"Hi," a familiar voice startled him and made him drop the pen he had been mindlessly playing with for the last couple of hours.
His eyes darted towards the source. There he was, all dressed in a loose beige button-up with his signature equally loose slacks, toes wiggling in his flip-flops and the unmistakably brown leather bag that looked heavier than before. He had to blink twice to make sure he wasn't imagining things; but yes, it was real.
Matt was right there talking to Joe, one of the regulars that had gotten used to seeing the new guy come in for guitar lessons.
After the brief interaction, he turned towards him. AJ still couldn't muster something to say. His mind was suddenly smashed to a useless pulp.
Two nervous eyes shied away from his intense staring as two slim hands clutch the leather strap as if it were the only thing keeping him standing. Matt was trying his best to smile and overcome the increasing anxiety, but AJ, not saying a word, was making him doubt if he should have come or not.
A deep scowl followed the musician's silence when he no doubt noticed Matt was not carrying his guitar with him. He was not there to resume his lessons and probably would be going soon.
Anger flashed in his eyes as he raised his chin and pursed his mouth defiantly, waiting for the guy to come to him. Seeing him squirm in his place, afraid to make his way across the store, had AJ cringing at his own attitude, but unable to change it. He had been waiting for this opportunity for the last two weeks, constantly watching at the door in hopes Matt would show up, and now that the guy was in front of him, he was acting like a prick.
What the hell is wrong with you? What are you even mad about?
"Sorry for not coming in a while," Matt risked a shadow of a smile when he finally reached the counter. "Corey and I have been busy with… a lot." The guy lowered his eyes, clearly remembering something that had his forehead wrinkling the way it usually does when you realize you made a stupid mistake on your last exam.
"Everything ok?" AJ asked with a lot more attitude than he wished for. He was beating himself inside, but he couldn't shake this feeling of wanting to express how wrong it had been to keep him out of the loop.
He had practically spent the last two weeks counting the days, hours and minutes in hopes of hearing about them and knowing if Corey was fine or not; yet, not as much as a word reached him. Maybe it shouldn't, but it pissed him off.
"Yeah, all good." He nodded and lowered his eyes once more. He was lying. "I just wanted to thank you for the other night." AJ didn't reply.
Matt's confidence diminished even more under the musician's narrowed eyes and was forced to look away again, questioning for the tenth time why he decided to show up suddenly. Of course, the musician wouldn't want anything to do with him after he ghosted the man for no good reason.
"How is Corey? He was pretty shaken up the last time I saw him." His voice was still rugged, but Matt focused on the honest concern behind it to calm down and hold on to hope.
"Yeah, he's still a little shaken up." His reply came out more as a reflection to himself, pain and concern laced with every word. There was more to it, but AJ didn't push. "I had to stay behind and assist one of my professors that day. My phone died and I couldn't let him know in time." He tried to hide the shivering; it caused him to remember what Corey must have felt with him not coming back; but, by AJ's softened features, he was failing at it.
AJ's attitude toned down. The anger he felt towards the guy a moment ago had subsided and was quickly replaced by guilt. What happened to his partner was obviously still affecting him. The musician watched with concern the way Matt's eyes had darkened with a new depth he hadn't seen before in him. It almost looked like he had gone to war and back during the last couple of days.
Corey was his life, as he had said so himself. If the way Corey acted that day was any indication of what had happened to him, he could easily picture a distressed Matt going to the extreme to make the blond guy feel better and safe—even at the expense of his own comfort and health.
He couldn't blame him, though. He would probably do the same for someone he cared so deeply. Although he still wanted to know what exactly happened; his imagination had proved to be too active for his own good and had spent the last nights torturing himself with all the possibilities and how he could have been more helpful, or maybe how he had ruined any chance of catching the culprit for not acting on time.
There was just too much he didn't know about everything related to them.
As if sensing AJ's anxiousness to know more, Matt continued. "Corey got nervous when he couldn't contact me," he lowered his eyes, remembering how Corey had told him the overall of what had happened with trembling lips and shaking hands. "He thought I was with you. That's why he came here."
Matt rubbed his face with both hands and let out a deep sigh. The sole memory of how he found it and how desperately he had clung to him in the car made his mouth sour.
"God! I don't know how he made it this far!" The sudden confession had AJ tilting his head, confused. Matt blinked his frustrated tears away before they could fall, but he was quickly losing the battle.
With a quick nod to Joe, who was standing on the opposite wall helping a guy choose a bass. The skinny tall guy with long straight hair went right away, sensing the heaviness in the air when he approached them. After quick instructions, AJ handed him the keys to the store. Joe risked one last quick glance to the two guys disappearing behind the back wall and sighed.
His new task didn't bother him. It was the way the owner of the store seemed more and more involved in business with the new guy that called his attention. It wasn't like him to be the broody worried type, yet he had spent the last few days staring at the door and scowling whenever someone else got in.
Weird.
Back at the safety of AJ's apartment, Matt dropped to the couch and covered his face with both hands once again, rubbing it as if he wanted to clean it off from any possible runaway tear.
The musician made quick work of offering a cold beer before sitting down beside him, silently letting him know he was there for him. He wouldn't pressure for answers, instead he would wait for him to take the lead. After a couple of drinks, Matt took off his bag and started playing with his nails.
After a few minutes of consideration, Matt broke the silence in a hushed voice. "Corey… he can't go out on the street; not by himself, at least." He got lost in thoughts one more time. The confession hit him as if it was his first time hearing it.
"But that night…"
"I know. I don't know how he did it." The waves of his hair fell over his forehead and temples, providing little cover for him, but he clearly didn't care. He kept staring at the nails on one hand, the nails from the other hand dug under them, instantly calming him down. "He just told me he got nervous at home and wanted to come and find me, and… he just went out." Matt frowned as if he was still trying to make sense of the facts. "Can you believe that? What was he thinking?!"
"He was worried for you…," AJ tried to empathize with Corey. "There was a man!" He remembered; a sense of urgency filtered through his words. "Did he tell you about him?"
"Oh, God. I don't even want to think what could have happened if you didn't open the door…" Matt couldn't hide the frustration in his voice. "The guy came onto him; when Corey refused him, the guy grabbed him by the arm and lock his jaw to try and—"
Matt's head fell over his knees and he let out a grunt as his frustration mixed with his impotence to fill him with all kinds of evil thoughts about what could have been if things would have turned out different. Not much different from what AJ had been doing, he too had been torturing himself with the disgusting details and its millions of possibilities. He let the silky touch of his hair between his hair grounded him. The tears threatened to fall, but he wanted to hold strong.
AJ watched the entire scene from the sideway. He suspected there still was much more he didn't know, but also figured out most of Matt's behavior had to do with the impotence of not having been there when Corey needed him.
For what it was worth, AJ had imagined far worse by the state he was in when he came into the store. However, knowing it wasn't the case didn't make it all better. That filthy guy had put his claws on him and tried to force himself on him with enough strength to traumatize anyone. Corey seemed to be even more sensitive than average, so he could only imagine what the poor guy must have gone through.
He beat himself yet again for not catching the culprit and making him pay. He at least would have something to comfort him with instead of just listening.
If I see him again…