"Lucas! Lucas!" Harley screamed, getting tangled up in the covers on the bed during his scramble to rush out of the room.
"Whoa, whoa! The fuck's going on?" A sleepy Daniel emerged in the hallway whilst rubbing his eye, mumbling groggily about people being too loud. Harley ignored him, reaching the landing as Axel shoved Lucas down the stairs, his boyfriend landing on his back at the bottom floor with a dull thump.
Lucas screwed his eyes shut, rolling over slowly as he groaned in pain. Hell, he was still trying to shake the sleep off of him, much less begin to figure out what was wrong.
When he managed to prop himself up on an elbow, Axel's face suddenly crowded his vision as he leaned over Lucas, mouth twisted in anger as his eyes gleamed with the thirst for blood.
Lucas had never seen Axel so undeniably livid before.
"A-Axel-" He began, bringing his hands up in a defensive position. However, it was no use, as Axel had his forearm pressed against his airway again, yanking him across the floor before shoving through the back door and into the backyard.
"Stop!" Harley yelled in a panic, Jackie and Daniel suddenly quick on his toes, finally having realized something serious was going down. Daniel was easily able to catch up to Harley as Jackie held her stomach and descended down the stairs at a much slower place, head swiveling around in a panic to gather any clues as to what the hell was going on.
"Harley, what's-" Daniel began to ask as he followed closely after Harley, the two men shoving through the backdoor and into the backyard. Harley stumbled out onto the grass, eyes widening at the sight before him, freezing him in place.
Axel had Lucas pinned to the ground, standing over him as he pummeled him with fists and kicks. Lucas attempted to stop him by weakly pushing him away by his shoulder, but Axel's assault was ruthless.
"Boys, boys!" Jackie barked as she barreled through the door, Elijah rushing out from behind her. Jackie's distraught voice shook Daniel out of his shock, and he immediately surged forward to grab at Axel from behind and attempt to pull him off of Lucas.
"Jackie, what the hell are you doing? Get away from them!" Elijah yelled as he assisted Daniel, worried for Jackie's safety as she got too close to the brawling men. Harley ran over to try and make Axel look at him, pleading with him to let Lucas go, to stop hurting him; but it was as though Axel was seeing nothing but red. The image of Lucas and Harley in bed together with the discarded condom on the floor appeared every time he blinked.
Axel landed a particularly hard punch to Lucas' nose, causing rivets of blood to immediately gush from both nostrils as the man yelled in pain, clutching at his face as he turned his body away from Axel as much as he could.
"Axel stop!" Harley screamed, the sound ripping through his vocal cords and making the words sound hoarse. Axel faltered slightly at his brother's distress, and Harley took the opportunity to muster up all of his strength to press his hands against his older brother's chest and harshly shove him backwards into Elijah and Daniel. The force of it made Axel stumble back, and the other two guys caught him before he could fall to the ground. Harley stood in the middle of the lawn, standing over Lucas protectively despite being clad only in boxers and an old stretched t-shirt, fists clenched as he stared down at his brother with nothing but contempt and malice twisting his sneer.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" He continued to yell, feeling the inside of his throat become shredded from the overuse, but his anger was boiling over, and he needed to release it.
Axel blinked quickly at Harley, looking at him as though he didn't even recognize the person he was staring at, before shoving Elijah and Daniel off as he stormed back into the house.
"Lucas?" Harley asked desperately, crouching down to grip at the man's shoulder. The others hovered around carefully, unsure of whether or not they should intervene. Jackie eventually decided she was better suited to yell at her boyfriend, and she went stalking back into the house after Axel.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Lucas placated, sitting up slowly with Harley's help. Daniel surged forward to assist as well, and he was shocked as Lucas not only allowed him, but gripped onto the supportive arm he offered.
"No, you're not," Harley responded with a heavy waver in his voice, hands shaking as he fussed over his boyfriend, thoroughly distraught at the scene he just had to witness.
"Harls," Lucas said softly, turning to look at his boyfriend, and Daniel backed up slightly to give them space, while still watching on with intrigue.
"I fucking hate him. I hate him so much. We were happy and he goes in and fucking ruins it!" Harley seethed, his breaths starting to grow heavy again.
"Harley. Stop, baby. It's okay," Lucas whispered, cupping the side of Harley's face, and Daniel's eyes bugged out of his face along with Elijah's, the two glancing at each other quickly as if to say: are you seeing this shit too?
"I need to clean you up," Harley breathed shakily, grabbing Lucas' bicep before standing. "Can you help me get him into the house?" He asked the shell shocked duo loitering next to them, to which they nodded quickly, rushing forward to help haul Lucas' large body off of the ground.
"Aw, shit," Lucas hissed as he stood, his back hunched over slightly as they slowly made their way back to the house. Axel was pacing in the living room, Jackie speaking to him tersely with animated hand gestures, but Harley ignored them, prompting Daniel to fetch some paper towels for Lucas' bloody nose.
"Sit down," Harley ordered gently, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table, but Lucas waved him off to Harley's dismay.
"I'm not dizzy. I'm fine," Lucas muttered, casting a sideways glance towards Axel. Daniel rushed over from the kitchen with an absurdly large wad of paper towels in his fist, to which Harley looked at him in exasperation, but relayed his appreciation for the help.
"Here, put these against your nose." Harley reached up to do it himself, until Lucas took the paper towels from him. Lucas felt ridiculous, but did it to ease Harley's nervous fluttering around him.
"Hey," Elijah also came from the kitchen, this time with a damp rag. "You can clean his face off a bit."
"Thank you, Elijah," Harley said graciously to the man, immediately beginning to wipe gingerly at the blood that got smeared across Lucas' cheek. Lucas was still staring at Axel, and eventually had enough of his best friend's aggressive movements in the living room, deciding it was best to have this heart to heart now before anyone else got hurt.
"So you wanna tell me what the hell your problem is?" Lucas brushed Harley aside, walking towards the living room that Axel and Jackie occupied, his standard expression of unbothered neutrality plastered on strong. Axel froze, whirling around on Lucas with a hot fury burning in his eyes.
"Yeah, I have a problem with you sleeping with my kid brother! Because I know how you treat your lays," Axel spat, jabbing his finger towards Lucas. "They mean nothing to you, and Harley deserves better than that!"
"Harley isn't a lay!" Lucas growled, striding up to Axel to tower over him with balled fists. "I fucking love him!"
Axel reeled back and stared at him in disbelief, shaking his head slightly, clearly not expecting that to come out of the other man's mouth. "Well clearly that doesn't mean shit, since you were in love with me not all that long ago."
"Because you used to give a shit about me, and ever since I told you, you were too scared to care anymore. Now I have Harley. He gives a shit about me," Lucas gritted. "He took care of me even though I was a complete shithead. Of course I love him."
Axel sunk down onto the couch, running an agitated hand through his hair. "Is this why you suddenly stopped being bothered about Jackie and I? Because you finally found a person of your own?"
"Can you fucking blame me?" Lucas snapped back.
"No. . . I guess I can't," Axel breathed heavily, looking sheepishly back up at Lucas.
"Harley made me believe I deserve happiness. I'm loyal to him forever now. I did the same thing with you, so you can't say it's not true. I'd go to the ends of the earth if he asked me to. You would know that. 'Cause I would've done the same for you. Still would."
Axel's mouth twisted in shame as he looked at his younger brother, who stood at his best friend's side, clutching Lucas' hand as he appeared to be restraining himself from yelling again.
"This is why we didn't tell you," Harley said shortly, and Axel felt a part of him die inside. They had come so far in their relationship, and now he had gone and completely screwed it up. He wasn't even certain why he had acted in that manner, because he trusted Lucas with the biggest responsibilities of the house, he's known him for years. But Axel also knew Lucas enjoyed having lots of sex with lots of different people, and coupled with his protective nature over Harley, all he could think about was his best friend using his brother to simply get off.
He didn't want Harley to be destroyed if Lucas had cast him aside as he had done with all the rest. He was completely ignorant to everything that went on when no one was watching, he missed the progression of their attraction and then relationship.
Axel didn't know that Lucas had finally spoken Spanish again since his mother's passing, and that the first words he uttered was a confession of love to Harley.
"I'm-" Axel choked, burying his face in his hands in guilt. "I'm so sorry." His head whipped up suddenly to address Lucas. "I'm so sorry, Lucas."
"I forgive you," Lucas blurted immediately. "Just don't be a jackass anymore."
"Lucas, please. You shouldn't forgive me that fast. Look what I did to your face-"
"I forgive you," Lucas simply repeated.
"Why?" Axel looked at his best friend in astonishment and disbelief. Lucas was one of the most spiteful, cold-hearted people he knew, and this was completely out of character for him.
Or maybe, that was the Lucas he used to know.
"We finally patched up our friendship, and Harley and I are together. I'm happy now. I don't want anymore bullshit to get in the way. And I do forgive you. I don't think I could stand here and I say I would act any different in your position. You were just trying to protect Harley, and I respect that," Lucas smirked slightly, outstretching his arms towards Axel, and Elijah's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Is Lucas offering a-" he began.
Without hesitation, Axel sprang forward to wrap his arms around Lucas, the two giving each other brotherly pats on the back, and Daniel began to clap his hands from the side. When Axel and Lucas separated, Axel acknowledged Harley, who had his arms crossed over his chest, and still looked positively fuming.
"And I apologize to you too, Harley. I promised I would be better about letting you live your life, and I fucked that up today. I really hate what I've done." Axel looked at the shorter man pleadingly, and Harley found enjoyment in making the man he once viewed as an untouchable god squirm a bit under his own wrath. Lucas eventually picked up on this, rolling his eyes as he elbowed him slightly.
"You hurt my boyfriend again, I will seriously beat your fucking ass Axel Connor O'Reilly. I mean it. I will make you cry," Harley snarled, and Axel backed up slightly with fearful eyes, nodding numbly. "Lucas wants peace, so I will respect that, but I will need until the end of the week to stop wanting to smack you every time I see you."
"Fair enough," Axel's head bobbed quickly, simply wanting to make amends as quickly as possible.
"And can we agree to no more shenanigans like that until I have the baby? Y'all nearly put me in premature labor," Jackie griped, placing her hands on her hips.
"I should run her a bubble bath," Axel said sheepishly, grabbing his girlfriend's hand as they walked towards the stairs, Jackie looking over her shoulder to throw a wink at the rest of the group.
Daniel looked between them in shock. "What the hell was that about?"
"Jackie knew," Lucas said simply, and that quickly gained Harley's attention.
"She knew?" He gasped.
"Are you kidding me? Jackie knew before me?" Daniel whined obnoxiously, and Elijah smacked him on the back of the head playfully.
"This isn't high school, Daniel. People can have private relationships," Elijah scolded.
"But- but I should at least know," Daniel pouted.
"How the hell did she find out?" Harley asked, completely ignoring the other two in the room.
"She's Jackie," Lucas simply shrugged, tugging on Harley's hand and gesturing towards the stairs. "Can you rub my ribs?"
Daniel paled. "Oh no. Do I need to keep my headphones in for that? Can you give me a time estimate? You know what?" He lifted his hands and closed his eyes. "I don't even want to know. Even knowing how long it's going to be is too much. I'll just keep 'em in for the next three hours." Daniel then rushed up the stairs, feet thundering down the hall before the slam of a door could be heard. Elijah regarded the couple as well, pursing his lips.
"No offense, but I'm with him. I will be completely oblivious to my surroundings until lunch. Happy for you guys, though. Finding love is always rad," he smirked, proceeding to follow after Daniel up the stairs.
"I really just wanted you to rub my ribs," Lucas grumbled, and Harley brought his hand up to his mouth, kissing his knuckles.
"I'm about to show you how annoying fussing can be," he teased, grinning at Lucas' dead expression.
~
Alright, got that mess sorted! Misunderstandings have been solved! That means everyone can live happily ever after now, right? Right?
Thanks for sticking with me for this long!