeply traumatized by his own actions. Either way, he was fucked.
As he pulled out a first aid kit to treat Chris' wounds, he sobbed for himself, for his lover, for the feelings of both betrayal and guilt he was feeling. He cried as he had never cried before, not even when Julian had mocked him for ever believing that Julien had loved Romeo, telling him that he was The Ice King and nobody warm and good would ever find comfort in his presence. He was told by the boy he loved most back then, that he was unlovable.
Romeo bandaged Chris back up, cleaning the wounds and stopping the bleeding. The cuts and scars weren't deep, but they still managed to make the knock inside Romeo's stomach tighten at the sight.
Ask Sage.
He would ask Sage. He would ask the man he saw Chris with. He would ask anybody that would help fix this.
...
When Chris woke up, he half expected to be back in the ice-cold "waiting" room or to be in front of a door, kicked out. However, he was back in Romeo's room, and the moment he moved his body, he let out a scream of pain, tears instantly welling up in his eyes. He looked down at his body to see that his wounds were treated and wrapped up, but they were still fresh and deeply sore.
"Romeo?" He called out in a small voice, testing to see if Romeo was in the room. But no one was there. He was all alone. He took this as an opportunity to look around the room, his eyes landing on the discarded pieces of clothing on the floor. Had Romeo slept in this room, next to him? Had he spoken to Sage? Was he aware that this was all a huge misunderstanding?
Then it hit him. He couldn't tell. Not if he wanted to live. And not if he wanted to keep himself and Romeo safe. Someone had planned this out. Someone wanted him out of this kingdom and far away from Romeo. And it was easy to pinpoint exactly who could have done this.
Rage bubbled in his veins as Chris thought about how unfair and fucked up the situation was. Julian had Romeo, and he had broken the boy beyond repair. Now he wanted to fuck him up even further and possibly try and gain him back.
"Over my dead fucking body," Chris whispered hatefully, his fist grabbing the sheets in a fit of rage, his eyes burning and gleaming with fury. No one would be able to paint him as the bad guy and get away with it. Especially not if it involved Romeo.
Just in time, the doors swung open, revealing Romeo, who was dressed informally. The rage that had begun to surface disappeared and those feelings were replaced with heartbreak. Romeo maintained eye contact with Chris, and the latter realized how much this situation had messed him up. Romeo had been crying, which was easy to tell, his hair messed up, circles underneath his bag. Yet he still looked beautiful.
Romeo walked over to Chris, stumbling a little bit as he kept looking at him. His eyes trailed down to his scars and bandages, and he finally looked away, not being able to bear the sight.
"Sage and Alex are coming over soon. I'm doing what you asked me to do. I will speak to Sage, but before I do, I want to hear what happened from you." His voice was hoarse from crying, which hurt Chris even more knowing that he had caused it.
Chris curled in on himself, being stuck between telling him the truth or altering it slightly so no one would get hurt. But I would not do that. I've read too many books to know where that would end up. So breathing in, I nodded, taking a pillow from the bed and hugging it.
"I was looking around for you when Sage told m that you were waiting for me in one of the rooms. I knocked on a few but somebody blindfolded me, and I instantly assumed it was you. Everybody knows that you and I are together and I was naive enough to think that they would respect that. I should have been more careful, especially when I saw Julian there. But I wasn't, so, t-to a point what happened was my fault, and I am terribly sorry you had to see it, but never mind I'll get back to the point."
Tears had started to well up in his eyes, a pain in his throat restricting how well he was able to express himself.
"The man I thought was you took me to a room, and he tied me to the bed. He did not speak and I did not touch him, but I felt like something was terribly wrong so I kept asking him questions over and over again to try and get him to speak. I needed to confirm that he was you, but he wasn't and when I begged him to let me go, I told him that I would not tell anyone, that I had not seen his face and he would not be punished for what he had done to me. I thought he'd let me go, I swear, but he took the blindfold off, showing me his face. A-And I'm sorry, I can't remember right now what he looked like, b-but I can I just need a few days to p-process what happened, but I swear to you Romeo I would never intentionally hurt you. I would never do that. Ever. I do love you, I swear I do, and the thought of you thinking that I've done something like this especially after knowing what had happened before is terrible and I'm so sorry you had to go through this, I'm so-"
There was a knock on the door. Then a voice told Romeo that Sage and Alex were here, waiting for him by the throne. Romeo snapped out of his trance and wiped at his eyes, nodding sullenly at Chris.
"I have to go and listen to Sage, just like you wanted me to. I hope he tells me the same story you told me."
He then left the crying boy alone to his thoughts and unbearably overwhelming feelings. Chris had been feeling so many things at the same time that he did not know which emotion to focus on, which to unpack. He could only wait with hope that Sage would save him from this mess.
...
Sage was obviously in a bad mood. He had a ball gag in his mouth, yet again, and Romeo instantly knew that he was being punished.
"Good news for you Sage, we need you to talk for us today," Romeo said as he entered the room, instantly taking his place on the throne. Alex undid the gag for the boy, pressing a kiss to his head as Sage rolled his eyes.
"I don't know anything. And I don't appreciate being interrogated like this. Did you know that I had to cancel my hair appo-"
"Look, Sage. I like you. You're a good kid and you make my friend happy. But please, and I saw this with utmost formality and respect, cut the bullshit. Your friend, Chris, my submissive, is in a lot of trouble and I am about to terminate our contract."
The words made Alex's eyes pop out of his head, and he took a step forward, protesting, "What could the boy has done to deserve su-"
"I caught him at the masquerade ball with someone else."
Sage looked very uncomfortable. He would not meet Romeo's gaze, and he had gone red. With flushed cheeks, he looked at Alex, who had gone quiet, knowing what had happened with Julian before.
"Romeo, I'm so sor-"
"No need to be. I'll be fine. Just please, Alex, get Sage to talk. I need to know what happened because Chris is claiming that he was actually sexually assaulted by the man I saw him with. Apparently Sage had told him that I was waiting for him in one of the guest rooms."
Alex, calming down a little for his friend's sake, turned to his submissive, who did not want to look at him.
"Sage, is this true? Please, if it is, tell us what happened." Sage swallowed, feeling the pressure on his chest. He then went back and forth between looking at Alex and looking at Romeo.
Romeo wanted, no, he needed the confirmation that his baby had not done what he had done. That Romeo was loved and he hasn't fooled into a game yet again. He needed to know.
Sage's face softened for a moment before hardening again, his cheeks red with anger and his voice shaky. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Chris is lying, obviously, I did not even talk to him."