Bullet Wound

Chapter 18: Tension

Evan shot awake by the sound of the door unlocking and irritated voices, he crawled out of bed. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, as he opened the door. He wasn't nearly awake enough for the possible danger to be recognized by his brain. Evan walked down the hall towards the dimmed light, he stood at the edge of the hall.
    " Sorry to wake you up," William said quietly, his voice low as if he wished he were anywhere but there. " It's fine," Evan said, flopping down next to him on the couch.
    Even in the dim lighting the dark mark on William's face was brought back to Evan's attention, he sighed in annoyance as he got up.
Evan opened the fridge and pulled out an ice pack, " What's that for?" William asked, Evan gave him a look wondering if he was serious. He sat in front of William trying to put the ice up to his eye, he turned his head away.
" I don't need that," he said harshly, " Yes you do," Evan replied angrily, his stubbornness was starting to get to him.
Finally Evan managed to get the ice on his face, William stopped struggling and let Evan hold the ice up to his face. " You're difficult to deal with, you know," Evan said, exhausted.
" I'm not," William said defensively, Evan didn't respond, he was trying to keep William from moving his face again.
He gently pressed the ice onto the mark below his eye, careful not to press too hard. Evan had been avoiding eye contact with William this entire time, trying to forget the awkward moment in the warehouse. But now he was face to face with William, no wear to run nowhere to look away. Truth be told, Evan wasn't sure he wanted to look away.
The piercing glare he had been subconsciously avoiding was somehow comforting to him. The motionless still eyes that fixated on Evan were fascinating. Williams mind was not yet awake as his eyes hung lazily open, but even then his glare did not falter.
" You really like my face, don't you?" William teased, Evan felt all the blood in his body rush to his face.
As he opened his mouth to make a remark back he was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. " Am I interrupting something?"
Evan's attention turned to the direction of the voice, he saw a tall woman learning onto the wall. She had short messy hair and was dressed way too nice for the time of day. She was wearing jeans with a sweater, simple but she made it look elegant. Evan couldn't help but notice how she looked strikingly similar to William, as if she were the female version of him. A playful gleam in her eye as she locked gazes with William, she looked completely unafraid, unbothered and unaware.
" No introduction? Where on earth are your manners William?" She teased jokingly as she sat down next to Evan. William sighed, " Evan, this is Willow. She's unfortunately my older sister."
" Oh..." he said finally understanding, the woman next to him laughed. " Unfortunately? I'm hurt," she said sarcastically, pressing a hand to her chest.
William rolled his eyes, " Nothing hurts you, I don't think you're even human," he seethed.
Suddenly Evan felt like the insides of a sandwich, being pressed from both sides with no way out. The conversion seemed to shift from playful to real insults from the heart, or maybe it was always insults in disguise.
Willow seemed to not even bat an eye at the harsh comment, instead she laid back into the cushion. " Big talk coming from you," She said loudly, " What the hell does that mean?" he snapped.
" Come on," she said laughing and pointing as if it were obvious, " Your work is your entire life, and when you're not doing that you sit here and wallow in your own filth."
" You're not much better," he said angrily, " Maybe not, but I'm still better than you," she said smugly, a large grin plastered on her face.
She scooted closer to Evan, " Enough about you William," she clipped before smiling at Evan. " What about you?" she said softly, a gleam of interest in her chestnut eyes.
" Uh-Hey?" he said awkwardly, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to make a conversation when Willow was closing in on him like a snake. " You're pretty," she said bluntly, her eyes fixated on Evan's messy hair. 
" Thank you," he said smiling, a compliment was always nice. Her cheeks flushed pink, it was subtle but Evan caught it.
She looked at William, " Where have you been hiding him?" she asked, " I have to tell you everything now?" he said in a snarky tone.
" Not everything, but I specifically told you to tell me about any cute friends you had," she said, " Ah yes, but you also berated me about not having any friends five minutes later," he grumbled. Willow laughed, " Oh yeah," he said in realization.
" I guess I proved you wrong," he said smugly, Evan looked at William. Were friends? He questioned, he didn't even realize the wide smile on his face. For some reason those words brought him an ounce of joy, more than it should have.
" So Willow, are you just visiting?" Evan asked, " No just stopping by for work," she said, " Which you told me last minute," William added.
" So if I told you, would you have not invited your boyfriend over?" She teased her voice laced with a playful overtone.
Evan felt all the blood in his body rush to his face,he didn't need to see himself to know that he was bright red. He looked at William, and he could've sworn a light pink spread over William's face. It blended in with his stone cold face. You needed to pay extra attention to spot it.
" He's not my boyfriend," William said harshly, Evan nodded in agreement. Willow smirked, " So Evan's single?"
At that moment William seemed to sit upright, " Yep," he said quickly. She laughed, " You don't have to lie, you know?"
" I'm not l-" but Willow cut him off,  " Nothing wrong with liking guys, little brother." She said mockingly, it was clear she was enjoying this very much.
Evan could not feel the same, he had never felt so embarrassed in his life. He wanted to just bury his face into his hands, even then the red that dusted the tips of his ears would be visible.
" I don't like guys," William said sternly, " Right," she said with an edge to her voice. William looked surprised but content with her answer.
" You like A guy," she said giggling, William glared at her. Suddenly Willow's face flooded with a realization.
" Wait, Is he why you and that Alice girl broke up?" She asked, all the playful demeanor in William's face melted. The small tint of light vanished from his eyes as his lips tightened.
" Alice? Don't you remember her?" She asked with a sadistic smile speeding across her face. She looked like a snake toying with its food. Playing a game she knew so skillfully, at a level that surpassed even Kristen.
" I told you to never bring her up again," he scowled.
They looked at eachother, one with a stone cold face that masked rage and the other was overwhelmed with amusement. Those walls William always had came back up as his face reverted back to normal, but his body did not. His eye twitched and he was clenching his fists so hard they were white. He stormed off and onto the balcony.
Evan could see him through the glass doors, just staring at the sky as if he were about to start cursing out the gods. The air was tense, Evan looked at Willow expecting some kind of guilt or at least a twinge of sympathy. Much like her brother, her face was stone cold as he pulled out her phone. She looked up from her screen, smiling at Evan.
" You should probably go check on him," she suggested nonchalantly and shrugged, as if she was incompetent.
Can she not even be bothered to clean up her own mess? He thought bitterly, bringing up sore subjects hurt more than it should've and Evan understood that. He didn't say a word to Willow as he slid open the balcony door.
He saw William leaning on the railing eyes forward but his mind stilled. " What the hell do you want?" He snapped angrily, but he didn't even look at Evan.
Evan scrambled for words, he wasn't sure at all on what to say or do. He wasn't used to seeing William express so much emotion, but he also wasn't used to having to comfort someone. He stared at William, there was a feeling in his stomach that inclined him to speak. Even if his words wouldn't make sense he needed to say something, for what reason? He had no idea.
"I'm sorry," he finally said, his voice low and quiet but loud enough for the world to know he had said something. William scoffed, "What?"
"I'm sorry for whatever she was referring to," Evan said softly, he felt stupid for standing there, but he didn't want to leave. " You don't know shit about me," he said, his words were sharp and they cut through Evan like nothing.
" Maybe not, but I do know I've looked at you long enough to notice one thing," William turned to look at Evan, a gleam of amusement and interest in his eye. " What," he asked, his voice gruff.
He locked eyes with William, those still unrattled eyes that hid a person. That was all the evidence he needed, " You built a wall, not allowing anyone to see how you feel. Including yourself," he said softly leaning on the rail next to Willaim.
For a second William almost looked impressed but he turned his attention back to the view, clenching the railing. As if there was a fear if he didn't hold on with all his might that he might just fall. Evan always felt like he was falling, falling harder and harder until every bone in his body was broken.
William turned to Evan again this time his eyes glistening with tears, those walls he so proudly defended, gone. There was something heartbreaking about the way his eyes landed on Evan, as if he were the only person who would ever listen to him. The pain in his eyes, the way he looked so broken and composed at the same time. It made Evan's heart drop to his feet, he felt a lump forming in his throat. It hurt, it hurt seeing William in pieces but whole at the same time. He didn't know why, but it hurt.
The words he spoke next made Evan want to hug him, hug him tight and never let go. "Walls are built for protection."