"can I ask... what happened?" for whoever u want!!
mikeyedgar talk about rafe... cue everyone throwing up everywhere
+
Edgar wouldn't tell anyone where he got the bruises or the split lip from. Not even JJ, which made Mikey's anxiety skyrocket. Yeah, Edgar was a self sacrificing kinda guy, who liked to keep his problems to himself – Nova said it was a Catholic thing – but when it was serious, he always reached out for help. And if someone had hurt him, it was obviously serious.
Mikey knew he wouldn't be his first choice to talk to about whatever happened, but maybe that was why he would. There was no emotional weight between them, not like with JJ or Mags.
He was sitting on his bedroom floor when Mikey knocked on the open door, staring into space with his headphones. He startled at the sound, grabbing his CD player as if that could protect him.
Exhaling in relief when he saw who was there, he said, "Oh, hey, Mikey. What's up?"
"Wanted to hang out," he said, crossing the threshold and flopping onto the floor beside him. "Whatya listening to?"
"American Boyfriend by Kevin Abstract," he replied, yanking his headphones out. "It's like, my favorite album of all time. Besides Channel Orange by Frank Ocean."
Mikey smiled but shook his head. "I dunno either of those."
"Yeah, cause you only listen to Maroon 5."
He scoffed. "What do have against Maroon 5?"
-
Ten minutes later, they were lying on their backs staring up at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. They'd been a gift from Pope when Edgar mentioned he'd always wanted them as a kid, but was never able to get any. They'd lined them up in the shapes of real constellations because they were nerds.
"That's Cassiopeia," he explained, pointing at what just looked like a cluster of stickers to Mikey's untrained eyes.
His gaze locked onto the bruises circling his wrist. They were obviously from someone's hand, the lines too straight and the circles too pronounced to be anything but fingerprints.
He grabbed his arm, holding it in place. "Can I ask... What happened?"
Edgar pulled his arm out of his hold and sat up, astronomy lesson obviously over. "I really don't want to talk about it."
Mikey sat up as well, sending him a frown. "You can't just not tell us what happened. Someone obviously hurt you. You can't just keep that to yourself."
"I can do whatever I want," Edgar replied, but there was no venom in his words.
Mikey sighed. "Well, yeah, obviously. But you'll feel better once you talk about it."
He huffed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I don't think I will, but since I can tell you're not gonna let it go: It was Rafe."
Mikey's blood froze.
"You see? That look on your face is why I haven't said anything," he muttered.
After a long three seconds of silence, Mikey managed to spit out, "Are you okay?"
Edgar's expression softened, ever so slightly, making him look much more Edgarlike. "I'm fine. He didn't do anything other than creep me out."
It was counterproductive but Mikey wanted to hit him for dismissing his own pain. "And bruise you! And split your lip!"
"I've been through much worse than a split lip," he replied with a laugh.
"What happened? Did he corner you somewhere?"
Edgar bit his lip, obviously considering if he wanted to keep talking. "He got me when I was in kitchen–"
Mikey gasped. "He attacked you in your own kitchen?"
"Attack is a strong word. He just, like, held my wrists so I couldn't move, and held a knife to my throat."
Why was he being so casual about this? Why was someone so sweet so accustomed to violence?
Mikey blinked away tears, trying to keep himself in check. If he reacted emotionally, Edgar would definitely shut the conversation down. "What did he want?"
"To talk to me. He tried to get us to back off the gold. He said he didn't want me to get hurt."
That didn't sound like Rafe at all. He must've had some kind of ulterior motive.
"Does JJ know?" he asked, instead of voicing that concern.
Edgar nodded. "I just told him not to tell you guys cause I didn't want you to worry. Him and my mom fretting over me is more than enough people."
"We only worry cause we love you," Mikey said, frowning yet again. Edgar's view of himself was really bumming him out.
He laughed, and grabbed his hands, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. Ever the affectionate one. "I know, but I don't want you to. I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about."
That was hard to believe with his the way his hands were shaking, and the purple bags under his eyes, but Mikey nodded in agreement anyway.
"Of course, Eddie," he said. "Tell me more about the constellations."
Mikey wasn't the kind of guy who broke into people's houses, but there was a first time for everything.
It was worth it to see the surprise on Rafe's face when he switched on the light in his room and saw him sitting there.
"Jesus Christ," he said, "You scared the shit outta me."
"Good," he spat, crossing his arms over his chest.
Rafe raised an eyebrow. "Why're you here?"
He walked to his closet, beginning to unbutton his shirt. That was how little he cared about Mikey's presence. He didn't even respect him enough to give him his attention.
"Why him?" he asked before he lost his nerve. "Why Edgar?"
"Oh, he finally told you," Rafe said, grabbing a different shirt. He looked down at it, inspecting it's light blue color, before deciding against it. "He held out for longer than I thought."
"Answer me," Mikey demanded, getting to his feet. He would not be ignored.
Rafe finally turned to look at him, sending him an uninterested glance. "You're asking the wrong question. You don't wanna know why I like him. You wanna know why I don't like you."
The words stung like a slap to the face.
"I thought you did like me," he admitted, "You literally said I loved you as you thought I was dying in your arms."
He shrugged. "I was caught up in the moment."
Mikey wanted to strangle him with his bare hands. "So what? I'm just supposed to be cool with the fact that you dated me despite having no feelings for me? I'm just supposed to make peace that you're a freak who's obsessed with my friend who hates you and already has a boyfriend? What the hell is wrong with you?"
Rafe finally picked a shirt, a crisp white polo that was probably more expensive than anything Mikey owned. He slipped it over his head, before sending him an emotionless smile. "To be honest, I don't really care how you feel about my feelings for him. I don't care how you deal with it. That's not my problem."
"You were lying the whole time! For our entire relationship! I betrayed my friends trust, and nearly ruined everything I worked so hard to get back because of you!" Mikey shouted.
Rafe rolled his eyes. "You did that to yourself. I never told you to do that." He picked a piece of lint of his shirt. "And it doesn't matter anyway. You're not gonna hit me. You're not gonna actually do anything about it but break your own heart."
Mikey saw red, his eyes welling up with angry tears. "Fuck you!"
"At least Edgar would have the guts to punch me," he said, shrugging again. Mikey flinched at the mention of his name. "You can't even do that. So you should go before your feelings get even more hurt, and you ruin your night."
And, like the coward he was, so used to following Rafe's orders, he did.
in the beginning of the story, his clothes are very bland and basic and like uninteresting, just plain t shirts and pants
but once he's disocvering who he is once he's out of his toxic relationship he starts to spice it up a little! he gets really into stripes which is really funny to me
