who the hell died and made you king

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~♡~

As soon as the door closed behind him as he exited the room, leaving Jim there with Corey, Joey felt his stomach tie itself into a knot. He listens in front of the door, making sure that Corey isn’t going to start immediately yelling at Jim. He can feel the tension in his muscles, the adrenaline working its way through him, his small body perched at the ready to burst back inside if the situation called for it.

But after a minute, he hears nothing, and he leans his forehead against the wall, taking deep breaths. I did what I had to do. Too bad the thought does nothing to squash the awful feeling still hovering over him, the feeling that was put there the second he’d opened his mouth and said what he’d said to Corey.

”I was horny, he was there, you weren’t. Not a big deal.”Joey groans softly to himself. Even when he’d said it, it hadn’t sounded near as convincing as he’d tried to make it sound. He could tell that the only person who believed it was Jim himself. Corey, on the other hand, hadn’t batted an eyelash.

Corey could tell something was going on. But Jim?

The look he’d seen cross Jim’s face in the seconds after the words were past his lips cut him deeper than he’d anticipated they would. But even that hadn’t hurt as bad as that newfound electric feeling inside of him screeching to a halt.

Joey shakes his head and sighs heavily as he finally pushes himself away from the wall next to the hotel room door. So far, there hadn’t been any yelling from within, and he couldn’t hang out here all day, either. He slowly clomps down the hallway, his footfalls heavy on the carpeted floor as he makes his way down to the room number Paul had texted him just this morning.

Paul opens the door to the three sharp raps of his knuckles, and Joey pushes past him into the room without a word.

“Whoa, dude. Who shit in your cereal?” Paul pushes the door closed with his foot, turning to watch Joey pace the small space between the two full-sized beds. His eyebrows raise a bit as Joey starts muttering angrily to himself, his small body tensing even further, fists clenching.

“That… that motherfucker! Who the fuck died and made him king of the free world, anyway?” Joey stops pacing, turning his razor-sharp gaze on Paul, the usual bright blue of his eyes darkened by his anger.

Paul whistles softly, knowing Joey’s not mad at him. He crosses the room, undaunted, going to sit down on the end of the closest bed as Joey positively thrums with anger. He gives Joey a few more moments of expletive-laced muttering before he tilts his head. “You wanna talk about it, dude?”

The wind dies out of Joey’s sails as he looks at Paul’s face, and he sighs, lowering his head, his hands raising to run through his long, dark hair as he tries to calm himself. “Fuck. I… don’t even know where to start.”

“The beginning’s usually a good place. What happened? I saw you heading to the elevator with Jim and Corey last night, so I assume you’re mad at one… or possibly both… of them?” Paul lets the question trail a bit, his eyes still on Joey.

“Corey.” Joey’s lips turn up in a bit of a sneer, “because of course it’s Corey. Jim didn’t do anything. Not this time, anyway.” Sighing again, Joey goes to sit down on the bed next to Paul. “It’s weird. Last night went… pretty normal, for us. Corey and I fucked around a bit, then added Jim to the mix. We both fucked Jim this time, at the same time, cause it’s what Corey wanted.” Joey pauses to look at Paul, wanting to see his reaction.