Curtis toyed with the straw in his cup "It's a bit complicated." He answered after a moment of thought "I used to love him so much and I thought we were in love…" he laughed bitterly "…like a fucking idiot but I was nothing more than his personal prostitute."
Lein and Ethan stared, speechlessly at him, at a loss at how to react to the statement.
Curtis sighed "Sorry, that was too much. I have no friends and so I have no one to talk to." Yea, he was definitely bitter.
"Me... Me too. I have no friends, it's really difficult for me to make friends." Ethan chimed in, hoping to make Curtis feel better.
Lein held up a hand "Same. I thought for once, I was getting along well with someone, but it turns out it was just a set up."
Curtis relaxed a bit "I guess it's good that we found each other then."
"I just can't wrap my head around how Gavin could treat you like that, whenever he spoke about you, it was always with so much love and-"
"Don't sweat it. He just feels guilty, he did put a lot of effort into ruining my life… that much checks out."
"Ah..."
"You guys probably wouldn't understand..." Curtis said with a wistful expression.
"I do..." Ethan said "Before I met Alex, my boyfriend was a… a little abusive."
It was Curtis' turn to be speechless. Lein was even more so, he simply could not comprehend being hit as it was he who usually dishes out punches.
"Does Alexei know this?" He asked with a frown.
Ethan shook his head "It's fine now, I went into therapy when I could afford to an-and I have Alex so I'm fine now." He turned to Curtis "If you feel suffocated maybe you should try it too. I had a really hard time changing cities and my job, but it was helpful."
Curtis gave it a thought "Should I?"
Ethan nodded, enthusiastically.
"You talk pretty well for a shy person." Curtis commented.
Ethan made a triumphant expression "I've been practicing. I want to make more friends at work, but Alex says I can't."
"He did?"
"No-not in so much words j-just…" he twiddled his thumbs "…a few things here and th-there."
"I can't imagine why no one would want to be your friend. You're pretty fun to chat with." Lein commented.
Ethan pursed his lips "Not a lot of people think that…" he mumbled.
The two looked at Lein "Oh… I don't really have any experience worth sharing. Jay was my first boyfriend, and I royally screwed that up."
Curtis pointed to the building "As in Jay? Jay Rockwell, upstairs?" you move in Gavin's circle, and you hear stuff and what he heard was a bit scary. Also, he was pretty sure both brothers had a hand play in the disappearance of his marking scandal.
"Yea."
"Seriously? You guys seemed really relaxed around each other. You broke up on good terms?"
"No…" he shifted uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck "…it was…" he soughed "…yea, I fucked up big time, I don't even know how he can still talk to me."
"He still likes you, Alex… Alex says so all the time."
Lein grew shy when he heard it "I hope he does." He mumbled.
Curtis looked to Ethan "Ethan do you like Alexei?"
"Yes!" He answered without hesitation "I moved to this country to be with him."
"Really?"
"Yes." He had that look of triumph again, nodding excitedly "I'm really glad I did."
"Yea? I'm a little jealous..." Curtis said "...there was a time I would have followed Gavin with reckless abandon. It's ironic, huh?"
"Do you… do you still like him?" Ethan asked.
Curtis turned his gaze to the window "I don't know. All I know is we're stuck together now." He unconsciously reached behind to touch the edge of his mark.
Lein and Ethan followed his gaze, both curious to know what a mark from their partners would be like.
Ethan thought it was unlikely, Alexei hated omegas and he was a defective product. It would probably never happen but maybe, it would be nice to have his mark.
A mark, temporary or permanent, had never really been a consideration for Lein and Jason. Lein had never actually given it any thought, Jason never spoke about it. It was like the concept did not exist in their relationship. It made Lein a little regretful, maybe Jason always knew he wasn't worth it.
"Lein is cool, right? And Ethan is a good kid. Don't you think? I can't believe Alexei would date such a cutie." Gavin started cautiously, his eyes fixed on his dinner plate "...if you'd like, you can meet them again."
"Okay." Like always, Curtis was disinterested, non-committal and lacking energy.
"Did you enjoy it?"
To this, he said nothing but kept eating.
Their dinner continued in silence, like every other meal they shared. No matter how much Gavin tried, there was simply nothing he could do to make Curtis engage with him.
"Curtis, I-"
"I want to try therapy."
"What?"
"Ethan said therapy is good so I want to try it." he stuffed a forkful into his mouth "Heaven knows I need it."
Gavin felt a little excitement stir in him. This was basically the longest conversation they had in months "Sure. Of course. Anything. I'll look into it." He spoke quickly.
"No, I'll do it myself."
"Yea, yea… sure, sure. If you need anything, just let me know."
Curtis fell silent again, but this time his hands weren't moving, his gaze narrowed on the man seated opposite him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Gavin chuckled nervously.
"After I give birth, I want to leave."
Gavin's heart skipped a beat, then another. His excitement was snuffed out "What?"
"I don't want this. I never wanted this."
"I'm trying to fix it. I'll fix everything. Your caree-"
"I don't care about that anymore."
Gavin stumbled out of his seat and to Curtis's side where he dropped to his knees "Please, give me a chance. I swear I'll fix everything."
"After I give birth, I will take my mother and sister away from here. Don't try to stop me."
"Wh-what, what of the kid?"
His eyes were cold and empty "I don't care what you do with it."
"You don't have to stare at me so passionately, if you want my body just say it." he wiggled his brows "I'm willing to give you a show anytime."
Ethan rolled his eyes at the statement.
Alexei laughed as he changed into his nightclothes. He turned around to see Ethan's eyes still fixed on him "So?" He walked over to their bed, staring back almost as intensely "Ready to tell me what it is?"
Ethan drew closer to him "Why don't you like omegas?"
"That's an unexpected question..." He pulled Ethan up, so he was kneeling on the bed. Placing Ethan's hands on his own shoulders, he asked "What brought this on?"
"It's just Curtis... He said he couldn't leave because of the mark and I was wondering-" he stopped when Alexei nibbled on his neck.
"Do you want one?" He asked, his face still buried in Ethan's neck, his hands sneaking under his nightshirt to feel him up "Or would you like to mark me? Either way, one of us gets a mark or..." he nibbled on his neck "…we can both get one. That's hot."
Ethan could actually feel the man's smile against his skin when he said it. "Don't tease me."
"I'm not. I'm as serious as can be." He pushed Ethan in the bed and climbed atop him, staring down at him with bright eyes "Don't you want to? You should announce to the world that you've conquered me."
Ethan pouted and turned away "I haven't conquered anything and that is such an old man thing to say."
"That's not fair Ethan, it's irresponsible of you to treat me this way."
"I didn't even do anything."
"Exactly, you aren't doing anything. You should do something. Heh? Don't you want to do something?" He drew closer, a wicked smile plastered on his face "We should do something."
Since Jason told him he should do whatever he wanted, Lein resumed his never ending stream of messages. Seeing as Jason truly did not mind, he shamelessly did whatever he wanted but that shamelessness was reserved for when he couldn't see the man. When Jason was in front of him, it was a completely different story, he became quite mousey.
Like right now.
"Thank you for taking me home." He mumbled.
"Sure. Your parents seem to trust me a lot."
He laughed awkwardly. Mari clearly did that on purpose, texting Jason to bring him home the moment she found out he was at the circuit.
"You don't have to go along with it."
"Mm."
Lein remained seated.
"Is something the matter? Do you feel unwell?"
"No."
"If you say so."
Lein made no moves to exit the car.
"Rosalein, if you don't get down, I can't leave."
"Then don't leave." He muttered.
Jason leaned in "What?"
The sudden closeness startled him "What?! What? I didn't say anything."
"You said something. What was it?" he asked while suppressing a smile.
Lein's heart almost beat out of his chest, the car became saturated with his pheromones, he went into pseudo-heat again.
Jason's smile disappeared "You were fine just a minute ago, what is happening?"
Lein began to breathe heavily "I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
Jason started the car, ready to drive to the hospital. Lein reached out a heated shaky hands to stop him "I'm not sick, Jay."
He eyed him, clearly doubting his words "You're covered in sweat right now. I can barely breathe because your pheromones are out of control. You were like this last time too."
"That is... I can't help it. When I see you, I just can't help it, and I miss you all the fucking time and-"
"This is not normal. You need to get a proper checkup, if it's because of-" he stopped when Lein's words registered in his head. He swiftly turned his head to him "What?"
"Sorry." Lein opened the door and got out of the car as fast as he could. He felt weak allover, his knees could barely keep him up and the air was barely enough to fill his lungs. His eyes stung. He just wanted to get away. If he heard Jason say another word, he might actually break and he didn't want Jason to see him like that. He was tired of being a pathetic mess in front of the man.
"Get back here."
He turned around to see Jason standing next to the car. His first instinct was to do as he was told, the second was to feel relieved. Suddenly, he could breathe so he ran straight into his arms and held on for his dear life.
"Don't be scared." Mari caressed his cheek "It's just some routine tests. I heard the doctors here are the best."
The night was nothing less than chaos. When Lein went into pseudo-heat, Jason brought him straight to Hanzel's research centre in the city, much like the one at the Glasshouse. He informed Mari and Hank, who rushed over immediately.
Yul frowned, looking at his first test results "What the hell was in that drug?"
Jason stared at the monitors, pensive "It wasn't like this with Alexei."
"No, that one's a freak." She followed his gaze and pointed to a particular indicator "You see this? It's meant to be is double digits, but his glands are working overtime, that's why there's four digits." She looked at Jason "He said this is the second time, both times it was because of you. Just how much does he like you?"
Jason rubbed his forehead "Why is the sequelae so bad?"
"My guess? The formula's changed and his little bender didn't help much. He doesn't even know what he took then." She sent his report summary to the printer "I can keep him here for some days, extract some of his pheromones and see what I can find. The usuals, but he would have to make a stop at the Glasshouse."
The two returned to Lein's room, where Yul explained to the family of three that Lein would have to remain for a few days for further testing "There's nothing much to worry about but you can't take pheromone suppressants or heat inhibitors right now, if you can, please do try to weather the storm." She explained to Lein.
"Thank you." Hank answered, full of gratitude to both Jason and Yul "I don't know how to thank you both. Thank you."
"My pleasure..." Yul answered gracefully "...I do enjoy my job." She glanced at Jason "You stay behind too. I'll need your pheromones as well." she turned to Lein "If it's too much, you can make full use of him. You like him that much, right?" The atmosphere grew heavy after she nonchalantly threw out a rather outrageous statement and walked off.
Mari took the hint and dragged her reluctant husband away.
"Rosalein..." He walked over to the bed, releasing soothing pheromones along the way "... you'll be fine. Okay?"
Lein nodded. Jason was here. Of course, he would be fine, he had no doubt he would be.