The Centre - a Home for Fox (bxb+/poly)

4. The Truth

🦊 F O X 🦊

A few weeks passed by and I was truly enjoying my time at The Centre. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly.

Connor and I bonded over our love of tattoo's and wild animals and we would often times find ourselves lounging in the movie room talking animatedly about both.

Jace and I figured out our common love of horror movies and would often join forces to try and persuade the others to watch them with us on movie nights, usually failing miserably.

Quite a few times I would accompany Wren in the kitchen while he cooked, trying to help in any way I could. I wasn't much help, but I could tell that he appreciated my efforts.

Milo would drag me and Fitz out to the garden in the mornings to help fill the bird and squirrel feeders, I found their excitable chatter infectious and we often giggled throughout the whole process.

Vance was usually in his office during the day but he always joined us for meals, our group sessions and at night when we'd relax and hang out in the game or movie rooms.

Whenever I wasn't with the other guys, I was with Bryce. We were like magnets to each other. I was never alone to suffer horrible thoughts because I always had him an arms reach away.

Tonight I was listening to some music through my wireless earphones on my balcony. It was a warm summer night with a slight breeze cooling the usually balmy air down. I was singing along to Billie Eilish's "Everything I Wanted" while idly searching for constellations in the clear night sky. I was in the middle of searching for the Ursa Major when I felt someone glide past me. They plucked an earpiece out of my right ear and settled in to the chair besides me. After I spotted the Big Dipper my eyes sought out who my company was.

Jace was moving his head to the beat and then started singing the chorus out loud.

"And you say
As long as I'm here
No one can hurt you
Don't want to lie here
But you can learn to
If I could change the way that you see yourself
You wouldn't wonder why you hear
'they don't deserve you'"

His voice was beautiful, deep and melodic. I smiled as his teal eyes met mine. He was still singing as he motioned for me to join him in the next verse.

"Could've been a nightmare
But it felt like they were right there
And it feels like yesterday was a year ago
But I don't want to let anybody know
'Cause everybody wants something from me now
And I don't want to let them down"

My tenor vocal range flowed nicely with his baritone.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes while listening to the next song on my playlist. "You have good taste in music," he murmured, taking the earpiece out and placing it on the table in front of us.

"I have good taste, period," I teased, taking my earpiece out and placing it next to the one he had.

"Oh, I'm sure you do," he smirked while locking eyes on me.

I chuckled lowly, "So...what's up, Jace?" I asked, drawing out his name slowly, "what brought you here?" I asked, looking back up to the the night sky.

I few seconds passed, "Bryce," he said, feigning indifference. His foot was tapping away on the concrete floor of the balcony and he started picking at the skin around his fingernails.

I eyed him cautiously, "What about Bryce?" I asked casually, swallowing the lump in the throat.

He sat up, elbows on his knees, eyes piercing me, "Well, I've noticed that ever since the first group meeting, you two have been very close. Wherever you are, he is and vice versa. I'm actually surprised he's not here right now," Jace said, stealing a glance over his shoulder to peer into my darkened room making sure that Bryce was, in fact, not there.