The Moon in His Hands (Patrick Hockstetter)

The Moon in His Hands (Patrick Hockstetter) (Bowers Gang) Part 3

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Thanks everyone who voted for this story! I feel really inspired to keep writing. Important question!...smut or no? I'm gonna let your guys decide if you want to read any naughty bits.

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Henry reached around to show Luna his knife, arms falling on either side of her neck as he played with the opening mechanism in front of her face. The girl unintentionally leaned harder into his chest, the crook of her neck resting against his collar bone to put some distance between her face and his switchblade. "It's nice isn't it?" He fished for a compliment, and Luna responded with a nod. "Yes Henry, it's a nice knife...how considerate of you to give me such a clear view of it." There was mild sarcasm in what she said, but still a softer tone to her voice that kept the mood calm. Luna could have called him a shit eating meat head in that tone and there would be a slight chance Henry would've let it slip. There was just something about Luna that didn't make him want to punch people, though Henry wouldn't ever change what he was just because some girl had the innate ability to give him a little tranquility. He'd probably end up liking this girl a lot if she kept mellowing him out like she did. Henry set her free and strode off to collect some sticks with Victor. Belch had dropped himself down onto one of the couches, so Luna thought this would be a good chance to get to know the driver of the group a little better. "So, do I want to know why they call you Belch?" He laughed. "Probably not."

The springs on the old hunk of junk creaked with the added weight of a second person, Patrick sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Belch. With a pat on his thigh, Hockstetter called the new girl over. "Come here, kitten." Luna wasn't sure if she wanted to or not, but she remembered that this was all only for a day before he 'named his price' and didn't think he'd do anything too bad before the day was through, or else what would he want her to pay for their companionship with? The black flats Luna wore hardly made a sound as she approached him, and before she could ask what he wanted Patrick made his intentions perfectly clear. His hand snagged Luna's wrist and pulled her off her feet, dropping her down forcefully onto his lap. Belch looked a bit uncomfortable and averted his gaze when Patrick practically cradled her in his arms. His lips were back at the lobe of her ear again, grazing skin with his teeth before playfully clacking them together as if to warn her that he might bite at any given time. Luna avoided his mouth without much effort, occasionally losing the small battle between them and receiving gentle kisses to her jaw line, neck, and shoulder. She couldn't help but giggle as he blew on a ticklish spot behind her ear, Patrick talking against her soft locks of hair. "See now, I'm not so bad am I?"

"Get a room." Henry mocked them as he carried in five newly sharpened sticks. Victor added with a wink towards Luna, "And invite me."

"Guys, stop. Please." Luna's voice dropped a few octaves and went flat, purposely sounding insincere. She wasn't going to deny that she was enjoying herself. Here she was sitting across the lap of one of the most attractive guys she's ever met, and the other one was hitting on her while it all went down. For a brief moment Luna felt wrong, ashamed of herself. She was in a dump with four guys she barely knew and was letting them become way too comfortable with her in ways most girls knew better than to allow. What made it so wrong though? They liked giving her attention and she certainly got a thrill out of receiving it. Luna never thought of herself as a slut, but did acting this way define her as one? She thought to herself, 'No...dammit, no. I'm not a whore just because I want to have fun and hang out with people that make me feel real. I'm tired of having to live by rules set for my gender by people I don't even want in my life. So what if it's fun? So what if my mom would kill me? It's not like I want to be like her someday...alone...bitter...tormenting her only child by making her an insecure, over worked, over achieving nerd with no friends...if having fun for the first time in my life makes me a slut then I'll be happy with that title.'

Patrick could see the wheels grinding in her head and whispered the question, "What's on your mind?" Luna blinked out of her trance and spoke lowly to him while the others paid them no attention. "Just wondering if I should even be here..." She was honest with him, that much was a good omen to Patrick who was still concocting possibilities in his head about the girl he was holding. Going with the little bit of information she gave him, he asked, "Do you want to be here?"

"Yes, I really do." She didn't hesitate to give her answer which showed him once again she was being truthful. Being around the boys gave her butterflies in her stomach and killed every bit of the depression she felt on a daily basis. He curled his arm around her tighter, twirling a finger in her hair absentmindedly and musing, "Then that's all there is to it."

Luna shook her head and disagreed. "That's not all there is though...there are rules. Sure it's okay when a boy breaks them. Boys will be boys right? If I break them though, I'm a little home wrecker in the making with no future other than cleaning houses or tending to a shitty drunk husband one day. My mom would all but kick me out of the house if she saw me sitting on your lap like this..." There was a pained longing in her voice that Patrick recalled from long forgotten days, days before the death of his little brother Avery Hockstetter. There was a time when Patrick remembered feeling something similar, the want to have the unconditional attention and love of his family like it was supposed to be. Avery took that from him and replaced him in every way, he thought. In Patrick's sick twisted mind he was lucky to have killed his brother when he did. Luna? She couldn't just smother her problems even if she did somehow have the guts to do it. Her mother must have been distant and unloving for reasons not so joyful and fragile as an infant, and so Hockstetter was genuinely lost for a solution.

"If you start hanging out with us she'll find out. News spreads like fire in this town. The best advice I can give you is to stop looking for validation from her. You can either have her approval or you can be happy and do what you want to, but not both. Do you think I care what anyone in this god forsaken hell hole thinks of me? I don't and I'm happy as can be." Patrick flashed a jackal's grin if ever there was one. Maybe if he could just redirect all that will she had to please people towards himself...

"How do you do it?" The blonde asked him forlornly and sunk in his arms. Patrick was displeased when his attempt at a pep talk failed to stop her from moping and tried one last time at this whole 'nice guy' façade. "Hmm...baby, you don't wanna know how I do it. For you it'd be as simple as just letting it all go. Give it up. Surrender yourself to every feeling that makes you feel real." That last statement awoke a form of recognition in her eyes, one Patrick noticed. He furrowed his brows and searched her hazel depths for something hiding beneath the skin, and Luna admitted, "I haven't felt that way for a long time, until today..."

"What would you know about reality?" His strange question stumped the girl, earning a few baffled and stammered beginnings of answers she wished she had.

"Hey, get over here and make your damn hot dogs!" Henry's peeved commands broke the moment and both Patrick and Luna fell over one another trying to sit up from their curled together positions. Hockstetter ignored her after that and Luna was actually pretty disappointed by this, that was until Victor stood beside her and bumped his hip against hers. She smiled and nudged him back jokingly, Vic boasting, "My wiener's bigger than yours."

"Dude." Belch shook his head and Henry sighed, "Just five of us in a circle dangling our wieners over a fire."

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Note: Sorry this one is so short. I just thought it'd be a good stopping place before the events of the next chapter take place. Henry's last line may or may not have been part of the cause. lol