Quarantine Bae Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Jared
“You can’t stay here…”
We are in the lobby of a hospital. It happened in the middle of the night. I run to the bathroom vomitting after a night of drinking when I hear screaming. It is this vicious scream that comes out of no where and that’s when I see the body outside of my bathroom window.
“I WANT TO SEE MY FUCKIN BROTHER!”
Saint looks like he has completely lost it. We’d arrived at the hospital in the middle of the night. It was morning now. The sun was out. Saint is so upset that he tries to head towards the back room, pushing past a nurse. Ken and Tivonte luckily both are able to grab him before anything can happen. Squeak is in my arms. The kid is crying his eyes out because his father is so emotional.
And I get it. Waking up to find out that your brother has thrown himself off a building really is a shocking thing to have happen.
“You don’t calm down and I’ll have to call security…”
This was the only hospital in town open and with the virus I realized that security was army guards posted by the entrance. Their eyes keep peering back at Saint waiting for a reason to come over if necessary.
“I don’t give a FUCK about security!”
I grab Saint with one hand, “Saint. Please…”
Luckily I’m able to calm down a little bit. He takes a deep breath and looks over at me. I don’t know how I’m able to do it but somehow looking at him deep in his eyes seems to calm him a little bit down.
“Talk to her...before I have to,” he tells me.
For some reason it felt like Saint was opening up just a little bit to put a bit of trust in me. I can tell that he’s struggling right now and I just want to be there for him in anyway possible. The fact that he trusted me with his son and the fact that he is allowing me to speak right now in his moment of anger speaks volumes.
“Look,” I tell the nurse in a calmer voice, “We are just a bit worried. What condition is Soul in…”
The nurse still keeping an eye on a rather angry Saint looks over at me and reacts to my calm tone, “Your friend will survive…”
“Oh thank God,” Saint exhales deeply.
“Thank God,” Ken adds in.
“It was a long fall and if it weren’t for getting him to the hospital so quickly and for the first aid he got on site he would have been dead.”
“That was all you,” Tivonte states looking over at me, “You’re a hero …”
I wouldn’t have called myself a hero. I was drunk when I ran out there and stood over Tivonte, treating his legs as best as I can when I realized that they might have been broken from the fall. I had to literally wake everyone up so that we could get him over to the hospital. The fact that this helped save Soul definitely meant something to me.
I think it doesn’t mean much until I notice Saint coming over to me and hugging me. He does it out of no where. It is a deep hug. It’s the kind of hug that just seems to completely stop time. Our bodies are pressed up against one another and the only thing that seems to separate us even a little bit is his son Squeak in my arms.
As he stares at me, with tears in his eyes he mouths the word, “Thank you.”
“You can’t stay here,” the nurse interrupts us out of nowhere, “The hospital is shut down for visitors due to the virus.”
“I’m not leaving,” Saint states.
That’s when we hear coughing in the background. The thing was that the hospital was Ground Zero for the disease. After all the things that have been happening in the quarantine, it seemed almost like we had forgotten the disease existed for a while. But hearing that coughing definitely woke us up to this.
“We can’t stay here,” Tivonte adds in.
“You can go if you want. My brother needs me,” Saint argues.
I look over at Saint, “There’s too many germs here. We can’t risk it. C`mon Saint. If it’s not me then do it for your son.”
Saint looks a bit desperate at that moment, “You’re right.”
I know it’s hard for him but he agrees to leave.
~
We are back in our house it just feels like this dark cloud is following us as we make our way to the bathroom. I’m not sure what it is but there has been an energy in the house and I feel like that energy must have had something to do with Soul jumping from that building.
So that left me.
“I don’t get it. I don’t get why he would do it. I don’t get why he would try to kill himself,” Saint says out of no where.
“He was sick,” Ken crosses his arms, “He’s the same guy who locked Jared in that basement...remember?”
Saint just keeps shaking his head.
“He just seemed to be doing so much better.”
He was confused. I could see the confusion all on his face. I had to admit I was thinking the same thing when I found Soul on that ground. Ken did have a point in a way. Soul did lock me in that basement to get sick. He admitted it. So why the hell was I so surprised that someone who wasn’t mentally stable would take another step.
“When I stopped him from jumping before he seemed like he wanted to live…” I explain to the group.
“Maybe last night changed things,” Ken says crossing his arms.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You two were together talking,” Ken states turning to me, “Did you say something to him that could have caused him to want to hurt himself?”
I’m shocked he asks me that.
“What are you trying to imply?” Tivonte asks Ken, “You trying to say this is his fault?”
“I’m just saying that don’t you guys think it’s kind of strange that they would be flirting and then Soul jumps off a building?”
I don’t know why Ken was doing this but all of a sudden it seems to get clear when Saint crosses his arms and asks, “Flirting?”
“Yeah last night they were flirting,” Ken states.
Ken looks at me as though daring me to lie. As I’m standing there I notice Saint’s eyes set on mine. At this point I have Squeak in my hands. Squeak loved being around me. But as I’m standing there I’m unsure of what I need to do to calm things down with his father who is shooting bullets through my eyes.
Saint shakes his head at that moment and just crosses his arms, “You were with him before he jumped?”
“Who knows what could have led to him jumping?” Ken adds in.
I’m flushed red at that moment stuck on what to say to make this moment better. I’m stuck on how I can get out of this.
“I was drunk. I don’t remember….”
“Convenient…” Ken shrugs.
It was as though Ken had a knife in my back right now and at every moment he was turning it. Every moment he was driving the wedge between me and Saint even further.
Things wouldn’t end well if something didn’t change here. And that something would have to change quick.
I turn to Saint trying my best to drown out Ken’s antagonizing voice, “I wouldn’t have said anything to make him hurt himself. You have to believe that.”
Saint shakes his head, “How do I know that?”
“You trust me...that’s how…”
“I barely even know you…”
It hurts when he says that. We hadn’t met a long time ago. But we’d spent every day together since this Quarantine started. We’d gotten close. Really close. And him telling me right now that he barely even knew me felt almost like a blow to my esteem.
“You mean that?” I ask him, feeling my own emotions welling up inside me.
“Can I have my son?”
“You can’t leave. Please. Don’t do this…” I’m pleading.
“I just need a moment. I need to think about everything that’s happened.”
With that he leaves the house. As soon as he leaves it feels like he takes all the light with him outside of the room. I just feel sick to my stomach at that moment.
And that’s when I start questioning myself.
What if I did do something to cause Soul to hurt himself. I don’t know if I could forgive myself for that. I don’t know if I’d be able to shake that feeling.
“Well that was awkward,” Ken states.
I turn to Ken and he doesn’t look awkward. He had this really truly intentional look on his face.
He was acting like he wasn’t the reason all of this happened. He was acting as though he isn’t the reason I was in such a fucked up predicament. He had to open his big fucking mouth.
That’s when I feel a hand on my shoulder, “He’ll be back. He probably just needed some fresh air. And space. It’s been a long day…”
It’s Tivonte. I’m surprised that he is there offering himself up to be there for me.
“What if he doesn’t come back?”
“Then that’s his loss. I know you. I REALLY know you. You’re beautiful inside and out. You would have never said anything to Soul, drunk or not, that would lead to that.”
That’s when Tivonte reaches over and hugs me. It was a real hug. His arms wrap around me and smothers out all the tears that I feel like are about to come out at any moment.
Tivonte is just being the best friend I could have right now. He rests his forehead against mine for a moment allowing me to just breathe and relax.
I had no idea that this would have been so emotional for me.
It was everything.
The Quarantine. Soul’s attempted suicide. Saint leaving abruptly.
Everything was on my back and somehow Tivonte was soothing all that away.
“You gonna fuckin kiss him right in front of me?” Ken asks angrily out of no where.
Turning around I see him staring at us. He’s been staring this whole time. He had this look on his face as though he just couldn’t understand it.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask, “He wasn’t gonna kiss me. Why the fuck are you always starting shit Ken?”
It was as though Ken didn’t want us to have the slightest bit of happiness. He always had to come around and say something negative just to fuck it all up.
“You’re all up on my man!”
“He’s not your man. Not anymore. And it’s your fault, youre so fucking hateful…”
“Hateful?”
“Hateful. Vile. Jealous. Petty. And most of all lame. Lame as fuck.”
I don’t normally talk to people like that. It was never something that I found pride in doing. Tivonte was always the straight forward friend. I was always the quiet awkward one. But right now in this moment I just felt all this anger towards Ken. And I knew he was an instigator who was causing a lot of drama in the house. I just couldn’t take it anymore.
Ken crosses his arms faking this almost weird cry and then turning to Tivonte with actual tears in his eyes, “You going to let him talk to me like that?”
“I got this,” Tivonte says.
Tivonte has this heated look on his face and when I look up at Ken his eyes are set on mine. A small smile squeaks in the side of his face. He was fucking mocking me.
He was mocking me and hiding behind Tivonte. And Tivonte always protected his bad behavior.
Or so I thought…
“Ken—— you need to leave.”
When Tivonte says this, I think my mouth almost drops. I’m not the only one. Ken’s mouth drops as well. I think we all knew that Tivonte and Ken were having problems but when he blamed Saint for the affair they had I figured he was right back under Ken’s web.
I was clearly wrong and it was shocking.
“You’re kicking me out?” Ken asks.
“Yes.”
“In a pandemic?”
“Yes.”
“What the fuck Tivonte.”
He tries to walk forward aggressively. I think he’s going to hit Tivonte. I don’t give him a chance though. I push Ken hard in his chest watching him waddle back.
“Back up bitch,” I add in.
Ken is so angry, “You choosing this ugly piece of shit over ME—-Tivonte, really?”
I never knew what it was about me that got under Ken’s skin. I never knew what motivated all the hate. But hearing the anger in his voice when he calls me ugly just proves to me that it is narcissism. Because he was this handsome Ken a Doll he felt like he should get everything that he wanted. The idea that someone he saw as less attractive then he was had Tivonte’s affection was something that he couldn’t fathom. But I don’t think it’s about Tivonte. A part me wondered if he even wanted Tivonte. It was about power as far as I knew. It was about control.
“He’s more attractive then you will ever be,” Tivonte tells him, “You’re a shallow, shit starter. And I finally noticed what the source of all the drama has been in this quarantine. It’s been you. You have to go.”
Tivonte sounded serious. Really serious.
“I have nowhere to go,” Ken states.
“When the quarantine started I stopped paying my bills. I got an eviction email. I have literally no where to go!”
“You should have thought about that before,” he states, “Before you started with him.”
“We’ll give you till the end of the week,” I add in.
Tivonte turns to me, “Man no. He needs to go now.”
“I feel bad.”
The look Tivonte gives me is one that he’s given me before.
He just shakes his head, “You’re too nice.” He turns to his ex and says, “Ken you have a week to figure out where to go. But the moment you start some you’re out of here…”
Ken has these tears in his eyes. Usually that would be enough for Tivonte but right now Tivonte isn’t having it. Not even a little bit.
Ken just gets up and walks into the living room area tears in his eyes leaving Tivonte and me alone.
I look at my best friend with a smile, “Thanks for having my back.”
“You were wrong you know?”
I’m confused.
“What?”
“When you said I wasn’t going to kiss you. You were wrong. He was right. He had every reason to be concerned. I was going to do it. I still might…”
He stares at my lips from where he is standing. I have to admit there is this depth of feeling in my stomach. Maybe it came from Tivonte finally up out of Ken’s ass but I looked at him in a new way.
And that’s when I let the smile go and the boyish giggle that follows before I say, “Maybe I would have let you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He takes a step over to me feeling a bit of courage I guess from my statement.
And that’s when Tivonte kisses me.
Without another moment to spare I realize that he's pressing his lips to mine. I’d watched my best friend kiss so many boys before. I’d seen how aggressive he was as though because he was tall and dark he also had to be dominating. Usually he has a tendency to keep his eyes a little bit open, but now they're fully closed. He's concentrating on the kiss, and I realize that my eyes are wide open. Slowly I close them and hideaway beneath pale eyelids and dark eyelashes. His lips are oddly soft in this kiss, and it stays slow and sweet.
His hand gently moves over to my hip, and he lays it there, rubbing the slightly exposed skin there. It's not sexual, but loving, comforting. It's blissful, and I balance my weight on one arm, my other hand pressing against his chest. But not hard, I don't want him to assume I'm pressing him back. This kiss is slow and passionate though, or I'd probably grip his shirt and reel him in closer.
The kiss goes on for a long period of time, and I'm lost in it. His lips are so sweet; they taste of minty fresh gum and the odd flavor that only he holds. It's a little funny to me, this is the first kiss in a while where he isn't drenched with sweat.
“Damn…” is his cool laid back response.
Secretly, I think it gets him a little TOO excited, but I'd never call him out on that. It'd be embarrassing.
His dick is hard and pressed up against my leg.
“What’s all this kissing mean?” I ask.
“Maybe we can find out...together….”
~
I’m not sure how it happens. I’m not sure how for the next day we are wrapped up in each other’s arms. I guess it wasn’t too far fetched. We were best friends for a reason. There was always chemistry between me and Tivonte. I just hadn’t been sure that it was romantic chemistry.
Ken spends his time outside of the house. We aren’t sure when he leaves. And with Soul in the hospital and Saint at his apartment we were alone for the most part.
“We should have stayed quarantined together. Just you and me. It’s a lot nicer…”
I had to admit that there was no drama for the last day. We spent time just sitting on the couch and talking. It felt like we were getting to know each other in a whole different light.
“It is nice spending time with you. But I’ve seen the guys you date.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I pause. Ken was this amazing looking guy with a perfect face and even more perfect body.
“I’m not like Ken…”
He pauses turning to me and smiling, “That’s what I like about you.”
I’m laying on his chest on the couch when he says that. I smile for some reason. Yeah, I could get used to this. Maybe that’s why I turn and kiss Tivonte. The kiss lingers for a little bit until the door open.
We’ve kept the door open just because we knew that at any point Ken could be returning. The thing is though it wasn’t Ken that walks into the apartment and catches us kissing.
It’s Saint.
He walks in with Squeak who also seems to catch us kissing. There is an awkward silence when he walks in on us. I turn to him and our eyes meet from across the room.
“Jared!” Squeak yells out.
Squeak runs to my arms and I throw him up in the air catching him a few times. His father stands off not too far away from me watching.
“You’re back,” I state.
“I think I overreacted earlier. I just needed some time to think things through.”
“And what exactly did you think about?”
I don’t know why I do it but I jump to my feet. I know it looks even worse when I do it and stand there as though I have something to be guilty about.
Why did it feel like I was cheating against someone who never really showed me serious interest?
“Can I talk to you?” He asks.
“Sure…”
He looks from me to Tivonte and then back to me before adding in, “Privately…”
I look over at Tivonte knowing damn well he isn’t going to budge unless I literally make him. He just has that look in his eyes. He sighs deeply as he gets up. I can see him staring down Saint hard as he starts walking out of the room. The awkwardness is almost piercing.
When he leaves it feels like Saint has a bit of an attitude. He doesn’t give me his usual warm smile. Instead he looks at me with something like a grimace.
“You two have gotten close…” he states.
“We’re good friends.”
“Kissing friends,” he points out.
“I guess that’s what happens when the person I want to kiss isn’t receptive to it…”
I think that may make him a bit uncomfortable because all of a sudden he starts to realize the presence of Squeak who has been looking up at us this entire time eavesdropping on our conversation.
Saint turns to Squeak, “Go Wait in Uncle Jared’s room…”
Squeak does what he’s told and it’s kind of even more awkward when he leaves. For so long Squeak had been some sort of connection between me and Jared. We hung out the most when Squeak was in the room. With Squeak gone it was always a little bit different between us. It was as though the training wheels were off and we had no one to hide behind.
He’s beyond handsome as he looks at me. He’s this clean cut Adonis that just seems so dreamy that I get butterflies just because of how he looks at me.
“Uncle Jared?” I ask.
He licks his lips slow. He does it in a way that almost drives me crazy. I find myself staring at those lips of his the whole time he’s talking getting distracted by the beauty of them.
He shrugs, “Squeak started calling you that. And I mean, it fits. You’ve been amazing with him. I don’t know how we could have gotten through this without you.”
“Gotten through this. It’s not over…”
“Actually it almost is. Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“A vaccine has been found for the Dark Fever,” he states.
“Wait, you're kidding? Wait, no seriously!” I’m so shocked at that moment I want to jump. I want to cry.
A huge smile spreads across his face, “Tomorrow they are lifting the quarantine. That means everyone can finally leave and go get vaccinated….”
A tear bottles up in my eyes. We’d been locked in this house for so long with so much drama and finally we were finally going to be able to see the light of day. Finally we’d be able to get out of this house and try to resume our lives.
And that’s why I’m emotional, “It’s over?”
I don’t realize Im reaching for Saint’s hands until he grabs them. Both his hands entwine in my hands in this moment of pure emotion and happiness.
“It’s over…”
I scream! I scream at the top of my lungs.
I don’t know how I end up jumping right into Saint’s arms. We celebrate in that living room, hugging each other like 4 year kids who have just been told that we were going to Disneyland. Our arms encircle each other for so long jumping up and down that by the time we settle down I’m surprised we are still in each other’s arms.
We hug. We hug hard. Our bodies pressed up against one another. He wraps his arms around my waist. He pressed his cheek up against my cheek. I can smell his warm sexy heat that seems to drive me fucking nuts.
We stop hugging.
“When this is over, hopefully you still let me hang out with Squeak,” I point out.
“When this is over maybe…”
He pauses.
“Maybe what?”
“Maybe me and you could uh…”
He was struggling with getting the words out of his mouth. But just at that moment we are interrupted by the sound of a disruption outside.
Vrooooom!
There is the sound of all these people outside our building. The noise gets louder and louder.
“Bring ‘im out!” A loud voice echoes through our house.
Tivonte runs into the room at that moment.
“Trouble…”. He states.
The look that he has on his face lets me know he didn’t realize the intimate conversation that I was having with Saint. We have the windows boarded up still and there is only one way to look outside.
“What’s happening out there?” I ask.
“Jay Boom has found us… and he’s with Ken…”
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