Moral of the Story {Lights down Low part 2}

Adventures in America Part 3: Comforting

                 Shouto’s day started normally. He woke up with Hanta, got ready, and went sightseeing with the others, all without checking social media. Before he got far, Zodiac paled, which seemed impossible considering how dark she was. And yet, she turned as pale as Shouto was while she stared at her phone. “Zodiac? What’s wrong?” Hanta asked, tilting his head slightly. She blinked, long and slow, before giving Sero her phone. On the half-dimmed screen of her Samsung, was a Facebook post. There was a picture of a group of women, grinning on the laps of a similar group of males. Shouto’s eyes widened. He knew who they were and he didn’t need to look closely to recognise. His heterochromic eyes flicked down to the caption, and he narrowed his eyes as he read it. With our new boyfriends! Snatched these cuties from a slut! They agree that we are better ofc. Tag a whore who needs to get off of your man!.  There were over 1000 retweets and comments. He clutched the phone tightly. Whore? If anyone was a whore, it was them. Camie read it over his shoulder. She scoffed. “I never realised that man-whores were real. Disgusting.” Sero nodded. Inasa scowled as he read the comments, which were about how whores are just useless and filthy, man-stealing, monstrosities. He glanced at Shouto. There was a mask of indifference on his face, but tears were pricked in the corners of his eyes. “Why…?” He thought. The feeling was just like drowning. The hatred filled his lungs. He couldn't breathe. The questions of his friends were inaudible as he ran back to his apartment. Why did they hate him so much? What did he do? Was it his fault that he fell in love too fast and fell for the wrong people? Before Shouto knew it, he had locked himself in his room, and was curled into a ball on his bed.
 
           Hanta cursed as his new boyfriend ran. Those damn thots. If anyone was a whore, it was them. He had gone after him before he knew it. They had only known each other for 5 months before dating, but he had a strong sense of protection in his mind, like the thought of him crying would tear him apart. The ravenette threw himself in his Cadillac and sped of towards the apartment, slamming the door open and running up to his floor. “Shit!” He cursed as he jiggled the handle. Shouto had locked himself in. Sero sighed. “Sho?” He called, hoping he would hear the boy on the other side of the door. “Y-Yes?” He croaked, throat stinging from crying and whining. God, he sounded terrible. “Baby, please. Tell me what’s wrong. Let me in. I swear on my life that I will never hurt you. Please. I just want to help.” Hanta pleaded. Shouto pressed his throbbing skull to the door, listening to his boyfriends breathing. ‘Does he mean what he said? Is he lying?” The peppermint male’s thoughts ran wild. “No.” He stilled his mind. Sero was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar. Shouto opened the door. 

    The duo sat silently on the bed, with the tension in the room thicker than gumbo. Shouto quivered before he wrapped his arms around Sero. He cried. He cried and cried, eyes becoming waterfalls as he told him what was wrong. He poured out his life story and soon enough, Hanta did too. He told the smaller of his adventures, and that when they met, he wouldn’t have changed anything. They sat in each other's embrace, eyes red and puffy, but hearts filled with joy, knowing that they would never leave each other.

            “Whoo!” Zodiac cheered as they came off of the plane. Time passed quickly for the friends, and soon, it was close to New Years. Shouto had now been to many major cities, one of which they were just getting back from. “That was a blast.” Camie said between sips of her pina colada. Inasa chuckled, putting the luggage into the trunk of Hanta’s car. Shouto giggled at their antics. Sero raised an eyebrow at the giggle. “What’re you laughing about, cutie?” The peppermint turned a light shade of red before saying, “I was just thinking about how we’re more like family.” Zodiac whined. “Don’t start saying the sappy stuff until 12 Sho! We still have 4 hours left!” Inasa threw her into the car. Literally. “Don’t mind her. It’s nice that you think that. She just wants to be wasted when she gets to saying her condolences.” He flashed him an apologetic smile, before getting in the drivers side. The couple chuckled, kissed each other on the cheek, and climbed in the third row of the car, prepared for a drive back to New york filled with laughter.

    3 hours later, Zodiac’s house was quiet, the same way it was when Sero and Shouto first kissed. Inasa, Camie, and Zodiac fell asleep after drinking when they got home. The trio slept in a lazy pile on the carpet, with Inasa on the bottom, Zodiac in the middle, and Camie on top. Shouto and Hanta were cuddling on the couch. “It’s almost new years.” Hanta breathed into his ear. The smaller shivered before nodding. ”Is there anything special you wanna do to celebrate?” He asked, a suggestion in his voice. Sero grinned, picking Shouto up and taking him to his floor and locking the door. “I’m sure you already know what I wanna do.” He purred into his ear. Shouto nodded.