Lessons In Love: Chapter Seventy-Three: West Coast (Part 3)
The younger Stephen kept hearing a phone ring. He didn't need that much sleep, but once he stopped fooling around with Tony ... he was out.
The two of them wore themselves out, and they were sleeping good. Pretty friggen good was the choice of words for Tony. They slept through three phone calls from the front desk, and two people knocking on the door.
The checkout time for the rooms was 11 AM, and the current time was 11:36. The hotel management was trying to get a response from Tony and Stephen.
Victor was worried. He was outside the room that he slept in, and he gathered all of their things by the car. He didn't understand the situation.
Stephen left the room and he never returned. Victor did fall asleep, but he woke up a few times. Stephen never slept on the other bed, and he was with Tony the entire night.
Victor didn't know what to do. He was with the hotel management as they knocked on Tony's door.
It felt very... official. Victor was reminded of all the police and medical crew at his home in Nebraska. He also remembered feeling very worried. Victor had no idea what happened to his sister, so he felt the same way in that moment.
Stephen finally woke up. He cursed pretty loudly and dragged himself off that bed. Stephen started getting dressed. Tony groaned loudly against his pillow. His sexy dream was interrupted. Tony stretched his growing legs and scratched at his arm. He was wearing Stephen's shirt, and feeling very lazy.
"Tony get up."
Stephen's voice was loud. It was the first time he had ever heard his voice in that tone. Whoa whoa whoaaaaa... Tony shot up when he heard a million knocks on the door.
HOLY FUCK SAUCE. Tony grabbed for his jeans. He slipped them on just as Stephen opened the door. He wasn't wearing his shirt. Stephen couldn't find it anywhere. He forced his shoes onto his feet as he spoke. Clearly Stephen was really freaking out.
"SORRY. We're up. We're gone."
Stephen's voice almost boomed when he wanted it to. He ignored the hotel manager and looked directly at Victor. His little brother looked upset. The sun was all up in Stephen's face, so he brought his hand up to shield his eyes.
Tony was kinda dressed. He didn't unpack a single thing, and he was too busy freaking out to take off that shirt. Stephen's dark shirt was still on his chest when he grabbed for his suitcase.
Tony carried his shoes and he decided to just bolt out of the room. YAH BYE. He was gone. Stephen glanced back in it for a moment. The room was a mess, and he declared the shirt to be a loss.
He made it to Victor and tried to fix the situation. Stephen apologized for "all of that" and asked him if he slept ok.
Victor wasn't confused anymore at that point. He looked over at Tony. He was by the car, and he noticed Stephen's shirt immediately. He also noticed that Tony's room only had one bed.
"I slept ok."
Victor hugged on the jacket that was in his arms. Stephen tried to play it cool. He felt odd about his shirt so he started looking for his suitcase.
"We'll get some breakfast, then head out. Sound good?"
Stephen saw his suitcase by the car. He gave his little brother a hug, then Victor watched him head over toward the car. Stephen finally noticed WHO the hell was wearing his shit. STEPHEN SAW HIS DARK SHIRT. He looked very pissed off for half a second.
He said something that seemed rude. It had to be rude, because Tony threw something at him and told Stephen to can it.
Victor thought of only one thing. He watched those two squabble and only one word crossed his mind.
Weird. Stephen was acting weird. Tony was acting weird. He thought that the whole random car ride to California was WEIRD.
They were even weirder at the restaurant. Victor picked his seat at one of the tables. Tony and Stephen sat close together. Stephen had all his clothes on, but Tony was still wearing his shirt. They squabbled over the menu and just seemed very... together.
The way they sat seemed so, together. The way the spoke to each other also seemed very, together. Victor was puzzled over all the weirdness as he peeled the white paper off of his straw.
What the hell happened? His brother was with, a guy?
Victor started sipping his lemon water. He didn't know what to do in that moment. His young face was on fire. Victor's confusion kept waving back and forth.
Tony finally said something that took the focus off of all the WEIRD. He asked how they could prepare themselves for the older Stephen.
They were training with him in six days. Tony wanted to know how bad it was going to get. Victor and Stephen looked at one another. How bad was it going to get?
"Oh. He's going to make you wish for death. My older self is pure evil."
"He's scary."
Victor had to chime in at the end. Tony's jaw dropped down to his lap. What the shit? He's evil? Scary? Wish for death?
"But HE is YOU.. hello?"
Tony thought what he heard was totally crazy. He looked at Stephen with a disgruntled look on his face. Stephen wasn't smiling at all, until Tony started looking at him.
They almost leaned toward one another. Victor gulped because they acted like they were gunna...
Whoa, Tony snapped himself back into the conversation. He cleared his throat and kept himself from kissing Stephen. They almost slipped up right in front of that baby Strange. Victor looked so cute and confused.
Tony thought of that as he sipped on his iced tea. He started chewing on his straw as Stephen turned all of his attention toward his brother. He had to completely ignore Tony, because he wanted to get another hotel room with him.
That was not happening. He needed to get him to California, then focus entirely on his family.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading. I've given you so many chapters this week. Enjoy!
