Narco stepped out of his car. He walked towards the house with a confident stride. His jacket rustled loudly, which annoyed him deeply. He was in a great mood today and nothing could ruin it. He was sure.
Narco rang the doorbell, waiting while he adjusted his hair.
"Coming!" Lewis shouted, footsteps pounding loudly from the inside.
The door quickly opened, a ragged looking Lewis appearing.
"You look like you just ran a marathon." Narco said, brushing his thumb across Lewis' red cheeks. He decided to kiss it, just for the fun of it.
Lewis rolled his eyes, motioning Narco to enter the house. "You don't know how tiring it is to run down the stairs."
Narco laughed. It rang through the house.
"What do you wanna talk about?" Lewis asked, cutting to the chase rather quickly.
"So eager to know, Sunshine," Narco sighed, plopping right on the couch. "Anyways, I wanted to talk about everything, make sure everything's alright with you. The usual," Narco said, patting the seat next to him.
Lewis hesitantly sat down, turning towards him, and gave a timid smile. He scratched his head, averting his eyes.
"Are you actually okay?" Narco asked, bringing his hands to ruffle Lewis's hair.
"Yeah. Why?" Lewis was confused as to why he cared so much. Very unusual, and a part of him shivered with happiness.
"Really? You weren't that happy yesterday," Narco said, running his fingers through black locks.
"I'm not good at socializing, Narco. You know that." Lewis stated, awkward and claustrophobic. Those honey eyes were staring at him.
Narco hummed in response, not caring about the awkwardness. "Do you want to talk about your parents?" He asked, very forward with it. Lewis sucked in a deep breath, not prepared to let it out at all.
"No and yes," He said, brows knitted. "And I trust you, okay? I just don't want to... cry—" Lewis choked out, looking straight into the honey pools of Narco's eyes. And fuck, he was going to cry, right after he said he didn't want to.
Lewis was breathing heavily in a second, Narco grew confused and alarmed.
"Y-You don't need to say anything—" Narco stuttered, flailing his arms around. Lewis nodded, tipping his head back to dry his tears. "I want to help you, Sunshine. I really do." He muttered, rubbing Lewis' forehead with one hand and holding Lewis' hand with another.
"I don't need your help. I really don't." Lewis bitterly said, retracting his hand harshly.
"Where did you get that nickname from?" Lewis desperately tried to steer the conversation to another topic. His chest was bubbling and his heart was pounding. He didn't want to cry and stopping that made it worse. It wasn't a good feeling, he personally wouldn't recommend it.
"Just some philosophical thoughts. You are like the light of my life. Thought light sounded dumb so I changed it to sunshine."
"Tell me, how was life with Elese?" Narco swerved right back to the lane, unwilling to change the topic.
"Why do you want to know?" Lewis snapped, his jaw and fist clenching. He knew what he was doing, but old habits die hard.
The cold stare Lewis was giving Narco was so very unlikely of him. The brown eyes showed anger and plain coldness. The guards were up and if anyone dared to proceed further, they would be maimed.
"It is none of your business." Lewis spat, getting up from the couch and walking towards the kitchen at an extremely fast pace. He was shaking, muscles tense, eyes glossed. He didn't want to cry, he wasn't supposed to show weakness.
"Wait, Lewis!" Narco shouted, following right behind the angry man. He was hurt, but he refused to let go. The mirror was right there, broken pieces reflecting what he used to do. He'd forgotten reflections stared back.
"Lewis, I didn't waste my gas to hear this bullshit. Tell me, please," Narco softly said.
Lewis laughed, sharp and shrill and just a bit manic. "You don't wanna know, Narco. Trust me, you don't." He bellowed, grabbing two mugs and shoving it under the coffee machine.
The silence was piercing to the ears as they both stood, anger and frustration and stubbornness bleeding into their surroundings. Lewis didn't want his past to be talked about. The chapter was long gone and forgotten about, and even he didn't dare to turn back to those blood stained pages.
Narco was evidently very curious. He wanted to understand the fascinating man; the deep secrets that laid under spiky guards. He wanted to know. To understand the man in front of him. The mystery of Lewis's past and why it was all buried. What was that the bright and giggly man feared and resented?
"Here," Lewis roughly passed the mug to Narco, coffee spilling down the sides.
"Thanks," Narco said, turning away from the kitchen and entering the living room instead. He was frustrated when Lewis refused to say anything.
When all hope was gone and he felt the sun setting, he saw it rising back again when Lewis sat down, seemingly more calm and relaxed than before.
"Why do you want to know?" Lewis questioned, crossing his arms on his chest.
"Curious and a bit concerned," Narco replied, chewing on his bottom lip.
Lewis sighed and relaxed, as much as he could anyway.
"You're not giving up, are you?" He added a chuckle and shook his head in disbelief. "Elese... I loved her, you know. Met her during university and it was kind of a forbidden love thing too because my parents wanted me to marry a rich girl. We were above middle-class but not stupidly rich, enough not to worry about spending too much.
"Years later, Rose was born and I knew we weren't committed to it. At least, she wasn't. She didn't care about Rose and stopped loving me, I guess. I don't know where it went wrong, maybe if I—"
Lewis was starting to feel a lump in his throat that prevented him from speaking. He sipped his coffee.
Narco was listening intently, catching every word and breath taken by Lewis.
"She started abusing Rose when she was just four. Turned hostile. She was a monster that I didn't know existed. She started to cheat on me, and I let her. She tortured me with ropes and chains and knives. On this particular day, we had the biggest fight. I don't remember much of it, sorry. She—"
Lewis coughed, trying to keep his tears in. He didn't want to say it, but he was in too deep to pull away. He shoved his tears in and continued, "She took out a gun and threatened to kill Rose. She— She shot herself after she hit Rose with the bullet. Luckily, the bullet only g-grazed Rose's shoulder and she was fine. My parents didn't believe me, blamed me, even. That's why I have a bitter spot for them." Lewis concluded his story with glazed eyes.
Narco was shaken, his eyes wide with horror. He couldn't even think about how traumatizing the experience was for Lewis and Rose.
"Babe, come here," Narco hugged the teary-eyed man and gently kissed the top of his head. "O— Wow—" He was speechless in a bad way. The horror of the moment was only imagined by him, but the reality was visible and vivid in Lewis's mind. The other was clinging onto dear life with all his strength.
"I— I'm fucked up, Narco, don't touch me." Lewis suddenly said, untangling himself with a harsh push. He didn't deserve this, nothing but worthless, waste of space.
"No. No you're not. Stop saying that." Narco said, enveloping the pale man in his arms. Even though Lewis protested at first, he soon gave up and sank into the comforting warmth of the man holding him. "I love you with everything. Don't ever say that you don't deserve this. Because let me tell you something, everybody's fucked up in some sort of way." Narco rocked side to side, his chin rested on Lewis' head.
Lewis hummed in reply, voice cracking slightly as he said, "Why can't people accept me for me? What did I do wrong to deserve this treatment from my parents, Narco?" He traced patterns on Narco's cheeks, cold fingers a reminder of the present.
"So, you're saying that I'm a sin?" Narco joked, smiling cheekily.
Lewis gently pinched his cheek with a scoff. "Obviously not,"
"You didn't do anything wrong. It is not your fault that you were born like this, and the only people in the wrong are your parents. If they can't accept you like the stunning and fabulous person you are, they're missing out." Narco said, patting Lewis's chest lightly and letting his palm rest there.
"You'd be a damn good author," Lewis complimented, feeling shy after the shower of compliments from Narco. The dread of being the center of attention mellowed out.
"Why, thank you," Narco smirked, pecking Lewis on the cheek.
"Stop smirking! You smug brute!" Lewis exclaimed when he turned to look at the artist.
"Admit that you love me this way," Narco grinned, showering a giggly Lewis with butterfly kisses. He kissed the tear stains on Lewis's cheek and scrunched his face upon the salty taste.
"That's disgusting," Narco said, sticking his tongue out and wiping it on his sleeves.
"Now, that's disgusting," Lewis said, scrunching his face at Narco, who responded by rolling his eyes.