The harsh motel lighting made the bruising look worse than it was. The three punches Connor had planted left the skin on Chase's cheekbone torn and bleeding, and it had turned a deep blue under the skin.
"Damn." Chase seethed as he cleaned the wounds, applying Vaseline to them.
Subconsciously, Chase had always known that Connor was that man. Connor Teegs was the one who was pretty much predisposed to a road of crime, alcohol and trashy women. His childhood had scarred him, and he only knew one way of life. It was the road Connor had chosen to travel, and Chase couldn't bear to let him lead it alone. Chase knew he had to find Connor and those men from the bar. He knew he needed to be by Connor's side, to keep him safe, and to be his brother.
Chase paced back and forth around the room for hours. In his mind, he played out every possible conversation he could have with Connor about the decision he'd made.
By morning, Chase's face was red from rubbing his eyes so much, and his hair was dishevelled, sticking up in opposite directions from having run his fingers through it so many times.
"Coffee..." Mumbled Chase as he grabbed his jacket.
Passing a mirror on the way out, Chase caught a glimpse of himself. "Shit! I need a shower!" He chuckled at himself a he stripped down to nothing but his boxers. Grabbing a clean pair, he threw those onto the clean towel in bathroom, and slipped off his boxers.
The scalding hot water of the shower was like aspirin for a hangover. Except for the sears of pain when it hit Chase's open wounds, it soothed Chase's tired muscles, the water flowing down his broadly set shoulders and slender arms.
He flopped his head back, letting the hot water flow through his hair and down his body before leaning down to turn the water off.
The mirror in the bathroom was completely fogged over from the steam of his shower. His body dripped onto the cracked linoleum in the time it took him to step over to the counter and wrap the cheap towel around his waist.
Chase wiped the condensation off a part of the mirror, just enough to see his face. His skin was still red from the heat of the shower water, making his eyes look small in his face. Their light had been drained out due to the combination of alcohol and lack of sleep.
Patting his self dry, Chase tugged on some clean clothes: khakis, a green plaid button-up, with a soft sweater over that. Slipping into his roughed up Sperrys, and slipping his leather wallet into his pocket, Chase stepped out into the sunlight of a 9am sun.
"Now to find Connor..." He mumbled as he went of in search of his best friend to tell him the decision he'd one to, after grabbing a coffee, that is.