Page 26 of Self Control

"What happened to you, Caspar?" he asked again, focusing on his apparent roommate first.

"Nothing. I got fired and I don’t want to talk about it," he said, hobbling on his crutches towards the door below Renly's room. He didn't stop even after Mykie called after him, slamming the door closed behind him.

Corbus and Mykie were quiet for a moment, watching the door closely, as if Caspar would come back and say he was joking and explain himself.

When he didn’t, Corbus focused on Mykie, stepping closer to her. "I'm sorry again about this morning. I, ah, wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”

She knew running out earlier would look bad to the younger boy, but she didn't know how to fix it. She wasn’t supposed to get involved with non-Cantils, if she could help it. She had a job to do this weekend; new friendships shouldn't have been on the agenda.

Mykie pulled back. "It's not that. I…I just realized the time and I had to get home quickly after meeting with friends. I work from home, and I have a deadline. It had nothing to do with you or Renly."

Corbus tilted his head. "I thought you worked at Pearl's. Ren said—"

"Renly doesn't know everything about me, all right?" Mykie snapped. She winced immediately after seeing Corbus take a step back.

"Sorry, I'll leave it alone. I don’t want to pry."

"No," she said, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is my fault, not yours. I've had a stressful day and I've got a lot of pressure to complete this job…and it's only going to get worse from here."

She felt a gentle hand touch her upper arm and it took effort for her not to flinch immediately. She was almost sure the boy felt it, but instead of backing away, Corbus came closer and hugged her gently. He leaned down so his chin rested on her shoulder.

"I know what it feels like to have someone watching over your shoulder, waiting for you to fail. It's stressful, but letting it get to you is only going to make it worse." He spoke in her ear, making her shiver as his breath whispered across her neck.

They were both quiet, Corbus holding her in an embrace and Mykie standing stiff but slowly melting the longer it went on.

"I'm not going to let go until you relax," he murmured.

Mykie opened her eyes, laughing to herself. She wasn't the type of person to be comfortable with hugs or cuddly gestures from strangers, but something about Renly and Corbus made her instincts react slower. She didn't immediately push the boys away like she would usually do. Instead, just like with Renly, Mykie found herself embracing the boy's affectionategesture.

"Was that so hard?" he joked, pulling out of the hug after a few seconds of holding each other.

"No," she said quietly, looking away from him. She didn't know what to say about their moment together, or about what he admitted to her. So, out of pure nervousness and lack of conversation-starters, she took a step backward. "I should probably check on Caspar and make sure he's elevating his foot…"

She turned around and walked toward Caspar's room—or, at least, the room he shut himself in. However, Corbus grabbed her arm again.

"Wait!" He protested but quieted after that. Mykie turned back in his direction. Corbus was biting his lip, seemingly to stop himself from saying more than he should.

"You and Renly certainly have personal space issues," Mykie murmured, glancing at the way Corbus' hand gripped her wrist.

He immediately removed his hand. "Sorry. I was just going to ask…" He shook his head and muttered something under his breath before he looked at Mykie, a decision clearly made in his head. "I was going to ask that maybe you’d like to go out some time? I know you and Renly were talking last night, but he said nothing happened. I thought, maybe I should shoot my shot?”

She was stunned. He wasn’t bothered that they met this morning after sleeping in his friend’s room? Enough that he’d ask her out? Was that normal? Was that okay for her to do, sleep in one man’s bed, almost kiss him, then go out with his friend? Was Renly really approving of his friend doing that?

She thought about it, and her heart sunk. Maybe she was right this morning. He was in a relationship, and he was just a flirt. Mykie was glad she got out of there when she did then, instead of making a fool of herself and letting any feelings develop further.

She smiled softly. “Let’s just see where my mind is at after this weekend, alright? If my projects slow down, maybe we can go somewhere? Until then, we can be friends.”

Corbus nodded with a hopeful look. “Okay.”

She turned on her heel and walked the rest of the way to where Caspar closed himself in. She knocked on the door, not expecting an answer, but was surprised when his voice clearly rang through the door.

"Leave me alone, Cor! It's none of your business!"

Mykie turned the doorknob, surprised again to find it unlocked and she slipped through a small opening of the door before closing it softly behind her. The room she was in now was larger than Renly's room, almost like the entire upstairs bedrooms combined. It was dimly lit, the only light on was one of the bedside lights. Caspar's crutches were leaning against the wall beside the closet. There was also a large, king-sized bed in the middle of the room that had a lump in it, but otherwise, the room looked untouched for a while.

She went over to the bed and laid a hand on the blanket-covered lump as she sat down. "You really should elevate your leg," she murmured softly.

Caspar uncovered his face, looking up at the blonde. "I thought you were Corbus."

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