My Lion. || BXB

chapter twelve.

punches were thrown, blood was spilt. i hated watching this. although it did surprise me how it seemed mickey was winning...

of course, it was known the two boys often traded who won, but since the last fight lionel so clearly won i just assumed that was the normal by now. but no, mickey was getting in plenty good kicks and punches whereas lionel spent a lot of his time groaning and flinching back. i watched in horror, the scene was almost like a car wreck. you know you should look away but something is making you not be able to do so.

but then, i heard the words that shocked me the most, "okay... you.. win." said lionel, and mickey couldn't help but scream in victory. he held his fist up high, pride practically dripping off him. but that's not who i was looking at, my eyes were fixated on the broken boy who looked near to dead.

he was bleeding all over, his eyes were almost shut and were covered by big purple circles. he had a large bruise on his neck, that must've been where mickey did a strong karate kick. fuck, this was horrible to see.

mickey stalked over to us lot, highfiving us all it turns and when he came to me i had no choice but to drag my eyes away from lionel to offer mickey a big plastered-on smile. i high-fived him quickly, adamant that i didn't want lionel to see it.

"EVERYONE, PARTY AT MY HOUSE! YOU'RE ALL INVITED!" mickey shouted over all the commotion, and then turned to lionel who was shooting daggers at his competitor with his dark eyes. "even you, lion." and with that, mickey disappeared into the crowd with our group tagging behind him.

i stayed put momentarily, staring at the beaten boy infront of me. shamelessly, lionel stared back at me while wiping the blood off his nose with his thumb. the thumb that had previously glided across my jaw when he kissed me so passionately.

"hunt." freddie grabbed onto my hand, "come on." he said, his eyes flickering between lionel and i. shit. i nodded to him, following him into the crowd without looking back at lionel. i feared if i saw him looking like that again, i may just cave in and do what i've wanted to do for the past week of my life.

freddie was still holding onto my hand after we left the crowd and were following losely behind our group of friends. "what was that about?" he asked, and i felt a sweat droplet pour down my forehead onto my nose. i took my hand back from him, wiping my face anxiously.
"what was what..?" i mumbled, really not wanting to have this conversation right now.
"you and lion, ay?" freddie scoffed, but i knew he wasn't angry with me, instead he seemed kinds sad.

my eyes fluttered, trying to sent the tears back down. i wasn't going to cry, i wouldn't cry. not over this. "there's nothing going on." i said adamantly, but freddie just chuckled at my flustered state.
"hunter i'm not dumb." he said matter-of-factly. "the way you scramble for a reason to exit a room everytime he enters is a big giveaway, but theres other things. the way you blush every time he is mentioned or the way you start fidgeting when he is nearby. so tell me, what's going on there?" and i knew i had been caught.

i glanced behind us to see multiple big groups of people walking in our direction, obviously on their way to mickey's house for the party. i dragged freddie by the shoulder, pulling him aside hesitantly.

"you can't tell anyone." i stated boldly. he nodded wordlessly, waiting for me to continue. a sigh escaped from my mouth.
"we've... kissed." and suddenly, i felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. keeping a secret so big for so long really was taking a toll on me, and i couldn't be more thankful i had finally told someone.

"okay, that's fine." freddie said calmly, stroking a hand up and down my arm slowly. "so when i first told you i was gay, this is why you didn't mind? because you are too?"
"no! no no no, i didn't even— i don't—" i stopped, holding my face in my hands as i bent down. the tears were coming, i could feel it.
"hunter, please breathe." freddie said encouragingly to me.
"i—..." what was i supposed to say? i'm not gay, i'm sure i'm not! but fuck, there's something about lionel that i can't seem to get enough of and it pains me.

and only now did i realise love wasn't just butterflies and sweet kisses. it was pain, it was sleepless nights and it was hard. it was so fucking hard.