UNMASKED

#12

Sometimes, Eli wondered if Matthew only liked him so much because he loved to annoy the hell out of him, because he sure was good at it.

He'd been in Eli's hospital room for less than five minutes and already Eli wanted to kick him in the shins. Sadly, Matthew was keeping his distance. At least that proved he wasn't completely stupid.

"So let me get this straight," Eli said, gathering what little patience he had in preparation—granted, his mother had just visited, so that was already in low supply. "You just decided that it would be in my best interest to ship me back home with my mom. Without so much as mentioning this to me. And you thought I would agree. Are you stupid?"

Matthew looked exhausted, but that wasn't anything new. It also wasn't nearly enough to make Eli pity him so he just continued to glare.

"I'm not making you go. I'm just saying it would be better if you did. Just for a while."

"No."

"Look, it would just be until I deal with things here—"

"No."

"I promise it won't take long."

"I'm sorry, but what part of no did you not get? The part where I said no or the part where I said no?"

"Eli." Clearly, Matthew was also not feeling very patient that day. Which was really his own fault.

"Fuck off, I'm not going home with my mom." And there went Eli's patience. To be fair, he did try. Matthew was just very hard to deal with at times. Mostly when he wasn't listening to Eli.

With a sigh, Matthew approached the bed, taking a seat on the chair next to it. All the while, Eli maintained his glare fixed on him in the hopes that his very clear displeasure would make him give up. Sadly, that didn't work.

"I just want you to be safe," Matthew said, almost pleading with Eli to listen.

"Well, now you just sound like my mother." Matthew actually groaned and buried his head in his hands in sheer frustration.

"Why can't you be serious about this?" Matthew asked, voice muffled by his hands.

"I am. That's literally what my mom said yesterday."

"Well, she's right." Matthew finally dropped his hands, giving Eli a closeup of the dark circles that seemed even more pronounced since the last time he'd seen Matthew. Clearly, he'd been keeping busy at night. "I know you think I can protect you, but I can't be with you all the time. Not if I want to figure out who's behind all this."

Eli's glare dropped, if only because he could tell just how hard it was for Matthew to admit that he couldn't protect Eli. There was just enough desperation in Matthew's tone that Eli knew he was genuinely worried. Granted, Eli was in a hospital bed. That probably wasn't helping make Matthew feel any better. With a sigh, Eli leaned back in his bed.

"You know, I don't expect you to be there all the time. Even you can't be that much of a stalker." Matthew's lips gave a weak little twitch, almost like he wanted to laugh but couldn't manage it. "But, I already told you I'm not leaving. I told you when you came back that was my choice, and I'm sticking with it. I'm not leaving you, so just do your part and come back."

That finally got a smile out of Matthew, probably because he could tell how much Eli meant it. As annoying as Matthew was, Eli wasn't about to leave. Not after all they had been through. All he asked for in return was that Matthew come back to him. Preferably in one piece.