Page 22 of Gunpowder

Wren made that sound that was almost a laugh again and stepped back. “Whatever you say, Blair.”

Blair didn’t bother pointing out they had given each other almost the same reasons for wanting to see each other again, too relieved by finally having some air to breathe that Wren wasn’t standing in. He half expected there to be people staring at them but their little encounter hadn’t drawn any attention that he noticed. He guessed from an outside perspective they just looked like a couple on a date, standing close and talking low because that’s what couples did. He wasn’t sure if that thought embarrassed him more or less than the idea of their conversation appearing conspicuous. Wren didn’t seem to have given it a second thought; he was already walking away, back the way they came.

“You wanna go somewhere else?” Blair offered.

“I want to go home so that you’ll stop walking around on that leg like there isn’t a hole in it.”

Blair sighed but he felt the sides of his mouth pulling up. He couldn’t be upset with the nagging, not when he had been conditioned by Incindious’ own resident mother figure and when it clearly came from a place of concern, whether Wren would own up to it or not. Having Wren’s frigid ass worry about him was almost cute.

“Alright, Sunshine. Home it is.”

He chuckled at Wren clicking his tongue in annoyance, and not just because Blair was becoming endeared to the sound. Yeah, pretty boy, two can play at the button-pushing game. They didn’t say much else on the walk back to his bike but the silence was kind of nice. Companionable, even.

Blair was about to throw a leg over the bike when lithe fingers hooked in his belt loops and turned him around. He stumbled slightly, one hand falling to the seat behind him and the other one bracing in front of him when his body threatened to tip forward from the sudden change in position. His support from the front turned out to be Wren, his tank top bunched up where Blair gripped it. He didn’t have time to let go before Wren was drawing him closer, sending his heart into a staccato rhythm pounding in his ears.

Blair was holding on to Wren’s shirt, it would be easy enough to push him back.

But Blair wasn’t pushing, he was pulling. Pulling Wren in.

Wren leaned down. “Blair—”

A tingle ran up Blair’s leg that wasn’t just excitement. He jumped, and immediately sighed as he recognized the vibration of his cell phone. He slid it out just enough to look at the screen. Spencer. Damn, he couldn’t ignore it. He gave Wren an apologetic look and put the phone to his ear. Wren didn’t respond, but he didn’t move, either. Their faces were so close that Wren’s breathing would probably be audible on the other end of the line. Blair’s was probably louder, though. Their proximity wasn’t doing much to let his heart slow down.

Wren’s eyes followed his lips as Blair said, “Hey, Spencer.”

There was no teasing or airy greeting. Spencer’s tone was as cold and hard as a knife, and his words cut just as deep. “You need to get to the bar right now. Adam was attacked. It’s bad, Blair. It’s really bad.”

6

GENIUS

Blair had a million questions but there was already dial tone echoing back to him. It took a few tries to get his phone back in his pocket with his hands shaking. The breeze from the water seemed to be colder than before, like someone was walking icy fingers down his spine.

“I’ve gotta go.”

The blackness engulfing his vision worried him at first, until he realized his unfocused gaze had fallen to Wren’s chest. Blair couldn’t keep his head raised to look at him—it felt heavy, everything felt heavy.

He groped his pockets for his wallet, cursing his fingers, willing them to just be still, goddammit.

“I’ll get you a cab. I’m sorry, it’s an emergency.”

“I take it you’re meeting them at the hospital.”

He started to ask how Wren knew what was going on before he remembered the fractional space between them, realized Spencer’s words had been just as clear to Wren as they’d been to him. He forced his mind to process the rest of what Wren said. The hospital… no.

“Adam’s wanted in just about every city in Queens for drug distribution. He shows up in the system and he’s gone.”

Wren reclined his weight back onto his heel, creating just a little more room, a little more air for Blair to suck in like he wouldn’t get another chance. “It sounded serious. For you and that dealer’s sake, I hope you have someone in Incindious who can patch up holes instead of just blowing them into people.”

Blair scrubbed his hands over his face. His legs had started to shake but he didn’t think it was from pain. He didn’t know for sure. Everything felt dulled. “We have him and Nolan.” His hands fell to his sides. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Adam and Nolan have been together since highschool...there’s no way Nolan’s going to be in any condition to help him right now. We’re going to have to get him that way, though, and I need to go be with them—I’m really sorry but I gotta go.”

“Take me with you.”

Blair paused in his fumbling attempt to unclip his keys from his belt loop. “Huh?”

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