Setting Fire to the Stars (mxm)

Chapter 8: Worth

(**Note: contains blood, profanity, and physical violence. Reader discretion advised.**)

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Peter
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I was standing in a dark space, surrounded by water and low rolls of thunder. The cold air chilled me to my bones as raindrops fell against my cheeks.

Lauren was crying.

He stood there, drenched in the rain with his face in his hands. Water pooled at his feet, the reflection of the night sky giving the impression that he stood atop a giant mirror. Deep thunder rolled around me, the fresh smell of rainfall lingering in my nose as I stared at him. I could hear his quiet sobs through the cascading rain.

Why was he crying?

Attempting to move towards him, I found that my legs appeared to be rooted to the watery surface. My brows knit together in confusion. Several feet away, Lauren slowly sunk to his knees, his body outlined through his wet clothes. A hollow sensation pulsed deep within my chest, coiling down my stomach like an ancient beast waking from a long slumber.

Who was it that had made him cry like that?

"Lauren," I murmured, trying not to spook him. "Hey, are you okay?"

He froze, dropping his hands as he lifted his eyes to look up at me. I choked upon seeing the utterly heartbroken look on his face. Glistening tears streamed down his soft cheeks, his sorrowful gray eyes shining like radiant moonbeams. His mousy brown hair was plastered against his forehead and slender neck, drops of rain clinging to his body.

"Why, Peter?" he sniffled, taking a step towards me. He looked so frail like he would break apart at any moment. "Why did you leave me? I needed you."

That hollow ache in my chest throbbed and I tried to recall what had happened. The last thing I could remember was entering a building in the city, followed by a jumble of complicated memories.

From seemingly everywhere and nowhere, a deep chuckle echoed through the space around me. The laughter was uncomfortably warped, penetrating my ears like an invader to my own mind. My eyes sought out where the nefarious laughter was originating from.

"So, you're the insignificant bug invading his dreams."

Seeming to have appeared out of thin air, a man suddenly stood behind Lauren. Clothed in a suit as black as night, the stranger's words dripped with malice, his otherworldly violet eyes watching me like a viper preparing to strike. He had his long arm wrapped around Lauren, fingers as pale as death gripping his face. A sickeningly smirk formed on his lips.

"You are a fool to think you can have what is mine," he mused, his ominous words making my skin crawl.. "But now, thanks to you, I have found him at last."

Something dark twisted viciously within my gut at seeing this man place his hands possessively on Lauren. I didn't stop to think why it made me so angry. It didn't matter. Right now, all I knew was that Lauren needed me.

"Get away from him!" I shouted, fighting to move even as my feet remained stuck to the floor. Striking my leg, I snarled at my body's inability to cooperate.