You opened my eyes
And you made me believe
Chapter 17 ~ Crazier
Liam Slater
"What's he talking about?" I knew better than to listen to someone who was so high in the clouds, because I had been there myself. No one was coherent or cohesive in that state of mind.
But at the same time, I wouldn't put it past Max to have sex with him. It wasn't like he was a virgin or anything, and he had a long history of past hook-ups.
I snuck a quick glance at Max, who had began to play with his fingers. He didn't respond to Trey's comment, which confirmed all that I needed to know.
"He knows exactly what I'm talking about," Trey teased as he jabbed a finger into Max's arm. "Don't you, Maxxie? Remember? It was a couple nights ago. How could you forget? You were screaming my name so loud that I was sure that-"
"Shut up!" Max shouted at the top of his lungs. "Just stop talking! Stop!"
Trey scoffed as he slouched back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. "Why are you getting so emotional? It's not like he was gonna actually be anything. You know he was gonna dump you just like everyone else."
From the few minutes that I had known Trey, I already knew I didn't like him.
Max looked back at him, shaking his head in disbelief. "You asshole," he said bitterly. He turned to face me, but I barely looked at him because I was trying to keep my eyes on the road and simultaneously keep my cool.
Dr. Reis had taught me how to deal with these situations. I couldn't assume that everything that went wrong was a result of my own incompetence. I needed to think of the bigger picture.
When Max realized I wasn't going to comment on whatever was occurring in the car, he buried his head in his hands and burst into tears.
Trey laughed to himself. "Crybaby."
I didn't really know how to handle any of this. Max obviously regretted whatever happened between them, and Trey wasn't doing anything to make it better.
Attempting to soothe him, I placed a hand on his thigh. "Max, don't ... don't cry."
He cringed at the contact. "Don't touch me! You're supposed to hate me! I'm a horrible person," he sobbed into his hands.
I frowned. "I don't hate you."
Slowly but surely, Max removed his hands from his face and wiped away his tears. "Y-you don't?"
I didn't hate him. I had already surpassed that stage with him, but I wasn't exactly thrilled to hear this news, however. "No, you didn't do anything wrong," I forced myself to say.
Technically, he didn't do anything wrong. I was the one who didn't care enough to explain the circumstances, knowing how easy it was for Max to get heartbroken.
This was my fault.
Trey stopped laughing and straightened in his seat, sending glares at me through the rear view mirror. "Seriously? You're just gonna forgive him? After he completely disregarded your feelings and let me fuck him like his life depended on it?"
I didn't bother to respond to Trey. He wasn't my problem in the first place.
Max, however, finally had enough of Trey's antics. "Shut the fuck up!" He yelled, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. "I hate you so much! If you think that we're gonna be friends after this, then you're so wrong. I want nothing to do with you!"
Trey's lips pressed together as he grew silent and sat back in his seat, blinking in awe.
The car soon filled with palpable silence. Trey didn't dare to say anything else, and Max was too caught up in his own thoughts to speak.
I spent the entire drive trying to convince myself that I couldn't be sad. What good would that do? Letting the depression get a hold of me wouldn't be good for myself or Max, and I promised I would be there for Max.
Nearly ten minutes later, I pulled into Max's driveway. He reluctantly gathered his belongings and let out a long sigh. "Liam, I'm-"
I really didn't know what compelled me to do what I did, but I soon found myself slapping Max across the face.
He let out a high-pitched squeal before snapping his chocolate brown eyes to mine with his mouth agape in shock. "What the hell? Why'd you do that for?"
I felt bad for hurting Max, but it felt as though a weight was lifted from my shoulders. "You deserved that."
"What? How?" He shrieked.
I vaguely glanced at Trey in the backseat, who had somehow fallen asleep. "For sleeping with that ass."
Max's eyes grew wide. "But you said you weren't mad!"
I stared back at him with a blank, distant look. "I'm not."
"But-"
I quickly leaned over the median separating us and planted a quick chaste kiss on his cheek. It succeeded in making Max even more confused, but I still caught a glimpse of his reddening cheeks and took note of it. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Max gazed back at me with wild, confused eyes before slowly nodding. "Yeah, um, yeah, you will."
I flashed him a toothy grin, which he didn't return because he was still pretty confused. He gave me a short nod as he propped the door open. Before he left, he glanced back at Trey's motionless body. "You can't take him home."
I frowned. "Why not?"
"His parents will kill him," he replied quickly, sounding absolutely sure of it.
I didn't care about Trey and I was under the impression that Max didn't' either in light of recent events. But if there was anything I knew about Max, it was that he cared for others, regardless of how they treated him.
Kinda like Scotty.
Max grabbed my hand and wrapped his fingers around mine. "I know I have no right to ask you this and I understand why you wouldn't want to. As much as I hate Trey right now, I still care for him. So, can you, please, take-"
"I'll do it," I grumbled.
A grin quickly spread across his face. "Really?"
"Really."
Max's eyes swelled with emotion as he leaned forward, throwing his arms around me and capturing me in tight embrace. "You're truly amazing."
I smiled weakly. "Have a great night, Max."
He pulled away from the hug when he realized I wasn't reciprocating. "Thank you so much, Liam!" Finally sliding out of the passenger seat, he began to saunter his way to the front door.
When I was certain he was safely inside his house, I started up the car again and sighed when my eyes caught sight of Trey's body in the rear view mirror, sprawled across the backseat.
I hated being the nice guy. A month ago, I would have never talked to Max and I certainly wouldn't have bothered with Trey. If it was up to me, he'd still be laying on the street where we found him. I didn't want to care for the son of a bitch, but Max wanted me to and doing something for Max made it seem worth while.
As soon as I turned into my driveway, I switched the car off and stared blankly at the house as I sunk into my seat. My parents were most likely asleep, but I couldn't take the chance of them seeing me carry a sleeping boy into the house.
Trey made a soft disgruntled sound, causing me to snap my attention to him. He seemed to still be asleep, but his eyebrows were furrowed and his body was covered in sweat.
Letting out a long, regretful sigh, I leaned over him and began to unzip the zipper of his black hoodie in an attempt to relieve him of the heat. Almost instantly, though, his eyes snapped open and his hands firmly grabbed onto my wrists to prevent me from going any further.
"What the fuck?"
I opened my mouth to explain, but Trey wasn't having any of it.
"Where are we?" He questioned as he surveyed our surroundings. "Where's Max? Why are you..." His eyes widened in terror, "...were you going to rape me?"
I stared at him for a really long time, trying to resist the urge to rearrange his face. "Like I'd actually waste my energy on a pathetic human being like you."
I ripped my hands out of his grasp and opened the door with the full intention of locking him inside the car for the night. I thought better of it, and glanced over my shoulder at him. "You coming?"
He crinkled his nose in disgust. "With you? Hell no."
I faked a smile. "Great. So, I'll just lock the car and if you attempt to open it from the inside, then the alarm will sound off and my parents will freak out and call the cops. Your skin color also doesn't help you."
Trey's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Motherfucker."
I shrugged. "Get out of the car if you know what's good for you."
Trey continued to glare at me, before finally sighing and getting out of the car. He folded his muscular arms against his chest as we trudged up the driveway alongside each other.
The tension between us was almost tangible. It was pretty obvious that I didn't like him and he didn't like me, and it was pretty obvious that staying under the same roof wouldn't be beneficial to the both of us.
As I turned the key into the lock and bumped the door open with my hip, I flicked on the nearest switch to illuminate the main foyer with a soft yellow light. I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw a figure standing in the hallway. I fully expected it to be my mom, but I was even more surprised when I recognized the curly brown hair and matching brown eyes.
"Marcy? What the hell?"
She took a daring step toward me. Her gaze flicked to Trey and her delicate brows knitted together in confusion. "Trey?"
Trey was just as confused as she was. "Marcy?"
"What are you doing with him?" She interrogated him.
He exchanged a glance with me, then breathed out a long sigh. "It's a long story."
Marcy's eyes went wide. "You two aren't together, are you?"
I wanted to gag. I even cringed at the thought of touching Trey in the most friendly and non-sexual way possible.
Trey's response was pretty much the same as mine. "What? Hell no. I'm not a fucking faggot."
I stifled a laugh threatening to surface. I was correct in my original assumption that Trey was really pathetic.
And he wondered why Max didn't reciprocate his feelings.
My internal laughter died down shortly when I realized that Marcy was standing inside my house. I didn't need to ask how she had gotten here, because I was sure that my parents invited her in. But knowing what she did to Max, she definitely wasn't welcomed.
She gave me a small smile. "Hey, Liam. It took you a long time to come back. Where were you?"
"I don't have to tell you anything," I spat at her. "Get out."
She cocked her head to the side. "Why?"
I didn't think it was possible to be any angrier than I already was. "Why? Do you not remember what you did to Max?"
She blinked, seeming to have no recollection or remorse for what she had done. "Why does it matter? The kid deserved it for turning you gay."
I was two seconds away from knocking the shit out of her when Trey spoke up. "Wait," he insisted, "what did you do to Max?"
Marcy groaned. "Why are you guys getting worked up over this stupid kid?"
Trey's eyes hardened and he took a step closer to her. "What did you do to him?"
Marcy looked to me for assistance but when she saw that I held the same angry expression as Trey, she breathed out heavily. "I just scared him off, that's all."
"That's all?" I repeated, not believing what I was hearing. "You hired someone to physically assault him! You're lucky that Max didn't want me to do anything because I would have already reported you to the police!"
Trey gasped. "She did that to Maxxie?"
Marcy's rosy lips pressed tightly together in a thin grim line. "Why are you two getting worked up over him? He's just some stupid kid."
"Just some stupid kid?!" Trey and I yelled in unison.
I was taken aback at how similar Trey and I reacted. As much as I despised him, I had to say he cared about Max even though he had a really weird of showing it. It felt great to finally have someone on my side for once.
Marcy raised a delicate brow. "What's going on?"
I knew if Marcy stayed in my presence any longer, I would eventually snap. I didn't want to react violently for Max's sake, so I shut my eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke in a calm voice, "Get out of my house, Marcy, please."
She raised her hands and took a step back. "Fine," she said in between closed teeth,"but I hope you know I did you a favor." She released a loud disapproving huff as she brushed past us and slipped past the front door, slamming it so hard that the house shook momentarily.
After a brief moment of silence, Trey shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe she did that to him."
"Me neither." I strolled through the foyer and reached into the linen closet to pull out a comforter, sheets, and a few pillow cases. When I returned to Trey's side, I held them out to them. "You can crash on the couch."
He eyed the sheets like they were contaminated. "Don't tell me what to do," he snapped at me, but he eventually snatched the amenities from my hands and shuffled to the unlit living room.
I trailed behind him just as he settled onto the sofa. "I'll be in my room, second door on the right, if you need anything. Do me a favor, though, try not to need anything."
Trey groaned. "Leave me alone."
I gave him a sloppy smile, though I doubted he could see it in the bitter darkness. "And by the way, you might have had sex with Max, but at the end of the day he's my boyfriend."
Before I could fully prepare myself, I felt a fluffy pillow collide with my face. I smiled, knowing that I could have that effect on Trey.
"Good night," I called out once I was at the foot of the stairs.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
**
As soon as my eyes flickered open the very next morning, I had the inexplicable desire to drive to Xavier's place to see how he was doing.
After he rudely and hastily rushed me out of his house the other day, I couldn't help but wonder if he was okay. I knew I must have hit a nerve by talking about Dante and his relations, but it was only to help Xavier. He was a doctor in understanding how the mind worked, but he couldn't understand how Dante was hurting him.
That didn't make any sense to me.
As I descended the staircase, the grandfather clock in the hall ticked on the hour and four loud songs reverberated through the silence. I had always hated that stupid thing, and I had no idea why my father insisted we needed it.
I cruised into the kitchen to grab something quick to eat before I headed out. A pink sticky-note plastered onto the fridge caught my attention and I ripped it off, reading over the scribbled words.
Thanks for letting me crash here. I still don't like you though.
I smiled to myself as I peeked into the living room. Sure enough, Trey was gone and there wasn't any evidence of him ever being there.
I crumpled the note in my hands and stuck it my back pocket. Opening the fridge and quickly grabbing a banana, I rushed out the front door before my parents could wake up and question me about my intended whereabouts.
It didn't take me long to get to Xavier's house, since I had already memorized the route to his house and I was a bit eager to get there quickly. I didn't bother to warn him about my arrival because I knew he would try to keep me away by making up some stupid excuse.
I stalked to the front door and took a deep breath before kneeling to the ground to retrieve the spare key under the mattress. I turned the key into the lock, grabbed the doorknob, and shoved all my weight onto the door. On the third shove, the door gave way, but I still had to wrestle with the key jammed in the lock.
"Dammit," I seethed when I finally pulled it free.
I heard soft giggles originating from the kitchen and I should've taken that as a clue not to get involved, but my curiosity got the best of me.
There, sitting on the kitchen island, was a very naked Xavier. His husband, Dante, who also seemed to be just as naked as Xavier was, had one hand placed at the small of his back as he fed him a strawberry dipped in ice cream.
"Um..."
Xavier noticed my presence and glanced over his shoulder, his eyes growing wide in an instant. "Shit!" He jumped off the island and planted his feet into the floor, trying to hide his naked body behind the counter. "Mr. Slater! What are you doing here?"
I realized Dante had done nothing to cover himself up, and I hated myself for letting my eyes venture to his downstairs area.
Xavier must have noticed, because his eyes snapped to him. "Dante! Put some clothes on!"
Dante looked down at him under his dark lashes, and scoffed. "Why? It's not like the kid never seen a penis before."
Any hint of previous humor completely left Xavier's face. "Dante," he reprimanded.
Dante rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever." He ambled around the kitchen, taking his time and even allowing me to catch a glimpse of his ass.
Xavier was growing more annoyed now. "Dante!"
Finally giving in, he snatched two beige colored robes from the kitchen counter and tossed one to Xavier and wrapped the other one around himself. "You shouldn't be yelling at me. I'm free to roam around naked in my house if I want to."
Xavier sighed. "Dante, please. Just give me some time alone with my client."
Dante grabbed a strawberry from the bowl and shrugged. "Be quick. I can't keep this boner down for long." He started to walk out of the kitchen, but not before loudly smacking Xavier on the ass.
Xavier's cheeks flushed a bright red color when his electric blue eyes met mine. "I apologize for that, Mr. Slater. I wasn't expecting you."
I lifted my brows. "I can see that."
Once he fully covered himself with his robe, he stepped out from behind the island and smiled at me. "What can I help you with?"
I gritted my teeth together. "You're still with him."
He let out a bitter laugh. "Yes, Liam. I'm still with my husband. That's kinda what we vowed to do at our wedding."
Was he being sarcastic with me?
"But he's cheating on you, Xavier."
"Dr. Reis," he corrected me as he cleared his throat. "Is this what you came here to talk about? I do not wish to talk about my personal life, Liam. I'm here to be your therapist and to help you through your conflicts. It does not work the other way around."
"Sure, it does. We're friends now."
"We are not friends, Mr. Slater," he refuted. "I'm your therapist and I'm an adult, so I'd appreciate it if you would stop telling me how to live my life."
How could he say that? After I confided in him and poured my whole life experience to him, he was just going to deny our friendship?
I couldn't hold my anger in anymore. "If you're such an adult, then you need to start acting like it!"
He blinked. "Please, calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down!" I fired back at him. "I'm trying to fucking protect you. I don't want to lose you like..."
Xavier's face softened. "Liam."
I could feel the tears threatening to fall from my eyes. I had promised not to cry over Scotty any more, but that was proving to be very difficult.
First, it was Max with all of his bullies and now it was Xavier with his husband. They were both hurting and they didn't even know it! I didn't want them to suddenly realize it and decide to end it.
I didn't want to lose another person.
"Liam," he spoke in a more soft, soothing manner.
"You have to break up with him," I demanded him. "He's hurting you and I don't want him to do that. It's not fair. You didn't do anything wrong."
He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Liam, I know that it probably feels like you're losing control but you need to understand that you can't control every little thing in your life. I know you want to protect me and I appreciate the gesture, but if I'm going to learn anything, it's going to be through my own mistakes."
"But-"
"I'm fine, Liam," he reassured me. "I love Dante and as of now, I don't plan on leaving him."
Could he hear how ridiculous he sounded? "If Dante really loved you, he wouldn't have-"
"Liam," he chided.
I sighed. "You're not going to let me persuade you, are you?"
His lips stretched into a wide grin. "Nope."
Maybe he was right. Maybe it wasn't my duty to protect Max and Xavier from danger. What good would that do besides drive them away from me?
He patted my shoulder. "Have a seat, I'll make you something to eat."
I gave in to his command and did as I was told, sliding into one of the kitchen stools and propping my head up on the palm of my hand.
"Nice ass, by the way," I pointed out.
Xavier whipped around quickly, giving me a stern look with his cobalt eyes. "Shut up."
**
a/n: I'm sorry if there's nothing interesting in this chapter. They can't all be drama-filled! I apologize in advance if there was any mistakes. I'm tired. And there's also a gif of Marcy to the side or to the top or wherever wattpad puts it nowadays.
Do you think Xavier will leave Dante, and what was your favorite part of this chapter?
I'd like to announce that I've started a collab channel with one of my dear friends midnightdreamer- , and it's called laraandgiselle . We just started our first collab story called "Glass Heart" and we would love it if you guys checked it out!
As always, vote and comment if you liked this chapter and it'll make me smile forever. Just a few more weeks of school and I'll be more regular with my updates!
Until next time,
Lara <3