chapter nine

DOMINIC WANTED TO LAUGH out loud when rafe screamed at him, telling him he was fucked up for "hooking up" with jj. of course, rafe had noticed the hickey when it was almost completely gone. what made the situation hilarious was the fact that rafe had a fresh hickey on his chest. had rafe thought dominic didn't notice?

dom simply rolled his eyes at the boy's overreaction. "i didn't hook up with jj, rafe."

"then who the hell gave you a hickey? and how long did you think you could hide it from me?"

"it's really none of your business, rafe." dominic crossed is arms over his chest. "i don't go around asking you who left a fucking hickey on you, do i?"

"dom--"

dom had had enough. "no, rafe, no. this is becoming absolute bullshit. we're not exclusive, remember? you can go fuck whoever you want and so can i."

"who have you fucked?" rafe asked.

dom waved his arms around angrily. "no one, rafe! i haven't fucked anyone besides you. yeah, i kissed jj like three weeks ago, but we never fucked. why don't you understand that i'm not like you. we may be in an open relationship, but i never planned on going around and fucking whoever the hell i wanted to like you do!"

"babe, i--"

dom shook his head, "you know what? don't babe me, rafe. we--" he paused. his heart immediately started to ache in his chest. "we're done."

dominic turned to walk away, tired of hearing all of rafe's bullshit. catching the younger boy off guard rafe blurted, "i--i love you, dom."

dom froze, spinning back around to look at the boy. "no." he shook his head, "no, you don't."

rafe stepped closer to him, "dom, i do. i swear i do."

"no," dom repeated with a shake of his head once again. "you don't. you just like the fact that i'm at your beck and call whenever you need and i always fall at your feet. i'm tired of it, rafe. if you loved me you wouldn't continue hooking up with other people." he pushed at rafe's chest right over the area that his fresh hickey was. "it's as simple as that."

"i'm just scared." rafe confessed. "i've never felt this way about someone before. it--it's so new for me and i just don't know how to handle the feeling. i love you, dominic. i really do." his eyes were watering, but dom stood solid with a look no one would be able to decipher.

"no," dom spoke softly. "you--you don't." he shook his head and turned around again, leaving rafe's bedroom. he bumped into sarah who had been out in the hallway eavesdropping. "can you bring me home?"

the frown on her face made dominic want to cry, but he did his best to hold it in. "of course." she spoke quietly, pulling the boy in for a hug. the two made their way downstairs and out to sarah's car. they didn't even make it out of the driveway before the tears started rolling down dominic's face. "is there anything i can do for you?"

"text jj." he mumbled, looking out the window. "tell him he was right." the rest of the ride was silent and when they arrived he quietly thanked the blonde girl before he climbed out. he made his way up to his room without greeting either of his parents and locked his bedroom door.

after laying in bed for a good hour or so he heard a soft knock come from his door. "what?" he groaned, covering his face with his comforter.

"i'm just checking in, honey. are you okay? did something happen? i'm trying to give you your space, but i just care too much about you." his mother's voice was sincere and it was something he rarely heard. he opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. "please come to me if you need to talk. i love you, sweetie."

he could hear her footsteps as she walked away from the door and a small sigh fell from his lips as he took the blanket off his face. he reached for his phone to see a few texts from rafe, apologizing for everything, but dom was just simply sick and tired of all the bullshit that came along with rafe. he didn't love him. there was absolutely no way. he wouldn't have hooked up with all those girls if he did...right?

tapping on his window caught his attention next and he looked over to see jj with a small smile. he gave the brunet a wave and dom crawled across his bed to open said window. jj crawled in and sat on the edge of dom's bed. "hey, i hope it's okay that i came like this." he pulled his left shoe off before looking at the dark haired boy. dom watched as he kicked his other shoe off. "i would've used the front door, but i wasn't sure if your parents would even let me in."

dom let out a small laugh, "they probably would've slammed the door in your face."

"i don't doubt it." jj smirked before his face turned serious. "sarah told me you broke up with rafe..."

dom raked his fingers through his hair. "yeah, he—he told me he loved me and i just couldn't buy it.

"he told you he loved you?" jj repeated, the look of shock on his face made dom sigh. "do you love him?"

the brunet looked down in his lap. "no, i don't." he frowned, "i like him, but not enough to love him." there was a small silence. "maybe one day i could have if he hadn't been hooking up with other people."

jj eyed him, "what made you do it though? did something happen?"

dom rolled his eyes, not at jj, but simply because of the answer he was going to give. "he saw the hickey you gave me and got mad about it."

"that's still there?" jj rose an eyebrow. "i had no idea, i'm sorry."

"it's not your fault, jj." dom stated. "i wanted what happened between us to happen and i don't regret it. i just wish it wasn't such a big deal to rafe because he literally has a new hickey on his chest, you know? it just doesn't make sense."

"i'm sorry." jj repeated.

"it's fine." a small laugh escaped dom's lips. "you literally have no reason to apologize." he crawled back over to his pillow and laid down, patting the spot next to him as a gesture for jj to lay next to him. a smile crept its way onto jj's lips and he crawled over also, laying next to the brunet. their faces weren't too far apart and dom wanted nothing but to kiss the boy. however, he felt it wasn't a good time because he didn't want jj to feel like a rebound.

"i'm mentally drained and i feel like shit." dom confessed.

jj brushed dom's hair away from his eyes. "what can i do to help you?"

"i don't know, if i'm being honest." dom spoke quietly. "rafe was my first boyfriend. i've never experienced whatever the hell i'm experiencing right now...is this heartbreak even if i didn't love him?"

"heartbreak is heartbreak--simple as that. you don't have to be in love with him for your heart to break." there was a small silence. "feeling heartbroken is completely normal. your relationship may have been open, but you still had feelings for him and they were--and still are--valid. you have every right to feel heartbroken, dom."

"thanks." dom chuckled lightly, wiping at the few tears that built up in the corner of his eyes. he absolutely hated crying in front of people and he always tried his hardest not to, but this was just too much. he had planned on going to the beach with rafe. there were no intentions of breaking up with the boy that day. he was simply sick and tired of being treated like he was doing something wrong when rafe had done so much worse. "can we...can we just lay here for awhile?"

jj smiled small, "of course." dom returned it before rolling over so that his back was to jj and the blond boy wasted no time moving closer to the boy. he draped an arm around his waist and buried his face into dom's hair before pressing a soft kiss to his head. "you're going to be okay, dom. i promise."

dom simply smiled with his eyes shut and cuddled back into jj more, letting a satisfied hum leave his lips. "thank you, jj."

"anything for you."

hmmmm 🤭