"I wish I knew how to quit you."

― Jack Twist, Brokeback Mountain

Chapter 14

It had been six days and Ciel still hadn't replied to even one of Alois' texts. The blonde was devastated.

And annoyed.

He couldn't believe how Ciel had the nerve to ignore him like that after what they had been through. But he was mostly rueful. All he wanted was for everything to go back to the way it was. It had been going so well...

And six days ago he had received a text. Not from Ciel, but from an ex-boyfriend; one that the blonde wasn't too eager to talk to. But he was hurt enough by Ciel's rudeness and complete lack of empathy to consider it.

The blonde was pacing back and forth, trapped behind the four walls of his bedroom. He had been confined to his room ever since the incident, and had been forced to be alone with his thoughts. And those thoughts were now filling him with heat. If Ciel didn't want him, what was stopping him from talking to his old flame?

Alois shoved his hand down the pocket of his purple zip hoodie, forehead all creased and heart hammering between his expanding lungs. With gritting teeth he pulled his phone out and stared at the screen. This was it.

Alois' eyes were burning and he was already regretting what he was about to do. But he pushed those feelings aside, focused on how horribly Ciel had treated him, swallowed hard and typed a reply to 'Blueberry Cheesecake'.

King of booty shorts: Hey. Sorry about the late reply. What's up?

Blueberry Cheesecake: Ooooh I was starting to think you didn't want to talk to me. I'm on my way to the mall. You?

King of booty shorts: I'm not doing shit. Why did you text me?

Blueberry Cheesecake: I miss you. Is that so weird?

King of booty shorts: Did your little boytoy dump you?

Blueberry Cheesecake: Eh. I got sick of him.

King of booty shorts: And then you decided you wanted to talk to me again? Fuck you

Blueberry Cheesecake: Heyyy don't be like that. I don't deserve a second chance? I'm not a bad guy.

King of booty shorts: You cheated on me.

Blueberry Cheesecake: Everyone makes mistakes.

King of booty shorts: That's a pretty big one

Blueberry Cheesecake: I know I know... I was an asshole. But I really miss you. Meet up with me later? I just wanna see you. I won't try anything I swear.

King of booty shorts: I'm not sure I want to

Alois took a deep breath and let the hand holding his phone fall to his side. He was about to make a huge decision. Either he stayed faithful to Ciel even though he didn't seem to want anything to do with him, or he met up with his ex and made Ciel a thing of the past.

The ex-boyfriend's name was Charles Grey; a first year student at the college in town. They had only dated for a few months, and it must've been almost a year since they parted ways. It was never that serious between them, but Alois had liked Charles a lot. He was sassy, adventurous, and the perfect amount of crazy; one of the few males that managed to keep Alois' need for excitement satiated. There weren't many who did.

Several minutes went by where Alois didn't get a reply from Charles. He spent that time going through his and Ciel's Kik conversations, realizing how much of an asshole the other had been to him. The further he scrolled up, the more his chest hurt.

A lump formed in his throat when he finally reached the part where they still had been happy, blissfully unaware of the other's identity. It had been so good, so perfect. A muted sob left him just as his phone started vibrating. The ringtone startled him and it took a while before he finally swallowed and answered the call.

"Hey."

"Hey handsome." Charlie's voice was smooth on the other end, and the words had memories flooding back into Alois' mind. "Man I've missed your sweet voice."

The blonde closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling annoyed when he recalled how flirty his ex could be. "What do you want, Charlie?"

"After I've been to the mall I was thinking about going to the skatepark. Wanna join me?"

"I'm not sure."

"Ah come on. It'll be fun! Just like the good ol' days."

A sorrowful heart was pounding against Alois' ribs. It felt like he was on the verge of ripping a part of it out if he said yes. But he had to say yes. Right? Because Ciel didn't want him. He had told him so countless times, and he obviously didn't want to talk to him anymore. It was over.

Alois' face contorted in despair as he finally decided to let go of Ciel.

"O-okay," the blonde agreed with a shaky breath. "When?"

"What's the matter? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Sure. Real happy. Can't wait to see your cheating ass again."

"Man, you can really hold a grudge. Just let it go and have fun with me! I have a surprise that you might like," Charles purred into Alois' ear, causing him to become both worried and excited all at once.

"A surprise? Tell me."

"You'll see it when you get there."

"You're an asshole."

"Always have been, always will be. I'll call you when I get close, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"Great. See you there."

"Mm, later."

As Alois hung up his eyes darted towards his bedroom door; he wasn't sure if it was locked. Claude usually left it unlocked during the days to allow him to use the bathroom, and confined him to his room again at night. It was mid-afternoon and Claude should've left the door unlocked, but his mother was still at home, and as he listened carefully he could hear her messing around in the kitchen.

After checking the time, Alois estimated that his father wouldn't be home for another four hours. He had a perfect window of time to sneak out and hang out with Charles.

With a bunch of pillows and rolled up clothes the blonde successfully managed to make it look like he was asleep under the covers. A satisfied smirk tugged at his lips as he eyed himself in the full-length mirror, feeling more than confident about his appearance. He had put on black sweatpants to skate in, and to go under his purple hoodie, he had chosen a white tank that was just a tiny bit too tight. Charlie would surely like that.

As Alois pulled the zipper down a bit, he admired the bumps of well-defined collarbones that emerged in the mirror. His creamy skin wrapped around bone and muscle as he turned to check himself out from every angle. His hair was tousled and almost reached his shoulders as he covered it up with his usual black snapback. The word 'obey' was written in red letters at the front of the cap, and the blonde had always loved how well that brand suited him.

With one last glance to his bed to ensure that the fake body was believable, Alois quietly pressed down the door handle. It was unlocked. With sneakers in hand he poked his head out, making sure his mother wasn't anywhere nearby. By the sound of it, she was still in the kitchen.

He couldn't sneak out the front door so he tiptoed his way to the door that lead to the backyard. Keeping his breathing to a minimum he laced his shoes and stepped outside, letting the sunlight hit his fair cheeks.

Alois figured that he might as well make his way over to the skatepark as fast as possible. He could practice some tricks while he waited for Charles and god knows he needed some fresh air. Having been imprisoned for a week had driven him close to madness as he hated sitting still.

The smell of winter filled his nose as he reached down to pick his skateboard up off the ground. Even though it was close to Christmas break, the air had yet to fall below zero. They rarely got any snow, for which Alois was thankful, because he despised any weather that forced him to wear unflattering clothes.

As he tilted his head to gaze up at the sky, he followed the clouds as they flew past the glowing sun. Even though he was on his way to meet a person he knew he should stay away from, he felt relieved. Every step he took from here on out would be one where he wasn't burdened by unrequited love. Alois still felt it all; every cell, every atom that made his flesh and blood was still aching for Ciel. But deciding to let him go made him feel ten times lighter.

With one foot on the board, Alois rode the short distance to the skatepark with a smile on his lips. Once he arrived he ran into a few friends from school and ended up teasing younger kids and smoking half a pack of cigarettes until finally, Charles gave him a call. He wasn't far away, and it didn't take long for him to show up at the park, just a couple of minutes after Alois' friends had left.

"Alois! Hey!" Charlie rode in on his skateboard, smile stretching from ear to ear as he slowed down to stop behind Alois.

The younger male spun around, the gravel crushing under his sneakers as he came face to face with his ex.

Charles hadn't changed much; he still had platinum blonde hair, just like Alois, and the male was sporting the same mess of bed hair that he remembered from a year ago. Charles hid most of the strands behind a black beanie, but the two lonely dreadlocks in his neck were out in the open and riding down his back. He wore baggy jeans and a large black jacket, making him look like he was trying to fit in with the ghetto kids, when he actually was a member of one of the richest families in town.

"Charlie... hey." Alois' heart was going wild as the familiar face took him down memory lane. He wasn't one to get sentimental, but the two of them used to have a lot of fun, and seeing Charlie again made him a lot less aggravated than he had expected. The part of him that still was bitter over being cheated on - because no one cheated on Alois Trancy - wasn't as dominant anymore. Perhaps being heartbroken was making him soft, and even though that thought irritated him, he still felt more at ease then he had in weeks.

Charlie stepped on the end of his board, causing it to align with his leg and allowing him to pick it up. "Hnn shit. You look fine as hell. Were you always this hot?" He licked the corner of his lips; sincerely loving how Alois looked in the tight sweatpants he wore.

Alois rolled his eyes at the compliment. "Cut the lame ass pickup lines. We both know why I agreed to meet you, you don't have to pull that shit on me."

"But you love to hear it, don't lie to me." Charlie smirked as he hooked his board under his arm and strolled over to the nearest ramp. With a glance over his shoulder to tell the younger to follow, he climbed on top of it and called, "Are you coming, or what?"

Alois did love to hear it, and smiled all the way to the top of the ramp. For half an hour they did nothing but skate, and it felt as if they'd never been apart. But even if Alois had a good time with Charles, he couldn't stop thinking about Ciel. Those big blue sapphires flashed through his mind every time he closed his eyes. But-

He had decided to let him go. And he was determined to ignore the fact that he was missing him.

"Are you having fun?" Charles asked, eyes sparkling and lips grinning. He collected his board before he slumped down on top of the ramp, releasing a sigh and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Hell yeah!" Alois huffed out a laugh as he picked up his board and ran up to the edge. "I'm fucking beat. Break?"

"Mhm. Sit." Charlie patted next to him to signal for Alois to join him, the wind stirring his bangs as he gazed up at the younger with big silver eyes.

"God I've really missed this." Alois sat down with a sigh and took his cap off to rake his fingers through his hair.

"Me too. It's really good to see you again."

A smile tugged on the younger male's lips as he turned his head to face Charles. "So what's the surprise you were talking about?"

"Heh..." Charles' hand lifted as he stared right at Alois, eyes all lidded and full of mischief. "Well-"

"Damn!"

The familiar voice made both boys snap their heads towards the ground and at the bottom of the ramp stood none other than Lau himself with a huge grin on his lips.

"That must be the two ugliest mugs I've seen all day. Shit, cover yourself for the sake of humanity."

"Shut up," Alois replied with a faint chuckle. "Fucking shithead, get up here."

Lau pouted. "Aw do I have to? My body is too fragile to climb."

"Are you shitting me?" Charles burst out. "I haven't seen you in almost six months!"

Lau tapped his lower lip as if he was considering it. "Maybe. But I'm already late for my date with Mary Jane." His hand lifted to his mouth to feign smoking weed.

"Oh really?" Charles proceeded to do what he had been about to when Lau had interrupted him and reached inside his bag. When he pulled out a joint Alois' eyes grew ten sizes.

"Was that the surprise? I thought you meant something completely different."

"Like what?"

"I was totally prepared for you to slap my forehead with that teeny weeny dick of yours."

Charles choked back a laugh at Alois' joke. "As much as I'd like that, I suspect you'd bite it off if I ever did anything like that."

"Damn straight." There had been some truth to Alois' words. He had been sure Charles wanted to meet him because he had something lewd in mind. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed that his ex hadn't made a move on him yet.

As Charles and Alois were joking around, Lau climbed to the top of the ramp and sat down next to the older blonde.

"Are you gonna light that shit or what?" Lau asked with a teasing smirk on his lips. "I haven't got all day."

"Hold onnn." Charles dug through his pockets to find a lighter as the joint dangled from the corner of his mouth.

"Where's Ran-Mao?" Alois asked Lau, his forearms resting on his thighs as he leaned forward to make eye-contact.

"Detention. She doesn't talk much but when does you better believe she has one dirty mouth."

"Heh, she sounds like Timber and Thompson. I've never heard them say anything but nasty embarrassing shit. That's why I forced them to shut up around me."

"Good job," Lau replied just as Charlie passed the now glowing stick to him, who took it between his thumb and index finger with a wide grin.

The boys sat there, laughing and messing with each other for over an hour. Finally, after debating over and over if they should buy some snacks, Lau lost in a game of rock, paper, scissors and had to leave for the store.

"Man, I really need me some fucking Cheetos," Charles whined as they watched Lau's back disappearing around a corner. "I hope that lazy fuck is quick."

"I swear he won't be back for an hour. He'll probably look at each shelf for 20 minutes." Alois let his lungs deflate as he relaxed his muscles and laid down on the cold wood.

Charlie followed suit and turned to his side to look at his ex, admiring his flawless skin as two lonely clouds slowly moved over the sky above them. Watching Alois like this, in his drug induced haze, made him realize just how much he had missed him. He might have cheated on him, but they were both young and mistakes like that were common among boys their age. He hadn't done it to hurt Alois; he had been overtaken by the unique rush only a new person could provide.

The boy Charlie had fooled around with, and later started dating, had been sweet as sugar. But underneath his charming exterior had been a male very similar to Charlie himself. What he had told Alois earlier was a lie; he hadn't gotten sick of his boyfriend. He had been dumped because he had met someone new. Charlie even suspected that he had been cheated on. The feeling that spread throughout his body when he thought about it made him realize just how hurt Alois must've been when he had left him. That was the reason he had called him up, but he hadn't expected them to hit it off so well. In all honesty, he hadn't known what to expect. All he had wanted was to see if Alois was doing okay, and perhaps steal a kiss, for old times' sake.

While they were lying there, waiting for Lau to return, talking about everything and nothing, Charlie couldn't stop staring at Alois' lips. It would be so easy to steal that kiss, and he really wanted it, because the younger male was even more gorgeous than he remembered. He was funnier, taller, and more confident. He seemed to be doing well. But the glumness in Alois' eyes was a mystery to him. Charlie was dying to ask what was bothering him, and that's why he finally voiced his curiosity once they both sat back up.

"Hey Alois. Are you still this upset, after all this time?"

"Huh?" Alois looked at Charles with big, confused eyes. He had no idea what he was talking about.

"About me cheating on you."

"No? I'm still a little pissed off, but I'm not sad about it or anything. It happened ages ago. I got over it in like two weeks."

"You just seem really... I dunno, down?"

"I do?" Alois swallowed the lump that immediately appeared in his throat and lifted a hand to rub his neck. He was once again reminded of Ciel, and how much he missed seeing his boyish face, and that cute pout of annoyance. There was a dull pain in his belly just by the thought of the boy he loved, but he did his best to rid himself of them and focus on the person sitting next to him.

"I just get the feeling that something is gnawing on you. I don't like that look on you."

"I... uh... I got suspended," Alois admitted, letting out a small sigh as he averted his eyes for a short second. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the reason why he was gloomy. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want Charles to know about Ciel.

"Shit, really?" Charles moved a little closer to the younger male, curious to hear the story.

"Yeah..." Not coming up with a lie fast enough, Alois blurted out the truth. "I fucked a dude in school and the principal found out."

Charlie cracked a wide grin. "Badass. Still doing crazy shit I see."

"Always," Alois said with a wink and Charlie chuckled, the two males both feeling the spark between them intensify with every laugh they shared. Memories of how they used to cuddle and tease each other in Alois' room came back to them, and how they pranked their friends and vandalized cars. Minutes passed where they talked about things they used to do. Good times indeed; they both looked back on it with smiles on their lips, and reminiscing on the old only made the heat between them grow.

Alois' lidded eyes kept rolling over his ex's body, checking out his legs, his chest, and his puerile face. Even if Charles was older than him, the male still looked 16 with his long lashes and soft features. The bangs that peeked out from under his beanie were messy over his forehead, and Alois got an urge to rearrange them.

After Charles made a bad joke, neither of them could stop laughing. They stared at each other with tears growing in the corner of their eyes, their bodies shaking as they tried to stop. Once Alois had calmed down a bit, he finally gave into his urges and raised a pale hand to brush Charles' bangs to the side of his face. The action made them both go quiet, and as Alois worked in slow motion, he narrowed his eyes in concentration.

"Are you making me pretty?" Charlie asked, admiring how the younger blonde looked when he took his lip between his teeth.

"Shhh, I'm almost done."

As Alois finished he found himself dangerously close to Charlie's face, but he couldn't decide if he was bothered or not. So he stayed there and they kept staring at each other in silence. Just as Alois parted his lips to say something, Charlie took his face in his hands and softly kissed him right on the lips. After he pulled back Alois looked to the side, unsure of how to react to what had just happened. But he had no time to figure it out because not more than two seconds later Charlie kissed him again.

Before they knew it they were making out so fervently that none of them noticed when Lau climbed back up and sat down next to them.

"Gross," Lau said as he opened a bag of Doritos. "And here I thought you were into that little Phantomhive brat."

Alois ripped his face from Charlie's with a shocked gasp. "What?"

"Did you guys break it off or something?"

"Uh, we never-"

"You have a boyfriend!?" Charles' mouth was hanging open in disbelief.

"No, no, we-" Alois started, but he was cut off by the vibrations coming from his pocket. As he searched for his phone, he mumbled, "Hold on," not noticing how both Lau and Charles were staring at him and waiting for an explanation. The number on the screen was unknown to him, his brows furrowing as he slid his finger over it to answer the call. "Hey, who're you?"

The person on the other end cleared their throat. "My name's Freckles. I'm a friend of Ciel's." As she paused Alois could feel his heart speeding up and his head started spinning like a tornado had taken residence inside of it.

"Okay..." he murmured, trying to keep his breathing steady. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk."