Call woke up screaming, that night. His first instinct was to turn to Aaron, to reaffirm that the blonde boy laying next to them was real. He brought back his traitorous hand and swung his legs out of bed, not realizing Aaron was awake until Aaron asked him if he was ok.
"I'm fine." Call said, shrugging him off.
"Clearly not, or you wouldn't have been screaming. Do you want to talk about it?" Aaron replied groggily.
"I'm sorry I woke you up." Call said, deflecting the question.
"Talking helps, Call, I swear it does. I'm not going to judge you." Aaron said, sitting up and looking at Call with sympathy.
"I was in Constantine's gang, and we were doing a raid on an enemy camp. And you were there, for... some reason. And I was killing people. And I... I enjoyed it. They were begging for mercy, but I didn't stop. And Constantine just... he just smiled and said 'You're just like me, Hunt.' And then, you got shot and... I cracked. I just started shooting random people. I didn't care anymore. And then I... I... I shot myself, too." Call swallowed hard, trying to judge Aaron's expression. It was almost pensive, the way he looked at Call.
"I think you need to blow off some steam. All this being in a gang stuff is getting to your head." Call ran his hands through his hair, turned away from Aaron, and sighed.
"Yeah, I'll just go walk past the armed guards at every door and take a leisurely stroll then, shall I?" Call shot back, earning a chuckle from Aaron.
"Ok, ok, I see your point. But there are other ways to blow off steam, you know..." Aaron said, face reddening as he flashed call a grin that made Call's face heat up.
"What do you mean by that?" Call said, trying not to assume certain facts about Aaron.
"Never mind." Aaron said, looking at the blankets in front of him.
"No, seriously, now you've piqued my interest." Call said, swinging his legs onto the bed so he could face Aaron.
"Well, It's just... I've been hiding something... about myself. Because it would change things." Aaron said.
"Ok, well now I've really got to know." Call said, propping his head up with his arms.
"Call..." Aaron said, shifting his gaze from Call to his fingers, which were fidgeting nervously.
"That's my name, don't wear it out." Call said, winking.
"I-I don't know if I can tell you." Aaron said, curling into a ball and trying to bury his face in his knees.
"Ok." Call said, not trying to hide the dissapointment in his voice.
" I want to tell you, I swear I do. It's just..." Aaron said, biting his lip.
"Just..." Call said, echoing Aaron's words.
"Difficult." Aaron interjected.
"Ok, I'll turn around, and you can tell me. Deal?" Call said, turning to face the wall.
"I'm gay." Aaron said, and Call's heart just about exploded out of his chest.
"Really?" Call said, turning back to face the now beet-colored Aaron.
"Um, Yep." Aaron said, scratching his hair.
"That's great! I mean, good. That you know, there are no secrets between us. We can, uh, work as a unit. Cohesively." Call said, cringing with every new word that he spit out trying to avoid the thick silence that was already settling over the room like dust.
"Ok. Well, I'm going to sleep. That is, unless you want me to move to the floor." Aaron said, raising his eyebrows in a fashion that reminded Call of Rufus.
"No, I'm fine, honestly. It doesn't alter my perception of you whatsoever." Call said, doing his best to blatantly lie. Aaron still looked dubious, but seemed too tired to argue, so he rolled over and went back to sleep.
Silence settled over the room, a hazy, dreamy one that clouded Call's inhibitions and made him want to kiss Aaron then and there. But logic spoke out in the form of Jack.
Aaron doesn't like you back. Just because he's gay doesn't change anything. You're worthless, he's probably only teaming up with you so he can get out of here and be with some other, better boy that isn't a murderer. Why are you giving up everything for him? You know you could do great things here, save your dad, save everything.m. Constantine has given you his trust, his gang, his help when times were darkest, and you're betraying him now for a blonde boy that's out of your league by a mile.
But then, a tiny voice spoke out in Call's head.
"Or not." the voice said, and that was good enough for Call.