Gamer Who? (BxB)

Chapter 33

"Oh, lady, running down to the riptide-"

"Taken away to the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man."

"I love you when you're singing that song and, I got a lump in my throat 'cause-"

"You're gonna sing the words all wrong."

"I got a lump in my throat because, you're gonna sing the words all wrong..."

I grazed the last chord with my fingers and faced Dominic with a grin. Singing with our voices combined was one of the best rushing feelings I've ever felt. Sure, it was embarrassing to sing at first but now all I felt was a sort of shiny glee in my stomach.

Then Luke's bloody knuckles came waltzing back.

I put away my guitar with a sigh as my smile fades away. Dominic gives me a look of sympathy from the bed.

"How're you?"

I snorted, "Except from the fact that one of my best friends are ignoring me from pure hatred and think I'm the reason for his breakup-- Not so good actually."

I watched Dominic stroke his fingers over my sheets. He was looking at his hand intently and didn't comment back. I had noticed Dominic wasn't someone who said a lot. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing I had yet to figure out.

"Grayson Pierce..." I slowly made my way to Dominic who uttered a name I had never heard of before under his breath.

Dominic wasn't looking at me. "The 'perfect' guy. Star of the football team, award winning smile, rich family and a gorgeous girlfriend."

Dominic's brown eyes glanced my way for a second when I took a seat. I was confused beyond seas but sat silently, in wait for Dominic to explain.

"And also- An asshole." He groaned loudly and rolled his eyes, probably from a memory. I was still bewildered but from the bits I've gotten, this 'Grayson' was someone from Dominic's old school, and Dominic who has said nada about himself was now sitting on my bed opening up about some random dude.

Is this my cue to feel jealous? Or?

"He had been on my nerves for years. I just couldn't keep my cool with him- watching him use girls, watching him use people in general like they were nothing but objects. It- it was infuriating." 

" One day I was drunk, saw him cheating on his girlfriend who coincidentally was my friend. So-" He shrugged.

"-I beat him up." Dominic turned to look at me. Right at me. I wasn't sure what to say. Whether to be relieved that the reason he beat someone up was noble or to be terrified by the look in his eyes.

From his words it seemed like he was explaining a heroic deed. Standing up for his friend like that- but, looking into the chocolate orbs it felt like he was telling me a story of when he took someone's life away. It made something cold run down my spine.

Dominic buried his face in the palms of his hands and leaned against his tense legs. He didn't speak for a moment, I didn't either. I wasn't sure what to say.

"I thought people would pass it off as just two teenage boys fighting..." He paused.

"...but the next day everyone, and I mean everyone was looking at me. The look in their eyes- it was just-" I swung my arm around his shoulders, squeezed his flesh to let him know I was here, or something cliché like that.

He sighed, leaned into my touch. "I learned that I had hurt him permanently. His leg." Dominic tilted his head to gaze at me very briefly. It was only then that I noticed, his eyes were glassy, his throat thick. I had no idea just how hard it was for Dominic to talk about this, yet now here we are.

I felt my heart sink. Did I force this out of him? Was this even the right time?

"You don't have to-" I began.

"No. I want to tell you, Spence. I trust you." Dominic cut me off. I was taken aback. My stomach twirled and I lost my ability to talk.

Instead, I listened.

"I had taken his dream away- his life. Yes, he was a horrible person but he was also just that- a person, and I ruined his future just because I was a little angry at him. He fucking loved football, you could see it in his eyes."

He gulped, "Especially when he came back to school from the hospital..." Dominic looked at the floor and his eyes seemed clouded. Something switched in him.

"...He didn't even look angry. He just looked so, gone? Like he wasn't even there. I had to leave that place." Dominic looked me in the eyes. His eyebrows had furrowed together, meeting in the middle.

"I crushed him, Spencer. I did something unforgivable." He looked at me with desperation. I had never seen him be so, vulnerable. Dominic always seemed so tall and mighty like he had everything planned out in his head.

Now he just looked like he had a lot of guilt and regret. It made it feel like I had been shot in the chest.

"I'm a bad person." His shoulders tensed and it was like he was waiting for something. Waiting for me to say something.

Did he want me to say that he's despicable and force him to leave? That I would never be around such a mad person? The thought almost made me laugh.

"Dominic... You made a mistake." He shook his head.

"My 'mistake' cost someone's life."

"You're human, Dominic. What you did was horrible but you never meant for it to happen. I'm not- you know- good at saying the right things at moments like these, but... "

"You did something horrible but that doesn't make you a horrible person." I rubbed his arm and pulled him towards me. 

"You're sitting here now. Regretting what you did, practically choking on guilt. Isn't that saying something?" He didn't say anything.

Like I mentioned. I'm not very good at these things so I didn't know what more to say. Instead, I pulled him in for a hug which he gladly took. I wasn't angry at Dominic, not even close. I'm sure 'Grayson' has a completely different version of this story.

But right now I'm with Dominic and that's all that matters,

right?

"Thanks." He sighed into my arm. I hummed and gave him a pat on the back.

"Want to sing some more?" He chuckled breathily.

"Sure."

I know that this has made me and Dominic grow closer. Somehow that was terrifying, but it was a terrifying fear that I will want again and again.

I also know that it's time for me to confront Paige.

This whole drama, has to end, and it's going to end now. It's time for me to put my life back together.