CHAPTER 151
CHAPTER 151
The doors slide open with a ding, showcasing the interior of Lucas's penthouse.
Ciel steps into the living room. As he looks around slowly, he mutters a little. “Wow.”
It's a beautiful space with a perfect view but it's also a mess.
There are jackets hanging off chairs, takeout boxes stacking on the coffee table, papers scattered across the couch and floor
“Uh… sorry about the mess,” Lucas says quickly. He walks past him as he drops a set of keys on the sofa. “I haven’t been living here for a while.”
Ciel raises a questioning brow, walking in carefully, not wanting to touch anything.
“Where have you been living then?”
Lucas bent down to pick up some papers from the floor. “Things have been crazy lately and I have been living with Sebastian in his penthouse.”
Ciel tilts his head. “Who’s Sebastian?”
Lucas pauses then he turns, pressing his lips into a thin line. “That’s a very complicated question,”
They haven't made their relationship official yet, he almost isn't sure where they stand other than the fact that they want to be together, so what's stopping them? Yep. Definitely complicated.
Ciel blinks innocently. “Are you going to tell me?”
Lucas offers him a small, tired yet, almost sympathetic smile. “I think it’s better if you remember on your own. You just got out of the hospital, I don’t want to confuse you even more.”
Ciel nods slowly, without argument. He will remember everything on his own. He sits quietly on one of the couches and watches Lucas clean the mess that is his home.
Ciel tilts his head, he tries to think but the only images he has in his head are the one of those old freaks touching him and owning him like some property. Lucas said he was a well known actor, said he was happy with Xerxes, Ciel wants to remember all of that, he tries to ignore it but he doesn't fail to see the pain in Xerxes's eyes. He realizes Ciel doesn't remember him.
Ciel's brain is just struck at eighteen with the body of a twenty seven years old man.
Suddenly, there is a knock at the door.
Lucas sighs, dropping a pair of socks in the laundry basket. “Hold on.”
He goes to open the door, finding the guards they came with. Lucas frowns. “Is there something wrong?”
“You have a guest downstairs. The don has ordered no visitors, so we won't let him in but he has refused to leave. He name is Trent,”
Lucas’s expression freezes for a moment. “Trent?” he blinks. Oh shit..he has completely forgotten about the tattooed male. “Trent isn't dangerous, he's a friend,”
“We don't know that and we can't allow him to come in. I will escort your downstairs to dismiss him,”
The guard isn't giving Lucas any room to argue as he walks off.
Lucas turns to Ciel. “I’ll be back in a minute, alright? Don’t go anywhere.”
“Okay,” Ciel murmurs. Lucas smiles. If only twenty seven years old Ciel was this obedient and sheepish, Lucas wouldn't have had a hard time working for him.
~
Lucas follows the guard downstairs and indeed, Trent stands outside the building with his hands in his pocket, offering Lucas a soft smile as soon as he sees him while Lucas is praying for the grounds to open up and swallow him whole.
Lucas let out a breath. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Trent replies, taking a quick scan of him from head to toe. “You look different.”
Lucas gives a dry chuckle and runs a hand through his hair. “Feels like I’m a different person these days.”
Trent opens his mouth to speak but Lucas cuts him off, wanting to get this over and done with. Trent deserves better, not someone like Lucas who can barely survive on his own.
“Trent, I’m sorry.” he says quickly
Trent tilts his head. “What for?”
“For leading you on. For making you think we could be something. For dragging you into my mess without even realizing how much I was hurting you.” Lucas speaks fast. “I wasn’t honest with myself and that wasn’t fair to you.”
Trent looks at his feet and then quietly lets out his next words. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” he sharply raises his head to meet his eyes.
Lucas meets his eyes and gives a small nod. “With Sebastian? Yes. I didn’t know how much until everything fell apart again but yeah, I love him more than I thought I could. I'm so sorry, Trent. I never meant for it to happen this way,”
Trent gives a small nod. “I figured.”
“I’m a horrible person, I know,” Lucas mutters, voice low. “You don't deserve any of that.”
“Maybe not,” Trent says, his tone calmer than what Lucas expected. “But I guess, love isn’t something you can force. I know that now.”
Lucas looks down, guilt eating through his nerves.
Trent gives him a sad smile. “I’m glad I met you, Lucas. Even if it wasn’t forever. Maybe… maybe in the next life, I’ll get a real shot.”
The lump in Luca's throat becomes too painful to swallow. “Trent-” he begins but gets cut off.
“It’s okay,” Trent retorts, taking a step back. “Goodbye, Lucas. I hope you will be happy.”
Without another word, he turns and walks away without looking back.
Lucas says frozen in place, watching his figure disappear down the street. What the hell has he done?
Why do things keep getting messier and messier?
~
Xerxes tries to listen to the words being passed around the table, a boardroom full of men but he can't.
He shifts slightly in his chest and then the next moment, he's bringing a hand to his chest.
His fingers tremble, then he coughs out and blood splatters on the handkerchief he immediately brought out from his pockets.
The board members gasps in shock at the sight and mutters among themselves while Sebastian is immediately by his side.
“The meeting is dismissed,” he says firmly, eyes scanning the room when none of the men move. “Now!”
Immediately, one by one, they rise to their feet, grab their files and exit quickly, shutting the door.
Sebastian quickly reaches into his coat and takes out a bottle of pill. “Here.”
Xerxes’s face is pale as he takes the pills with shaking fingers, swallowing them dry. His chest rises and falls unevenly, sweat trickling on his forehead.
“It hurts more than usual,” Xerxes whispers, his voice hoarse.
Death is getting nearer and nearer by the second.