Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of an old, rundown bar. It was a hole in the wall with only one small neon sign in the window, easily missed unless you knew where to look.

Mason parked the bike and the two got off, breathing hard. For a second they just grinned at each other, big goofy smiles. Then Caleb was pulling him in and hugging him tightly. However, they both soon realized it was too hot for hugs and they separated quickly. Mason mussed Caleb’s hair up playfully as they did.

They went into the bar and it was dark, smokey even though it had only just opened for the night. A ceiling fan spun lazily above them, doing nothing to cool the stuffy place down. The only person here was the owner and bartender, a scary-looking bald man named Russ, who they exchanged nods with as they crossed the establishment. At the back of the bar, in a little nook next to the restrooms, was a door with peeling blue paint. Other than a small ‘private’ sign, it was unmarked and easily overlooked. On the other side were a set of filthy stairs, leading up to the entrance of the little flat Russ let Mason use in exchange for occasionally filling in at the bar.

They rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, and Melanie came into view, waiting on the couch, her leg bouncing up and down restlessly. As soon as they walked in she stood, and scanned them with her eyes.

Caleb lifted the bag full of cash, a wide grin on his face. “We did it!” He announced.

Melanie finally cracked a smile as well and rushed over, hugging them both and bouncing in place. Once she’d decided they’d had enough of her hugs, she grabbed their hands, pulled them over to the ratty old couch, and forced them to sit down. She stood in front of them with her hands on her hips and looked them over again, her face full of concern. She seemed to be checking them for injuries.

“Mel, we’re fine.” Mason laughed.

He reached over and grabbed the bag from Caleb’s hand, dragging it over to his lap. He unzipped it and revealed the cash stuffed haphazardly inside.

Melanie’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “Holy shit, where did you hit?”

“Doesn’t matter, you’ll see it on the news soon enough.” Mason gave her a shit-eating grin.

“Whatever,” Melanie said dismissively and snatched the bag from Mason without asking. He made a noise of protest but she ignored it, already sitting down on the coffee table and dumping the cash out next to her. Some of the notes landed on the floor.

“You guys go shower and change, I’ll count this,” she said, her eyes not leaving the money.

“And then we’ll party?” Mason teased as he stood up.

“If we must.” Melanie rolled her eyes.

Mason laughed and grabbed Caleb’s wrist, pulling him into a standing position. They headed down the little claustrophobic hall that led to the bathroom and bedrooms. It took Mason a while to find them both clean towels and clothes, but eventually, he dug them out. Caleb scolded him for not doing the laundry properly.

The boys both showered quickly and put on new clothes before coming back out to the living area. Melanie greeted them with a smug smile from where she was now sitting on the couch. The freshly counted money was on the coffee table across from her, the bills stacked neatly.

“Good haul?” Mason asked. His long hair was still wet, and he was rubbing at it with a towel.

“You wanted a party? I think you boys have earned it,” Melanie said.

Caleb sat down beside her, wearing a pair of Mason’s sweatpants that are slightly too short on him. He looked over the money. “How much?”

“Almost 1500.” She was excited but trying not to show it too much, holding back laughter.

Unlike her, Mason didn’t bother to conceal his happiness and reached over the couch, giving them both a squeeze on the shoulder as he cackled.

Melanie reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a stack of bills, then handed it to Caleb. “Here. Go nuts.”

“Why’d you give it to him?” Mason whined.

Melanie gave him a light punch on the arm he was still resting on her shoulder. “Because he’s actually responsible, idiot.”

Mason flinched away dramatically, acting as if she’d actually hurt him. “You wound me, Mel.”

Melanie rolled her eyes.

Beside them, Caleb was watching quietly, a fond smile on his face. At the lull in the conversation, he stood up, went over to Mason, and stole the towel from him. He started gently towel drying Mason’s hair for him.

“Come on, let’s finish getting ready and head downstairs. We can call up some friends.”

-

In about three hours, the night had set in for real and the party was in full swing. The bar was packed full, and almost unbearably hot. The sun may have gone down, but the humidity and the mass of warm bodies made sure the inside of the bar didn’t have the chance to cool down. At some point, Mason had propped open the front door in an attempt to get a slight breeze going, but it was a futile effort.

By now, Mason was thoroughly drunk and had somehow managed to convince Caleb to try some beer, to the cheers and encouragement of all their friends. Caleb took one dainty sip before he stopped, spluttering.

“You guys drink that shit?” Caleb’s face was screwed up in disgust as he reached for the glass of water he had been drinking before, desperate to get the taste out of his mouth.

Mason laughed and grabbed the glass of beer out of his hands so fast some of the drink sloshed over the edge and narrowly missed Caleb’s pants. “Yes, and if you won’t drink it, give it here. I’m not letting it go to waste.”

Suddenly there was a loud noise, followed by someone yelling something they couldn’t quite make out. It was still for a few tense seconds, and down the bar, Russ retrieved his emergency baseball bat. Mason and Caleb exchanged a confused look and stood up, on alert. Well, they tried to. The police were on them before they had a chance to react.

Caleb was slammed into the bar, knocking his glass of water over. The impact knocked the wind out of him and before he could recover he was already bent over, his hands being roughly cuffed behind his back.

Beside him, he could hear Mason struggling and yelling, but his head was turned to the wrong side and he couldn’t see what was happening.

“What the fuck is going on?” He heard Mason yell.

Behind him, one of the officers laughed, a cruel and mocking laugh that Caleb recognized. He knew that laugh. He knew this officer.

When he was a child, Caleb’s parents had often set him up on playdates with the children of their high society friends. Caleb had hated it, found these other children to be spoiled and dull, and never understood why his parents made him hang out with these kids he made very clear that he hated. Of course, now he knew it had all been part of his parents’ political games.

Caleb had been forced to play with the owner of that laugh many times, and even hung out with him into his teenage years as they found themselves at the same galas and events, having been dragged along by their parents. His name was Timothy, and he was extremely spoiled, even prone to violent outbursts when he didn’t get his way.

When they were 16, Caleb had made it clear to him that he found him unpleasant to be around and no longer wanted to be his friend, leading to Timothy having one of these outbursts and attempting to hit him. So Caleb had hit him first, before he had the chance.

It was the first time Caleb had ever hurt someone, really hurt someone, and he remembered it well. The sense of calm he’d had as he’d given Timothy a right hook. How he’d felt a disconcerting crunch when his fist connected with his jaw. How much his knuckles stung as he stood over the other boy, saw him spit out a tooth and a mouthful of blood into a puddle on the marble floor of his parents’ manor. How he had watched dispassionately as Timothy realized what had happened and his face went from shocked, to in pain, to livid. “I’ll fucking get you,” was the last thing Timothy had said to him, shouted at his back as he was walking away, leaving him sitting where he’d fallen on his ass.

And now here he was. At least he was a man of his word.

The officer leaned over him, uncomfortably close, the press of his chest making the handcuffs Caleb was wearing dig into his lower back. The man’s hot, damp breath was hitting his ear, and felt disgusted down to his core. 

He lifted a gloved hand in front of Caleb’s face, holding something, and shaking it back and forth. It took a second for Caleb to realize what it was, but when he did, his heart dropped.

Timothy placed the ring on the bar inches from Caleb’s face and laughed his cruel laugh again. “Hey, Suwanrat? Next time you’re thrill-seeking with your boyfriend, make sure you don’t drop your stupid ring.”