Page 49 of One Lovely Lie

“I mean exactly what I said. When is the last time you slept?”

He looks down at me and scratches his chin. “Um…I don’t know. I think we had pancakes for breakfast that morning.”

My face pales.

Jesus Christ, it’s worse than I thought.

“That was two days ago, buddy,” I say, placing my hand on his thigh as I urge him off the chair. “Maybe cool it on the energy drinks. Take some NyQuil or something?”

He shakes his head rapidly, jumps off the chair, and runs to grab his notebook. “I can’t. I just have too much energy. I need to get this project done. Just a few more poems and then I can rest.”

“Okay, sure,” I say, trying to placate him because now he’s pacing in the small room, his fingers twitching wearily, his face all scrunched up in slow-growing agitation. “Do you think we can clean up a little though? Think of Daniel. Would he want to come back to this?”

I take a step and start to remove a poem from the wall, but I’m tackled onto the bed by a bulky, strong body. The wind is knocked out of me as Avery hovers over me, tearing the paper from my hand frantically. “No! Don’t ruin it! Sebastian needs to read them first!”

“Sebastian? Look, your obsession—”

“It’s not an obsession! He’s my boyfriend!” he screams, rolling over on his back as he grips his hair. “He’s my boyfriend! My cute boyfriend who’s inspired my poetry!”

He’s up again. This time he’s fumbling over his poetry, running his hands down every page, tilting his head as he looks at them from different angles.

Maybe I should get Oz and Carter. They would know what to do. I’m not too sure how to handle this. Avery’s eccentric, but I’ve never seen him like this.

Maybe I could call Daniel? Would he know what to do? Would anybody?

“Avery, come on,” I say definitively, grabbing him gently by the elbow. “Just sit down for a second.”

“No! Let go of me!”

He’s thrashing in my arms and Avery is a big guy, this isn’t easy. I’m slightly afraid I’m going to get concussed because he’s making this really difficult. I wrap my arms around his torso and dig my feet into the floor, but it’s no use.

“Hey! What the fuck is happening here!”

For a second, I think it’s Oz or Carter coming to the rescue but when I turn around, I see it’s Sebastian. His hazel eyes are wide and shocked and his mouth is agape as he takes in the room. When he sees me, my arms around Avery, that perplexed look shifts into rage.

“Get away from him!”

His startling and fierce demand has me letting go of Avery.

“What are you doing here?” I stagger back, hitting the wall behind me as Sebastian plows right by me.

He completely ignores me, going straight to Avery and dropping to the floor beside him. “Avery, honey, are you okay?”

Honey?

Avery is now curled up into himself, knees tucked underneath him, arms crossed over his chest, his head down, and his voice muffled. “Did you see my poems?”

“Yeah, I did,” he says.

“Magnus didn’t like them.”

“Well, Magnus is a dick.”

Well, fuck you very much.

“Do you like them?” Avery asks and his voice is so small, drained, and fragile.

“Yeah, they’re great,” Sebastian says and he sounds so fucking genuine as he rubs Avery’s bare back. “Are they all for me?”

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