Hurt

Hurt
Chapter Seventy-Two

DEEP DEEP HURT

Lucian sat by the window, taking sip after sip as he waited for Artemis to return. It was past 1am. Earlier, he’d gone grocery shopping to stock up the kitchen because Artemis had nothing in those drawers, except cereal. 

He'd downloaded a bunch of cooking videos and recipes to guide him with dinner. He never had to cook for anyone before so he had no special skills but this time he didn't want to serve Artemis bland or just anything edible.  

He put in a lot of effort to make it work and hoped it would pay off, but now, he didn’t even care about the food and just wanted Artemis to come back to him safe. 

Another shot of vodka went down his throat. He barely felt the burn. Alcohol was simply not enough to distract him from the clock. 

1.17 am. 

Artemis wasn't answering his calls. He wasn't answering the texts either. Lucian's thumb hovered over the screen before locking it again.

He forced himself to stop. Both Terry and Laura had asked him to give the boy time. And space. He couldn't force Artemis to just accept his presence here. It was better to wait, even if it killed him. 

But with the time flying past, all he could think about was how this was his fault. How the attention and love he was now fighting for was once showered on him. How much of a fucking dick he was. 

A pair of headlights flashed through the dark streets. Lucian was on his feet before he realized it. His heart lurched, hoping the boy had finally come home but then it closed and drove past the apartment building. 

His shoulders sagged in disappointment.  

“Idiot!” He let out a dry laugh at himself before sinking to the floor. How long was he going to bear this?

Another thirty minutes crawled by. The carefully prepared dinner had gone completely cold. The noodles had swollen and the soup had formed a thin layer of fat across the surface.

Lucian quietly walked into the kitchen and reheated everything for the third time.

Maybe he'll still eat when he gets back.

2:08 a.m.

The sound of the front door unlocking made Lucian freeze. His pulse quickened and he practically dashed towards the door. 

The door swung open, stopping him in his tracks. Finally, Artemis stepped inside. The sharp scent of alcohol drifted through the apartment, overpowering his usual milky scent. 

Lucian's shoulders instantly relaxed.

Thank God. At least he was safe.

One more minute and he would have gone into the streets looking for him. Every last thread of his self-restraint was tested today. Still, it didn’t change the fact that he was relieved. 

He had barely taken two steps forward when another figure stumbled in behind Artemis.

A young woman. Her heels clicked unevenly against the floor as she clung to Artemis's arm, laughing drunkenly.

"Oh my God..." she giggled. "Your apartment is huge."

Lucian stopped dead. For a long second, he took in her appearance. A stylish bra with a bum that barely covered her ass. Her red hair was a mess and she had freaky tattoos. She was hot. 

Really hot. 

No one spoke for the next couple of seconds. Artemis slowly lifted his droopy eyes. They locked with Lucian’s instantly. 

There wasn't a trace of drunkenness in those steel-grey eyes. In fact, it twinkled with amusement. Like he was seeing something interesting. 

"So..." Artemis drawled, slipping an arm lazily around the woman's waist. "Looks like my roommate stayed up waiting for me."

Lucian's throat tightened. The way Artemis said those words painted him a fool. His heart squeezed. 

"I was making sure you got home safely," Lucian felt like an even bigger idiot for offering an explanation. 

"Really?" Artemis laughed softly. The taunting sound twisted the knife already buried in Lucian’s chest. The woman glanced curiously between the two men. The tension didn’t get past her.

"Who's he?" She asked, disregarding what Artemis said earlier. 

"My roommate."

"That's all?" she smiled politely at Lucian. "Hi."

Lucian couldn't even force himself to respond. His eyes remained fixed on the hand resting around her waist. It felt strangely familiar. That hand… It used to reach for him without thinking.

Artemis noticed exactly where Lucian was looking.

His lips curled.

Artemis leaned closer to the woman, his eyes resting provocatively on Lucian. 

"So..." he murmured loud enough for Lucian to hear, "my bedroom's this way."

Lucian's fingers clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms. The woman’s giggles made it even worse. Artemis dragged the lady along completely ignoring Lucian.

“Did I tell you, hickeys look really good on you?” Lucian heard him say. The woman giggled again.

“Oh, I bet they do with how carefully you made them,” she snorted. “I'm going to freaking bite you and ride you till…” the words faded as they disappeared towards the rooms. 

Lucian remained on the spot, unable to bring himself to move. He'd thought of all kinds of things before he came here, but not once did he consider the possibility of Artemis bringing another person home. 

The apartment suddenly felt suffocating.

His gaze drifted to the dining table.

Two plates. Two glasses. The candles he'd awkwardly lit after watching a tutorial online had almost burned themselves out. The food... It had gone cold again.

A hollow laugh escaped his lips. "So this is what it feels like..."

For several weeks, he'd been the one walking away. The one pretending not to notice the devastated expression on Artemis's face. The one convincing himself it was for the best. Now fate had simply switched their positions.

His chest ached so badly he almost thought he was having a heart attack.

A burst of laughter echoed from upstairs. Lucian flinched instinctively.

Suddenly, coming to Easton seemed like a very terible idea. He could not deal with this pain. He could not stomach the hurt. Not even a little bit.