Page 64 of Obsessed

CALL ME NOW

NOW RAIN NOW

I WONT STOP

ILLL FIND U RAIN AND ILL ABORT U

UR A PIECE OF SHIT FORGET U HAVE A MOTHER

Something blocked the screen and suddenly the phone was gone, breaking the spell, and he gasped for air as Tristan appeared in front of him, wrapped in a bathrobe, his hair wet.

“Try to breathe, kid. Try to breathe…” Fear on his face, Tristan gently rubbed Rain’s arms as he wheezed. What the hell was happening? Why couldn’t he take a full breath? Reaching up, he touched his cheeks, his fingers coming away wet. When had he started crying?

Slowly, his lung capacity returned to normal and he wiped his face, shivering hard as sweat dried along his back.

“Doing better now?” Tristan patted his hands while Mouse headbutted his arm.

“Y-Yeah,” Rain croaked, giving Mouse a few scritches. “I’m o-okay, girl.”

“What happened, kid?” Sitting on the coffee table across from him, Tristan waited, stress in his gaze, and Rain couldn’t help but feel bad because right now he didn’t want to talk to Tristan. He wanted to talk to Mason, and hold him, and sleep next to him in that huge dark room with Mouse kneading biscuits at the end of the bed.

He missed it all so much.

More tears gathered in Rain’s eyes and he quickly brushed them away. Not trusting himself to speak, he gestured at his phone, giving Tristan permission to read.

Picking it up, Tristan scanned the screen, a stern frown forming on his face that grew larger and more menacing as he scrolled back. When he finally looked up at Rain, his eyes held such uncharacteristic fury that Rain forgot about his tears. He’d only seen that expression on Tristan’s face once before, during the breakup, but to see it again because of what had been said to him? Rain wished, not for the first time, that he’d been Tristan’s real son.

But, in a way, he was.

Standing up, Tristan held out his hand.

“How about we get you a new number? Then you’ll never have to deal with her again.”

Rain didn’t have to think about it because he’d given Mason more than enough time. If he hadn’t called by now, he wasn’t going to and Rain needed to focus on his safety. Nodding, he took Tristan’s hand, his heart simultaneously lighter and heavier because not only was he cutting the final tie to his mother but maybe to Mason as well.

Rain slumped in a booth at the back of an almost empty diner. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What do youwantto do?” Taking a gulp of water, Tommy spun the salt shaker around as they waited for their food.

“I don’t knoooow Tommy. That’s why I’m asking you.” If he slouched any more, he’d be under the table.

“Why do you want my advice? I’m not, like, a love expert or anything.” Tommy’s grin held some self-deprecation and Rain squinted at him.

“You’ve been with Amanda for a year and a half, right?” When Tommy nodded, Rain gestured at him. “See, you’re way more of an expert than I am.”

“What about Ollie? Him and Finn are going on a year.” Why did Tommy always play the devil’s advocate? Trying not to fling a sugar packet at him, Rain crossed his arms.

“What they have isn’t natural,” he said with a good-natured snort. “They’re too much in love.”

“You can never be too much in love,” Tommy rebutted, wagging his finger. Tall and athletic with golden curls like Ollie, Tommy never had a problem finding dates; to be honest, he’d always been popular as fuck and Rain had ridden in the sidecar to that - going to the best parties, getting into clubs underage, and finding the hottest hookups.

That seemed so long ago; he’d been a different Rain then. Mason had changed him, which was why he’d gathered Tommy for a heart-to-heart.

Picking up on Rain’s musing, Tommy leaned in earnestly.

“Have you spoken since the breakup?”

Rain sighed again, feeling older than his years. “It wasn’t a breakup. We were never officiallytogether.” He made air quotes around the last word.

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