Jaxon clutched the pie and stepped away from the closed door, almost scared to move so that Ian wouldn't be encouraged to call out to him.
Sighing, trudged back to his living room when it seemed like the other had gone.
Well, his life was falling apart slowly but at least he still had pie.
He had to fight the urge to reach up and touch his neck, marching to the kitchen to get utensils which he would use to eat the pie.
Thoughts knocked at the edges of his mind but he knew better than to let them in, settling in front of the television to give his body nutrients.
As expected, his mind kept wandering and he could not say what happened in the show he was watching even if his life depended on it but at least he easily cleared up the contents of the pan.
He cleaned up after himself and went for a shower because it wasn't like he could go back to work, Virgil would be happy to hear that he had decided to end his day early at least.
The Alpha was always pointing out the fact that he worked too many hours and he should take well deserved breaks more often.
It wasn't like Jaxon was a workaholic, he was just used to this way of life.
It still took some reminding for him to remember that the Alpha was around now and active and he didn't have to shoulder all the responsibilities of the Pack like he used to before Virgil stepped up as the Alpha.
Trying to avoid looking in the mirror while in the bathroom was an effort in futility so it did not take very long for Jaxon to catch a glimpse of himself.
As if entranced, he drifted closer to the mirror, telltale red spots on his neck.
A trembling hand reached up to touch the reddened skin and the first thought that came to his mind was how much he wanted to smack Leon and Darian.
What were they thinking? Giving him visible hickies like this, what if he had bumped into Agnes? Every member of both Packs would be aware before the end of the day, he would never live that down.
He knew that he should probably be worried about other things like the fact that Leon and Darian had wanted to give him hickies and acted on that, it made his world tilt a bit that he had to crouch low so he wouldn't pass out again.
Or maybe it was his lack of nutrition, Mae would kill him and then she would tell his sister and then somehow the entire Pack would still find out that he had fainted because he forgot to eat.
It was bad enough that he would be making everyone worry even more than they already did, it also meant that everyone would be trying to feed him or get him to eat at every moment of the day.
He was going to accept that the reason he blacked out was because he had not eaten for the whole day, no other reason was acceptable. Hell, no one was even going to find out what he had been doing when he blacked out.
If anyone wanted to know, he had wanted to get something from a shelf and lost consciousness, that was all.
Right?
Ugh! He had just realised that he was still crouched on the ground, he really needed to stop occupying his thoughts with the two Head Warriors.
What had happened was probably in the heat of the moment and if he pretended like it didn't happen, then it didn't.
He was not going to try to read deeper into their actions because that would only give him migraines and ruin his already wrecked sleep schedule even further.
He got up to his feet, he would gather up his hair and wear a shower cap to keep the water out of his hair.
He had washed the dark red locks that morning and didn't have the mental fortitude to wash it again.
As he slowly gathered up his hair, the state of his neck became more evident and all he could think of was Leon helping him daily to do exactly just that, a warm sensation accompanying the thought.
He shook himself out of it, perhaps a little too violently because Leon always did that for him, why did it feel different now?
He had to constantly shake himself out of his distracting thoughts even as he absently showered, his mind wandering every now and then, warm water trickling down his pale body.
Afterwards, he slipped into one of his countless knitted sweaters, pulling on pants.
It wouldn't hurt to get a nap in, well other than the fact that it would fuck up his sleep schedule but he would pick that anytime over these new thoughts of Darian and Leon that just wouldn't leave his mind.
He dropped by the kitchen to eat some fruits to go with the pie, he would make sure to eat a big dinner to make up for somehow forgetting to eat till it got so late.
He finally got into bed and perhaps having Darian and Leon lick marks into both sides of his neck was cathartic because he found himself falling asleep the fastest ever since his insomnia became prominent.
~*~
Ian stood frozen behind the slammed door for a few seconds before shaking himself out of it, marching down the hallway in search of his twin.
He looked exactly like Leon and at the same time very different and it wasn't because of the different ways they chose to wear their gold locks or the very evident lack of tattoos and piercings on Ian.
Leon looked at the world with twisted ice blue eyes like he expected to be rejected and avoided while Ian was more or less the more responsible twin, that became evident as they grew older.
Ian could only tell of one person who could do that to Jaxon, he didn't even need to think that hard… it was definitely his motherfucking twin.
He could easily guess where Leon would be, the balcony at the other end of the fourth floor, the one no one ever really came to.
"What the fuck did you do to Jaxie?" He asked immediately he sighted the other, stepping onto the balcony.
Just as he had been expecting, Leon was lounging on one of the aesthetic benches, cigarette in hand.
The sight of that made him frown, Leon rarely smoked… to be honest, he hadn't smoked ever since Jaxon came back from college and found out.
Ian had been trying to get his twin to quit for so long and Jaxon had managed to fix him without even trying too hard.
Ian wasn't jealous, he was mostly relieved that at least someone could get through to him.
"Why the fuck would you think it's me?" Leon asked without heat, staring out into the wide forest beneath.
"Who else would it be?" Ian sighed, stepping forward to smack the still smoking stick of cigarette from his twin brother's lax hand. "I thought you stopped smoking."
"I did." Leon replied immediately, distracted eyes flicking briefly over his brother before returning to scenery watching. "I just lit it and watched the smoke because I wanted to pass the time and I can't even see Cherry."
Ian's eyes narrowed at this, sharp sense picking up something underlying. "Why can't you see Jaxon? Is it because you're the one who gave him hickies? Who am I kidding?" Ian threw his hands up in exasperation. "Of course it's you."
"Again, assface, why the fuck would you think it's me?" Leon drawled, pushing back his hair that the slight draft up on the balcony blew in his eyes.
Ian huffed out a breath, his patience wearing thin. "Idiot, we have the same face and I can't believe you're asking me that, you're sitting there looking like roadkill and going on about things like you can't see Jaxie and I'm not supposed to be suspicious of you?"
Leon gave Ian his full attention. "You think I would be here looking all beat up because I gave Jaxie hickies? Fuck no, I'd be in his bed…."
"Wait, wait… you don't mean…" Ian trailed off, looking thoroughly stunned. "But if it wasn't you then who was it?"
"Hold up, I never said it wasn't me."
Ian gaped at this. "What the fuck?"
"It wasn't just me though." He tagged on, looking awfully serious and sober which was a strange and unsettling look on Leon.
Meanwhile, Ian's look of surprise only deepened, thrown aback with each word that left Leon's lips.
"What the hell do you mean it wasn't just you? What the fuck happened?" He demanded in increasing apprehension.
Leon got to his feet in a burst of emotion, anger darkening the blue of his eyes. "Fucking Darian, that's what happened."