My friend, Demise

Chapter 24

After Caine took care of Demise and laid him down on the couch, he turned his attention to me. "Your hurt too, come sit and don't act like a stranger."

"I am a stranger."

"If I invite you into my home, surely you're not. Now sit." His tone was always demanding from what I could tell, sitting on the opposite couch and watching as he bent down in front of me and did his best to patch up my bottom lip. "How did you get hurt here?"

"I got hit during a fight at school."

"And your eye?"

"Same thing."

"What about your wrists?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I saw them earlier." He rolled up my sleeves. "Oh. Nevermind, I suppose it was Demise's doing."

I quickly rolled my sleeve back down. "You'd think wearing a sweater would hide it better."

"Vitamin C helps."

"How do you know so much about this stuff?"

"Demise gets hurt often. Since his father was in prison, I had to take care of him."

"How long have you known each other?"

"A long time." He sat beside me and motioned for the dog to come to him. The animal trotted over and laid down on his feet. "I thought he was annoying at first."

"What changed?"

"I found out who he really was. Which isn't a high school student with bad grades and a big mouth."

"And who is he really?"

"His father." He sighed and closed the box of medical supplies and loosened his tie, leaning back against the couch. "Not that it's entirely a bad thing."

"You two seem really comfortable with each other."

"Does that scare you?"

"Thanks for taking care of me." Demise made both of us flinch when he appeared behind us, a bottle of wine in his hand and his words slightly slurred. "You two are the best."

"I look away for ten minutes and you're off drinking?!"

"You should honestly be used to it by now, he disappears every ten seconds even in plain sight." Caine snatched the bottle from Demise and began to drink it on his own.

I stood up and grabbed my boyfriend's wrist, dragging him into the kitchen and lowering my voice. "Demise, he hates me."

"Nah not just you, he also hates cats and literally everyone who speaks to him."

"I think he hates me specifically..."

"You know what my problem is, Azriel?" He placed a hand on my shoulder and slumped down. "I spend too much time dealing with problems that aren't my own."

"What?"

"See, I-I look around at all of these lonely people beside me and I think maybe if I'm smart enough or funny enough, they'll accept me into their lives but they don't. I do everything I can to get attention but I can see how happy people are when I'm not around!"

"Hey, that's not true."

"Demise." Caine walked into the kitchen and wrapped an arm around him, a tight hand on his shoulder. "You're drunk, why don't you come sit down?"

"You guys totally suck..." he muttered, walking off. I headed after him but Caine placed a hand on my chest with a frown.

"Azriel, stop going after him like some kind of puppy."

"What's your problem? Let go of me."

"I don't think you'll like who he really is." He dragged his hand down my chest before pulling it back to his side. "So you should go."

"What?"

"Demise is so apathetic that he forces himself to care about others as a diversion. He's manipulative and cruel."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I'm sure you've witnessed it." He eyed my bruised wrists with a frown. "But he works better alone. Not that you being with him makes much of a difference."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not that special, why would you believe he thinks any different?" It took exactly three seconds before he was on the floor and my fist was starting to bruise. I placed a foot on his chest as he wiped the blood from his nose and smiled. "Did I hit a nerve?"

Ringing filled my ears, his words loudly boiling over every other sound in the room. This was more frustrating than any clock or tapping pen. "I'm leaving."

"I'll call you a cab."

I left Demise with him, heading to the school and easily breaking into the door they always left unlocked. Not because they were dumb, because it was broken.

Our school has an indoor pool that we use for PE. That's what I came for.

I walked into the gym and pulled my shirt off, jumping in the water and letting myself sink to the bottom. I laid down as best as I could, staring up at the edge of the water and clawing at my chest a bit once I'd been down for too long.

Yeah, this isn't working.

I swam back to the top, bursting out of the water headfirst with a loud gasp. Panting softly, I pushed my hair back and wiped the water from my face.

The water reflected smeared beams of light onto the walls, as well as my face. Amidst looking at them, I got bored and swam back down to the bottom.

I know the kind of person Demise is and he wouldn't think like that about me. But still, I swam back to the top again so I wouldn't drown all on my own, that stung worse than I thought it would.

"Damn, you're a good swimmer."

I turned to the doorway, seeing Demise standing there with his face bright red. "Why are you here?"

"Caine told me what happened, sent me to apologize for him."

"I don't want an apology from that asshole."

"Want anything else then?" He stepped over to the edge of the pool and pulled off the jacket of his suit, tossing it toward my own clothes before unbuttoning his shirt.

"Yeah, to drown."

"I can make that happen." He pulled off his tie and slid the shirt from his shoulders, jumping into the pool. I saw his feet touch the bottom before he pushed himself back up and grabbed my waist. "Hah...this is kind of scary."

"Can you swim?"

"Not great."

"Then hold onto the edge."

"I'd rather hold onto you."