Chapter Thirty-Seven

I wake to voices humming around me, a throbbing in my leg, and unwanted coherency.

"Tone it down," Mark's voice comes from my right.

"It's noon," Bethany says back from further away in the room. "The doctor said she'd come back and try to wake him at twelve if he was still asleep."

"He needs rest to heal," Mark's voice is threatening.

I raise a hand to scrub my face, head aching.

"Kyle," Mark's voice softens immediately. "Hey. How do you feel?"

I do a quick stock take of my body and am far from impressed at what I find. "Half asleep even though I'm awake," I try to explain, and the words to form the sentence come slow. I drop my hand, see Bethany and Eddie on the couch opposite my bed, but I turn my attention to Mark at my side.

"Drowsy?" Mark says. "They upped your sedation during the night. You kept waking up and trying to get out of bed."

I blink. "I did?"

"You told me I was super annoying."

"I didn't say that."

Mark leans in, lips folding into a soft smile. "You said if I really loved you, I would kiss your dick."

A snicker comes from the corner of the room and my face catches fire. "I did not say that."

"And you said we should move in together."

"I…I could have said that, actually," I say. I take in Mark's dark eyes and soft smile. "What did you say back?"

"I said, I'd love to. And that it's only allowed to be the two of us, no brothers allowed. Which you agreed to."

"You took advantage of your drugged boyfriend to extort a promise?" Bethany asks, raising an eyebrow.

"My drugged boyfriend was trying to take advantage of me," Mark says, his tone is smug. "Which I would have happily allowed if I wasn't worried about him moving around too much." He glances at Bethany only a second before his gaze darts back to my face. "Are you sore? Should I ask the doctors for more painkillers?"

I'm a little worried that more painkillers will mean more…trying to get into Mark's pants. I'm not exactly in an appropriate place for that, especially with I'm sure dozens of people coming in and out every moment ready to hear me. "It's not too bad," I tell him. I look across the room at Eddie. He has a bandage covering his temple, and his eye is swollen up, almost entirely shut. "Eddie, I want to—"

"You've thanked me like ten times already," Eddie smoothly interrupts. "You've told me I'm a great guy, that you really like me, and you've said it enough times to get Mark all pissed off with me just for being here."

I turn to catch Mark giving Eddie a vaguely pissed off look.

"Mark."

The expression vanishes from Mark's face, and he turns a soft smile to me. "It's okay, Kyle. I'm grateful to Eddie, too."

"Not so grateful you haven't told me to get lost every time Kyle falls back asleep," Eddie says. He leans back on the couch, all relaxed, with Bethany at his side. He doesn't seem one bit phased by the lethal glare Mark levels at him.

"Mark's just mad because Kyle is thanking you instead of edging him," Bethany says, voice sly.

Eddie grunts his agreement.

Oh god. The remark tells me everything I need to know about what I've been saying. And vague memories resurface of me asking Mark for a blowjob. I cover my face with a groan. "I don't want anyone near me anymore when I'm on painkillers," I complain.

"It's okay, babe." Mark squeezes my hand. "Bethany's just teasing you. You've slept almost the entire time. You didn't answer my question. You're sore?"

I mean, I am. My leg throbs. I feel like I'm bruised everywhere, with different parts of my body aching. But it's not too bad. Now that my drowsiness is wearing off, I'm able to compartmentalise the pain mainly to my leg, and it's dull, not immediate. "A little."

"I'll get the doctor." Mark stands.

I hum. "No, it's not that bad. I'd rather eat something and have something to drink. Something sugary."

"On it," Mark promises quickly. He bends over the bed, planting a kiss on my forehead before straightening. "I'll be two minutes, and I'll tell Chris you're awake. He was out talking to Damien."

Bethany stands as Mark leaves the room and she claims the seat he vacated.

"You scared me," she says.

"I know. I'm sorry." I say. "Your boyfriend's really cool."

Eddie perks up. I think he loves any mention of being Bethany's boyfriend. I'm going to say it every time we talk. I'm going to mention it every single chance I get.

"He has his moments," Bethany agrees. "Your boyfriend, on the other hand, is a menace."

"I'm sure he was scared, too." And Chris. Somehow, I wasn't all that scared. I knew they were coming to get me.

"He is so controlling, I can barely believe it," Bethany huffs. "He was really playing it cool before if this is what he was hiding."

"He's just feeling protective because of what happened," I say back. Even though I also think Mark is controlling. Or…more so he likes being in charge. I think he stopped holding back when he realised I don't mind being bossed around a bit. But I kind of love seeing him so open and comfortable.

Bethany and I exchange a look. I think she gets it. She sees that I know he's controlling, and don't mind it. She huffs again and sinks back in her chair. "Watch him chase me out of this spot when he comes back in," she says.

"Your boyfriend is cool," I say again. Eddie puffs up, and Bethany rolls her eyes as she fights a smile.

"Enough of the compliments. They'll go to his head." Bethany says back. "Tommy messaged, by the way. Won't stop messaging, actually, but he had to go to work. His dad got into an accident, so he has to cover. Once you're up for it, I know he'd really appreciate a phone call."

"Eddie!" A loud voice cuts through Bethany's sentence. A carbon copy of Eddie strides into the room, going right to his side and bending to hug him. "I've been looking all over the building for you. You can't just tell me you're in the hospital and then not be in your room when I get here. That's sadistic! I have Mom and Dad blowing up my phone asking who you beat this time and if we need a lawyer."

It's Eddie's brother sitting next to him. The student-teacher from primary school. My first crush.

Leonard.

Bethany's gaze shoots to the side and she pointedly frowns. A fist clenches my insides and I follow her gaze to my heart monitor; watching with her as the number spikes into the triple digits.

"Kyle, are you okay?" she asks me.

Her voice draws Eddie's knowing gaze as well as Leonard's. I meet his eyes. It takes a second, maybe two, before recognition blossoms. Leonard goes rigid and grips his brother's knee. His throat works over several times before he can swallow.

He turns to Eddie. "Please tell me you didn't put him into a hospital bed?" He speaks quietly but in the silence of the room it carries. His voice is brimming with stress.

Stress I feel. Stress I…stress I am letting go of. Stress I don't need to hold on to anymore. I can't be hurt like I was in the past. I have Mark. I have Chris. I'm safe.

"Eddie helped me," I say, seeing that Eddie is struggling to figure out what to say. "My brother is the one that hurt him."

Mark strolls in. He draws up, dark eyes flashing to Leonard. Half a second later, he's looking at me and then the monitor. "You know," he says, "this is a private room for my boyfriend." He walks into the centre of the room and plants himself between me and Leonard so I can no longer see the man. "And my boyfriend is supposed to be resting, not being kept up by average-at-best looking guys."

I blink.

Bethany leans toward me, her eyes on Mark's back. "Any chance you've hooked up with Leonard before?"

"I had a crush," I admit.

"Mark's such an asshole," she mutters.

"We're moving in together," Mark adds. To nobody. Literally nobody asked. Nobody even spoke.

"Mark," I say. "How about you sit down?"

Mark takes a step back and sits on the end of the bed, making sure his torso is positioned between me and Leonard. I still can't see the guy, and I'm not even slightly tempted to try to peer around Mark.

"This isn't the same Mark you're friends with, is it?" Leonard asks Eddie.

"Somehow," Eddie says. "We should go out. Kyle just woke up, and you might stress him out if you're here."

"It's okay, Eddie," I say. "I'm fine." And when I peek at my heart rate monitor, it's coming right down to earth again. I am fine. It's not a lie.

"Get out," Mark says, blunt and mean.

"Mark , come on."

The door opens, and it's Chris that comes in next. He draws up short, clearly picking up on the tension in the room immediately.

"He's—" I hear a rigid note in Leonard's voice. He stands up, and Mark is no longer blocking him from view. Leonard glowers at Chris. "You assaulted my brother?"

"No, my brother did," Chris replies calmly. "And he is in police custody now. Eddie interfered in my little brother's assault, and thanks to him, we were able to resolve things quickly. This is for you, Eddie." Chris offers a plastic bag to him.

"I told you I don't need any thanks," Eddie's voice is gruff.

"Bethany, would you mind taking it for him?" Chris asks.

Eddie snatches the bag before Bethany can even look at Chris. I stifle a laugh. One comment about Chris being good looking and Eddie hates Bethany being in the same room as him.

Chris represses a grin.

"My boyfriend is trying to sleep," Mark puts in.

Leonard glances at me. I meet his eyes, and again I see that stressful edge grow. "Are you okay?" I ask.

Mark turns to me in surprise. "Is he okay? Why wouldn't he be okay?"

"He had a hard time before, too," I point out. Appreciating now more than I ever really did how tough that situation must have been on Leonard. His first time in a teaching post and two weeks in, he was facing grooming accusations and police questionings.

"I'm uh, fine," Leonard says. "Yeah, I'm fine." He has more confidence the second time he says it. He clears his throat. "Eddie, can we…?" He gestures to the door.

"Me and my boyfriend are picking out a house, so yeah, best you leave," Mark says pointedly to Leonard.

Bethany laughs as she stands, grabbing Eddie's hand on the way to the door. "Leonard, I'm Bethany. How about we all grab lunch? I can tell you how Mark's such a terrible boyfriend that Eddie had to step in, and how now Kyle really fancies Eddie and—"

Mark is on his feet, but Chris blocks his threatening advance on the laughing Bethany.

Mark glares at Chris until the door shuts. And then he takes a step in, getting in Chris's face. "I said that me and Kyle are picking out houses." His tone is frigid; a clear get lost . Chris doesn't take a step back. He doesn't avert his eyes, staring Mark down.

All I can think is, we're back to this ?

"Did nobody bring me food?" I ask.

Mark startles. "Oh." All his attention snaps to me. "Yeah, on the way, babe. Let's get you sitting up for it."

Mark strides to my side, and Chris joins in to help get me sitting up with as little movement as possible. Mark positions the fold-out table over my lap and makes sure nothing is catching or pinching.

"You're acting silly," I say when Chris goes to the door to let in the nurse with food.

Mark continues to adjust my blanket without looking at me. "He's super ugly. I can't see how you ever had a crush on him."

I roll my eyes. "He's not—" I stop, deciding against telling Mark that I think Leonard is good looking. "I liked his personality."

"His personality is crap."

"Mark," I groan.

"It's always Mark, Mark, Mark with you."

"Mark!"