The drug in your veins
1021 Words
"Teddy bear!" Luke's child says excitedly after taking Mark's gift in his hands. "Thank you!" He adds, hugging him tightly.
"You're welcome, John." Mark responds with a smile as the child goes back to his group of friends.
The man is unaware of the fact that his forbidden lover discovered the gift, yet the Irish still wanders in his mind.
A woman, who could never take the place of an angel in his life, approaches Mark, resting her soft hand on his shoulder.
"Hello, dear." She says with a flirting smile.
The red-haired man rolls his eyes before turning around and facing the brunette.
"Hi, Kim, how are you?" He asks in an attempt to be polite. However, he can't completely hide the annoyance in his voice.
"I'm fine, what about you?"
"I can't complain." He says with a smirk while looking at the grass beneath his feet, not caring about the place his thoughts decide to go.
"You know? I have been feeling a pain on my neck for the past few days." She complains.
"Really?" Mark asks quietly, his complete attention far away from his current conversation.
He's only able to hear the last part of all the speech Kimberly had prepared for him.
"Do you think you could uh... Do something about it?"
Mark frowns deeply and finally looks up to meet the woman's eyes.
He rubs the back of his neck doubtfully, trying to find the proper words to say.
Fortunately for him, his friend has made his way to where they are.
"Hey! Mark! I thought you were never going to make it here." Luke says, taking him by the arm and dragging him away from the uncomfortable scene.
The shorter man shakes his head, accepting the beer he's being offered and taking a big sip of it, drowning the awkwardness he previously experienced.
After that, he lets out a deep breath, shaking hands with the bearded man and hugging him tightly while giving a useless excuse,
"Well, I was a little busy."
"Huh. . . It seems like Kim hasn't gotten over you."
Mark chuckles harshly. "No shit."
"Hey! It was your fault since the beginning."
"Yeah, I know. I wish I had chosen someone a little less maniac to sleep with whenever I was bored."
Luke purses his lips together, remembering those days at college he'd rather forget. "I agree." He then clears his throat and changes the subject while looking at his son play in the distance with his new toy. "Have you found a new job?"
The unexpected question makes Mark choke with the beverage he had just gotten.
"Not really." He mutters once he has taken his breath back.
His friend giggles and pats his shoulder, moving his head from left to right in negation. "Don't you worry, I've got your back."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you remember Bryce?" The taller says with a smirk. His companion answers with a nod, not expecting the next line he'd say. "He works at a video game store and he said it would be ok if you worked with him."
"Dude, I-"
"Nah ah, you will at least give it a try. If it doesn't work out, I'll start minding my own business."
Although Mark still has something to say, the argument does not continue as everyone reunites inside the house and Johnathan starts thinking of a wish before the candles over his cake are even flaring.
The love in his blue eyes when he looks at his parents is the same Corey felt 20 years ago.
Now, the green haired man stares blankly at the couple in front of him; his heart free of any kind of warmness; hidden under an armor that will never break in public.
"How is your job going, son?"
He was done, yet he wouldn't tell anyone. Not even the woman he once trusted to death. "It's great, the kids are lovely." Corey says with a fake smile before looking down at his hands and covering a red mark on his wrist with the sleeve of his coat.
Time passes and the elders never stop lecturing their son about religion, which makes him miss nothing but sin.
The torture finally ends for Corey and he soon finds himself alone, playing with an empty cup of coffee over the table.
His aim has never been good, but, somehow, his thoughts seem to always land on a specific someone.
He drives back from the restaurant, constantly seeing a teddy bear instead of traffic lights, lucky enough to make it home safely.
As the Irish man sits on the sofa in his tiny living room, he contemplates how much of a mess his life is.
God has promised to make it worth living, yet he barely ever notices it.
All his surroundings tell him life is overrated.
Never could he thought he would end up like this, contemplating a chaotic scenario that belongs to no one else but himself.
And questions don't last to form in his head, getting in along with the pain and negativity.
Why did he take a teddy bear along with his other toys?
And, most importantly, why does it have such a huge impact in his mood.
Yes, he could fake a laugh for millions of people if needed. However, darkness sinks in whenever he's alone.
Was he married? Does he have a child? Is he straight?
If the heartbreak hadn’t destroyed his reasoning, Corey would have felt pity for the man.
Nonetheless, the pain grows faster in time.
That something he once felt while being pinned to the wall with his warm body is now burying him alive.
What made him smile just a day ago is giving him a reason to curl up on his messy sofa, looking at his dirty and messy coffee table, wishing that his messy life would get better.
Nevertheless, he will miss that feeling once it's gone.
Those secret nights full of darkness are something he has become dependent to.
He likes the way it hurts.
Even if it ends up cluttering his whole existence.
- Writer
