Devil's Effect

The Hardest Part

Notes:

Welcome back! First off, we want to thank everyone who read Devil's Drop. If for some reason you ended up here without reading that story, you have to read that one first or this will make zero sense.

This first chapter picks up right where Devil's Drop left off, and is more accurately called a "part two" rather than a sequel. As always, we appreciate your love and support of this and all of our other stories, both together and independently.

Chester paced back and forth in his kitchen, his mind flipping frantically from everything that was coming - going to Mark's funeral, seeing all the guys from YRS again, seeing people from his past that he knew would show up to bid their boss a final farewell, comforting Ryan while he comforted Jason, watching as Amir would stand up to give the eulogy, and then there was the casket. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing Mark's face again, a face that would have no life and expression behind it. He's gone. It wouldn't be him anyway...just his body.

The thought brought Chester to a stop as he placed his hands on the countertop and looked out over the loft. It was a mess. Not just his life at the moment, and his swirling mind, but the loft was a literal mess. Over the last few days Jason and Ryan had both moved into the small shared space. It had gotten a little crowded for Chester's liking when Mike had moved in with his art supplies and music stuff, but now it was almost suffocating. Gone was Chester's prefered minimalist living conditions, replaced by bags and boxes worth of clothes and personal items. There was Jason's expansive collection of nice dress clothes - which almost matched Chester's current outfit count - and Ryan's duffel bags stuffed with t-shirts and jeans. The couch was shoved against the windows now, and its place was the queen sized bed from Ryan's apartment, smack dab in the living room. It wasn't made, and Chester's eyes narrowed at the sloppy blankets and pillows that needed to be tugged and straightened into place.

Chester stood himself up straight, running his hand over his neck and face before he took off around the bar. He would make their bed, and then he needed a drink. Something to calm his nerves. Even his legs felt shaky, like he'd had too much sugar, even though he hadn't ate or drank a thing since he'd been up.

He glanced toward the open bathroom door as he went. He could see Ryan standing at the vanity, messing with his hair, and Chester knew Jason was in there, too. Probably sitting on the lid of the toilet, in misery as he waited for the time to tick by.

But the bed was the next priority and Chester switched his focus to making it look neat and respectable, despite being in the living room for everyone who walked through the front door to see. I'm not going to make it through this. There's too much stuff. Too many people. All we do is trip over each other. And it's so loud. I never noticed how loud Jay and Ry can be. He shoved the negativity aside so he could straighten out the dark blue blanket and align the pillows neatly with at least a little peace in his head. It was almost relaxing to make the messy bed presentable.

Mike watched his boyfriend from his seat at the table, the thought crossing his mind that he should go over and help Chester make the bed. But it's not our bed. That's a little weird. He sighed and went to push his hands through his hair before he remembered it was already styled for the day. He looked down at the blue and gray striped tie he was wearing with the light gray dress shirt and dark gray suit pants. It wasn't black, but he didn't have a black suit, so it was going to do for today. Chester is already anxious and we haven't even left the loft. Today is going to be a mess. Everyone around me is falling apart.

Not having Mark in his life wasn't anything Mike wanted to dwell on for any length of time, but it was obvious that both Chester and Jason were not coping well with the reality of it, especially today. It made sense to Mike that Jason was grieving, but he still couldn't wrap his head around Chester's grief. But he knew that today was important for everyone in terms of closure, and whether he understood Chester's feelings or not, he was going to be there for him. Mike patted down the front of his shirt and stood up to make his way through the mess of the living space to get to Chester.