Dopamine | Adrenaline Book Two

14- Sensory Room

Charles pushed past crowds of people, desperate to barge inside the room, but was stopped at the entrance to be blindfolded, filling him with anxiety as he realized that the longer he was away, the further Martin could be going with Max.

Inside the room, Charles instantly bumped into a figure, quickly apologizing and realizing how difficult it was going to be to find Max, especially if he and Martin had already skipped the talking stage. The thought of Martin's mouth kissing the mole on Max's lip that Charles occasionally bit down on made him want to ruin the entire concept of this room by sounding the alarms and running to push them apart.

Causing a scene that big, however, would be impossible to recover from.

Charles had no idea where to begin his search, feeling hands reach for him but instantly knowing when it wasn't Max and pushing them away, the rude reaction not being his main priority when every second without Max felt like he was losing him to someone else. Someone he'd already been with before.

"I couldn't get enough from the last time..." a familiar voice came from one of the corners of the room. "I don't think I ever will..."

Charles recognized the voice vaguely but with all the additional chatter around him, it was difficult to pinpoint where it was coming from. Rushing through the crowds in desperation, panicked at the idea that Martin was one step closer to bringing Max's mouth to his own, Charles began bumping into people as he tried to sort through the space blindly. He heard the same voice whisper something vague, followed by the unmistakable sound of a kiss.

Charles stood frozen, knowing he had found them too late. His heart twisted and wrenched as he heard the sounds of their mouths still pressed together—something much deeper than a peck on the lips. Charles could have maybe forgiven a peck, but it was clear now that Max was kissing back and enjoying it. With jealous fury and all common sense out the window, Charles was quick to push them apart, his hands turning into fists at his sides and his eyes burning.

"Max?!" he shouted, stepping blindly in between the two. "How could you?" he asked, his voice cracking and waiting for an answer that wasn't coming; clearly, receiving no answer. Stuck in a cliché trope, Charles turned back around, ready to blame Martin even though the man didn't owe him anything.

"You need to leave him alone," he was more assertive than he'd ever been, but inside he was hurt and ready to collapse, the pain of Max with anyone but him being too much to handle. "Go find someone else," Charles continued, lowering his voice when other people began going quiet but soon lost interest in their dilemma since they couldn't see who it was.

"What?" Martin replied, clearly confused in his tone, "Charles?"

"Yes," Charles confirmed, stepping directly in front of him as if to build a wall between him and Max.

"Look, I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"Now I know why you wanted to bring him here specifically," Charles said, wishing he could just rip off the annoying blindfold.

"What?" the man chuckled, trying to blindly push past Charles to reach for the person behind him only for his hand to hit an empty nothingness where the other person used to be, it was just the two of them now. "You scared him off! What's wrong with you? Are you into him?"

"I'm...," Charles stuttered, the heat of jealousy making him throw every precaution out the window. "I'm more than just into him, you can't just kiss him because you want to hook up again. He's not for you."

"What?" Martin laughed, finding humor in the situation. "How was I supposed to guess you were into him? He didn't say anything. I didn't even know you liked guys!" The man said, snatching Charles' shoulder. "C'mon, let's go find Max. We can talk outside."