Roses Wilt, Bites Scar [boyxboy]

Chapter II

~Friday 6th May 2011~

Arlo had always enjoyed watching the sunset. It was calming to him. The oranges and golds that became violets and blues, it was beautiful to watch. Even more so from the window ledge in his apartment, four floors up. He got a better view from there than on the ground, and it was just a nice, cool spot to curl up in whilst he prepared for his fight.

Arlo had always been a good fighter, he won the majority of the matches he had, hence why people tended to bet on him so much. He always made money, and the injuries never bothered him. He had spent his childhood being hit around by other children because he was scrawny, he had learnt how to take a punch early on.

Arlo rested his head back on the wall behind him, turning up the volume of the music blasting through his headphones when he checked the time. The couple in the apartment next to his own fucked at precisely eight-thirty every damn night. Arlo didn't need to hear them, not when he had other things on his mind, not when he needed to be in a separate mindset.

Arlo glanced to his right when he sensed movement, seeing two buff-looking men standing in the living room. Despite his obvious hearing impairment, one of the men still spoke, unable to be discerned through the music practically deafening Arlo. The boy removed his headphones, turning off his music, but the man didn't repeat what he had said.

Instead, the three just stared at one another, giving Arlo chance to scrutinize their appearances. They looked similar, in identical dark suits and solemn expressions, but with different facial features. The one who had spoken had softer features, with piercing green eyes and a little stubble dotted over his tanned skin. The other was paler, with sharper features that almost made him look gaunt, and much lighter-toned hazel eyes.

Arlo assumed he was supposed to be fearful, likely beg, scream, maybe even make some sort of offensive attack. Yet, he didn't move. He merely continued to hold the eye contact with the taller man, the one who had spoken, waiting for him to repeat whatever he had said when Arlo was still unable to hear. In the end, he got bored of the silence, shattering it.

"Y'know, it's rude to just walk into someone's house. And I'm pretty sure my door was locked, so whoever you work for can pay for that," Arlo kept his voice level, not wanting his tone to sound too catty. He knew when to toe the line, and had a feeling there wasn't much wiggle room with the two men.

"Boss wants to speak with you," Russians, great, "you have debts to pay," Arlo scoffed, rolling his eyes without thinking, lucky he wasn't shot or something a thousand times worse. He had dealt with a few Russians in his past, they tended to value respect very highly, he most definitely had to tread carefully if he wanted to walk away with all of his fingers.

"You've got the wrong guy, I don't have any debts," Arlo pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs, peering out the window for a moment. He wanted to show he wasn't scared, it was a natural instinct for him, but he couldn't prevent the shiver from running down his spine at the thought of the two men just standing staring at him.

"You're Arlo Keller?" Arlo sighed quietly, realising whatever the men were there for wasn't some mistake. The only question was whether it was his own mess, or Viola's.

"When the time suits me, yeah. But I don't have debts, I don't-" Arlo stopped abruptly when realisation hit him like a freight train, a quiet growl drifting over his lips, "that fucker," he muttered under his breath, clenching his fists, needing to remain calm rather than lash and get himself into a worse situation, "I'm not with Trent anymore, whatever that bag of cocks signed me up for went void when he left me," Arlo wasn't able to suppress the venom in his tone, the mere thought of that bastard flaring up every ounce of anger he thought he had beaten out.