At first, Raine was tempted to simply not open the door. Through the window however, he noticed that his friend had seen the Reaper on Blaise's Harley, for he pulled his gun. He wouldn't leave before he had seen someone.
He stepped away from the window. Blaise had jumped up, his breathing went fast, announcing a panic attack. By reflex, Raine laid a hand against his lower back.
"Hey, I got this. Don't panic. Go upstairs and turn on the shower; I'll tell him there's some hot chick waitin' for me."
"Wouldn't he want to see her?" Blaise asked in a tiny voice.
"I don't care what he wants. I'll talk myself out of this." He searched for Blaise's eyes, which were wide in panic. "I got this," he stressed. "Wait upstairs until I get you, okay?"
On a whim, he pressed his lips against Blaise's, then he gently pushed him towards the stairs. His mouth was tingling and a blush crept to his cheeks, as he realized he had kissed the man right before his sister's eyes.
Blaise ran up the stairs, at the same moment the door bell rung. His eyes shot to Rosa, who answered his glance in surprise.
"Axle can't know," he told her. "That I'm friends with a Fox."
"Friends, huh?" she asked with a slight smirk.
"Knowing that I'm in love with him will only make things worse," he added.
He was shocked by his own words. Quickly, he headed to the hallway, while he tried to shake off all his chaotic thoughts. Was he really in love? A few days ago he had been doubting it; he thought that it was just curiosity or a longing to some close friendship... but was he in love?
It didn't matter. Not now. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.
"Hey..." His glance slid across his friend's face and rested upon the gun. "What's that for?"
Axle looked past him. "Is there a Fox inside? I swear to god – if they're threatening Rosa..." He began to walk past him, but Raine stopped him by pushing a hand against his chest.
"It's not what you think. Rosa isn't in danger – and you know she hates weapons."
"Then what is that bike doin' there?" Suspiciously, Axle looked him in the eye. "You act fuckin' weird."
"Skye took it. The girl I'm dating. Her car was actin' up, so she borrowed her boyfriend's bike."
Axle's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "What the hell? You fuck a Fox’s old lady?" He started to laugh. "Fuck, this is hilarious."
Raine relaxed a little. He leaned against the doorway. "That's why it's all so mysterious. They've been together for a while now, she wanted something else... but she's not sure she wants to break up with him." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind. I like the tension."
Axle's glance slid back to the bike. "Who's her boyfriend?"
"I think his name is Blaise."
Axle chuckled. "Yeah – I'm not surprised. Always found him a pussy. If he doesn't know that his girl is gettin' banged by someone else, he's even more stupid than I thought. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a faggot. No wonder he can't keep his girl satisfied."
Raine's jaw tensed. If he'd felt guilty about lying to his friend's face, the feeling was gone now. His fingers clenched into a fist, but Axle was too self-inflicted at his conclusion to notice.
He walked past Raine and headed for the living room.
"She's showerin'," Raine said. "She came right after work. She's working with weak-minded people – she always wants to shower because she's covered in saliva or somethin'."
"Weak minded people," Axle chuckled. "No wonder she's into Blaisey."
That was the last straw. He grabbed his friend's shoulder and swung him against the wall. Axle's head hit a picture frame, which fell down and scattered on the ground.
"What did you say?" he grumbled, his face close to Axle's.
Axle pushed against his chest. "Don't get all riled up man; I was jokin'. I didn't mean you're retarded too because she's interested in you. Although I'm second guessing that now, asshole."
Raine took a deep breath. Anger was still churning inside him, but if he didn't want to make things worse, he had to keep himself in control. He stepped away from Axle, who gave him an angry glare. Raine swallowed – he better not fuck this up.
"Anyway, I'll wait until she's done showering." Axle continued his walk to the living room and kissed Rosa's cheek while greeting her.
"I promised her other things than your ugly face when she's done showering," Raine answered. He glanced at the clock. "We have a little more than an hour before her boyfriend expects her home, so I'm not going to waste my time by satisfying your curiosity."
Axle wiggled his eyebrows. "No, bet you'd rather satisfy her. Fine – show her that Foxes are inferior to us in bed, too. Dating a Fox's old lady – you're fucking crazy, you know that?" Axle laughed, slapping his shoulder. "I love it. You better not start a war over a girl."
Raine shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like they're married or something. Now – fuck off. I got better things to do, and Rosa is too tired to listen to your bullshit."
Axle turned his head aside. Rosa's head was leaning against a pillow and her eyes were half closed.
"Sorry Axle," she said quietly. "To me, 8 o'clock feels like midnight."
"Sorry," Axle said quickly. "Next time, I'll be here earlier, okay?"
Rosa yawned and nodded, giving him a weak smile.
Raine bit back a smirk and walked Axle to the door.
"Well – have fun tonight," Axle smirked.
"Thanks."
He closed the door before his friend could add another word. In the hallway, he waited until Axle took off, then he returned to the living room.
"Thanks," he said to his sister. "I thought he would never leave."
Her eyes were worried. "If this comes out... that's a really bad thing, right?"
"It is," he sighed. He ran a hand across his head, then he gestured to the stairs. "I'm going to tell him the coast is clear."
He went up the stairs, walked past Sasha's bedroom and the spare room he was using. Blaise wasn't there.
Probably, he had believed the bathroom was the safest place to stay. The door wasn't locked, so he swung it open. "He's gone..."
"Dude!" Quickly, Blaise turned away from him.
For a few seconds, Raine was frozen to the spot. Not for a moment, had it occurred to him that Blaise might really take a shower.
"The door wasn't locked," he said with a grin. "Was this an invitation?" With his shoulder, he leaned against the doorway. Through the foggy glass, he could see the outline of the backside of Blaise's body.
"No," he answered. "Get outta here."
Chuckling, Raine took some steps back and closed the door. He went to his room, sat down on the bed and listened to the water that was pouring down. His heart rate sped up as he thought about the image he had just seen – and worsened as the longing to join him in the shower was filling him.
It didn't take long before the water was turned off. A few minutes later Blaise entered the room. Apart from his feet, he was fully clothed.
"I didn't know you were actually showering," Raine said, who didn't want Blaise to think that he had wanted to spy on him.
"I had to do something, I was freaking out. Taking a shower often helps."
"Well – at least I now know you have a nice ass," he teased.
"Could have told you that myself," he answered with a cocky grin, surprising Raine and making the blood in his veins boil. Something stirred in his stomach; something making his fingers tingle because he was dying to touch the man. "So what do you think? Can I sit down next to you or will that be risky, on a bed while you undoubtedly have all kinds of impure thoughts about me?"
Raine's throat felt dry. His somewhat arrogant demeanour was a fucking turn on. "I'll keep my hands to myself, but I can't do much about those fantasies."
Blaise sat down next to him. "As long as you keep 'em to yourself."
"And what if I don't?" The atmosphere around them almost crackled with electricity as he looked Blaise in the eye, leaning into him and whispering: "What are you gonna do if I tell you about all the things I wanna do with you?"
The man didn't look away. "Then I will remind you that sharing those fantasies would be very inappropriate within a friendship."
With a frustrated grunt Raine fell back on the bed. As wise as his former words had sounded, right now he wanted to forget about them; he wanted to surrender to the strong feelings Blaise called up. He didn't want to be sneaky;he didn't want to have to lie to his friends.
He felt how Blaise turned towards him. "You okay? You think Axle suspects something?"
"No, I told him I'm dating your old lady. He liked the idea, and I told him we had one hour before she was expected home."
"Smart move. What was he doin' here, anyway?"
Raine shoved a hand underneath his head while he kept staring at the ceiling. "Yesterday he noted that it had been at least a week since I'd gotten laid, so I told him I was dating a girl. He kept digging and for some stupid reason, I told him she would meet my sister today."
"You haven't gotten laid in a week?" He sounded surprised.
There was a nasty feeling in his stomach at the thought that Blaise clearly had fucked around.
"Why not?"
"Why do you think," Raine grunted.
Blaise didn't answer.
"I'm in love, too," he admitted. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I realized it a moment ago." Sighing, he sat up.
Blaise studied his face. Raine wasn't happy about his discovery – there was no missing that. "Okay," he said eventually. "Well – it doesn't matter, right? That doesn't mean something needs to change."
No, it indeed didn't change anything. Nobody would ever accept them. They would have to hide their relationship their whole lives, and he didn't want to. Staying friends was the only choice they had – even though he wanted more.
"I hate it," he said quietly. "It feels like we're living in the fucking Middle Ages. One of us a believer, the other a heretic." He rubbed his face and let out a deep sigh. "Oh – and we're also gay. As if we wanna be sure there's place for us at the fucking stake."
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