Born to Endless Love

Ave Atque Vale

Max age: 20, Alec age: 40

Gabriel Pov- "Gabriel... what in the hell happened to Joseph;" Darius asked, his wide shocked eyes looking in mine. I pulled my wrist out of his grip, getting off the bed and running my hands through my sweaty hair. "I don't want to talk about this, Darius."

He stood up now looking furious. "I don't care what you want to do Gabe. Tell me why your Parabatai rune has vanished. You packed nothing but white clothes and have Josephs stele in your bag. You gave him that stele for his tenth birthday and he never used any other."

I held my wrist close to my chest again, rubbing it nervously and I turned my back to him. "Joseph is gone Darius. He's gone and it's all my fault."

"How is it your fault? What did you do?" His voice was shaking as he asked. I couldn't blame him. Even if it was a long time ago, Joseph was one of his best friends. It's normal to feel grief over the loss of a friend.

The feelings I have are much worse than grief. I feel like my heart beat is slower, half of it dying with my Parabatai. I felt the deepest parts of my soul cracking into a thousand pieces and ready to break at any moment. The worst of it is knowing that I brought this pain onto myself.

"Joseph... he kissed me. He kissed me and told me that he was in love with me."

Darius frown deepened. "How did you react to that? I'm sure it wasn't good."

I bit my lip, glancing away from him. "I told Max that I pushed him away from me and told him to never do anything that disgusting again."

At that, Darius raised a curious eyebrow. "What really happened?"

"What I said. I pushed him away."

He shook his head no. "I know you Gabriel Penrose. You're very direct in the way you speak. You said, 'I told Max' instead of directly telling me what happened. That means whatever you told Max, didn't really happen at all."

I sighed deeply, my shoulders falling in defeat. "I can never fool you Darius. You always know how to see passed me."

Darius moved closer to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Please Gabe. Tell me what really happened. I want to know everything. Why do you think Joseph being gone is your fault?"

A dry laugh escaped passed my lips and I looked away from him. "I don't want you to think less of me."

"Honestly Gabe, with the way you treat Dantes and Max, there is no way I can think any less of you. You pretty much destroyed my good opinion of you already."

"Guess I deserve that," I agreed, sitting down on the bed. Darius sat next to me, his hand still on my shoulder. I closed my eyes, focusing on the quiet of the room before opening them again and looking at him.

"It's kind of a long story. I'll have to go back to five days ago."

Darius frowned at that. "We came back from Idris four days ago? Are you saying all of this went down when we were still there?"

"The day before you left is when it started. The days that followed are where it all really went down."

Five Days Ago

I sat in stunned silence as my best friend and Parabatai pressed his lips against mine. How did this even happen? One moment we were talking about girlfriends and pushy parents and the next thing I know, Joseph is kissing me!

Why was this happening?

Why were tears in his eyes while his lips moved against mine?

Why wasn't I stopping him?