Lay Me Down (MxM)

22. Cornered

Hi lovely humans!

I hope you had a good weekend, and I'm pleased to drop the next chapter of LMD. It's a little different than usual as we're getting to hear more from Ian again! Please drop all your thoughts, feelings, and theories on Ian and what's going on between the pair below! I look forward to hearing how this chapter made you feel, and am starting work on the next chapter!

See you guys in the next update! As always, thank you for reading and your ongoing support.

-Quill

Ian

"Did you let Lucas know we're here?" Mom asked, letting out a large yawn.

"Yeah..." I said, stifling a yawn myself as I watched for the little shit to appear. My nerves ate me up, and I was worried he might bail out at the last moment; come up with some excuse as to why he didn't need a ride or something.

She picked up her travel mug and took a big, lazy swig of coffee. "Did he say how long his hand will be out of commission?"

I shrugged. "Dunno, asshole didn't tell me much."

Mom shot me a look through the rearview mirror. "What did I tell you earlier about cussing?"

I smirked, spat out a rushed "sorry", and then squirmed around to avoid her quick hand. Mom was like lightning when it came to smacking me for shitty behavior, and sure enough there came her petite, but deadly accurate hand tagging my knee with expert precision.

"Help, I'm being attacked! Help, police!" I started to yell, and she only shook her head.

"You're lucky I love you, Bug." She complained, but I could hear the resigned laughter in her voice.

I shot her a cheeky grin. "... love you too, momma."

I really did love my mom and was a proud, self-described mama's boy. I didn't really give a shit who knew it, and I felt lucky, cause not everyone's parents were probably as cool as mine were. Sure, they could be a bit straight-laced when it came to some topics like grades, girls, cursing and booze, but they were supportive, and even when we disagreed or I was in trouble, my parents still had my back. They loved me no matter what, and it just made me feel safe in a way... well, secure. Sorta like I had solid ground to land on no matter what shook me in life.

I heard her exhale loudly, tapping the steering while turning to study me. "Go on, out with it. Tell me what's eating at you."

I shook my head and sunk into the seat. "Nothing..."

She rolled her eyes. "Liar. Now, go on and tell me why you're out here calling your best friend an 'asshole', Ian."

"Dunno... I'm just like, super annoyed with him, I guess." I mumbled, bouncing my leg as the clock ticked by. "Something's up with him and he's acting weird."

It was ten minutes past and Luca was still nowhere to be seen.

"That's vague, but okay..." she said, clearly waiting on me to elaborate.

I wanted to tell her everything on my mind, but to be honest, I was having a hard time unpacking it myself. Like, I knew the gist of my concerns and reasons for being upset, but at the same time there was just something else there I couldn't figure out. Ever since he mentioned that fake mystery girl the other night, there was this... "thing" bothering me. I couldn't place what that "thing" was, or what it meant, yet it persisted, and that shit pissed me off. It wasn't that I was a dense dude, I was actually pretty damn smart, and I got good grades, but I wasn't used to complex, hard-to-name feelings that relentlessly ate at me.

Nah, that was Luca's thing. He was always the more sensitive one between the two of us.

It wasn't enough to have all this weird shit in my head about my best friend, but then add on my weird goopy feelings about Skye? I felt like I was drowning.

I continued to bounce my leg, chewing on my lip as I thought, hoping she'd maybe drop it at this point. Meanwhile, my eyes kept darting to the house, hoping for Luca to appear.

Mom tapped at the steering wheel more and continued study me through the mirror. "Fine, mister-unusually-tight-lipped, let me rephrase my question. Are you boys fighting?"

I had sat in the back because I planned to corner Lucas there. I made a point of even putting my backpack and shit in the front seat to sort of block the spot so mom would direct him to sit with me. Now, I kinda regretted sitting here, and she kept cornering me with her eyes through the rearview mirror.

I groaned. "Not fighting... well, I don't know. It's just that it feels like he's pushing me away outta nowhere. He came to school yesterday lookin' like he'd been in a fight. I caught him havin' a panic attack in the bathroom, puking in the sink, crying, I've never seen him like that before. Apparently, it was cause of some bullshit Jordan did to embarrass him. I keep tryna to be there for him, get to the bottom of what's goin' on, but he won't really tell me anything. And like, we never keep secrets from each other. So, I'm both worried and pissed, y'know?"

Mom was sort of a confidant for me to an extent. Of course, I didn't keep her privy to things like my sex life and the more sneaky, explicit shit I was up to, but she was full of good advice, and cared about Luca too. For some reason however, I felt strangely exposed being open about my feelings just now; like, I just felt weird.

"A fight, vomiting... and Jordan? As in the ex-girlfriend Jordan?" She frowned, turning her attention out the window to stare at the house again. "That's a lot to unpack..."

I nodded and grimaced, attention shifting to the house also. "She like... well, okay I don't know it for hundred percent certain, but according to a source at school, Jordan was tryin' to spread rumors around that he's gay or something, and like, he got in a shouting match with her in Mr. Song's class over it..." my voice trailed off, and I felt my heart start to race as I recanted what I'd heard and seen so far.

Mom shot me a look of confusion in the mirror and frowned. "Spreading rumors about him being gay? 'Kay, well that makes no sense... all except I'll always say I never liked that girl."

I shook my head and sighed. "Tell me about it; I never liked her ass either."

She shot me a look, and I put my hands up in surrender muttering a "sorry, language, I know..." and the cabin soon fell silent.

I think she took that as the conversation being over, and so we both turned our attention back on the house. It was then with much relief that the front door swung open.

There he stood; all awkward with his backpack... Luca looked like he always did, save for that splint and the bruise on his face from what I could tell, yet I still felt the weight of my pounding heart in my chest, and the turn of my stomach as my nerves started to freak.

What the literal fuck?

This was Lucas of all people and my closest friend, so what the fuck gave?

"Hey momma? Try to act chill... like, don't tell him I told you anything." I stuttered, bouncing my leg anxiously as he approached.

Seriously, though... why was I so nervous?

"I got you." she nodded, unlocking the doors while motioning for him to sit in the back.

The door opened and I was met with Luca's flushed, but equally anxious face. Our eyes locked, and mine practically bugged out of their sockets.

Why? Cause my bro had hickeys all over his neck. Like... at least three that I could see outright, and there were even actual bite marks around them.

"... sup." I spat out awkwardly.

Hickeys. What. The. Hell.

Lucas stood hovering at the door, tapping his fingertips against the handle. Almost like he was debating whether to get inside...

"We're gonna be late, hop in." I piped up, and that seemed to bring him back to planet earth.

"... uh, yeah, right." He stuttered, slipping inside clumsily. He shut the door and dropped his backpack between his feet but did his best not to look at me.

"Long time no see, Lucas!" Mom said, her voice cheery and unassuming.

He looked up and smiled, shifting in his seat as he buckled in. "Hi Mrs. Nakamura. Thank you for the ride and all..."

She put the car in drive. "Anytime... how you been hon?"

He fidgeted with the straps of his backpack and gave a nervous chuckle. "Eh, alright not too bad... nothin' new ya know, same old! Well, all 'cept for the hand an all."

Mom smiled, her energy calm and reassuring. "That's good to hear, although I'm sorry you hurt your hand..." I had to hand it to her, she was doing a much better job of playing it cool than I was.

Her eyes met mine briefly in the rear-view mirror, and I could tell she'd probably already noticed the bruise on his face. I wondered now if she too had spotted the hickeys, and I was sure from the look in her eyes that she was now just as worried about him as I was.

I did my best not to stare too openly, but damn, it was nearly impossible not to.
Sure, Jordan had left hickeys on him here and there when they were together, but this? This was something else entirely, and he hadn't even bothered to hide them.

I took to my phone immediately and shot Skye a text, all the while noticing Luca had his nose in his phone. Who was he texting? Not fucking me, which had me feeling pretty butthurt. We usually texted all the time.

Ian: he just got in the car n fuckface is covered in hickeys!! Like with teeth marks and everything like he got BIT. Shit is wild babe

Skye's response was fast as all hell.

Skye: Oh my god HOTTT. Mmmkay so there is a girl??? E, I TOLD you! Hickeys and bite marks omg seriously sounds like he had a good timeee :D lowkey jealous u should bite me like thaaat

I rolled my eyes and cursed under my breath, now even more agitated. My otherwise shy best friend, aka the same guy who took like two months to work up the courage to ask Jordan out, aka the same guy who said he was too "anxious" to get a tinder, somehow met and fucked a random "older" woman overnight and didn't tell me about it?

No fuckin' way.

"So..." I murmured, trying to start a conversation while tapping out a response to Skye. It was mostly just more complaints that my best friend was keeping my ass in the dark, and I wasn't especially proud of the way I was beginning to feel about the whole situation. The more I thought about it rationally, the more I felt like I was overreacting about his new secret girl, but it didn't make the irrational frustration go away.

Like, for real, why was I so mad?

"You hear me?" I repeated, noting that he didn't even look at me. "I'm uh, tryin' to talk to you..."

Lucas turned beet red and pulled his hood up, peeking out at me from underneath it like a little pariah. "Uh, sorry... what did you say?" he mumbled, voice gritty and tired sounding.