Devil's Effect

Pivotal Moments

Chester still had his eyes closed when he felt the warm body behind him move. Already his thoughts were a little cloudy as he tried to shift from sleep to awake. He groaned, stretching his leg and arching his back slightly, his movements met with a pull to his hip.

"Chazzy."

The sound of Ryan's voice brought Chester's eyes open, the cracked window and uneven blinds coming into view.

"Chazzy," he heard Ryan say again, his voice soft like a whisper. "Don't go...stay."

The murmured sentence didn't make sense, and Chester twisted and pulled back so he could see behind him. Ryan's eyes were shut, his lips barely parted. Over the years, Chester had heard Ryan mumble in his sleep before, but it was the first time he'd ever heard his name slide from his friend's lips as part of whatever dream was going on. "Hey, Ry," Chester whispered, trying to wake him easily. "Ry."

Ryan jerked awake, like he was pulled from his sleep against his will. His eyes opened, and his head lifted from the pillow. "Chaz?" he asked, like he was confused as he blinked at the morning sunshine filling the room. His hand was on Chester's stomach, holding him close. "Is it morning?"

"Yeah, morning," Chester said between a yawn. "You were dreaming."

Ryan's focus went to Chester's face, which was only a few inches away, their heads on the pillows. "God, really? My loud ass. I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"You're never loud," Chester told him. "It's always like a mumble."

Ryan shut his eyes. "Yeah, but obviously mumbling loud enough to wake you up."

"Well, you were saying my name."

Ryan lifted his hand from Chester's stomach. He rubbed his face, pressing his fingers into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Chaz. I don't even know what I was dreaming. God. Did yesterday really happen?" His hand dropped, as he looked at his friend. "I can't believe we're waking up here instead of at the loft."

Ryan's lips were turned down, his eyes reflecting the sun, but Chester could still see the shadow of distress and sadness lingering in them. "It's going to be okay," he promised as he reached to touch Ryan's face, smoothing his fingers over his scruffy jawline before he sat up. He yawned before he slouched forward, staring down at the white sheet covering his legs. "I need coffee," he decided, rubbing his forehead. "I think I've had enough scotch to last me for awhile."

"You were so drunk," Ryan laughed as he sat up, shoulder to shoulder with Chester. "By the time you passed out, you weren't even making sense."

Chester rolled his eyes. "I don't remember that." His head bolted up. "Fuck," he hissed, frantically twisting to look around. "Where's my phone? Did I tell Mike I was staying over?" He tossed the sheet away, ready to snatch his pants from the floor to see if his phone was in the pocket.

"Hey, hey," Ryan rushed to say, reaching for Chester's bare back. "You called him, Chaz. It's okay."

Chester's legs were already hanging off the bed, his jeans in his lap as he dug his phone out anyway. There it was, the evidence of his short phone call with his boyfriend the night before. A sigh of relief hit him. "I need to go home," he said, shuffling to pull his pants on as he stood up. "Get your ass up and make us some coffee. We'll go home together." He scooped his t-shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head.

Ryan watched as Chester fixed his clothes and rubbed his forehead with another long yawn. His attention hit the place around Chester's neck where the spiked collar had been the night before, and he glanced to his side; it was still sitting on the nightstand. "I don't know if I should go," he stated as he reached for his phone. He pulled up his home screen, and his heart sank. There were no messages from Jason. "I don't think Jay wants me there."