Embracing His Syn (Nothing Special 2)

Syn’s eyes widened and he put his hand out to stop Furi’s pacing. “Furious, please quiet down.”

Furi spun on him, a hard scowl twisting his gorgeous features. “Oh yeah. I forgot for a second. You’re not gay! We sure wouldn’t want the neighbors thinking that!”

Syn’s head snapped back at Furi’s rant. “Alright. You’re upset about what just happened and you’re projecting. I’m gonna give you some alone time. There’s beer in the fridge, guest bath is down the hall. Make yourself at home.” Syn turned to go to his bedroom. He’d be damned if he was going to let Furi turn this into a fight about him accepting who he was.

“Fucking coward,” Furi mumbled.

Syn halted at his bedroom door. Did he really just fucking say that? Syn pivoted on his heels and hurried back into the living room. “What the fuck did you just call me?”

Furi’s eyes bulged at Syn’s anger. He rose slowly from his seated position and eased around to the other side of the couch. The fear on his face quickly turned to anger. “You want to fight me? Beat me up, Detective?”

“What?” Syn gasped at the absurdity of that question. He faced Furi head on and held his angry, black glare with his own. “First of all, how dare you even think for a second that I would put my hands on you in anger? Just because the bastard you chose to marry did, doesn’t mean all men hit.” Syn pointed at his chest. “I’m not a coward, Furious. In case you forgot, I just saved your goddamn life.”

“Oh no, I haven’t forgotten, but yes you’re the worst kind of coward. You’re not scared of being shot at or throwing yourself in front of two tons of speeding metal, but you’re afraid to hold a man’s hand, a man you claim to like, in public. Such a badass in the fucking street, but too pussy to admit what you really are.”

Syn wasn’t sure how long he stared at Furi before turning walking to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why the hell did I say that? As soon as Furi saw the hurt on Syn’s face, he’d immediately wanted to take those spiteful words back. Furi was scared shitless, and he was indeed projecting, just like Syn said he was. It wasn’t Syn’s fault that his life was so fucked right now. Actually, if it weren't for the cop, Furi would be going through this on his own; honestly, he’d be dead now. Syn was trying to stick by him, contrary to what Furi’s mind was telling him. Syn was trying to put forth the effort to be with him, and Furi wasn’t cutting him an inch of slack. Now here he was in his apartment, under his protection and he’d just insulted him so cruelly that Syn couldn’t respond.

Furi walked down the hall and stood in front of Syn’s bedroom door. His hand was poised to knock until he heard the shower running and chose to just let it go. Furi needed to leave. This was his own shitty life. Furi was supposed to be about taking back control, but what was he was doing right now besides hiding behind Syn’s secured walls. He’d let a crazy bitch run him out of his own home. Fuck this. Furi grabbed his duffle and leather jacket and left out the front door.

Furi was feeling confident until he left the apartment building and got to the street. Then a fear like none he'd ever felt struck him. It was late and dark, but people bustled by him like he wasn’t there; completely oblivious to his unease. He was running right back into harm’s way. A crazy person had literally just tried to kill him. Instead of staying where he was safe, he decided it was a good idea to leave that sanctuary and return to danger, unarmed. A car screeched to a halt three lanes over, and the sound made Furi want to dive for cover. What the fuck am I doing? Shit. When Furi thought of Syn’s words, 'Don’t let your stubbornness make you an easy target' he thought about going back upstairs. That's exactly what Furi was doing. He heaved a breath and threw his duffle back up on his shoulder, he looked across the street and saw five or six guys stumble out of his uncle’s pub laughing. Furi thought he’d just go over there to kill some time, and maybe if his uncle wasn’t in one of his moods, he would let Furi bunk on his couch for a couple days, or until they caught Sasha.

Furi speed walked across the street and hurried into the pub. His heart rate was elevated, and he was pissed because all this anxiety was driving him insane. He thought briefly of calling Doug, but he’d already told Furi that he was trying to spend a little extra time with Cel, especially since they were going to be putting in some hellish hours soon to get their shop up and running. He inched his way through the crowd, hiding his bag in the storage room so his uncle didn’t see it.