CARNIVORE [MxM+]

Chapter 23 (18+)

Alexei Abbots.

Its morning.

A day has passed since I accidentally walked into Tycho's room and saw him without his shirt. I'll admit, I felt bad. I clearly saw him in a vulnerable moment and I regret seeing it. But a different part about me just couldn't stop thinking about that moment. It made me feel dirty. But fuck, did I like it. 

Of course, I didn't say anything about this to anyone. I didn't want Tycho to think I blabbered about his condition to Riley or Xavier because then it'd destroy the little trust he had in me. Hopefully, it wasn't already destroyed. 

After my shower, I met Riley and Xavier in the kitchen for breakfast. I was already working on eating my food when Tycho came into the room, hair wet like mine. He also wore one of his new outfits that he had bought with Riley the day before. He greeted the three of us curtly, carefully avoiding eye contact with me. I tried hard not to be offended but I already missed the little "hello" he'd give me in the morning. 

I stayed silent as Riley took turns talking to everyone around the table. He started up a conversation with Xavier, then Tycho, and finally me. It was usual banter, but while he spoke to me I could tell he was a bit apprehensive about something. Riley had this certain tell whenever he was going to do something he didn't want to do. He'd take whatever hand was busy and rub his other arm slightly, and only for a second. He was doing it now.

"So, Tycho," Riley started. I guess that was what he was so hesitant about. I liked having him here but I won't lie, it was tiring to walk eggshells around someone in your own house. "Xavier and I talked a little. We were wondering when you were planning on going back to school." Tycho's hand stilled. He pursed his lips slightly before dropping the fork. I watched the muscles in his arm flex a bit from the tension he held in his hand. 

"I-I don't know." He spoke low, voice still gravel-like due to fatigue. Now that I thought about it, he seemed more tired than usual. "I'll go back if you want me to." The topic clearly made him uncomfortable. I remembered something Louis had told me the day he had come to the house, something about Tycho having a breakdown at practice which is what set this entire event in motion. 

Riley's eyes widened. "No, no, you don't have to do anything, if you're not ready, you're not ready, Tycho. That's okay if you aren't, I was just wondering if you were is all." Riley fretted over Tycho as a mother did to her youngest. I laughed. Riley has always been the motherly figure of our relationship. Tycho's eyes drifted down for a while; he seemed to be lost in thought. 

He took a deep breath before replying. "I'll go. I don't..." He mumbled the last part of his sentence but he was loud enough for me to hear. "I don't want to be a coward." The way that Tycho said the word 'coward' made me concerned. He said it like it was the worst thing in the world. Like he'd rather die than be one. But Riley and Xavier said nothing about it, making me forget about it for the time being. 

"Okay. I think it'd be good for you to have some normalcy anyway. I know this is hard for you, so just know we want you to be as comfortable as possible, okay?" Tycho looked flustered at all of the sudden attention, shifting his weight back and forth in his chair. He nodded before turning back to his food. "You can drive with Alexei." 

...

Tycho didn't come with me today, claiming he wanted a day to get his shit together before going back to class. This gave me enough time to explain the entire situation to my friends. 

It was lunchtime for me and my friends. We were tucked into our usual corner in the cafeteria waiting for everyone to show up. Amongst the steady stream of students entering the building was Max making our way over to us. I silently prayed he wouldn't be too mad at me for what I was about to tell him. He reached the table, settling down in his seat next to me. Conversation flowed as normal, the main topic of discussion class- specifically a shitty assignment Day had to deal with in stats. Then again, he wasn't very smart to begin with. And from what I've heard so far, the hardest part of this assignment for Day was the fact that he actually had to do it.