With a mumble and growl as James blinked harshly into the glare of the sunrise pouring in from the window; James grumbled and rolled over, to feel the spot next to him in bed to be cool and empty. What the hell? he stood up and wandered around the hotel room, in search of Greg, surely, he couldn't have gone far, but as his search everywhere proved fruitless and he couldn't find him, James' heart began to race with anxiety to the point he could feel it thumping uncontrollably in his chest. Where the hell has he gone? He wouldn't have abandoned me here, surely? James knocked on the bedroom door where Cuddy had been, to see her sheets and blankets pulled back, her room was empty too.
In a sudden panic, terrified that he'd been abandoned here, in a motel room, interstate and with no way to get home or find his friend, or worse, his beloved boyfriend; James' mind automatically ran to the worst possible conclusions, kidnap, murder, abandonment in the middle of the night, he pictured Greg and Lisa hogtied in the trunk of some freak's car, taking them away to do God knows what to them.
In burst of terror and with his heart in his throat, James shoved open the external door out of the motel room onto the balcony; to eagerly search for Cuddy's truck in the parking lot, God, they better not have left me here!
"Morning James," came Greg's familiar voice and he spun around in a panic to see Greg sat down on of the chairs overlooking the parking lot, towards the scenery of the small town and highway beyond it, "how did you sleep?"
James noticed Lisa was sat out here with him too; "what are you doing out here?" he hissed, grabbing Greg's upper arm and trying to pull him up, his terror and fear now presenting themselves as pure, unadulterated rage.
"Hey! Hey!" Lisa interrupted, irritation clear in her voice; "neither of us could sleep, so we decided to come out here, independently of each other, and just enjoy the tranquillity,"
"If you couldn't sleep, then why didn't you just wake me up?" James hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously; and Lisa didn't miss the moment of fear crossing Greg's face as he tried to pull his arm away, but James tugged it back closer.
"You were asleep, darling," Greg muttered, looking away, "I didn't want to wake you up, I just wanted some fresh air,"
"What have you been saying about me?" James snarled, his paranoia changing targets from fear of violence and kidnapping, to concerns about what was being said behind his back, tugging roughly on Greg's arm again, so he winced and yelped quietly in pain.
"We haven't been saying anything about you, James," Lisa reassured him; "in fact, we've hardly talked at all,"
James shoved Greg back into the chair, "that better be true," he snarled, his lips curling as the adrenaline continued rushing through his body, clouding his judgment and forcing him to act on pure instinct, instead of his usual thought out, clear plans, "I'm going to have a shower, and then you are- you absolutely reek!" before he stormed back inside, slamming the door as hard as he could muster behind him.
Greg unconsciously rubbed his upper arm when James had pulled at him; "it's fine," he reassured Lisa upon seeing her horrified expression, "he's just stressed about everything going on, he's a good man, Lisa… he's a good man…"
Lisa couldn't help but recognise the tremor of uncertainty in Greg's voice as she reached out to hold his hand and whispered; "if you ever need help, please just let me know,"
Greg smiled mutely, "okay, I promise,"
Lisa looked suspiciously over her bowl of cereal at James, while Greg was in the shower; who was leaning up against the counter, cup of coffee in his hands, "what?" he asked, his tone hinting towards aggression and anger.
"You need to be a bit easier and lighter on Greg, James. He's going through a lot right now. You being mean to him is not helping his stress about this trip that he already doesn't want to be on,"
James' eyes narrowed over the coffee cup he was drinking from, as he placed it down on the bench and strode over to Lisa, leaning one hand on the table, reaching over with his other finger in her face; "you need to learn to mind your own business when it comes to Greg and I, Lisa. I know what your angle is. You're not going to get your claws into him! He's mine!" James hissed before he then spun on his heels as the bathroom door opened and Greg walked back into the room towel around his waist, "hey baby," James' voice dropped to a sensual purr as he crept up to him and leant into him, covering his face and neck with little kisses; "I missed you in bed last night baby, why don't you make it up to little Jimmy?"
Greg turned bright red, and Lisa noticed that he pulled away ever so slightly, clearly also put off by James' obvious charade; "Lisa is here," he muttered, embarrassed.
"Lisa was just going to get in the shower, weren't you, Lisa?" James gave her a pointed look, she glanced between Greg and James before conceding, "yeah, I was about to get in the shower,"
Over the sound of the water running, Lisa couldn't hear much; not for a lack of trying, but the water muted everything, so all she could make out was just muffled voices and a short, almost argumentative conversation before the unmistakable sounds of sex noises radiating from the bed; I hope you're okay, Greg was all she could think, but left it at that. She exited after everything had fallen silent for a minute or two; towel wrapped around herself to see James facing away from her, doing up his belt, and Greg sat on the edge of the bed with the blanket wrapped around his lap, his hands and chin resting atop his cane, staring into space, he could've been mistaken for a statue. "Good, you're done, I need to do my hair," James rushed past her and into the bathroom, clicking the lock shut behind him.
"Greg?" she whispered, and came and sat next to him, "is everything alright? He didn't… pressure you to do anything you didn't want to do, did he?"
"What? No, no, everything is fine, Lisa. You don't need to worry,"
"You know, even coercion isn't consent, right?" she whispered, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and he shrugged her off.
"I know, I went to medical school too. You should get dressed, Lisa, as should I, it's almost time to check out," Greg murmured, and she nodded, accepting it as it stood, and went and got dressed in the next room, her concern still as noticeable as it was before.
She exited out and found Greg sat still on the bed, dressed now; looking uncomfortable, "are you okay?" she whispered, noting that the sound of the hair dryer was off now.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I think my lower back and backside just hurt a little from sitting on those chairs all night," he looked up at her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Yeah, okay," she nodded, "don't worry, I'll pack up the car, you can take the backseat today, you'll be able to stretch out more," and grabbed a bag to carry down to the truck, loading up all their bags, one after the other.
"Give me your keys," James approached her outside the motel door before she came in after putting the last bag in the truck.
"No! I'm not giving you the keys to my truck, James! This weird behaviour needs to stop now! I don't understand why you're doing it, but it's uncomfortable, and I don't like it!" she tried to maneuverer past him, but he grabbed her arms and pushed her into the railing.
"I'm not going to ask twice, Lisa. You're still drunk, I don't trust you to drive me, or Greg for that matter, in that truck when you've been up all night drinking! You're not thinking straight, you need to give me the keys!" he shook her slightly and she felt a wave of nausea climb up her oesophagus from the limited movement, okay, maybe I am still a little over the limit, she conceded to herself.
"Can I help you two?" a woman's voice barrelled from two doors down, and Lisa instantly recognised it as the woman from last night.
"Mind your own goddamn business! This doesn't concern you!" James yelled back, his eyes flashing at the woman who was standing there in her robe.
"I'm making it my business! Let her go, or I'm calling the police!" she shouted back.
"And say what?" James challenged, but then saw a mobile phone in the woman's hand, pointed out towards him, and he skulked inside, conceding defeat now he realised he'd been filmed. James ensured that they left the motel immediately after, snatching Lisa's keys off her and getting into the driver's seat, before peeling out of the parking lot, pulling a middle finger towards the interrupting woman's motel room door as he did so.
30 minutes down the road; the entire car was silent; Lisa turned her head around from the front seat to check up on Greg, who was stretched out silently, his eyes open, but the crease lines on the edge of his lines and his tight lips told Lisa that he was clearly in pain, as he rested the side of his forehead against the window, staring out at the passing trees and mostly empty highway ahead of them. Driving along was James, still clearly annoyed, focusing on the road ahead; muttering under his breath about having to drive an automatic car instead of a stick, every time he reached down to where the stick shift would be.
I don't think it's his leg that's hurting him, at least not primarily, Lisa thought in concern, I think that Wilson might have forced himself onto Greg while I was in the shower. God, I should've interrupted them. Even the embarrassment of doing so would be worth it to have stopped what might've been happening. Is James even capable of such an atrocity? Just because he was mad? I wouldn't have ever thought so, but the way that Greg was limping; it seemed less like it was leg pain, and more like it was anal or crotch pain, even the way he's sitting, he's leaning more weight on his left leg and not really sitting normally. How could James have done such a thing to the man he claims that he loves? Greg did mention that James does like to be very domineering and dark in bed, even alluded to that he borders on violence. Surely, he wouldn't do anything to hurt Greg on purpose, would he? The Wilson I know would have never used sex as a weapon. But the Wilson I knew, and the James that I'm getting to know are two very different people. He is good with Greg most of the time; but sometimes, he really isn't. If it is the case that he forced himself onto Greg the moment I was out of the room; especially given his comment about 'making it up to little Jimmy' when we are on our way to visit Greg's family who molested, raped, and sex trafficked him; is especially disgusting to have forced, or at least coerced himself onto Greg. I just know that I'm glad that I'm here with them…
Lisa turned around to look forward, "James, you're speeding," she warned.
"I'm going 90 in an 80 zone, no police officer is going to waste their time on that," he snarled, still clearly agitated, through gritted teeth.
As they approached the crest of a blind hill, a police car came the opposite way, "see I told you, Lisa, now quit pestering me on my driving. If you wanted to drive; then maybe you shouldn't have spent all last night sitting outside drinking with my boyfriend; no doubt talking about me, or did you spend the night hitting on him?" James snarled.
"We weren't talking about you, James, we were mostly talking about the night and how beautiful it was, and yes, Greg did tell me a bit about his history, but he was talking about his childhood, and told me some stories about that. Just like you wanted him to, I thought you would have been happy that he opened up about it on his own accord. Neither of us could sleep and just wanted some fresh air, that's all James, I promise you. I certainly didn't hit on Greg or make any other remotely similar comments, and neither did he. We're friends James; we've known each other since college. We've always just been friends, and we'll always be friends; but there's nothing else there. I promise you. Nothing else was talked about," Lisa placated.
Just as James was about to go into another tirade, the police car that had just passed them appeared in the rear-view mirror, lights on. "Shit," James muttered under his breath, "must be one of those power tripping cops,"
James pulled over in a stopping bay a quarter mile down the road, and two police officers, a man and a woman, exited the vehicle pulled up behind him. "Good afternoon, sir," James wound the window down and plastered on his best fake smile he could muster to the male officer who approached the driver's side window.
"Sir, do you have any idea why I've pulled you over?" this officer had no apparent interest in chit chat.
"I was only going ten over, officer, I'm sorry- we're travelling a long way and we're working on a deadline, we've travelled all the way from New Jersey, and I think I was just tired and wasn't watching my speed, it won't happen again" James promised, "Greg, pass me my wallet out of the duffel bag," he reached around carefully and slowly, retrieving it from Greg's hand.
"Can I see your licence and registration, sir?" the officer asked.
"Of course, this is my licence, this isn't my car; however, it's my friend's car," he continued, gesturing next to him as Lisa passed him her registration papers and her own licence from the glove box and her own wallet respectively, "my friend had a few too many beers tonight, and like I said, we're running on a deadline, which is why I'm driving," James began rambling.
"Sir, could you step out of the car for a moment?" the officer asked.
James frowned, "why, sir?"
"We're doing on the spot weapons checks," the officer continued, "my fellow officer will check your friend's car if you wouldn't mind waiting in the back seat of the cruiser for me for a moment, Mr Wilson,"
James took the keys out of the ignition and climbed down out of the car, walking over to the cruiser and the woman got into the driver's seat. "Do you need us to get out?" Lisa asked nervously, "I'm just asking because my friend in the backseat has a physical disability and I will need to help him down if he can't use his cane to get out,"
""No, that's not why we pulled you over, Ms Cuddy, are you comfortable having a quick chat with your friend being in the car?" the woman asked, glancing between the seat and door to see Greg staring back at her with almost unnerving blue eyes.
"Yes, absolutely," Lisa answered immediately,
The woman started, "we have double checked the registration plates on your truck, Ms Cuddy, and we are conducting a wellness check on you,"
"A wellness check?" Cuddy frowned, "why?"
"Another guest at the Highway Inn called to report two domestic disturbances from the room connected to this vehicle, she was very concerned about your welfare from the behaviour that the reporter told us. I want you to know that it's a safe space. The person who called on the welfare check is concerned that your husband may be abusing you," the officer continued.
This piqued Greg's attention, Lisa resisted the urge to turn around and look at him, but she could feel his interest eye in on the conversation, analysing it, almost as though his ears perked up and his concentration focused in like a laser; she'd seen it enough times to sense it, even though she couldn't really see him as she faced the officer. "He's not my partner," Lisa stated, she pointed to Greg in the back, "he is his partner. I'm just their shared best friend, I guess,"
"Alright, I see," the woman seemed a little surprised and turned to look at the man in the backseat of the truck, still with his head leant slightly against the window; staring at her with the most piercing, intense, scrutinising bright blue eyes, "sir, is there anything you'd like to tell us?"
"It's okay Greg," Lisa cut in, "it's okay to tell them anything,"
"We're fine," the man, the officer now knew as Greg, answered flatly and coldly, "there's no troubles, and we don't appreciate your interference,"
"I'm just doing my job, sir," the officer placated.
"Well now you have, I'd like my partner back now, please," the flat voice answered, and his eyes cut like knives through her. The police officer looked closely, scrutinising this unfriendly man who was clearly either uncomfortable and nervous at her appearance and questioning because he feared any ramifications he might face at the hands of Mr. Wilson, or he was simply purely prickly, confrontational, and aggressive by nature. It was impossible to tell which one was accurate. What she couldn't miss however, was the reddening mark, coming into a bruise, in the shape of a large hand on his upper arm; but this alone was not enough to force him to talk, and unless he did, then she couldn't help.
"Greg, she's just doing her job," Lisa comforted, but knew in her heart of hearts, that nothing was going to get accomplished from this conversation; his loyalty is just way too strong to James. He would never rat him out even if he was in true, imminent danger. And honestly, I don't know if he is, or if it's just a natural dominant/submissive relationship… or fetish… thing that they might have going on. That's not even taking into account Greg's… colourful history with the police, and how much resentment he told me he holds for them last night for never coming to the rescue for him as a child; his opinions on the police are pretty much steadfast at this stage…
"Her job is done. We don't have any problems. If some nosy bitch can't keep her opinions to herself, James and I shouldn't need to suffer just because some nasty cow is homophobic," Greg growled, "now, get out of the truck,"
The officer looked concerningly at Lisa, who merely shrugged her shoulders; "I've known him since we were teenagers in college, and we're now 46 and 45. I've known him a very long time. If he says that he's happy, and everything is fine, then well, everything is fine. You're only going to upset my friend even more. He is a grown man; he can decide what is okay and not okay in his life and relationship,"
The officer could read the tone of defeat in Lisa's voice, so thanked them for their time and returned to the cruiser, and within a few minutes, James returned; muttering curse words under his breath about the nosy police, how it isn't their place, before he shoved a speeding ticket in the centre console, slammed the lid down and roared the truck back into life, revving the engine to purely prove a point to the officers, as he peeled back onto the highway and into the distance.