OLIVER'S POV

The twink and I wait in complete silence for Rémy to return. As soon as he has heard whoever was on the phone, he has excused himself and went outside of the pub. It can't be good. I have a really bad feeling about it. 

I peek up to find the stalker deeply lost in his thoughts. His left hand has a tight grip on Rémy's empty cup while his right foot is constantly tapping on the ground. The noise is starting to get on my nerves but at least his concern for his boyfriend doesn't seem fake. Plus, I'd rather bear with the irritating noise than having to do small talk with him. 

Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit unfair. I'm not usually one to judge a book by its cover, but for some reason I feel wary in his presence. 

Although, I have to admit, the cover of the book doesn't look so bad. Not bad at all, dare I say. He isn't incredibly handsome, but his hair are a nice sandy blond and his skin his flawless. He has big brown eyes, and I've always liked blonds with brown eyes and eyebrows, it's a nice contrast. I suppose most guys would fan after him.

He's not my type, though. I usually go for more manly, strong guys. My ex-boyfriends tended to be taller and stronger than me. I like my men to have bubbly asses, firm biceps and large shoulders. He looks too scrawny for my taste.  

Also, I might not know him, but so far I'm not impressed. If he was my date, I would have already ditched him. Sure, I used to fool around when I was still in college but now, believe me or not, I'm arriving at a point in my life where I don't care much about looks. We're all doomed to be old and look old at some point anyways, so I would rather spend my life with someone I can have a decent conversation with. Someone kind, smart and open-minded. I still haven't found the rare pearl. 

I wonder how Rémy can stand him on a daily basis, especially when our kind isn't reputated to be patient. 

"Sorry for the wait, guys"

Crap. I've never seen Rémy looking so distressed before, not even during the Meeting. 

"I'm afraid I have to go", he adds.  "It's kind of an emergency"

"Of course" I reassure him. "We underst- "

"What happened?" Renan interrupts me, as he suddenly gets up and grabs his boyfriend's hand. I grimace at how loud he is. Okay, so he might have no clue about shifters, hunters and all, but he should know that the last thing Rémy needs right now is for him to make a scene. 

"It was Nour on the phone. Some men attacked my little brother, but Nour saved him" Rémy whispers, without looking at us and my heart actually breaks for him. 

"Oh my God, Rémy!  Is Matthias badly injured?" I press him. 

"No, or at least that's what Nour seems to believe. I have to go check on him. Oliver, can you take Renan to my place and wait with him until I get back? "

I briefly cross Nour's eyes and I know he heard my silent question: "Hunters?". He shrugs, desperation clear on his face. He doesn't know yet. Why would hunters attack Matthias, though? He's a human, a discret, charming and inoffensive little human. It makes no sense. 

There's a soft cough and I look up, realising that Rémy is still expecting an answer. 

"Of course! I'll keep an eye on him, go now and be safe"

Sure, the idea to spend more time with Renan doesn't make me the happiest man on earth, but considering the current situation, it's the least I can do to help Rémy. Of course, he wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Renan. The little shit has other ideas, though, as he exclaims with an outraged tone: 

"No way! I'm going with you, Rémy!"

"I know you don't want to stay behind, love, but I want you to be safe and I won't be able to focus on Matthias if I have to look out for you" Rémy explains to Renan. 

"But I want to be there for you! Plus, there's no way I'm staying alone with Oliver. He looks like he's thinking about ways to kill me. He gives me the creeps!"

I would have laugh, if I wasn't feeling so annoyed. Before I have time to think, I get up, look at him straight in the eyes and growl:

"Sit down and shut up"

There's a shocked gasp and I can feel Rémy's surprised gaze on me but I keep my eyes on Renan as I add coldly:

"Now"

I don't know why on Earth I'm acting so bossy but to my greatest surprise, Renan looks at me hesitantly before slowly sitting down again. 

I sit back and stay silent, a bit confused by my behaviour. 

"Wow, I can't believe you did that. I'm even more surprised by the fact that he actually obeyed. He doesn't listen to anything I say" he whispers in my ear, before adding with a faint laugh "I have to go. Good luck with him, he's going to realises what he just did and he's going to be so pissed. You humiliated him a bit"

I briefly squeeze Rémy's shoulder and look at him until he reaches the exit, before returning my attention to the man sitting in front of me. He does look pissed. Oh dear, this is going to be a long night.

NOUR'S POV

I unconsciously stroke Matthias's head, until I realise what I'm doing and put my hand back into my pocket. I can feel the new bottle of pills Matthias just gave him against the back of my hand. Even though he was still shocked by the agression and slightly hurt, the first thing he did was to give me the bottle. I have underestimated the guy: he is a real angel, no wonder Rémy likes him so much. 

"Promise me you won't tell my brother anything" he pleads me for the hundredth time. 

Rémy. I hope he'll be there soon and that they will both head off to the hospital. It isn't a safe place. I didn't even call an ambulance, because even the cops Don't bother to go to that part of the town anymore. If I had my car, I would have take Matthias to the hospital but unfortunately I left my car at the house.

"I can't promise you that" I answer with a more gentle tone than usual. He is really testing my patience but I can't bring myself to yell at him. I feel strangely protective of him. 

"Well, you better not tell him anything, or - or I will tell Amine about the scars"

That makes me immediately reconsider. I sigh before crossing my arms. 

"I can't believe you're resorting to blackmail. And here I was, thinking that you were some kind of angel"

I blush and wish I could take the words back, but it's too late. Matthias chuckles - he has the audacity to make fun of me - before asking in a teasing tone:

"You think I'm an angel, huh? Why? Do I look like one, too?"

"Well, obviously you're more like a demon in disguise"

"Aw, how cute, you're blushing. I was wrong about you, Nour. You're actually a little sheep trying to look like a big bad wolf"

I scowl at these words "You're lucky that you're already injured, or I would have whipped your ass" I shout back but I know my voice is lacking venom. 

He gives me an affectionate laugh before closing his eyes "Relax, I'm just teasing you. Don't get your panties in a twist, I'm not even into guys". He leans back againts the tree and adds in a mischevious tone: "I won't steal you from Rémy" 

I don't bother to respond to that absurd remark - poor Matthias obviously fell on his head or something before I came. We stayed silent as I think about our little conversation. I do want to tell Rémy about it: what Matthias is doing is incredibly dangerous. At the same time, I don't want him to tell Amine about the scars. 

"Okay" I finally declare, even though I have a feeling I'm making a terrible mistake. 

"What?" he mumbles without opening his eyes. 

"I won't tell anything. But you should really tell Rémy about it or even better, stop doing that kind of illegal activities. Those guys could have killed you!"

"And you should stop hurting yourself, but you don't see me lecturing you about it" he retorts.

"That's not the same thing! I'm not putting my life in danger!" I shake my head, a bit dumbfounded by his absurd comparison. 

"Well, at least I'm trying to help people. You're just hurting yourself and it doesn't do you any good" he says sternly and I decide to keep my mouth shut, because I kinda has a point. 

"Look" he eventually adds. "How about we make a deal? We both mind our own business and help each other to keep our overprotective brothers out of it, because we're adults and adults deal with their own shit?"

"Deal, even though you're hardly an adult" I grumble. "Please take care of my body once Rémy learns that I've hide information about his precious little brother from him"

Suddenly, heavy footsteps can be heard, making us  both look up. A big guy with a red tee-shirt and sunglasses is looking down at us. 

"Hey, are you alright, kiddos?" he asks , making me shake my head. 

"Yeah, we're good. Goodbye"

"Are you sure?" he insists, making me huff in exasperation. "The little guy next to you doesn't look so well"

"I said we're good". I say, emphasing on the 'good'. 'Help is already on the way. Now, kindly fuck off"

The guy looks like he is about to hit me, before he takes one last look at Matthias blemish face and changes his mind, shaking his head before resuming his walk. I distinctively hear the words "asshole" and "just die", though. 

"Forget about my previous metaphor" Matthias whispers once the guy is gone. "You're nothing like a sheep. What an awful personnality"

I laugh. "You're finally learning something, kiddo"

I look around to make sure that the guy isn't coming back with a weapon or something, and that's when I spot Rémy's gray car. Thanks God. 

Before I even have time to tell Matthias, Rémy is in front of us, thanks to his inhuman speed. Guess the guy is worried sick, because that wasn't a careful move! People could have see him!

He kneels before Matthias and gently takes his hand, before lifting him up carefully, bridal-style. 

"Thanks for saving him, Nour. What happened? How did you find him?" he presses me, while we go back to his car. 

"I will tell you everything later. Just go to the freacking hospital and let me know how things go"

He carefully place his brother at the back of the car, before gesturing me to go sit on the front but I shake my head. 

"I'm not going. I'm meeting a friend in an hour anyway"

"What? You can't stay here! It's dangerous!"

"I can take care of myself. I just saved your brother, didn't I?  Now, you can see that I don't need you, Amine or this Oliver guy to babysit me. I'm strong enough"

He sighs in frustration but he knows that he has to get to the hospital and that he doesn't have time to argue with me. 

"Fine. Thank you for saving Matthy, but I'm not done with you. We'll talk later"

He gives me one last look before climbing into his car. They're gone. 

Now, what was the name of the pub, already? Oh, yeah. The Handmaid's tale, here we go! I really need a drink. Or two, or five, or a hundred. 

Early updaaate! Hope it's to your liking! 

Just a quick note:

I can't guarantee you that I'll be able to keep updating every Sunday in the next couple of weeks.

 I will update at least every two weeks, that much I can promise. Hopefully most of the time it will still be updated weekly. 

I'm sorry about that, but I'm graduating in June and I'm a bit struggling with the workload rn :( 

Anyway, enough with my boring personal life! Hope you have a lovely week-end! 

Stay strong folks xx

#hasnoshame