The After Kingdom: UnOrdinary (Arlo x John)

Chapter 4

It was already two in the morning by time that Arlo have gotten home. He've forgotten that John was still on his house, and he've arrived, John was asleep again, his body covered in a blanket.

Arlo was exhausted, and it was a very tiring night. They raided NXGen's research facilities and during their raid, there were fights between abilities, skills, and speed. More than half of the police officers they've sent are severely wounded, and Arlo himself had to fight them too. Though they ended up restraining them, Arlo was almost drained from the fight.

After that, Arlo had to inspect every corner of the building and question some of the workers involved. They've found a lot of illegal drugs and they are taken to the lab to be examined. Arlo didn't bother rushing to the hospital, even if the bill is 100% covered by the authorities. He just headed home to save time, after all, a lot of their officers were injured, and Arlo's wounds aren't that much compared to them so he isn't really a priority.

The moment he stepped inside, he took a hot bath on his tub. His wounds stung, and although he wasn't beaten up to that extent, this was the first time he've had this amount of bruises and wounds. In fact, this was way worse than what he've got during his fight with John on their high-school days.

But although his injuries were worse than that, he knew that John was still stronger than any of his opponents.

It was a shame really. John had more power than anyone else, but he always chose to lower himself and allow them to treat him like dirt.

He could be anything, and he could have everything, why did he choose to be nothing, and to have nothing?

When Arlo was done washing himself, he wrapped himself on a towel and came to his room to dress. John was still asleep, but Arlo wasn't really comfortable with dressing while someone is around.

Instead, he just took some of his clothes on his cabinet and dressed inside the bathroom.

Arlo came back to his room again when he was done. He touched John's forehead to see if he still has a fever and to his relief, his temperature wasn't that high anymore. Then, he headed to the sofa, trying his best to fall asleep.

Because of his injuries, the department advised him to stay home and had it healed first before returning to work. Processing the case would be a long process, so Arlo have planned to give and schedule interviews, and work through some of his files at home.

Unable to fall asleep, Arlo just checked on his phone, seeing two unseen messages from Isen. It seemed to be sent an hour before he arrived home.

'Arlo, I already have Seraphina's number.'

The second message contained her number on it, and although it was late, Arlo sent a text to her, hoping that she'll see it in the morning.

'Seraphina, this is Arlo. I'd like to discuss some things with you about John. Are you even aware of where he is?'

Since John was still here on his house, Arlo had an Idea. Why not bring him out and meet up with Seraphina? If Arlo couldn't slap some sense into John, Seraphina might be able to.

That is if Seraphina would agree, and if she's free tomorrow. Arlo still have to make John agree too, because he always takes things the wrong way. For now, Arlo would just sleep, and hopefully, be able to come up with things tomorrow.

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When Arlo woke up in the morning, the first thing he saw was John. The dark haired man was sitting on the floor, his back facing Arlo's view. At first glance, he thought that John was naked but when Arlo sat on the sofa, he realized that John was wearing boxers somehow.

"John?" Arlo called, "Why are you sitting there, and, why aren't you wearing anything but that? It's cold. "

The air conditioner was turned on, and even Arlo who was wearing more than him felt cold.

The black haired man turned to him, "I was waiting for you to wake up. If you haven't forgotten, you didn't came home yesterday, and I couldn't leave your house. I don't want to wear the same clothes for 2 days straight, this is the the only clothing left on my bag." John stood up.

"You could borrow some clothes from me." Arlo said.

John stared at him, and he couldn't really read what John was thinking. He somehow seemed surprised? Or, it seemed like he's thinking of things.

"Are you sure, Arlo? I'll only make them filthy. Someone like you surely wouldn't like that. "

John always manage to say the things that would make Arlo bite back. It was hard talking to him, because he knew how to guilt trip the person he's talking with. It's always been like this, whenever he talks with John, he kept reminding him the terrible things that Arlo have said and done to him.

"That's better than you blinding my eyes." the blond answered.

Arlo didn't know why, but his tongue always fail to say the right words. He couldn't admit his mistakes, and he couldn't even apologize.

But the thing is, John couldn't recognize kindness even if it hit him on his face. Even if Arlo were to speak kindly to him and do something good, John would always think that there's a hidden agenda because of the things that Arlo have done in the past.

"I thought so." it was the only thing that John said.

"You can change now, just get some clothes from my cabinet and wash yourself too, one wash isn't enough for someone like you after all."

John glared at him, but he really did headed down to the bathroom to wash himself again, grabbing some of Arlo's clothes before he go.

Arlo wasn't expecting him to actually do it.

Once he was out of sight, Arlo checked his phone, and he immediately saw a reply from Seraphina.

'Arlo? Do you know anything about where John is? I don't really know what happened to him. It was just three years ago that he stopped coming to university and I can no longer contact him. When I came to visit him, he already moved out.'

Just as Arlo have thought. Seraphina doesn't know about what John is doing! What could have possibly happened three years ago?

Quickly, Arlo sent a reply.

'I found him four days ago. I could make you meet up today if you'd like. It's complicated Seraphina, but John isn't exactly doing good. Are you free today? John's with me right now.'

While waiting for a reply, Arlo made himself a coffee, and another one for John. Then, he cooked them pancakes. But as he was cooking, he didn't realize that John was already done.

"Arlo... When can I go home... ?" the dark haired man asked, "You're cooking? But you're inj...  Nevermind."

He knew that John wanted to leave now, but Arlo needed him to stay longer. If Seraphina is free today, John had to be there.

Arlo didn't replied to him, but once he finished cooking, he called John to sit with him and eat. John protested a couple of times but somehow, he ended up sitting with Arlo on the table.

As Arlo was sitting, he noticed something wrong with John. His arms were very red, and he was barely even touching his food. The usual confidence on him whenever he talks with Arlo seemed to be gone at that moment, and Arlo felt guilty for what he've said.