Shoot Your Shot

Chapter 17

The door closed shortly after the shot rang and then it was silent. Silent all except for the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. He put the gun down and sank back into the chair, since he'd stood to take the shot, but it wasn't low enough for how he felt. Sliding off the chair, he sank to the floor and slipped under the desk, leaning his back against the thick wooden panel that covered the front. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't remember how to. Pulling his knees to his chest, he set his forehead on his legs and tried to get himself to calm down, to think about anything else. It was still so clear though; the look on his lover's face. A mix with equal parts sorrow and self loathing, but mostly apology. Clamping his eyes shut, he forced a breathe and it felt like fire in his lungs. The door to the office opened without a knock, and he wanted to be mad, but he just couldn't muster the emotion. He heard two sets of footsteps and the door closed before they came around the desk. The chair was pushed aside and he knew who it was before they lowered themselves to the ground. They'd only been with him for forever, well, since he was fifteen. Luca laid down on the ground and watched him, but Stefano reached a hand under and motioned for him to come closer. He hesitated, but eventually broke and crawled out to the other man.

The Huntsman wrapped his arms around him and the first tear fell without warning. "You really loved him, huh?" And that was all it took to make him feel weak. Bursting into tears, he buried his face in the larger man's chest. The Huntsman pulled him out from under the desk, but only to lean his back against the wall behind him. "You know, someone once told me that the pain is how you know it was real." Trying to slow his breathing down he shook his head.

"What moron told you that?" The man scoffed and looked down at him.

"You did." Luca leaned against the wall beside them and sighed.

"It coulda been worse." Arackniss glared at the man. "You could have not known for years and married him, only to find out later." The man shrugged and he wanted to laugh, he really did, but he just didn't have that in him either.

"It's gonna be okay, though. You're stronger than this. He wasn't worth it anyways." Those words stuck with him, not because he felt they were true, but because he knew they weren't.

"What did he even do?" Luca pulled himself up and looked at the contract on his desk, reading through it quickly. "Wait, he only came here to expose you?!"

"No. He only came here to find out who the real Overlord is. Whatever Lucifer did with the information wasn't his concern, it wasn't part of his job." No, instead he'd come in and swept Arackniss off his feet, and then used him for information. He had to wonder if any of it had been real; the long talks, the kisses, the "I love yous", any of it. He didn't feel like doing anything anymore. All he felt like doing was going home and sleeping until there was nothing left; of Hell, or of him, he couldn't tell which.

Three days had gone by, and the focus Arackniss had for even the simple things was, without a doubt, extinct. He'd taken two days off after it had happened and had spent most of the time walking around his apartment idly, crying from time to time, screaming others, and asking himself why it had happened in the first place. How he could be so blind as to not see he was being used. And now that he was back, he was making an attempt, and it wasn't a very good one. He'd stopped crying now, his eyes hurt too much to let himself do it anymore, and now all that was left was rage.

Staring down at the document on his desk, he tried to muster up the drive to read the seeming wall of text that was the request order for one of Valentino's parties. Whenever Vox and Val held a shindig, the requests were always ridiculous and extensive. Sure, they paid top dollar for everything and they always bought in excess, but there had to be a better way to ask for this than to send him a mile long, detailed list and explanation of what he needed. "I'm gonna redo the request forms. Just for Val. Cause this is stupid." He heard the knock on the door and looked up, but it was only one knock and whoever it was waited about half a millisecond before pushing the door open. Rolling his eyes, he cleared his throat, ready to tell whoever it was to walk back outside and try again, like a child. He stopped when the one who stepped in and closed the door behind him was one of the last people he wanted to see right now.