Page 109 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Liam. What’s going on?”

Liam seemed unsure what to do.

“I’m not sure you want to see this,” he finally said.

Will swallowed nervously. He pushed Liam’s hands away and turned to see… Oscar.

The mere fact that Oscar was having a great time in a club instead of supposedly looking after his brother would have been a serious blow to his trust, but of course, it wasn’t that simple. Because Oscar wasn’t alone. He was dancing with some guy. Well, dancing was an overstatement. They were basically grinding on the dance floor, glued to each other, kissing passionately.

Will started toward them.

“Will.” Liam tried to stop him, but the boy tore himself away. “Maybe you should wait until tomorrow.”

He ignored the warning. He pushed his way onto the dance floor, then approached the inseparable pair.

“Oscar!” he called, but he couldn’t break through the thumping music. “Oscar!” He tried again, with no result, so he grabbed the boy’s arm.

Oscar turned around with a smile that promptly vanished from his face. His eyes widened in shock.

“Hey! He’s dancing with me!” Oscar’s partner snarled, then shoved Will hard, sending him stumbling.

“Stop it!” Oscar shouted, stepping between them.

“Is this your little boyfriend or something?” the other guy snorted.

Oscar ignored the question. He grabbed Will’s hand and pulled him along. They ended up in the hallway leading to the restrooms. It was a little quieter here.

“Will. I swear, it’s not what you think,” Oscar whispered nervously.

Will stared at him with tears in his eyes.

“No?” he asked bitterly. “So you weren’t just making out with another guy while you were supposedly taking care of your sick brother?”

Oscar looked down. Will gave him a moment to explain, mainly because he was trying to calm his own emotions, but since Oscar remained silent, he finally spoke up himself, “So what’s your explanation? That you’re so unlucky you just happened to trip and get stuck to some guy right when I was looking?” he sneered venomously. “No, wait. You probably think you’re unlucky because I caught you. But somehow I don’t think this is the only time you’ve pulled something like this, so it’s not bad luck, it’s just statistics.”

“Will… please,” Oscar whispered pleadingly.

“What are you asking me for?” Will hissed.

“Let’s just talk calmly, okay?”

“We are talking! No, wait. This isn’t calm, and it’s not going to be. So…” Will’s voice started to break. “It’s over. Not that you’ll care, since you obviously didn’t take this seriously, but still.”

“Will, I’m sorry!” Oscar looked like he was about to cry. “It was just one night! I wanted to have some fun, I met this guy… I really don’t know how it happened.”

“Well, I do.”

“Will!”

Will ran back into the main room, then pushed his way through the crowd, trying to get to the exit. Liam was still waiting there. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know what.

They walked in silence most of the way back. Will was barely holding back tears, and Liam kept glancing at him, clearly on edge.

Finally, they reached Will’s house.

“Thanks,” Will whispered. “It was…”

He automatically wanted to say fun, but the word got stuck in his throat.