This Is a Wasteland

The best thing by far about sharing a bed with Kellin was waking up in the morning. I would roll over as my mind groggily started to stir and feel him next to me. He would cuddle in closer to me and I would hold him until I was awake enough to final open my eyes and see him lying peacefully next to me.

I loved watching him sleep. His dark hair would lie messily across his face, his lips slightly parted as he breathed in and out. I adjusted my arms around him and kissed the top of his head lightly. I sighed softly and thought about our activities from the night before.

I couldn’t believe that we were sleeping together again. It was the best feeling in the world. It bothered me slightly that I never felt so excited when I did that with Jaime, but I knew it was because I never really loved him. It was for that very reason that I was glad Kellin had come back into my life.

Suddenly Kellin started to move in my arms, letting out a sleepy yawn.

“Good morning,” I whispered as he squinted at me through tired eyes. It was fucking adorable.

“Morning,” he mumbled, wrapping his arms around my waist and burrowing against my neck. “I’m still sleepy.”

“I can tell,” I chuckled, running my hands up and down his back. He was so warm and soft and-

“I gotta pee,” he said suddenly, pushing himself away. I let go of him and chuckled as he hurried out of bed and for the door. I rolled onto my stomach, filling up the now empty bed. He returned moments later, but didn’t come back to lie down with me.

“You’re not coming back to bed?” I asked, as he walked over to the closet.

“I have work,” he pointed out. I moaned.

“Your job is sketchy, don’t go,” I pouted.

“I have to,” he sighed. “I promise I’ll keep an eye out for something else though?”

“Okay,” I sighed, laying back down as he went to finish getting ready for work. When he was done getting dressed, he leaned over the bed and gave me a quick kiss. I, however, took full advantage of that moment, to pull him back down to me and get every second of that kiss that I possibly could.

“Okay, okay, I really have to go now,” he chuckled, kissing me once more before pushing himself up.

“I’ll see you later,” I called to him. He returned the gesture before leaving. I laid back down against the pillows, letting out a big sigh. Before I had a chance to start thinking about anything, I heard the door opening again. I sat up quickly to see if Kellin had forgotten something, but shrieked instead when I saw Mike letting himself in instead. I scrambled to make sure the covers were still over me, since I had never bothered to put on any clothes after the previous night’s activities.

“Can’t you knock?” I snapped.

“Can’t you learn how to keep it down?” he countered. I felt my muscles tightening as I realized what he was getting at. He must have noticed the color draining from my face. I still hadn’t told anyone that I decided to get back with Kellin. “You always seem to forget that these walls are paper thin, man.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “What are you even doing here?”

“I don’t know, I just wanted to find out what’s going on. Did you fuck Kellin?” he asked casually.

“Don’t say it like that,” I mumbled. He was definitely more than just a fuck to me. “But … yeah.”

“Dude, you sure about this?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said, almost defensively. Why wouldn’t I be sure about Kellin? He meant so much to me.

“I’m just looking out for you, bro,” he said, nodding. “I just remember how upset you were when you guys first broke up and well … I don’t want you to have to go through that again.”

“Mike, come on,” I moaned. “It’s different this time, I swear. His psychotic mother isn’t around to ruin things for us and we’re both over eighteen, so it’s all good right?”

“You only just got out of a relationship-“

“Mike!” I almost shouted at him. He jumped a little, seeming startled. “Sorry, I just … I know what I’m doing okay? I’m more than sure that I want to be with Kellin.”

“If you’re sure,” he sighed.

—-

Kellin’s POV

Work seemed to go back to normal. The only thing different now was that I knew what I was working for. This was a prostitution agency. This was quite illegal. I even asked Mr. Sykes what would happen if they got caught. This was mainly because I wanted to get as far away from that place as possible when they did.

“Don’t worry about it, we won’t get caught,” he told me, grinning. “Why, are you scared?”

“N-no,” I mumbled, turning back to my desk. “I just- I think that’s a pretty reasonable thing to be worried about is all.”

“Nah, I run a pretty tight organization here. We won’t get caught. There are people that could say something easily, but they know what the consequences for them would be,” he said, giving a slightly sadistic grin. Oh, God. “Don’t look so scared, babe, I assure you that nothing is going to happen.”

“Well, okay,” I muttered.

“So everything’s all good now?” he wanted to know.

“I guess so.”

“That’s good, because I wouldn’t want that to deter you from working with us. Please do not hesitate to let me know if I can do anything to make your stay here more comfortable,” he chuckled, before patting me on the back and leaving. He was so weird. Half the time I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or if he was genuinely concerned … or if he was genuinely a creepy asshole.

I knew that Vic wanted me to quit, but I really couldn’t find it in me to leave the job. As much as Mr. Sykes made me uncomfortable, and as sketchy as the job was, I still didn’t want to lose that money. There was no way that I could make that anywhere else at my age.

But the problem was that I didn’t know how to break it to Vic. I knew he’d be upset if I didn’t quit the job but … what if I just told him that I quit? He wouldn’t have to know, would he?