On the bright side, later that day, he had his band practice and without the guitar lesson maybe he could actually be on time and throw a couple more hours of work for their final rehearsals. Their show had actually been moved to Sunday, so that gave them a couple of days more to prepare.
The waiting felt longer than he thought, though. It was incredible how much he had gotten used to Matt coming over for practice. The silly talks and easy laughs between them had found a way into his routine that he just now was noticing. Now, the afternoon felt empty and seemed to never end. Not even watching the guys playing at his store was distracting enough to keep him from staring at the clock. Then, the afternoon only got worse when he was painfully reminded that he wouldn't share a nice meal that day.
Ordering delivery just for himself always seemed like too much of a hassle, so today it was back to his beloved frozen food. Lasagna and mashed potato with roast beef stared back at him from his freezer. It was a tough decision when neither of them was half as tempting as the sushi they had the previous day, but it would suffice.
Waiting for the food to be ready, he changed his clothes and stared at the chair where Corey would sit whenever he decided to join them. Apparently, the guy was a whole universe of little quirks by what he had gathered. Just the night before Matt had told him his soulmate only ate what he cooked himself after he had offered him some sushi and the guy looked at him as if he was serving him a dead mouse. Corey only ate things he cooked from scratch and it didn't include any kind of fast food or overly processed food.
Suddenly AJ had a new found respect for his student. Being able to handle such complex situations with his partner was not for an ordinary person. It sure as hell wasn't easy. The first time he had met Matt, he had seemed a little lost and childish, but now, he always looked mature and in control when it came to his soulmate. He never doubted once to fulfill any of his requests even when he didn't voice them, Matt just seemed to know what he needed or wanted beforehand and was ready to comply at all times.
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud banging of the store door downstairs. It sounded as if someone had decided to kick it down. His heart raced to his throat trying to remember the plan he and his uncle had designed for the potential robbery, but his mind was blank.
The banging got even louder, pressuring him to make a quick decision. He forced himself to breathe and think clearly as he began to descend the stairs. He grabbed the bat that his uncle kept hidden behind the counter and braced himself for what was to come.
The banging grew sloppy and desperate, a mix of kicks to the wooden lower half of the door and banging to the glass that kept shaking at every hit. This was not looking as much like a robbery anymore. In a rush, he glided between the aisles until he reached the door. It wouldn't last longer if the banging continued.
His eyes went wild. He wasn't ready for the scene in front of him.
His legs threatened to betray him but he pushed once again for another step. The door shook under a new set of banging, urging him to move faster.
On the other side of the door, an imploring figure stared back at him. He had his hands against the glass like suction pads. It was a young guy with messy blond hair that breathed fast. His burning red cheeks and sweaty forehead gave the impression he had been running for a while. The guy didn't say anything, but looked to his right and the urgency in his expression was evident.
There was something out there and he was running away from it.
The guy started banging at the door desperately between terrified looks to his right. Whatever was chasing him, it was closing on him. Ignoring the million alarms that rang in his head, AJ opened the door and was immediately attacked by a crushing hug that had him pinned with strong arms grabbing his t-shirt at his back and a face trying its best to hide on his chest.
What the hell?!
Confusion burst in AJ's mind. This could still be a trap. It wasn't unheard of that some people used distractions to make people open their doors so it was easier to get in. It didn't make much sense in this neighborhood, but it was still a possibility.
The guy kept crushing himself against him as if he was trying to fuse their bodies. If it was an act, it was a damned good one, by the way he kept trembling and pushing against him. AJ's eyes darted from the guy clinging to him to the door, half waiting for a two meters high monster to show up, but nothing happened.
He reached the door with the little freedom the guy was giving him and closed it. He seemed to relax slightly after hearing the doors closed, but kept himself buried on his chest.
This was the first time anything remotely similar happened. He didn't know if he should even touch him in fear of messing up with some sort of evidence if he had been attacked.
Something happened to this guy. I have to call the police—
His train of thought got interrupted once again by a new set of banging on the door. Both guys jumped startled, but the little one broke out in sobbing immediately. AJ frowned at the new man behind the door; dressed in ragged clothes, disheveled hair and crazy eyes fixed on his prey, he didn't even notice AJ before he started kicking at the door once again.
"Help me…," the blond guy mumbled between sobbing. "Please," he repeated in a broken whisper that got goosebumps all over AJ's body thinking of what could have happened for him to be so terrified of the guy.
By instinct, he pushed him behind and felt him hold on to the fabric on his back with the same ferocity he had done before. The sob quickly turned into crying with each new blow of the man's fist against the door. He was rabid, making the glass of the whole wall tremble with each strike. The glass was going to break soon if he didn't stop.
"That's mine!" The man grunted making no sense, but pointing clearly towards the shaking body behind AJ. "Give it to me!" He added another set of kicks on the lower half of the door, sending the trembling guy stumbling back and running like crazy, crashing against everything on his path to what he deemed safer.
As if a switch had been turned on, AJ locked his eyes on the attacker and strode toward the door. The crazy guy was no match for an angry sober man and he knew it well, so the first steps AJ took in his direction, he stepped back.
"Who the fuck are you?" AJ questioned opening the door, but the guy was running down the street before he was able to catch him. He confirmed the street was empty by taking a quick look around.
That was only one problem solved. He still had to find the trembling guy that was hidden somewhere in the store. But as agitated as he was, it was likely he would cause more damage than good, so he took a deep breath to calm himself and let it out softly.
"What the fuck was this…?" He rubbed his forehead and got distracted by a familiar accessory laying down on the floor.
Right at his feet, where the crazy guy had been standing before, there was a black face mask. The kind that—
No way.
He ran inside, not forgetting to lock the door behind. The store was a mess, there were keyboards on the floor as well as some stools laying around, tracing a path directly towards the counter.
His mind was running a mile per minute. That crazy guy had had the mask on his hand the whole time and he hadn't noticed because he was too busy trying to make sense of what was happening. Now his head was about to explode from all the blood rushing up, making his temples beat.
The musician kept his steps slow and steady not wanting to freak the guy more. The closer he got to the counter, the louder he heard the sobbing and his heart broke a little more at the sight.
There, balling on the floor, clutching his legs with white knuckles and hiding his face on his knees, he found the crying guy. He was shaking now, maybe sensing someone was next to him.
What the hell happened? Where is Matt? What should I do? Will he cry and try to run if I get any closer? But I have to check if he's alright, maybe he's hurt. I should probably call someone, the police, an ambulance…
Heaving brought him back to the present and out of his panicking mind. Corey was no longer crying; he was struggling to breath and his hands were now shaking in replacement of the strong grip he had of his clothes before.
His eyes opened wide and tried to look for the source of whatever his mind was conjuring for him. His brows furrowed as some realization came to him and the shaking on his hands started to spread all over his body.
AJ stared at the scene not knowing what to do. Every attempt he made to get closer to the boy got rejected by sheer panic on his features as he tried to get away from him by recoiling his legs even more, only to find the hard cold wall behind him.
Corey's hand turned to grab the clothes on his chest and squeezed tight as his breathing became shallower minute by minute, the color totally abandoning his face. AJ's own heart had started to race at a rhythm that had him dizzy and looking for something to hold on to.
What the hell happened to him?