It Wasn't Meant For You (Melix and Elemental Son)

[Elemental Son]

It was a good thing that Dominic wasn't facing the nurse when the word fiance came out of Lyall's mouth, because the way his eye twitched in response would have completely blown their cover. You are such a bullshit artist. It took more self control than anything else that day - and that was saying a lot - to keep himself from laughing.


By the time the besotted nurse - who was clearly not only embarrassed, but also completely charmed by the act - had left the room, he was nearly at the end of his rope. Finally letting some of his amusement show, he nudged Lyall's shoulder in response as he retrieved his jacket. "You are the worst liar I've ever met, Ly. Seriously."


Dominic considered taking him up on his offer of food, but the echoes of their conversation whispered in the back of his head. Like hell I'm letting you spend your money on me. Instead of saying as much, he grinned and said "I'm good - I think the sight of your ex-lunch has ruined my appetite for at least a week. Cleaning chemicals? You should sue them man, I swear. Anyway - you want to get out of here? I'm going to head down to the ring for a while."

 

[Melix]

"Ya?" asked Lyall, shoving him a little. "Well, we both know what you are." He made a swift break, out the door, through the confusing hall, opening each and every other door until he found one that led outside, looking for Dominic's car. He opened the front seat and popped in, lowering the seat so he could lay down. He didn't know how long he could relax in Dom's car before Dom realized what had happened and chased him down. He grinned, holding up the car keys as a very special prize, and locked himself in the car.


Sighing, he turned on the radio to begin the wait. 
(Short. Sorry.) 
(Good night.)

 

[Melix]

Lyall ignored his food comments and began to grin as he thought up a daring plan. "Ya?"he asked, shoving Dom a little, lightly. He leaned up and gave Dominic a half-kiss (where one presses lips against something, but does not make the necessary noise or movement for it to be a kiss) on the shoulder before beginning a slow trot away. "Well, we both know what you are." He grinned cheekily, making a swift break out the door, through the confusing hall, opening each and every other door until he found one that led outside to the place Dominic had parked his car. Slow-to-quick running was his specialty in soccer. He was clear as long as Dominic hadn't seen it coming. He opened the front seat' pasenger-side door and popped in, lowering the seat so he could lay down. He didn't know how long he could relax in Dom's car before Dom realized what had happened and chased him down. He grinned, holding up the car keys he'd nabbed from Dominic's pocket as a very special prize, and locked himself in the car. It wasn't a completely bad thing to have questionably-legal coworkers, when you got to seriously mess with the heads of your friends.


Sighing, he turned on the radio to begin the wait.

 

[Elemental Son]

It seemed the kiss-thing was something he’d have to get used to. Third time’s the charm. Maybe. Belatedly, Dominic wondered whether anyone at school had seen the first one – there’d be a lot of questions if so. That was an uncomfortable thought. He was about to mention it when Lyall gave the devilish grin which meant he was up to something. True to form, he started to run before Dominic had realized what he was doing. He moved to follow, checking the room and his pockets as a final once over, the laughed. His keys were gone. It seemed Lyall really was feeling better. When did he get so good at picking pockets? Amused, Dominic started to head outside.


Walking out of the (still weirdly deserted) hospital and out to the carpark – it wasn’t far from the school, and he’d driven there first, before changing his mind and walking to the workshop instead, before Lyall had been admitted – he looked around, trying to find his friend. The hell? Walking over to his car, he could see that the passenger seat had been lowered. A fair indication of where Lyall might've run off to.


Dominic could hear the radio blaring as he got closer. Reaching for the car door, he found it locked, and raised his eyebrows at Lyall through the window. Amused despite himself, Dominic decided to try something. If Lyall was going to mess with him, he was going to mess with Lyall.


Dropping his jacket and wallet onto the bitumen, Dominic pulled off his shirt, letting the late afternoon sun silhouette the musculature across his chest. It was probably overkill and he knew it, after the day they’d had, but he was damned if he was going to let Lyall get away scott free. Besides, with the barrier between them, it was defensible enough - it was a warmish day, and there was no shelter in the carpark. Some small part of him knew it was to show Lyall he was still as comfortable around him as they'd once been. A far smaller, far more repressed thought was a genuine curiosity as to how his friend would react, and again, those quiet, dangerous tropic island thoughts. For the most part though, it was a form of revenge for the fiance comment - really, that had been embarrassing as hell.


(Sorry for the absence; my life is a little crazy busy right now. I figured the least Dom could do was reward Lyall’s patience =P )

 

[Melix]

(It's fine! This should be interesting.)


Lyall waited for his best friend to realize he'd jacked the car. His eyes were closed and he knew he was about to nod off, so he turned the radio- and the car itself- off. Or, that's what he thought he was doing when he climbed into the front seat, leaned forward, grabbed the key and steering wheel (balance is everything), turned a little with the key, and froze. There was Dominic, standing outside of the car, bare-chested and golden. The steering wheel jerked a little bit, apparently of it's own accord, and the car, which was still not off, followed suit. "Aaah!" yelled Lyall, slamming his foot into the brakes. He made it without hitting Dom, but seeing him standing there like that made Lyall angry. "The hell is wrong with you?" he shouted without rolling the window down. "Put on some clothes before some idiotic girl causes an accident!" It was easy to see, even with Dom blocking out the sun, that everything from his shoulders up was a bright, crimson red.


He kept his hands on the steering wheel, willing his heart to start beating normally, his lungs to breathe normally. When he was one-hundred percent calm, he asked himself, do I want to continue with my plan? He started breathing harder again and he was sure his heart rate sped up, which was his body's way of saying something along the lines of Oh, hell, yes. So he he calmed himself down again and turned off the car. He pulled out the keys. And he put them...in his underwear. It was a surefire way to keep the keys out of Dominic's grasp. Then he manually unlocked all the doors. "How badly do you want to get out of here?" he asked sweetly, opening the driver's side door.

 

[Elemental Son]

(Well damn.)


Lyall slammed on the breaks just in time, yelling something that was semi-muffled from inside the car. What is it with people coming near to vehicular homicide today? If he and Sarah do end up together, please God don't let there be any road-trip dates. Whatever Lyall had been saying, he certainly looked less than composed. Something about that, Dominic found deeply satisfying. Still, if his friend was up and about, it was probably time to go.


Dominic was picking his stuff up off the pavement when he heard the driver's door open. Looking up, he saw the look on Lyall's face, and immediately his guard went up. Uh oh. Shirt off might've been a bad idea. Usually, nothing good came of Lyall playing charming. Considering the question, Dom knew that if push came to shove, he could just walk home. It would take a good couple of hours, but he wasn't truly stranded if things got to that point where he felt he had to cut and run. Still, Lyall was clearly playing at something, and for now, Dominic would play along.


Still shirtless, Dominic cast suspicious eyes on his best friend. "That depends. I'm guessing it's going to cost me something if I say 'badly', uh." Hell with it. Figuring that if it was an advantage, he might as well play it, Dominic rolled his shoulders back in a stretch, the picture of nonchalance. It was entirely deliberate that the movement caused the tendons in his neck and under his collarbones to stand out. While perhaps more subtle than Lyall's physical style of flirting earlier, or his play acting, it probably got the message across. With a slightly predatory smile of his own, Dom added, "Why - did you have something in mind?"

 

[Melix]

Lyall smiled at him. "Yup," he said, stepping out of the car. "It won't cost you much, but it will cost you something." He closed the door with his foot and leaned back, against the door, satisfied that he was in control of the situation. He refused to be bothered by Dominic's muscles on his shoulders or his tight chest or his toned abdomen...


Don't look down there! What the hell are you doing? His head screamed. You're going to end up with something more telling than a blush if you don't calm down right now. Lyall looked down at his shoes and then back up at Dominic, resolute that he was going to pretend very hard that Dominic was an ugly girl in appearance instead of what he was. Lyall wanted to be normal very badly right now. Then he saw Dominic's casual stretch and the tendons of his collarbone and neck. "Why- did you have something in mind?" Lyall adopted a look of alarm and bit down on his tongue, hard.


"If you want your keys back, you have two options." His tongue was swollen. Please put on more clothes or attempt to not look like that, Lyall was thinking. He somehow hoped Dominic got the message without him saying it. "You can admit what we both know, which is that you're a huge pushover, or..." He stopped. There was still time for him to say that no, actually, that was his only option. No, he was going through with this. "Admit you love me more than you love this car." Like! He was supposed to say like. Oh, well. He couldn't correct himself without making things any more awkward for him.

 

[Elemental Son]

Something about the way Lyall phrased his words had an effect on Dominic. There were ways other than fighting to blow off steam. While Dominic knew that if push came to shove, he'd scrap the car in a second to help his friend out, the word 'pushover' triggered something intrinsic in the comfortably masculine part of his brain which would never back down from a challenge. Perhaps more than anything else today, without realising it, Lyall had crossed a line.


Dominic laughed, quiet and dark. The predatory element to his smile, now, was anything but slight. "Pushover, am I?" Responding to that in preference of anything else said, Dom stepped uncomfortably close, placing his hands against the door of the car either side of Lyall's head, effectively pinning him in. His eyes had lit up the way they did when he stepped into a boxing ring - not at the start, but after he'd taken a couple of hits. After the pain, adrenaline, or simple animalistic pleasure of conflict had replaced his usually easygoing nature, and turned him into something quite different. While he didn't intend to fight Lyall, the fact that the same feeling arose probably said too much about how Dominic was reconciling the concept of Lyall's - or his own - sexuality.


Holding the silence with an almost aggressive stillness, the thrill of dominance heating his blood, it was an almost whisper that he added, "Why don't you prove it?"


(Hurrah for the duality of intense internalised homophobia, coupled with the need to not be weak. Seriously, these poor guys.)

 

[Melix]

Lyall's eyes were big and wide as saucers when he realized what was happening, or, at least, what he thought might be happening. Dominic's arms had him pinned against the car. "Dom?" he asked quietly. "Don't be mad at me, okay?" Dominic was rather close. Those eyes, which were regularly so beautiful, seemed menacing. Those muscles were now weapons. "I'm sorry for calling you a pushover. I'll give your keys. Please just get off me." He felt unsettled and he was way past uncomfortable. "I don't want to prove anything. I'm sorry." He didn't realize Dominic would want to fight him. Over everything else today, he wanted to fight over this? He was scared. If he fought with Dominic, he was going to lose. Not just his dignity or his never-having-a-bruise-from-a-fight record body, but maybe Dominic, too. He tried to wriggle out from under Dominic's arms. 
(Yes, I'm aware that it's very short. I'm very sorry.)

 

[Elemental Son]

(All good; sorry if my last post threw a spanner in the works - it leads somewhere less depressing, I promise =P )


Usually, reigning in that fire would have been a Herculean effort. The note of - what, fear? in Lyall's voice, was enough to make it near effortless. As quickly as Dominic had turned more aggressive, he pulled back, probably not only having spooked Lyall, but himself as well. The next laugh he gave was shaky, and as he stepped aside, he couldn't look Lyall in the eyes. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, locking them to his sides as if he'd tied them there - unable to do any damage. There was something wrong in his tone when he said, jokingly, "Yeah - sorry man. You know how I get about my cars." Dominic swallowed hard, then stepped a long way back, well out of reach, and picked up his shirt. Putting it back on and pulling on his jacket, he still wasn't looking back.


"Hey, listen. Why don't you drive yourself home? You were in hospital - your parents are probably wondering where you're at. I'll get Sarah to drop me at school or something, pick it up later." What he didn't say was that he wouldn't be able to give Lyall any answers if he happened to ask what the hell Dominic had been playing at. As with earlier, when he got to the end of his capacity to deal with what was going on, Dominic started walking off down the street. He had no real direction in mind, he just needed to put space between himself and Lyall, because although he knew he owed him a proper apology, right now was probably not the time.

 

[Melix]

Lyall stared. As quickly as that had happened, it was over. Dominic was laughing and joking. Had that been a joke? Lyall didn't know if he was feeling anger or relief, so he didn't respond. He just stood there a minute, thinking. "Yeah, it's okay." he said softly. He reached out to rub Dominic's shoulder when Dominic started talking again. Lyall pulled his hand back and still didn't say anything. He was starting to feel like everything he said only made it worse. He watched as Dominic walked away. I don't care about my parents, thought Lyall. They can suck an egg.





Dominic was disappearing down the street when Lyall caught up to him. He didn't say one single word to Dom, just wrapped a pair of arms around him and buried his face in Dominic's back. I want to stay with you, he thought. What is going on with me today?

 

[Elemental Son]

As he felt Lyall collide softly with his back, Dominic stopped. He stayed still, just letting the touch ground him. Unwillingly, he closed his eyes, fighting to maintain composure as waves of some existential pain passed through him. Each shuddered breath that he took, he forced to be silent - even though he knew Lyall would feel him shaking.


Long minutes passed, the afternoon light beginning to fade. Saying nothing, he turned in Lyall's grip, not removing the arms from around his sides. Instead - almost a direct opposite to how he had been earlier - Dominic very, very gently draped his arms over Lyall's shoulders, and rested his forehead against Lyall's own, and closed his eyes once again. It was vulnerable, intimate, and said what he could not - I'm sorry, and thank you, and why the hell does this hurt so much - all things which in time, they would have to deal with. For now though, this would do.

 

[Melix]

(I am going to be offline at the rest of the day. Today is my day off from work and I am GOING TO THE FAIR!)


Lyall was the one who was shaking now. His knees felt weak; he rested his head on Dominic. He felt sick again, a different kind of sick that felt worse. His head hurt. His heart hurt. It felt strained; it felt like he was breaking on the inside. He was glad Dominic was holding him up by the shoulders. "Dominic," he whispered, but he didn't want to say anything else. "Take me home." He untucked his head from Dominic and buried his face in Dom's shirt. He clung to his best friend like a monkey does to a tree. He wanted this. Not the feeling of his heart breaking, but this kind of physical and emotional intimacy. He'd never been like this with anyone, and he didn't want to be like this with anyone else, ever. That's when he grew sure. "Dominic, I like boys," he said, when what he meant was, Dominic, I like you.

 

[Melix]

Lyall was shaking because Dominic was shaking. His heartbeat had long since slowed down to a normal, comfortable place; here, with his face in the crook of Dominic's shoulder blade, he felt every emotion and its mirror. Lyall was scared; Lyall was safe. He was dazed, yet seeing everything with perfect clarity. He felt like falling and flying, and everything hurt and felt amazing. The day turned darker. Lyall was content to stay like this for as long as it took. Dominic turned in his arms and grabbed him by the shoulders; Lyall had to bite his tongue again to keep from making a startled sound. Then their heads were together, and Lyall grabbed him harder and moved forward. His heart was beating quickly again; he was sure that if he were still hooked up to that machine, the beeping of it would alarm a nurse. But no one else was around, it seemed, and if they were, it didn't matter.


He let out a series of short little half gasp, half nervous laughter type sounds when he realized what he wanted to do, and he lifted Dominic's hand from behind his shoulder, kissed it softly and put it back. Lyall leaned back in so his face was touching Dominic's again and kissed his cheeks, closer to the lips each time. He rubbed Dominic's back. It's alright, he thought, keeping the kisses and the touch to a rhythm. I'm here; you're here; and we're alright.

 

[Elemental Son]

(Gah! Sorry! I’d written a response to the other one, ran out of time to double check it, and ended up falling asleep at a friend’s place. I hope you enjoyed the fair!)


Dominic tensed up further at the first kiss, fighting the urge to fight – or run. Eyes still closed, he let Lyall continue, but did not relax. This was not what he was used to. It seemed to come intuitively to his friend, but for Dominic, physical contact with other guys was centered on competition or violence. Ironically, neither of those scared him – neither of those could hurt him; not the soul-deep way this could.


As far as people went, Dominic liked to keep things simple. He had his small group of friends, his soccer, his cars and boxing. They were the only things which affected his day to day life, or mattered. They kept him grounded – insulated from having to feel too much. They protected him from the risk that came with actually wanting something. To have this – whatever this was – intrude on that, was confronting.


But when Dominic opened his eyes, finally responding to the rhythm Lyall had set, he had decided that he did want something. Whatever the consequences, whatever pain might come of it, Dominic would tolerate it, in exchange for this.


Without hesitation, and having locked eyes for just a moment in warning, Dominic kissed him, and the world faded away.

 

[Melix]

(Oh. Okay! Thank you. I did have fun, until I made myself sick and left.)


Lyall had closed his eyes, eventually, trying to get used to this feeling. Dominic felt so good like this, in this embrace. Lyall had had girlfriends before, and yes, he'd wanted to kiss them, but it wasn't an I-love-you thing. Lyall had never said the words to anyone outside his family, other than to Dominic (in a best friend way), Alan (same), and Aiden (same). He'd always kissed his girlfriends to prove something, or because he felt obligated to. Yes, Lyall liked girls, but never in the way he liked Dominic right now.


Then Dominic kissed him. Lyall panicked. He lost control of his body completely for several seconds when he kissed Dominic back, before he realized where he was and who he was and who he had to be. He shoved Dominic off. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled, voice ringing tinnily in his ears. "Dominic, I'm a soccer forward. This can't happen. It can't." His hands were still up in the air as if to hold Dominic off. Slowly he put his hands down. "I'm sorry." He shoved his hands in his pants pockets, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. "I'm so sorry." Without realizing it, he had started stepping backwards until he was about ten feet away. Then he ran.


(I'm not sure who I feel worse for, Lyall, or Dominic.)

 

[Elemental Son]

(I hope you feel better soon. Also, re the RP - ouch xD )


For a few, precious seconds, everything was okay. Without knowing it had been what he was looking for, Dominic had - for those few seconds - tentative, complete safe harbour. He had managed to wander into one of those rare connections with another person which, simply by existing, could help heal the wounds that came of being human, and alone.


And then, the eye of the storm was over.


Lyall pushed him away, and the sensation accompanying it was an almost physical sense of being torn at. The more Lyall said, the worse it became. A sense of being utterly betrayed overcame him as Lyall gave his excuses - as if he were the only one with something to lose. As his best friend turned and ran, leaving Dominic in the street, it surged, bordering on resentment.


It threatened to overwhelm him - unconscious of the fact, his hands became fists, his eyes fell closed, and he fought to breathe. Then, everything stopped. The roar of emotion died to a dull heat in his chest. Dominic had always been good at pushing things aside, and this, he would never allow back to the forefront of his mind. Instead, he did the only thing he knew how to do.


Lyall still had his car keys, so Dominic walked the several, several blocks to the boxing ring which was a second home to him. The ache had not subsided, and although the sense of loss was no longer at the forefront of his conscious mind, it was almost intoxicating. His sense of judgement, or priority, was gone. The sun was nearly fully set, but there was no sense of recovery, no sense of calming down.


Arriving at the ring, he pushed his way inside. Without a word, he walked up to Marcus - a common rival of his at the ring, in his twenties and built like an assault tank - and threw a punch. It was not an uncommon way for rounds to start at the ring, which had lost its license more than once. What was uncommon was that Dominic didn't bother keeping his guard up.


It was one of those nights where all Dominic wanted to do, was get lost in a fight he could cope with losing.

 

[Melix]

Lyall was still in complete flight mode when he realized where he was. He was freezing cold and it was getting dark, and he had miles to go to get home. He was sure he'd given Dominic his keys (in reality, they'd fallen down and out along the way) and his car wasn't in the driveway, so was it safe to assume he wasn't here? For a brief moment, he considered ringing the doorbell and asking to come inside, but how could he walk into his best friend's house knowing...what? That Dom had done what he wanted? He closed his eyes against the wind.


A pair of keys jangled behind him. "Oh," said Sarah. "Lyall, where's Dominic? He was supposed to be here hours ago." Lyall choked up. He was going to be sick, he knew it. He was already crying and breathing all funny again, and god, Sarah wasn't even pretty or anything, and why hadn't he put the note in Dominic's locker on purpose, because that's what it all led up to, right? Lyall liked Sarah because she was close enough to Dominic without there being any risk involved. "Oh, my god, is he dead?"


"No," Lyall coughed out. "He's fine, I imagine." Sarah looked gravely concerned. "He's not hurt. He's not. Stop worrying." Sarah was making him feel bad.


"You're bleeding," she accused. "In your mouth. That's why you're choking and stuff."


"We got in a fight," said Lyall, and as soon as he said it, he could feel her looking him over for wounds. "It wasn't a fist fight. It was- I was stupid and I made a couple of mistakes and I confused him. Completely my fault." He froze when Sarah put a hand on his back and started rubbing his shoulders. "I made him think I liked him as more than a friend- aah," he mumbled, as she got rid of a knot in his back. "I teased him and I touched him and I kissed him. Aaaaahhhh. Has anyone ever told you you have- ow- magic hands?"


"Do you?" asked Sarah.


"No, I don't have magic hands," said Lyall, who was feeling better.


Sarah sighed. "No, idiot, I mean, do you like my brother as more than a friend?"


Lyall didn't say anything. Was it any of her business? Ooh. Even if he was going on a date with her, someday soon? Aah. That Lyall would way rather be kissing her brother than her? That he wanted to be held by Dominic as opposed to holding...um, Megan Fox? Whoa. "Who cares?" toppled out of his mouth. "I don't want Dominic. I just want sleep."


"Okay," said Sarah. "Come on. You can sleep in the spare bedroom and nobody needs to know."

 

[Elemental Son]

Ninety minutes after he’d first walked through the doors, Dominic was physically sore, but otherwise, blissfully numb. He had a split eyebrow, a smattering of bruises, and some swelling across his chest which threatened a fractured rib, but his breathing was fine, and he could walk. After Marcus had grown tired of fighting him – after twelve brutal rounds – he’d challenged another guy. Then another. Finally he’d gotten to the level of physical exhaustion where he couldn’t throw a punch anymore, which was exactly what he’d been hoping for. By the time he was cleaning himself up at the sink in the changerooms, he couldn’t feel a thing. Now all he wanted was to go home and sleep until he forgot.


With a ‘no hard feelings’ nod at Marcus and the other two – a common exchange at the ring – he made for the exit. It was going to be a long walk back, but in a sense that was good; the light exercise would help his muscles not to seize up, and he’d probably be half asleep by the time he got home.


What he hadn’t anticipated was the rain. It had been getting colder and colder, but about half an hour from his house, the clouds that had been rolling in finally broke, and it started pouring. Dominic started a light jog the rest of the way, grunting at the pain in his ribcage and ignoring it. Nevertheless, by the time he got to the driveway, he was soaked and freezing. He passed Sarah’s car and headed up the front steps. All he wanted to do was get warm and dry, and sleep.


Dominic opened his front door and stepped inside, keeping as quiet as he could. Last thing he wanted was to wake anyone up.

 

[Melix]

"Hey," said his sister, as he walked in the door. "What happened to you? You look like an elephant took an intense disliking to your face." She wasn't kidding. He looked awful. "I'm sleeping in your room, tonight, by the way," she informed him. "Dad let a neighborhood dog in and it peed on my bed, so I get your room. You'll have to sleep in the guest bedroom." Sarah, for all her niceness, was a pretty good liar. The mattress had been flipped, so she could sleep (and was going to sleep) in her bedroom, but...She was kind of wondering if she could help the boys patch things up. She was over the moon already over the cause of the fight. Lyall likes my brother! Lyall's gonna marry my brother! "Do you need help? You look like you need help walking or something."

 

[Elemental Son]

Dominic stared. "Thought you weren't coming home 'til the weekend? Whatever. I'm fine - I was boxing." At this point in time, he was too tired to even argue about where he was sleeping. "Okay. Going to get something dry first." He indicated his clothing, which despite the run back, was soaked. Stepping into his room briefly, Dominic dried off, and changed into sweatpants and a shirt, grimacing at the strain it put on his chest. 'S going to sting like hell in the morning. Warm and dry, he threw the other stuff into a laundry basket, and wandered back out into the hallway between his room, the front door, and the spare room.


"'Night Sar."


With that, he opened the door to the spare room - weird, this door's never closed - and headed to bed. At least, until he saw there was someone already in it.


"...what the hell?"

 

[Melix]

(Good night!)

 

[Melix]

"Really, Sare?" mumbled a half-asleep Lyall, turning over to face the girl only partially blocking the invading light. "I just fell asleep. Thanks, by the way." He was just closing his eyes when he realized that no matter how little his eyes adjusted, they could not disguise the larger, manlier frame in the doorway. This wasn't Sarah. "Dominic?" he asked, realizing a little too late what was happening. Sarah tricked me. "What are you doing here?" Now his knees were tucked into his chest. He hadn't even thought of talking to Dominic again yet, but if he had, he would have preferred to wear something that covered him more than Sarah's giant T-Shirt and Dominic's dad's even more giant Giants themed boxers. Thank goodness for blankets.

 

[Elemental Son]

As soon as he heard that voice, Dominic knew who it was, and he was not happy about it. He had tried to calm himself down, even going so far as to risk serious harm with the fights he'd picked at the ring. While generally he was good at pushing through things that troubled him, today had been more than troubling. For the first time in living memory, he was really, really angry at Lyall, and nothing he could do on his own would fix that. He would probably cool off with time, but now it seemed that time was not something he had. Within moments, he was as enraged as he had been walking into the ring nearly two hours prior.


Lyall curled up under the blankets, and asked him a question. At long last, Dominic snapped. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it was bad.


"What am I doing here? What the fuck are YOU doing here? Get the fuck out of my house!"

 

[Melix]

"Sarah said I could stay the night!" Lyall protested. He was sitting up now. "It's raining and I just got out of the hospital. My house is like six miles away. Do you really want me to walk that far right now?" No, now that his own had adjusted, Lyall could see it in Dom's eyes. Dominic really wanted him gone. "Fine. Move." He got up and shoved past Dominic, grabbing his clothes from a pile by the door and stepping out. He didn't say goodbye to Sarah, but he paused at the door and shouted down the hallway, loud enough hopefully for his parents to hear, "I wish I lost my first gay kiss to someone else! Anyone else!" Then he slammed the door and stomped outside into the pouring rain, still wearing nothing but the T-shirt and boxer shorts he'd borrowed from Dominic's family. It was three blocks in the opposite direction that Lyall wished out loud he'd just sucked it up and said, 'I'm sorry, man. I don't know how to deal with liking you as more than a friend, but I do.'