STUCK | MxMxM

Chapter 4

Stuck Chapter 4

Three weeks went by smoothly. Sure, Mr. Walton had lost his nerves on the phone or in meetings a few times but he hadn't lashed out at William. Yet. However, he was always anticipating it with how easily the man was triggered most of the time. Each time Mr. Walton raised his voice, even if it was behind the closed doors of their office, Will's heartbeat would pick up with stress. He just... couldn't handle tension. It got to the point he actually considered going back on his anxiety pills but he stopped himself knowing they would have all kinds of side-effects on him.

On the other hand, he had Mr. Carpenter to deal with. That guy was... he was complicated. Where Mr. Walton was so easy to read — like how it was obvious he was about to blow up or how transparent his change of attitude was around different people — Mr. Carpenter masked everything perfectly well. And the scariest thing was, when he got angry, he never yelled. The chill, passive aggressive kind of anger was always the worst to handle.

But, thankfully he was a pro in his job and hadn't given them any reason to be at the receiving end of their, let's say, bad behaviour.

It was a Monday, the start of a new week and he didn't feel rested at all because they had been working overtime all weekend as well. He got lonely at home in the weekends and they paid really well for overtime so he didn't have any complaints anyway.

But perhaps he should've slept a little more before coming to the office today like his boss had suggested. Because on that Monday, things escalated before he had the time to comprehend it.

William looked at the clock, making sure he wasn't behind on his schedule, when he got called inside the office. Knocking and going in, Mr. Carpenter asked for a specific file and his eyes were so blurry with sleepiness that he didn't see the pile of heavy books on the floor. He walked right into them like an idiot, tripping over them. He lost his balance and, on his way to hit the floor and trying to save his face from getting injured, his hand reached for the side of the coffee table. Next thing he knew, something shattered over the marble floors with a sharp sound and his hand started hurting but... what happened after terrified him so much he forgot about the pain.

Will didn't know what it meant at first, the barely audible 'shit' Mr. Carpenter uttered before jumping up from his seat but remaining there. His eyes were glued to the other side of the room with so much worry that it had Will following his gaze. Mr. Walton was... he was frozen on his chair, eyes wide and body trembling badly as he stared at nothing in particular. It only took a couple of seconds but it felt way longer before the muscular man gasped, both hands coming up to cover his ears as the trembling only got worse. Mr. Carpenter started walking to him then and it was ever so careful. As if the intimidating-looking husband of his was the most fragile person on the whole planet, which just made no sense.

Mr. Walton started hyperventilating when he saw the taller approaching him. Cowering into himself, he lost his seating and fell to the floor. Will couldn't see him behind the giant desk for a few seconds before he saw the man crawling back into the corner, refusing to look at his husband. If he was being honest, more than he was confused, Will felt the need to go to him, to protect him and get him out of whatever trance he was trapped in at that moment. He found himself doubting Mr. Carpenter. Was he violent? Was that why Mr. Walton was more terrified the closer he got? And... was this reaction the reason for the no-loud-sounds policy?

His own breath hitched when a weak sob left the bulky man's lips as he curled into himself more when the taller crouched down in front of him. It hurt seeing such a strong-looking man in so much agony.
Mr. Carpenter didn't touch him but he tried to get into his eyesight, trying to make him understand it was him and not whatever or whoever was the cause of this attack.

"Theo, baby, it's me." The man whispered. "It's Joe. I'm right here with you. You're safe. He's not here. You're safe."

You're safe

You're safe

You're safe

It was repeated over and over again but the words weren't reaching the man's ears through the pain he was reliving.

"Leave." The green eyes were frightening as they landed on him, demanding him to get the fuck out of there.

When he failed to get his mind together, and to do as he was told, Mr. Carpenter raised his voice for the first time.
"I said LEAVE."

He was on his feet in a second, running out of there in another and going right to the bathroom to be as far away from that room as possible.
Only when he was alone did it register to him. The fact that he was shaking like a leaf, and how the back of his hand was torn by a shard, bleeding like crazy.
The blood turned his stomach a bit but he tried to keep it in with a deep breath. He had to bite on his lip to stop any whimpers or winces from coming out when he pulled the shard out. The pain was too fucking much and with all that blood gushing out, he wondered if he needed any stitches. Well, he couldn't go to the hospital right now even if he did so he tried to stop the bleeding with pressing many tissues against the open wound. However, it just didn't want to stop and he was actually starting to see dark spots at the corners of his eyes. More so because of the adrenalin than the blood-loss.

His heart had just calmed down a bit when the bathroom door opened and he saw the reflection of a disheveled Mr. Walton in the mirror. The man looked so out of it and his eyes couldn't really focus but he was trying so hard to look at him. The tears pooling in the wide eyes had the honey brown colour of them sparkling and Will found out he absolutely hated seeing the man like this. He preferred the angry version over this anytime.

Those eyes kept on scanning him, as if looking for something. Will opened his mouth to start apologising but before he could say a word, Mr. Walton started coming toward him. He backed off almost instantly, scared he was going to get punched or worse. But what happened wasn't anything he had anticipated. The hands that were still shaking now reached for his, pushing the intact one to the side and carefully taking the tissues that were stuck against the wound off it. Mr. Walton grimaced when he saw it, those eyes looking up at his face right after.
Mr. Carpenter had apparently come inside as well because Will suddenly saw him there.

The tattooed man looked at his husband, out of breath and on the verge of passing out with how heavy his eyelids were and how lax his body was becoming.
"Hospital." was all he managed to whisper before catching himself over the sink when his knees bucked under him.

"Alright. I'll take you home and then take him to the hospital." Mr. Carpenter wasn't looking at Will at all. He had really screwed up... He felt like crying...

"No." The other shook his head, swallowing hard. "I'm fine. Let's— go to the hospital first."

"I can go by myself." Will blurted out before he realized. "I-I'm so sorry." He felt like he had to say it when the two pairs of eyes landed on him in an instant. "I-I didn't see—"

"Let's go." Mr. Walton didn't pay him, his apology, or his actual breakdown any attention as he started to walk out.

Mr. Carpenter's glared at him with such venomous eyes for a second before nodding his head as a command for Will to follow them before running to his husband and helping him in his steps.

To say William was drowned with all kinds of awful feelings was an understatement. Guilt, fear, shame, all of it at once, and it was too much. With a wobbly lower lip, he had no option but to do as his bosses had told him. It was the only thing he could do after the stunt he had pulled. Even though getting taken to the hospital by them made him feel like such a fucking burden.