Curious (mxm)

Homo Scapegoat

Erik's POV

Axel had pounded more vodka shots than what I knew to be humanly possible. He was also sobbing into his hands. Considering he looked rough and tough — with that gray tank-top showing off the tattoo on his shoulder as well as the rewards of his gym regimen — the visual was a bit ridiculous.

"I — hic — I told her that I love her," he sobbed. "But I haven't loved her in — hic — a year. And I feel so guilty for lying for so long, Errrrrrik. Pay attentionnnn."

I patted his back and tried not to blink in shock. How was his back that muscular? I resisted the urge to run my hand down his spine, just to see what he'd do. "Axel ... I know you're in no position to hear this, but you should feel guilty about lying to her for that long. Also, I hate to be the one to say this, but maybe this is for the best?"

"It's not," he sniffed. "It's a bad thing, Erik."

He cuddled his head into my neck and I managed to catch sight of us in a nearby mirror. I was leanly muscular, sure, but I always looked a little dorky with my disheveled hair and glasses. Axel always looked like he was aspiring to join a biker gang. And yet, we seemed to fit well together.

"Why is it bad?" I asked, running my hand through his short black hair.

He sniffed pathetically. "I lied to her in our conversation."

I didn't care about Alyssa, honestly. But I made an empathetic noise anyway. "Axel, no you didn't. Sure, you should've told her a while ago. But you ended up telling her, right? So what does it matter?"

He sobbed again. "I didn't tell her. I didn't tell her that I fell out of love with her though."

I wrinkled my nose. "Then what happened?"

"I — hic — I told her you turned me gayyyy."

He started sobbing again.

I paused to contemplate, irritation rising steadily from deep within my soul. "You did what now? Please repeat that."

He rubbed at his face and looked at me, blue eyes filled with tears. "And we broke up. Which is— which is ...." He reached for the vodka bottle and took a swig before I could grab it. "It's bad."

"Why is it bad?" I asked, gritting my teeth. "You got what you wanted, which was to be broken up. Even if you broke up with her by telling her some made-up, cop-out excuse."

"Because now — hic — she's pregnant with my babyyy." He started crying all over again, this time twice as violently.

Axel — my Axel — impregnated his girlfriend? By mistake?

I sat there, covered in my best friend's tears, and wondered what the hell was actually wrong with him.

I wasn't going to say that out loud.

He was going to have a child? With Alyssa, his now ex-girlfriend? Well, if they decided to actually have the baby.

"That's okay," I offered feebly, because all of a sudden my mind was blank. I had no words and no way to process the information I'd just received. "It'll be ... fine. I can help the baby with school if you want."

Axel ... well, he wasn't not bright. He was smart in a lot of ways. But those ways usually involved an engine or machine of some sort, not books.

He sniffed miserably. "That's— that's what I said to Alyssa. And she got so mad. I don't know why."

... Okay, maybe he wasn't bright in any sort of way.