Change For A Twenty?

Greyson, a college-aged liquor store worker, paced back and forth behind his apartment kitchen's island. His black hair was ruffled by his frustrated hands as he started with angry eyes at the guilty looking man before him.

The guilty man was his boyfriend, Louis, whose face was flushed with booze.

"Again, Lou, again! This is the third time I've caught you smashing faces with some other fucking manwhore!" Greyson's voice was filled with an emotion that could only be described as furious.

Louis shook his head where he dejectedly stood. "Baby, baby— don't do this to me—" He tried to speak but Greyson cut him off.

"No! don't even try to 'baby' me! How many more chances do I have to give you until I look like a pathetic piece of crap who can't stand his ground?! Huh?" Greyson cursed. 

He knew the neighbors could hear. They lived in an apartment, he and Louis, and they often got noise complaints for their fighting. He knew the old lady next door neighbor would scold him the next morning. But he was done, angry, and just wanted to sleep. It was 1 A.M.. 

"I imagined he was you… I imagined he was you and—" Louis hiccuped like the drunk man he was., "Look— Grey, I promise I didn't mean it…" His words slurred and his breath stunk of alcohol. 

Grey shook his head in purebred disbelief. He rubbed at his temples for a moment, leaning on the counter as his legs felt weak with exhaust. 

Louis walked closer to Grey with his hand outstretched. Grey shook his head back and forth still, unresponsive.

Louis took Grey's wrist and lightly tugged it in his direction, forcing Greyson to look at him. Louis's attire was a mess. His shirt collar was ruffled to show collar and his jeans were wet with alcohol. There was a wound on Louis's lip from a rough kiss. Greyson didn't give rough kisses. 

"Grey, baby—" Louis begged with emotion in his eyes.

Greyson snatched his hand back. 

"Don't touch me!" He practically screamed, looking at the sheer want and guilt in his boyfriend's eyes for just a moment. 

Louis placed one hand on the counter as if to ground his drunken and emotional state. He clenched his fists and audibly grunted into the counter. Louis, with the force that kept him standing, kicked a dent into the counter's lower cabinets. Greyson flinched as the counter audibly shook at the force.

Greyson turned and reached for his phone. He dashed towards the door where his wallet and keys were. He felt unsafe. Though Louis never laid a hand on him, he felt as if he would be next. Perhaps it was the emotion and the distrust Greyson had in his boyfriend, but he was scared and that's all it took for him to swing open the front door with shaky hands.

"Where are you going? Are you leaving? Grey, don't leave me..!" Louis practically ran to Grey, begging as his lover left through the front door with a loud slam.

At that moment Louis burst into tears and Greyson could hear it through the closed door. Louis cried loud: during sex, when they fought, when Greyson threatened to leave. Though Greyson could care less in that moment and was already storming down the hallway in a fit of rage. 

The night sky was just barely visible from the outside of their third floor apartment. The outside hallway stunk of the usual weed and smoke. It was practically silent except for the crickets that were… somewhere. Greyson never knew where they hid. 

He was so engulfed in his rage, that he didn't notice just how close in proximity the smoke stench was. He didn't notice the body a few yards down because who else would be out this late into the night?

"Sounds like you need a smoke…" A voice commented from behind, a few yards away. 

Greyson flinched, his overwhelm of emotion making him confuse the voice for Louis's. 

But after a moment, he realized it was his same-age neighbor a few rooms to the left of his, Derek. The man was a similar height to Greyson, though quite buff due to his profession as a personal trainer and fitness influencer. His face was twisted into a small smile, though he seemed to be tired.

"You guys kept me up," Derek joked. "Again."

Moths gathered at the yellow flickering limelight of the outdoor lights above them. It made Derek's light tank top highlight his tight biceps further. 

"Sorry." Greyson bluntly replied, though he didn't sound the part.

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Derek took a long drag from his cigarette.

Greyson sighed, he turned back into the direction he had planned to walk originally. If all this man had was sly comments, he didn't want to hear it. As he began towards the stairs, Derek whistled.

"Don't get mugged down there!" Derek called, laughing to his own joke just as loud. 

Fucking prick. Greyson rolled his eyes. He was too angry to care about that stuff. He could fight off a million robbers with his anger right now. 

His phone buzzed in his hands. He knew who the calls were from. Who else would be desperately spam calling Greyson so late into the night? Greyson got a glimpse of his phone, unwillingly, but his eyes trailed anyway. 

He saw Louis's name plastered on the screen, flashing with the background photo of he and Greyson at a birthday dinner a few weeks prior. Louis had his arm around Greyson's shoulder as Greyson pressed a loving kiss to Louis's cheek. 

Greyson looked at the photo. 

Greyson wanted to cry. 

Greyson missed when his boyfriend didn't cheat on him every Sunday when he was feeling a little too drunk. Greyson wanted his boyfriend back. 

–+–

"You look like shit." Elise, Greyson's co-worker, commented when Greyson slammed his belongings onto the table. She tied up her purple dyed hair with a small smile. "Lou, again?" 

Greyson ignored her. "Nunya."

Greyson pulled out his phone camera and looked at the state of his face. He had eyebags due to not getting a lick of sleep. He came back to the apartment sometime around 5 A.M. and Derek wasn't there when Greyson returned. 

Louis was passed out drunk on their bed when Greyson got home. He was still in his clubbing clothes and had red rings around his eyes. He snored away as if exhausted. Greyson looked at his boyfriend with a somber look of both anger and pity. 

Greyson slept on the couch that night, though just for two hours before he had to go to work. 

He looked like a mess, didn't he? 

Elisa chuckled, but noticed Greyson's annoyance and decided not to press further. "We have new stock in the back. Some frat raided us of our rum and coke selection right before closing last night."

Greyson nodded with a hum, trying to fix his messy hair with his hands. 

Elise watched his struggle with a sigh. 

There was a beat of silence. 

"You should leave him." She advised quietly, slyly. 

Greyson flipped her off.

"Fuck off."

Elise raised her hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry…" 

–+–

"Augh..!" A woman, tens of pounds to be healthy, groaned loudly as she lied upon a yoga mat. She was trying to do a curl-up. 

Derek looked at her with encouraging eyes. "Come on, come on! This is the last rep!" He spoke while wearing another tank top that hugged his six-pack tightly. His black gym shorts hugged his upper thigh muscles. 

The woman pushed through with another grunt, collapsing onto the mat after the rep. Her breath was heavy, but there was a smile on her face. 

"That… That was tough…" She spoke through exhaustion. 

"And you pushed through it." Derek replied with an encouraging fist. 

She nodded with her smile growing wider. She looked at Derek for a moment, almost quizzically. 

"I don't understand, you really have no one waiting at home for you?" She asked, not necessarily interested in Derek, but curious. 

Derek nodded, "Nope, not looking." He replied, grabbing a set of dumbbells from a rack. 

"If I were ten years younger I would've wanted to snatch you up," She chuckled, "As if someone with your looks would even want some old hag like me!" She broke out into a tired laughter. 

Derek let out a small chuckle. 

"What are you? 23?" She asked

"22." Derek corrected, signaling for her to stand for the next exercise. 

She sighed, but stood with some struggle. 

"So you got a bunch of years to find a girl to settle with…" She said, taking the weights from Derek's hand and getting into the familiar stance for lifting. 

A girl… Derek wanted to scoff. He shook his head, excited for the Grindr hook up he had later that night. He would both be able to escape his neighbors loud fighting and release some of the sexual frustration that had been building up.

–+–

Elise hummed as she leaned against the cashier counter of the empty liquor store. On Mondays it was usually this dead. She took a big yawn, hearing the clattering of ice bags near the exit, where Greyson was restocking ice. 

The bell on the door rang, she flinched up and put on a customer service smile. 

Her customer service smile fell once the person who entered came into view. 

About 5 '10", in failed-y2k clothing, brown hair so dark people often mistake it as black. Louis. Louis just entered the store. He held a small bouquet of flowers, likely from the florist a few doors down. Elise wanted to roll her eyes. 

Louis looked frantically around the store. His eyes searched the shelves for something… or someone. 

"Oh, Louis! Can I help you?" Elise asked with a fake face. 

Louis looked to the store, then at Elise. He slowly nodded after a moment of awkward silence. He clicked his tongue and checked the time on his phone. 

"Uh– yeah– Where's Grey?" He asked, confirming Elise's suspicions. 

She sighed. She really didn't want to rat her friend out to his scum of a boyfriend.

"He's taking his break." She lied. 

Louis checked the time on his phone again. He shook his head before looking back to Elise. "No… That's… It's only 10 A.M. right now!" He shoved his phone in Elise's face. "He takes his breaks half past twelve, I know it!" 

Shit… Elise clicked her tongue. Would she have to be blunt with it?

"Look, Louis– I don't care what goes on in your relationship, I really don't. But just keep these… affairs… out of work hours? We close early on Monday's, just– don't you have class?" Elise became a little more honest, hoping it would drive Louis out before Greyson was finished loading ice. 

Louis rubbed his head anxiously. His other hand was actively scratching at the side of his fingers. He was an anxious mess and Elise felt slightly bad. Louis was definitely good-looking and that's probably why he looked so… pitiable.

Suddenly, the man slammed his hands on the counter, seemingly angry now? He was a whole head taller than Elise, so she slightly flinched at the shadow that was cast over her. 

"Don't… Don't meddle in our affairs! You're not his partner, I am!" He practically yelled through slight voice cracks. 

Louis was towering over Elise now. 

Elise gulped. Greyson definitely heard now…

"Hey! Hey! Get away from her or I'll call security!" Greyson yelled, running from his place by the ice and not fully registering just who the other was. 

Greyson stopped running once he spotted Louis, towering over Elise intimidatingly. He sucked a deep and shaky breath. 

"You… You– get away from her!" Greyson yelled, with a shaky finger pointed in Louis's direction. 

Louis's eyes grew with both relief and surprise when he saw his boyfriend. He immediately took a step away from Elise and instead took a cautious one towards Greyson. 

"Are you crazy? You have classes right now, why are you here?" Greyson asked, last night's anger flooding back. 

Louis shook his head, "I couldn't go. I couldn't go, Grey. I– I… All I could think about was wanting to fix this. Okay? I don't– I don't want you to leave me…" He spoke, instability showing through the way his hands shook by his sides. 

Elise watched the sight with wide eyes. What in the manipulation was going on here? "Louis, it's work hours. Please leave or–" She began, just to be shut up by Greyson signaling for her to shush.

Greyson pursed his lips, looking at the wall and not Elise. The wall wouldn't judge the words he was about to say. 

"Grey, Grey– I need you… I love you…" Louis continued with his incoherent rambles. 

Greyson knew what was happening. Louis was having a panic attack. Due to their highschool sweetheart status, he knew Louis's poor mental health better than anyone. He clenched his fists. 

"Lou…" Greyson began. He knew Elise would be disappointed, so he avoided looking at her. 

Greyson went and engulfed Louis in a hug. "I didn't– I was never gonna leave you." He admitted through gritted teeth. And it was true, as much as he hated to say it out loud. Greyson loved Louis. 

They met each other's physical and sexual needs. They both understood each other like books. They've known each other since they were kids, Louis had asked Greyson out a few months before their senior year. They were there for each other in the hardest parts of their lives. Greyson couldn't imagine living without Louis in his life. 

Louis returned Greyson's hug at his words. 

"I love you so much Grey… Grey…" Louis whined on Greyson's shoulder.

Hesitantly, Grey padded Louis on the back. 

"I love you too." He replied.