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Chapter 25 - After the storm

After falling asleep for a few minutes, the sound of a cell phone broke the silence in the room. Lucian was still asleep on Noah's stomach, his pale face utterly calm as he clung to Noah like a lost child. The phone ringing was Noah's, and the call was from Kai, whom Noah had completely forgotten about and who was probably climbing the walls with worry. Noah picked up his phone and waited a few seconds, trying to get his mind in order before answering. He was certainly in a rather particular situation; he was naked with a guy he barely knew sleeping way too close to his penis.

— "Hello?" — Noah said, watching Lucian, still totally asleep, with astonishment.

"How can he just fall asleep on top of someone else like that? Has he no shame?" he thought, waiting to hear Kai's voice.

— "Hey, are you okay?" — His tone was calm, but it was more than obvious he was worried.

— "Uh... yeah, everything's fine." — The words came out of his mouth, but he didn't believe a single one of them.

— "I'm coming to your apartment. I just got to the station. I'll be there in about ten minutes, don't fall back asleep." — In the background, some cars passed; he was definitely on the main street, close to the apartment.

— "Okay, I'll... I'll be waiting for you here, Kai." — he replied, then tossed his phone aside. He was in trouble.

Kai would be there in less than ten minutes, and his body was practically a sieve. What was he supposed to tell him? What had happened to him wasn't small, but Kai wouldn't understand, especially after his memory had been wiped. One thing was for sure: Kai would hit the roof.

And Lucian? He had to get him out of the apartment as soon as possible; those two couldn't be in the same room. Noah didn't have the patience to deal with both of them at the same time. An image of a Husky and a Golden Retriever came to his mind; those were definitely the vibes those two gave off.

— "Hey, Luc, hey," — Noah said, trying to wake him by gently tapping his cheek.

— "What's up, snack?" — he added, slowly opening his eyes. Blue, as clear as the summer sea, so much so that anyone could get lost in them, but why was he so close to his penis? They had already crossed the line of embarrassment.

— "You gotta go, Luc, I'm sorry. I'll thank you another day." — Noah just hoped Lucian would listen and leave.

— "You used me and now you're kicking me out? Fine, I can accept that," — he said in a pitiful tone, giving small kisses to Noah's abdomen.

— "Stop... sto..." — Without even thinking, he was hard as a rock again. He'd have to be reborn to get over the embarrassment.

— "If you get like this, I'll never be able to leave," — Luc growled, looking at him.

— "Get dressed and go home, Luc. I'll be fine." — Definitely, something had changed between them, and that made Noah's heart anxious.

— "Okay, but I'll be back later, snack," — he added, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

Lucian left in less than five minutes, to Noah's luck. After having rested, his body felt better. He could walk decently and managed to get dressed enough so Kai wouldn't see most of his wounds, but the problem was that his face was completely messed up.

— "See you later, snack," — Luc said as he walked out the door, dressed as he was the night before: black pants, jacket, and black t-shirt. Seeing him, Noah couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

— "Just go. You don't have to come back, just... Thanks." — That last word escaped his lips as a whisper.

Only a couple of minutes passed before someone was knocking on the door. Noah took a breath and let it out with a huff. His stomach hurt just thinking about worrying Kai. He'd had a horrible night where he thought he'd lost Kai forever, and now he had to pretend everything was fine, for both their sakes.

— "Hel..."

— "What the hell happened to your face?!" — Kai's face was a mix of shock and concern.

— "Nothing... I just fell... Come in, don't bother the neighbors, Kai." — he said, pulling him by the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

— "But... Noah, who did this to you? Is someone messing with you? Do you owe money? I can lend you some, I've got some saved."

— "Nobody's messing with me, Kai, and I don't owe money either," — he added, sitting on the sofa, trying not to wince in pain.

— "Then what? What's going on? I just saw a really suspicious guy leaving the building. Who the hell dyes their hair gray? He had scary eyes." — He was talking about Lucian, but Noah wouldn't say a word about it.

— "I don't know who you're talking about, Kai. Just calm down, nothing happened. I just got a little hurt; I'll be good as new in a few days."

— "It's okay if you need help. I'm not just your friend for fun; you're important to me, Noah." — His words felt like a bucket of cold water pouring over his body. He didn't want to worry him, much less hurt him.

— "I promise everything's fine, Kai. You too... you too... You're... important to me." — He wasn't used to getting sentimental, but suddenly images from the night before came to mind. If Kai... if something had happened to Kai...

— "Okay, Noah, I'll let it go for now. I brought you soup; eat a little, so you'll recover faster," — he added, heading to the kitchen.

— "What happened to your bed? It's a mess. What were you doing?"

— "Shut up for a second, Kai," — he grumbled back.

Noah's face turned all sorts of colors. Luckily, Kai wasn't there to see him, or he would have realized that "something" had definitely happened. It was true; he had let Luc... he didn't even want to think about those words, so he buried his face in a cushion, hoping to drown himself.

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