Chapter Twelve

"Fucking hell," Declan spat. "You bloody faggot!"

"Pretty sure it's my baby she has inside of her, so watch what comes out of your filthy mouth," Lawson said through gritted teeth.

"Nobody talks to me like that," Declan said. "I rule the underworld!"

"And I am the fucking law."

"If you think I'm afraid of you, you're in for a real treat!"

"Something tells me you're the faggot," Lawson said, fists up in midair.

Declan clenched his fist and threw one at his jaw, but Lawson ducked it in time before he threw himself at Declan's body, sending them both sprawling to the ground with Lawson on top. Declan tried to land punches on Lawson, but he grabbed hold of both his hands and they trembled in the air as both of them fought for purchase. Slowly but surely, Lawson forced Declan's hands to the ground on either side of his head amid screams from nurses nearby and a smile of victory spread out on Lawson's face. Throwing his head back, Lawson brought his forehead hard down onto Declan's and Declan shouted in pain.

Then Declan's right knee shot upwards into Lawson's balls and his body ducked towards the ground. Declan pushed Lawson off him and got on top of him, and landed a solid punch to the side of his jaw. Fisting his collar, Declan pulled Lawson up off the ground and came close to his face.

"I hope you remember my face. It's the third ranker who beat your ass," Declan said before he punched Lawson. Declan rained punch after punch down on Lawson's nose, and blood seeped from it. The doctors yelled for the security guards and soon, powerful arms grabbed onto Declan and forced him off Lawson.

Lawson got to his feet and headed straight for Declan with a fist, but guards held him back as Declan kicked into the air at him. "Fucker!" Lawson yelled at him. Both of them fought hard against the guards, both trying to pry free to land another punch at the other.

A doctor stood between them, hands raised at either man. "Alright, alright, stop it already, you fucking lovebirds!"

❃❃❃

Lawson winced as the doctor dug into the skin at the side of his nose with a needle. It sank into his skin and he dug the sharp point out some distance from the first area. The doctor repeated this action several times, and soon the stitches on his face was done. The nurse removed a Q-tip and dabbed on the sides of the stitches to collect the dried blood. She sent some looks of longing at him, and blinked shyly. Even in his current state, he knew everything about him still exuded sex.

"There," the doctor said. "Come back in a few days and you'll be fine."

Lawson nodded. "I'll leave now then."

"Sure."

Lawson stopped at the door. "Wait, about Ria…"

"She can only do a paternity test after two months. We'll know whose baby it is then," the doctor said.

"Alright," Lawson said, leaving the room.

Christ, she had been lying to him all along. Then again, they never did communicate any form of exclusivity to each other. All he did was tell her that he no longer saw any women apart from her during sex and she responded with an orgasm. They never made anything official and he couldn't blame her really, but fuck was he mad! He thought she was the one! But she was fucking that third ranker behind his back.

The betrayal tore through his mind as he stepped out of the hospital building, hands digging into the back of his pockets for a cigarette. As he lit up, he caught sight of Declan, sitting on the edge of some brick plants.

Ah, what the hell.

Lawson walked over to him and leaned against the brick plant too, right beside Declan, who shot him a dirty look. Declan removed a cigarette from his pocket and tried to light up, but the fire didn't come. Lawson removed his lighter and held it out to Declan, and he neared his mouth with the cigarette over the flame to light it up.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for punching you earlier."

"Don't apologise," Declan said. "After all, you landed not one punch."

Lawson scoffed. "You asshat."

"You're welcome."

They puffed smoke in silence for a while.

"So," Lawson said. "The way you said 'faggot' earlier, it sounded real personal. Did something happen?"

"Why the fuck should you care?"

"I don't," he said. "I'm just making conversation."

"Spent much of high school being molested by a male professor," Declan said. "Hated gay men ever since."

"I see," Lawson said.

More silence.

"So, Ria's a cheater," Declan said.

"Yeah, she is," Lawson replied as they both puffed smoke. "They can only find out who the father is two months later."

"Fucking hell," Declan said as he kicked at the dirt on the ground.

"Where does that leave us?"

"I don't know," Declan said. "Two fucking jokes."