Insubordinate ( Gay ) ( BxB )

Chapter Nine ✓

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RECEIVED 10:43 PM

NEO: You off?

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My phone screen glows like a beacon in the dark enclosure of my apartment. My TV hums with commercials in the background as I check notifications and update my social media. I sink further into the pillows on my bed as I stare blankly at the text from Neo. I drowsily reply.

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SENT 10:45 PM

ME: Come on

RECEIVED 10:50 PM

NEO: See you in twenty

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I weigh if it would be necessary for me to dress again for his company. All I wear are sweatpants, no shirt. I doubt he'll care. I definitely could care less, personally. 

I'm exhausted. 

It's half an hour before I hear him knock. He's always later than he says he'll be. That's just one thing I wish had changed; but he is him, after all. There's no conditioning or scolding you could do to make him anymore efficient. 

I toss my phone to the side, rising and crossing the room to unlatch my red paint-chipped door for him. I open it a bit out of precaution, leaving the chain in place for me to look out. Neo leans against the door opposite of mine in the hall, grinning like an idiot when he catches a glimpse of my face.

Whoa.

He looks different- his body does, I mean. His hair and eyes are still the same, but small wouldn't be the word I would use to describe his physical condition anymore. My lips part and I smile out of both nervousness and surprise at this newer, more polished version of him. 

I unlatch the chain, swinging the door open fully. Neo steps forth, resting a hand on the back of his neck as he looks me over. 

"Wow." He says in awe. "You look older."

"Yeah, no shit." I say. "Come in."

I step aside for him to pass. He's still shorter than me by a solid inch or two, at least. His skin is more tanned than before, likely from time spent outside in the sun as much as he could manage while locked up. He loves the outdoors. I wish I could say the same.

"Almost a year." Neo muses, turning in circles as he looks around my apartment. "Almost a year and it looks almost exactly the same. What the hell have you been doing?"

"I've been getting by." I reply, closing my door and latching it again. "I got fired from that shitty bar a while ago, but I recently found something that's..." I hesitate, then finish, "Working. It pays well."

"What more could you ask for, huh?"

 "Speaking of which," I clear my throat. "How did prison fair for you this time around?"

Neo pauses briefly in front of the TV across the room, glancing towards me awkwardly. The TV screen reflects in his violet-grey eyes. He crosses his arms and purses his lips, depriving me of a response.

"What?" I say. "Too forwards?"

"No, no." Neo shakes his head, strands of his black hair falling across his forehead. "I'm just wondering when you started watching porn on your TV."

"What are you talking about?" I frown, pulling at the strings of my sweatpants. 

"Hot stuff, Aaron, really. They're seriously going at it."

I feel a brief flush of panic in my stomach. I circle around the corner to stand beside him, glancing briefly down at the screen in a moment of self doubt. But, of course, there's nothing there.