The Truth About Drew

s i x t e e n

Drew tugged his shirt down, hiding the hideous word etched into his body. Kai had his mouth covered, willing himself not to be sick.

"That was a year and a half ago. I still have nightmares sometimes."

Tears pricked the corners of Kai's eyes and he rubbed them furiously before sitting back heavily, not caring that hitting the hall as hard as he did hurt.

"I-I don't know what to say," he said dumbly, his voice dry and cracked.

"They're gone now. Mama found out, had them expelled. She wanted them in jail, but the previous Principal didn't want it known that students of his precious school had branded someone. She got him fired." Drew smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Kai wanted to get right up, go hunt the small woman down and thank her on his knees, but he stayed perfectly still.

"What," he cleared his throat as his voice broke, "what did you mean by 'I'm not the first'?"

For the first time since he started his story, Drew looked hurt, small, wounded.

"Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he offered.'

"Last year, six months after Mama got the alphas expelled, this alpha approached me." Drew sat down on the floor next to Kai, achingly close. So close he could have easily touched him. "I still didn't hate alphas, so I talked to him. His name was Jared, and he was incredible. He was so kind and sweet. He made me feel whole again, like the piece of me the alphas had taken away had been returned. Every day he told me I was beautiful, and I believed him."

Kai swallowed a growl, the alpha side of him telling him to go find 'Jared' and maybe break his wrist. Really show him who was the real alpha.

"He became my best friend aside from Blake. I told him everything, and he never judged me for it." Tears were bubbling in Drew's eyes now, as much as he tried to wipe them away. "Jared was my first real lover, too." He looked up at Kai, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You know that saying, 'You always hurt the ones you love'?"

Kai nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he reached out and stroked one of Drew's hands to comfort him as best he could.

"Well, I guess it goes both ways. The ones you love hurt you too. One night we were alone at my house playing video games. It was the night I told him I loved him." Drew hit his face on his knees, "How could I have been so stupid? Somehow, somehow, I thought he felt the same."

"He... didn't?"

"Like hell. He shoved me onto my bed, ripped my shirt off, pointed to my scars, and told me I was disgusting. My own boyfriend told me I didn't deserve love, that I was a toy to be used and thrown away. And that's exactly what he did." Drew dragged in a shuddering breath, "he threw me away."

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tears were flowing thick and fast, and they weren't just Drew's. Drew leaned into Kai's side, soaking his hoodie, but Kai didn't care, wrapping his arms around Drew's smaller form.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours. Somewhere along the line Drew fell asleep and Kai carried him to his bed, climbing in himself when Drew refused to let go of his shirt.

At midnight, Christie poked her head in and smiled softly. Kai was leaning against the wall, his head on his chest as he dozed lightly, Drew's head in his lap and a blanket pulled over his body. She tiptoed into the room and gently moved Kai onto his side so that he wouldn't get a crick in his neck the next morning. She placed the blanket over the both of them, not missing how one of Drew's hands was held tightly in Kai's. "Goodnight," she whispered and placed a kiss on her son's forehead and stroked Kai's hair.

***

Drew groaned when a thin beam of sunlight hit him directly in the eye. He opened his eyes, wincing. His face felt thick and crackly. He hated crying.

He tried to stretch out, and only then did he realize that he was incredibly warm. Turning his head, he came face to face with Kai's sleeping face. Heat bloomed across his face as he noticed they were millimeters away from each other.

Sometime during the night, Kai had wrapped his arms around Drew, pulling him to his chest.

Drew didn't hate it, per say...

Drew's wriggling had woken Kai up. He blinked sleepily a few times, removing one arm to rub his eye. "Good morning, gorgeous," he said, his voice raspy and sleepy and perfect.

Drew buried his face in his pillow, turning red all the way up to his ears. "Morning," he muttered.

Kai poked his cheek, laughing quietly, "You don't blush, my ass. Look at this cute blush."

"Shut up!" Drew smacked his hand away, but there was a smile threatening to creep onto his face.

Kai sat up, jostling Drew as he dragged his arm out from under his body. He ran a hand through his messy hair, messing it up even more.

Drew sat up, groaning as he realized he was still in a t-shirt and jeans. "Gross, I slept in my clothes..."

"Me too," Kai said, looking down at his hoodie and jeans. "Wait, am I still wearing my shoes? What the hell?" He kicked off his sneakers with an offended look.

Drew sat cross-legged. "So what now?"

"What do you mean?" Kai asked as he removed his hoodie, shrugging it over his shoulders and tossing it onto the floor next to his shoes.

"This," Drew started with a wave of his hand, "thing. What do we do about us?"

Kai sighed, rolling his shoulder to work out a kink. Turns out holding someone all night had consequences. "That depends."

"Depends on what?" Drew's eyes crinkled.

"Depends on whether or not you'll give me a chance with you."

"Give you a chance...?" Drew trailed off. "You realize I'm pretty messed up?"

"I don't mind."

"I'm a mess most of the time."

"We can work on that."

"I'm weird, over-emotional..."

"I love it."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Kai said firmly.

Drew crawled over to Kai, resting his hands on Kai's knees. "Last chance," he whispered.

"My mind's made up," Kai whispered back.

"I'm trusting you."

"You can trust me, always."

"If you hurt me...."

"You'll set Blake on me?" Kai asked, his smile reaching his eyes.

"Oh, yes."

"Then we're all good because I will never, ever hurt you."

"Then we have a deal," Drew said before he leaned forward and connected their lips.