It had been a few days since Jason found Riley stuck in an elevator with Kain and the image of them almost kissing was still in the forefront of his mind. He had made sure Riley got her phone back and was even more annoyed to see her texting away, with whom he could only assume was Kain.
Jason had spent the night at Tyrus's place again, which was becoming a comfortable habit as he made himself at home in the kitchen that morning, tossing the sizzling bacon over in the frying pan. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Tyrus enter, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants with his shirt nowhere in sight, showing off his washboard abs and defined biceps.
Tyrus wrapped his arms around Jason as he continued to stand over the hot pan with a spatula in hand.
"Why do you do that?" said Tyrus as his arms tightened around Jason's waist, leaning his head into the crook of his neck and planting a gentle kiss.
Jason perked up his ears curiously. "Do what?"
"You tense up." Tyrus's fingers trailed up Jason's arms, leaving a delightful trail of goosebumps in their path. "Every time I touch you, your entire body immediately tenses, just for a moment before it relaxes again."
Jason swallowed. He didn't even realise he was doing it, but after a moment of thought, it made sense. Given his past circumstances and always being on guard around his stepfather, there were bound to be some residual ticks here and there that he picked up. Tensing when he felt a presence was just his way of being ready for anything coming his way. And by anything, that usually meant a punch to the jaw.
Yet, he hadn't exactly broached that subject with Tyrus yet. Did he even want to tell Tyrus about his past? They had been together for a while now, but they really didn't know a lot about each other.
Deciding it was best to clear some of the air surrounding his past, he opened up as best as he could. He wanted to make it work with Tyrus. He was the first person who Jason actually saw a future with. The first time he actually saw a future for him that wasn't so centered around his siblings.
"Our family hasn't exactly had the best upbringing," said Jason as he shuffled out of Tyrus's grasp and plated up the bacon next to the eggs and toast that were already cooling on the plates.
"Would you tell me about it? About your upbringing?" asked Tyrus as they grabbed their plates, sitting down at the small table overlooking the river.
"Not much to tell," said Jason, grinding down on a piece of bacon as he tore it between his teeth. "I've been working as a mechanic since I was fifteen."
"Fifteen is quite young," remarked Tyrus.
"Well, as I said, we didn't really have the best upbringing. I had to support Noah and Riley somehow."
"So you worked as a mechanic while at school?"
"School wasn't an option. It was work or end up homeless. Hate to break it to you, but I'm not an educated man. I know cars and that's about it."
Jason was nervous about telling Tyrus more about himself. He didn't want to come across as a boring type of guy and he definitely wasn't out for a pity vote, but apart from work, look after his siblings and get beat up, there really wasn't time for anything else in his life. He was always on edge and had only just recently learnt to relax a bit, which was mostly the work of being near Tyrus.
"You seem pretty smart to me, Jason. You run your own business and you look after your family." Tyrus sipped on his cup of coffee.
"Not well enough," Jason mumbled under his own breath, referring to his lack of looking after Riley when she needed him the most. It always brought a sour taste to his mouth.
"You did the best you could considering..." Tyrus's phone rang, interrupting the moment as he wiped his mouth on the corner of a napkin and stood up. "Excuse me, I need to take this," he said, walking down the hallway and out of earshot.
Jason finished the last bite of his meal before taking the plates to the kitchen and placing them in the dishwasher. After about five minutes, Tyrus came back into the room, looking stressed as he ran his hand across the back of his taunt neck.
"Jason," he said, taking a long pause, allowing Jason to close the dishwasher and turn around, leaning up against the counter.
"What's wrong?" asked Jason, sensing a shift in Tyrus's behaviour from his more casual nature not merely a moment ago.
"Maybe you should take a seat."
But Jason kept his stance as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "Tyrus, what's wrong?" Jason asked again.
Tyrus fidgeted with his fingers and exhaled a deep breath. It was unusual for Jason to see him so put out of place and nervous, considering he had always been the calm and composed type of person. Tyrus moved closer to him, blocking him into the corner of the kitchen like a trapped animal, as though expecting Jason to bolt at any moment. If anything, it only increased Jason's nerves. Maybe Tyrus had gotten bored with him? Maybe he didn't want to be with someone who didn't have an education? All these thoughts were running around in his mind of how Jason wasn't good enough for Tyrus. He knew he couldn't keep someone as perfect as Tyrus forever, but he didn't think it would end so soon.
"It's about Vincent," said Tyrus as he looked into Jason's eyes, trying to gage a reaction.
Jason furrowed his eyebrows. "My stepfather?" Jason questioned. "Wait, how do you know about Vincent? Did Noah tell you something? I swear to god he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut," babbled Jason as he wondered what exactly Noah had been discussing with Tyrus behind his back.
"No, Noah didn't say anything. Look, I haven't exactly been honest with you," began Tyrus. "Jason... I don't know how to tell you this, but I lied about where I work. I don't work in finance. I work in a specialist major crime unit for the FBI. I've been tracking Vincent's whereabouts since his escape from prison."
Jason's breath caught in his throat as his mind worked to catch up with what Tyrus had just said. His mind wanted to focus on the fact that Tyrus wasn't who he said he was, but the only thought in his mind at the direct moment was that Vincent escaped prison.
"Vincent is out of prison?" asked Jason, an unusual tremor coming across in his voice. "How long has he been out? How did this happen? Why weren't we informed?"
"He escaped three months ago," stated Tyrus. "We've been monitoring him since, but I just got word that the last watch didn't check in. When we sent a unit to investigate, Vincent and his crew were gone. We've lost track of his whereabouts."
"You've been tracking him for three fucking months. Why didn't you just put him back in prison?"
"His connections run deeper than we imagined, Jason. Once we found out, we figured it was the best way to get some really bad people off the street. We needed him to lead us to them. Getting him out of prison was the only way to find these people."
"You let him out," whispered Jason under his breath as he finally realised what was happening. "You fucking let him out!" he screamed as he pushed Tyrus in the chest who was caught off guard, which sent him slightly stumbling backwards into the kitchen bench top.
Tyrus calmly lifted his hands in front of him, encouraging Jason to calm down. "Jason," he said softly. "Control your anger."
"Don't tell me to fucking control my anger, Tyrus! You have no idea what you've done," said Jason as he paced backwards, running a hand through his hair. "You have no fucking idea what you've done."
"I know exactly what I've done, Jason. You need to think of the bigger picture here."
"And what exactly is that?" Jason let off with a laugh of annoyance.
"Vincent has contacts. Some very bad contacts. We let him out in order for him to lead us to them. This is more than just you, Jason."
"Do you have any idea what he put us through? What he put Riley through!"
"It's all in the report."
"Oh yeah, and is Riley waking up in the middle of the night screaming in your report as well? Or how about the time she tried to kill herself? Is that in your report?"
"Jason I..."
"No... just don't. I don't even want to hear it. I'm leaving. If Vincent is here, I'm taking my siblings and getting the fuck out of here."
"You're safe here, Jason. I was sent here to watch you. And Riley and Noah have people watching over them as well," Tyrus said as he reached out his hand to touch Jason's cheek, trailing his fingers across his jawline. "I was sent here to protect you."
Jason reached up and pushed his hand away. "Was I just a job to you then?" he said with hurt in his eyes.
"No Jason," replied Tyrus.
"Did you even feel anything for me?" Jason said, hurt filling his eyes as his heart sank in his chest, the realisation hitting him that Tyrus had forced his way into Jason's life just so he could complete a job.
Jason turned to walk away when Tyrus snatched his arm, forcing him to turn back to him.
"It was my job to get close to you. It was never my job to fall in love with you. What we have, Jason, it's more than just work."
"How could you do this to me? I hate you," screamed Jason. "I fucking hate you!"
There was a pause in the air, as the words Jason screamed seemed to echo through the tension in the room. Tyrus remained silent and as Jason looked into his eyes full of hurt and pain, the only words he could think of slipped from his lips.
"But I love you," said Jason in a whisper. "Oh god." Jason clasped his hand to his mouth as tears pooled in his eyes. Tyrus stood motionless, eyes wide in shock, and it was the last image Jason saw before bolting to the front door, pulling on the handle and running out into the cool morning air.