Drugs, Sex, and Money (boyxboy)

59

Dominic was brought to the hospital and Mack found his truck pushed onto the side of the road.

Michael still sat inside.

"Did you do this?" Mack asked him.
"Yea, and some guy in a pickup truck helped me then left."
"Oh..."
"Is Dom okay?!"
"Yea, he's at the hospital now."
"And you didn't stay with him?" Michael asked in confusion.
"Well, I'd left you here. And I'm sure he wouldn't want me there anyway."
"Why wouldn't he?"
Mack just got in the truck and didn't answer that question. "Put your house address into that." he instructed with a point to his GPS.
Michael did as told.

Mack started his truck and drove off.

"Are you guys fighting?" Michael asked and looked at Mack.
"It's not really a fight."
"What is it?"
Mack shrugged. "Separation. Not like we were ever together anyway."

Michael faced forward again.

"That fucking IDIOT!" Michael shouted.
"Doesn't he tell you not to curse."
"Screw him. He makes me curse with the stupid shit he does."

Mack didn't argue. He just kept driving.

"Please don't leave him." Michael spoke up.
Mack didn't respond.
"I know he's cold and...and mean...but I'm all he's got. Me and those pills, we're all he's got. I want him to have something good, man. You know? He's never happy. You're-...When you came around, it was the first time I've ever seen him get excited to go somewhere. He does that...that cartoon shit when he sees you. You know the thing?"
Mack looked at him.
"The thing when their eyes do the shimmering thing when they see something they like. Dom's never had a sparkle in his eye. Ever. He don't ever want anything. He don't ever think he deserves anything. Good can be handed to him on a plate and he'll push it away because he thinks he's some shit person that don't deserve it but he does. He does deserve it! He does so much for me and he don't get nothin'! I can't ever give him nothin'! But this!"
Mack stared at the road.
"I can give him you! You gotta understand something, my brother hasn't had anything good in years, man. Nothing! I know you're probably tired but can you imagine how tired he is?! It sounds selfish but he doesn't know! Give him one more chance, please! Please?! I'll even talk to him! I'll tell him to stop being a prick!"

Mack parked his truck on the side of the street and looked at Michael.

His eyes were full of tears and he was sniffing and wiping his face with his hands.

"Be safe. Don't get into any trouble." Mack stated.
Michael looked down at his lap and wiped his nose with one more sniff before taking the hint and getting out of the truck.

Mack watched Michael walk off towards the front door, still wiping his eyes, with his head hanging. He pulled off.

He had somewhere to be now.
It took him a while to arrive after driving out of the way to bring Michael to his parents' place.

"Hi, can I help you?" asked the receptionist.
"I'm v-visiting someo-one." Mack answered.
"Okay, who?" She prepped her fingers to begin typing.
"D-Dominic Miller."
"Relation?"
He was going to say friend but after a certain time, only close family is allowed into the rooms.
"H-Husband."
"Okay. Please sign your name and the time you arrived on this sheet of paper. He should be in room 411."
"Th-Thank you." Mack replied as he took the pen.
"Not a problem."

He filled out the work he was told to and went on his way.

He found the room and took a deep breath. He was preparing himself to get cursed out again when Dominic notices him.

He opened the door quietly and shut it behind himself then walked towards the bed.

Dominic was laying there with his head turned to the side as he was staring out of his large window.

"I told you I'm not hungry." he spoke up.
"Well, that's good...I didn't really bring anything to eat anyway..." Mack responded.

Dominic turned quickly to look at him and sat up.

"I don't...know how you feel about me being here. But if you want me to leave...I will. I just...figured you might want company." Mack explained.
"Um...Yea...yea. Sit." Dominic insisted.
Mack took the seat next to his bed.

"I..." the two spoke at the same time.

"You can go..." they said together again.

"No, it's-..." they continued interrupting each other with the same phrases.

Mack stayed quiet. "Never mind..."

"Uh...You brought me here. Didn't you?" Dominic asked.
Mack nodded. "Yea..."
"How did you...like how did you find me? Well, not how did you find me, you know where I live, but I guess how did you...like...how-..." He was ready to throw himself out of the fourth story window. Stuttering was supposed to be Mack's thing but he was so nervous and embarrassed at the moment.
"Michael ran all the way to my place after he saw you on the floor unconscious."
"Fuck..." Dominic sighed and laid back down. "He shouldn't have seen that."
"But he did. Showed up at my doorstep with tears and a snotty nose because he thought his brother was dead."

Dominic stared at the ceiling and you couldn't see it on his face but on the inside his heart had shattered.

"If you're not gonna quit because you want to, at least quit because he needs you to. You're kind of all he's got. It's a bit selfish to toy with your life like that when a kid depends on you."
"Yea..." Dominic agreed.
"What happened?" Mack asked.
"What?" Dominic looked at him.
"You were clean for like a little over a week. What happened? Why'd you fumble?"

Dominic took a deep breath and looked back at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." he began.
"It's fine."
"No. It isn't. Don't tell me it's fine because I know you're lying. Be honest with me."
"Fine. What you said was really fucked up and I honestly don't think I deserved it."
Dominic sighed. "You're right. You didn't."
"I've done nothing to you but try to be there when you needed me and maybe hold your hand from time to time. That's all. And you freaked out on me. Why?"
"Because I was sick of you trying to hurt yourself."
"Hurt myself? Hurt myself how?"
"Mack, you know just as well as I do that I'm fucked up." He turned and looked at him. "You know you can do better. I'm a paranoid drug addict and you want to kiss me like I'm heaven sent. You're just hurting yourself."

"Okay? That's for me to worry about. Not you." Mack argued.

Dominic looked away again.

"You're not my mother. I don't need you to tell me who you think is good enough for me. I like who I like and I want who I want and it was you. Whatever came after that I would deal with on my own. If it didn't work out then I'd handle that too, but you wouldn't even let me try. You made me feel like I was the bad guy just because I wanted to be with you. Just because you can't love you doesn't mean that I can't. You figure it out on your own time and I'll figure it out on mine but don't dictate my emotions."

He took a deep breath after getting it all out. It felt nice.

"I'm sorry." Dominic replied.
"Yea..."