CHAPTER 254: THE ONE WHO WATCHED, THE ONE WHO CARRIED

The glowing numbers on the dashboard read 10:30 pm.

More than two hours had passed since Clyde first parked. Maybe he should just leave...

Maybe Micah had already fallen asleep, or didn’t want to see anyone, or...

He shook his head. No. He should try once more. He called again. This time, to his surprise, Micah answered. Clyde’s heart skipped a beat.

"Hey," Micah said, his voice wasn’t steady or familiar. It was slurred. Light with giggles. There was wind, and the faint rustle of leaves in the background.

He was drunk and out.

Clyde drew in a breath, shoulders falling as he did.

"You are out? What’s that wind noise?" Clyde asked.

"Uhum... we are at the peak!" Micah said, chuckling. "Come get me. I drank too much..."

The words hit harder than they should. Come get me. It repeated in his mind. Clyde’s heart trembled.

"Fine. You are not alone, right?" he said, his voice hoarse.

"No. I am with my brother..." Micah mumbled.

"What brother?" Clyde mumbled, confused.

But Micah just giggled.

Clyde let out a sigh. "I’ll be there soon."

Even though he knew Micah was not alone, someone important enough to be called by Micah as ’brother’ was with him, Clyde didn’t care. He was happy that Micah asked him.

He was needed. That was enough.

Without wasting a second, Clyde started the engine and pulled onto the road, tires screeching from the force. He drove fast, recklessly for someone like him. He gripped the wheel tightly, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

He reached the hilltop after ten minutes. The peak was quiet, isolated. A single car sat parked under a tree.

Clyde slowed to a stop nearby. His engine cut off with a soft click.

He stepped out and scanned the open space. And then he saw them.

Micah, lying down on the grass, arms stretched out above his head. And beside him, a boy. Dark-haired, slim, seated stiffly with one knee bent, hands resting on his lap. But his eyes, his gaze, were locked on Micah like nothing else in the world existed.

Clyde didn’t move right away. Was this boy the one Micah called brother?

Clyde watched them for a few seconds, unmoving.

The boy, the one he saw at the La Riviere Pharmaceutical, looked at Micah with something close to adoration. Longing. He was so drawn to Micah, he didn’t even notice his arrival.

And Clyde, surprisingly, didn’t feel threatened.

He didn’t like it. But he didn’t feel hatred.

Not after knowing how completely Micah had been abandoned by his own family.

After knowing Ramsy’s family was a total disappointment, Clyde welcomed any decent person who saw Micah and didn’t look away with open arms. Micah needed friends. Someone who cared about him. Even that person had feelings for Micah. He would tolerate it.

He stepped forward. His shoes crunched lightly on the gravel path, and the sound made the boy snap his head around.

Their eyes met.

Clyde immediately noticed a flicker of something pass across the boy’s face. His pupils contracted, expression twisting for a second, like he had been caught off guard.

Clyde frowned, confused. Did the boy know him?

"Hey, I came to bring you guys back," Clyde said flatly.

His eyes dropped to Micah and the first thing he noticed was the dark-haired noy’s jacket, carefully placed across Micah’s chest like a blanket. The small gesture made Clyde pause. His lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t say anything.

Darcy stared at the man. Tense. Guarded.

He felt his stomach knot. The blonde man, the one Micah had once gotten out of his car, the one who had brought takeaway for Micah, the one in Micah’s sketches, he was here.

His fists clenched. Why? Why him, of all people? Why would Micah call him?

He thought Micah had called a driver, a Ramsy staff member to come to get them. But this...

This man meant something to Micah.

Alcohol dulled his reaction enough to show the sharp edge of jealousy in his face. He knew he had shown it. His hostility to the blonde man was obvious.

But the man didn’t react to any of it.

Clyde crouched down slowly, one knee on the ground. He placed a hand on Micah’s shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. "Hey, wake up," he murmured.

Micah shifted with a groan, one eye fluttering open. When he saw who he was leaning over him, his face lit up like a child seeing his favourite person.

"Clyde," he said, grinning. He stretched out his arms. "Carry me!" his voice was slurred.

Darcy’s heart jumped. He stared, frozen, his eyes flickering between the two.

The ease between them. The way Micah reached for him without hesitation made his heart bleed.

What was their relationship? Friends? More?

Micah’s stretched hands were like a knife stabbing his heart.

He opened his mouth to object, to say he would do it instead, but the way Micah’s eyes were glued onto the man made him swallow his words.

Instead, he pressed a hand to the necklace under his shirt, trying to steady himself, trying to calm his flaring emotions.

Clyde smiled softly and slid his arms beneath Micah in one motion. He hoisted him up in a bridal carry and began walking toward his car.

Micah wrapped his arms around Clyde’s neck, giggling.

Just before he reached it, he turned his head toward Darcy. "Is there something in his car?"

Darcy blinked, then grabbed Micah’s coat from the ground. He shook his head.

"Good. Come sit beside him," Clyde said.

Darcy paused. The pain of seeing Micah clinging to another man was almost too much to bear. But what could he do here on the hilltop, with no one around and nowhere to turn? Could he really leave Micah alone with this man? No, his heart wouldn’t let him.

So, he followed stiffly. He slid into the backseat, holding Micah’s coat in his lap tightly.

Micah was nestled in Clyde’s arms, head tucked into his shoulders, mumbling nonsense. He didn’t want to come down. He clung tighter, trying to wrap his legs around Clyde’s waist.

"Be good," Clyde murmured, feeling Micah’s arms tighten around his neck, nearly choking him. "Stay still, you make yourself dizzy. " Clyde coaxed him with a soft voice.

After a few minutes of constant coaxing, Micah finally let go and settled down in the backseat.

He lay back, resting his head on Darcy’s shoulder this time.

Darcy sat still, unsure of what to do. A faint floral scent filled the air. Jasmine.

His gaze landed on the passenger seat, on the bouquet resting beside a small box, carefully arranged. Was it for Micah?

He swallowed and looked away.

Really, who was this man?