The Degenerates - Under Edit

t h i r t y s e v e n

"You figured it out, didn't you?" I asked Trey.

We sat underneath the hotel duvet on the small rectangle balcony of the hotel room. Whilst it was freezing, I had to layer up on my own clothes and Trey's jackets so I didn't become hypothermic whilst we sat open in the night air.

"Not immediately, no." Trey answered, running his hands over mine to ensure they weren't going to freeze off. "It was when Theo tossed me in the back of the car, when he went back for James."

Trey's disappearance was one more thing I had on my list of discoveries this week. Where did he go, why did he go – how he is even alive. I had so many questions, but I had to trust that he would come to me, knowing that I would both want and need to know.

"Where is James?" I asked him quietly.

"Buried. They won't find him." Trey answered.

I sighed, "How did you do it? How are you okay?"

Trey looked at me, his eyes were slightly sad. They glistened in the moonlight, "I thought that if someone were after me, and they saw me in the warehouse, they'd assume I were dead, and everything would stop. If I stayed dead, things would go back to normal. You would be okay, Lila can grieve, Theo can leave town. It made sense."

I shook my head, "But I wasn't okay. I needed you."

"No you didn't," Trey smiled, "Look at everything you did without me. You even broke Theo's jaw,"

"He would have killed me if you weren't there,"

"Likely." Trey responded, "I stole an oxygen tank,"

I whipped my head toward him, bewildered, "What?"

"I had to, I couldn't breathe on my own."

"Trey!" I shoved him with my elbow, "Why can't you be normal? Just go to the hospital."

Trey laughed, "If I were normal, you wouldn't like me. Besides, I can take care of myself."

I groaned mockingly, faking exasperation. But he was right, I secretly adored his rebellious nature.

"I stitched my face, realised Theo broke my eye socket, and I laid low. I was going to leave, for good. But I had to be sure, I had to be sure this person was gone."

I stayed silent whilst Trey explained, "Theo contacted me, said you had information. I couldn't leave yet, I had to know what was happening first. I was going to meet him in the motel room,"

"How did you know I was there?" I asked him.

"I didn't," he said, "I heard crashing and I had gone in expecting Theo had caught whoever it is, but lo and behold, I find you throwing a chair at him."

I pressed my hands to my face, "I'm not good at fighting,"

Trey started laughing, "It's fun to watch back now, but I was very concerned at the time."

We stopped laughing and just paused for a moment. It was near five in the morning, and the sun should be rising soon. I just wanted to enjoy every second I had with him, because I was never sure when they'd be my last.

"Are you still going to leave?" I asked him quietly.

He answered with a simple, "No."

I couldn't ignore the relief running through me, but I kept my composure, "Why?"

Trey looked at me, eyes shining, and he didn't say anything. This time, he didn't need to.

-

We arrived back to campus in Trey's SUV. We needed to get his car and go back to the apartment, showing the police that he was okay, like nothing had ever changed. It was risky though, we really had no idea when this deranged person would show, and we had noted that both times a shooting has occurred, it had been dark.