Disjointed Heart

Chapter Nine

Chester hissed as he slowly woke up, since every fiber of his body seemed to hurt. His head was the worst as there was an unending beating against his temples that reverberated in his skull. The young man slowly opened his eyes as he noticed that light was pouring from the windows.

Had he fallen asleep while watching TV again?

He slowly rose up from the couch as not to worsen his headache before his eyes focused on the room around him and he frowned.

This wasn't Chester's apartment. The walls were decorates with countless art pieces and pictures, while CDs and a guitar where lying around. It was clean, but not as clean as how Chester liked his place to be.

His heart began to quickened against his ribcage as he wondered where the fuck he was, until his eyes settled unto Mike, who was just coming from the kitchen with two steaming cup of tea in his hands.

"Hey, sleepy head." Mike smiled as he set the cups down on his coffee table and sat on a chair near Chester's feet that were still up on the couch. "How are you feeling?" he asked a bit more serious this time, a smile still gracing his lips.

"W-what happened? Why am I not home?" The blonde asked, uneasiness clear in his features, as his hands trembled and his chest ached with anxiety.

"I found you outside your building... you were scared and just as I saw you, you fainted. I didn't know what to do so I brought you here." Mike explained.

Chester widened his eyes as realization overcame him. He remembered everything. His thoughts of Mike, his panic, when he just thought it'd be a good idea to go out to the world because he felt trapped inside himself. He closed his eyes in shame and started to shake as he tried to just think of something else. However, it was hard with Mike right in front of him.

"Ches? Are you okay? You're shaking... breathe for me, hm? Look at me and just breathe." The half Asian soothe in a soft-spoken tone, even though on the inside he felt like screaming.

The blonde man did as he was told, looking into Mike's hazel eyes as he saw how worried the other man was having an anxiety attack. He took some deep breathing, and soon, his heart started beating regularly again.

"I thought you wouldn't want to go to a hospital, which is why I didn't bring you there. But you worried me..." Mike took one of the cups before handing it to Chester. "Here, drink this, it should help you relax."

The other man accepted the cup before blowing softly on the steaming beverage. "Thank you, Mike..."

Mike only smiled at him while he took his own cup and they drank in silence for some minutes. "Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, and it's okay, but I have to ask... what were you doing outside?" The blonde man gulped as his eyes widened and the half Asian shook his head. "It's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"I... I'd rather not talk about it now." Or ever, he thought. The blonde gulped down the tea, avoiding eye contact with the deliverer.

"Okay." He smiled softly. "Let's do something else then. Would you like to talk about something else or?"

"Why were you there? I mean, why were you near my building?" Chester said, surprising Mike.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot. You gave me too much money, like 10 bucks more than you should have." Mike said, looking into his cup of tea, his brows knitted together. This was a very unusual thing for Chester, since he always made sure to double check the amount of money he gave in order to avoid unnecessary contact with other people.

"R-really?" Chester frowned.

"Yeah... I thought it was weird too. Are you feeling alright today? You seem very shaky... the money, the incident on the street. I'm worried about you." Mike spit out, not even caring about Chester's reaction this time. He was concerned and he wouldn't pretend he was okay.