Greyson felt like he was having a middle school relapse when he confined himself in the bar bathroom alone. Luckily it was a one person bathroom, so he didn't have to worry about someone walking in on his pathetic and angry state.
In all honesty, he was annoyed beyond belief. Louis's "dominant" behavior in public never used to get him this much. Greyson felt that if he sat in Louis's touch for one more second he would start screaming.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened Instagram. He just needed to calm down and pathetic distractions usually did the trick.
He scrolled mindlessly through various posts. Chappel Roan's latest concert, Conan Gray's, a recipe for some protein waffles, and… Derek?
Greyson paused. He had forgotten that he had followed Derek's main page.
Was it for a healthy food recipe? Greyson pondered for a few moments but found no such memory. He shrugged.
The video of Derek's was 'What I Eat in A Day' and it was posted just a few minutes ago. Still, despite the video's youth, it had a couple thousand likes and almost a hundred comments. Derek's follower count of five million didn't lie.
The caption is what caught his eye the most, besides the high protein diet above. It read: Sorry for the lack of post last night, I got happily interrupted while editing last night haha
Greyson pursed his lips. Had it been him that interrupted Derek's work? He recalled seeing a laptop on the coffee table when he was over Derek's.
Curious, Greyson opened the comments.
At first, it was an array of thirsty millennial women and teenagers, then other gym freaks, and even a few other influencers. Greyson didn't know who they were, he wasn't the most active on social media, but with the way their reply had more than twenty replies under it, he could tell.
Greyson sighed and turned off his phone. He had been in the bathroom long enough for Louis to press him about it later. Though, he felt strangely calmer now…
He exited the bathroom and nodded to the probably drunk man who entered the bathroom soon after. He spotted Charlie and Rowan in the same place he had left them, but Louis was nowhere near.
With a raised brow, Greyson walked over to Rowan and Charlie. Perhaps this would seem fine usually, but this was Louis missing. Louis, who only cheats when drunk.
"Hey, uh– where did Lou go?" Greyson asked Rowan and Charlie.
Charlie sent Rowan a quick and anxious glance. But it was Rowan's worried look that ultimately raised red flags in Greyson's head.
Greyson took a long sigh. Was being faithful really such a difficult thing?
Some part of him believed or maybe hoped it was a different case. But hope many more screaming fights were needed to drill the severity of infidelity into Louis's head?
Greyson sighed, Rowan and Charlie looked at him with pitiful eyes. Greyson wanted to gouge the pity out of them.
"Just tell me straight." Greyson requested with a hint of malice.
Rowan clicked his tongue, "So you know."
"Not that I'd like to." Greyson nodded.
"I-I'm sorry…" Charlie mumbled with an unneeded guilty tone.
Perhaps Greyson was making an odd face to earn an apology.
Rowan raised his hands as if to prove himself not guilty. "I always try to talk him out of it, y'know. Rowan seemed… nervous? Did Greyson look scary right now?
"I'm not gonna like… hit you guys or anything, just tell me where he went." Greyson tried to control the onslaught of emotions from showing in his voice.
Rowan seemed relieved at that and nodded, "Just out front, I think… Maybe in the car already…"
Greyson hummed and turned towards the door.
"We'll cover your tab." Rowan said as Greyson marched towards the door.
Greyson couldn't find the thanks in him to reply.
–+–
Derek exited the gym almost the same as he left it. He waved at his latest client with a real smile as he got into his car. He enjoyed his job most of the time.
The whole Instagram thing was more a hobby and/or side hustle. It brought in a couple hundred and free PR packages of gym clothes and protein bars every month. He truly enjoyed being a physical trainer, though.
He loved seeing struggling clients find love in working their bodies clean. He loved watching people turn their lives around. It was really inspiring, in all honesty.
He smiled the whole couple minute drive home, thinking about the smiles his clients left the gym with. Perhaps it was just innate in him, the want to make people smile. It honestly checked out, with the whole influencer business.
When he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment, his smile was almost immediately whacked off his face. This was a usual occurrence.
In his apartment he felt lonely. He lived alone and had been for the past four years now. Derek did not recommend coming out to religious parents at eighteen… He chuckled slightly saddened at such memories.
Perhaps getting a dog would make him feel less lonely…
He pondered on the thought as he traversed up flights of stairs. He pondered and pondered until familiar shouting was heard from the corner of his ear.
He was long familiar with Greyson's shouting, but as he reached his own apartment door, he heard a yelling voice he heard very rarely: Louis's.
Would they finally break it off? Derek wondered, though it was more a want. It was tiring for their whole floor, the fighting. But also Derek had ulterior motives.
He was interested in Greyson.
If Derek wasn't chatting up a client or co-worker at the gym, he was thinking of Greyson. At lunch when he drank some pre-packaged tea, it all reminded him of the night before. Derek wanted to make Greyson smile too.
Didn't that mean you were into someone? He figured so.
Though maybe he wasn't? Derek didn't have a long history of crushes.
He found some male celebrities attractive and sometimes stared too hard at other men at the gym, but crushes were slightly foreign to him.
In his past relationships, though they never lasted longer than a year, he was always the one asked out. And everytime he would carry a more experimental look on the relationship in attempts to decipher if he truly found the other attractive in the crushing way.
He usually didn't. Which is why he was slightly sure that this was an actual crush. Derek had never thought about the same person for so long. And as cheesy as it sounded, he was slightly giddy for the next chance he would be able to see Greyson.
This had to be a crush, right?
He hummed along to such thoughts as he listened to the screaming match commencing before his ears.
It seemed intense, more so than usual.
Someone about being too touchy in public and… making out with other guys. Derek always felt a little bad when he heard Greyson call Louis out for such things. He felt guilty for listening to personal relationship issues that weren't his own.
But then again weren't these walls too thin for Derek to fully shut them out? If apartments across the floor could hear them fight, Derek was to hear it the loudest.
A thud.
Derek paused where he stood.
There was a sudden silence from his neighbor's apartment following the thud.
It wasn't a loud thud, so only Derek and the apartment on the other side of theirs could hear it. But Derek heard it.
The next sound that came was the door opening with a harsh slam against the wall. Even Derek flinched at that.
–+–
"Get away from me!" Greyson's voice was louder with the echo of outside. "Don't you dare take a step closer to me." He pointed an accusatory and shaky finger towards Louis.
Louis stood drunk in the doorway of their apartment, looking at his own hands with a completely destroyed expression.
Louis, in the midst of his angry and drunk fit, threw the item nearest to his hand. He happened to throw it too close in the direction of Greyson. The item was car keys and they happened to strike Greyson under his eye and against his upper cheek.
Louis's hands shook, and he took a slow step towards Greyson with an apologetic expression. "Grey… Grey– I'm sorry…"
Greyson shook his head and took a step away.
His face hurt and his right eye was teary with pain.
Was it blood or a tear that ran down his face? He didn't know.
His attention was on Louis, who took another step towards Greyson.
"Don't leave me… Don't leave me…" Louis muttered, probably not even there anymore.
Greyson was scared. He was scared looking at Louis. Louis had never seemed so big.
"Please– back away from me, now." Greyson spoke, trying to sound as vicious as he had before.
"Grey, you– you can't leave me..!" Louis practically screamed.
He rushed Greyson, forcing the frozen other into a tight and forceful embrace.
Greyson couldn't move. His arms felt weak with overwhelm as he tried to push himself out of the hug Louis held him in.
"No!" Louis yelled in reaction to Greyson pushing away.
Greyson flinched as the volume and Louis squeezed tighter.
"Get off…" Greyson huffed, pushing against Louis's arms. "Now, Louis! Get off of me!"
Another stream of liquid rolled down Greyson's face and he was sure this time that it was blood. Louis had made him bleed.
Louis had hurt him. Louis, the boy he'd known since his youth, had physically assaulted him. Louis was forcing himself onto Greyson. Louis had made Greyson bleed.
So stuck in trying to process the information, Greyson barely registered the fact Louis was now off of him and on… the ground?
Greyson's vision was blurry with panic.
"–reyson!" A voice that wasn't Louis's called.
Greyson turned to find the source after double checking that Louis was fully on the ground and a good distance away from Greyson.
Derek.
Derek? Greyson's mind was foggy when someone that had to be Derek wrapped a blanket around Greyson's cold shoulders. He wasn't sure if he said Derek's name. He wasn't sure of anything. He wasn't sure of anything.