Page 71 of Circus From Hell

He shrugs and sits next to me, eyes honed in on Karma. “Not sure; she didn’t speak. She just led me to you. Oh, yeah, by the way, Arlo. What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”

“You’re not the boss of me, Micha. I wanted to see Karma.”

“When you’ve been knocked out, yeah, I am the boss of you.” He grabs the back of my head and shoves it into his chest, wrapping his arms around me in a one-sided hug. “Just tell me next time. You’re not on house arrest.”

“Could have fooled me,” I mumble, my cheek pressed against his pectoral. I can’t complain, really.

He drags me back by a hand on my nape and stares into my eyes. “Seriously, though. I’ll put a tracker in you if you pull this stunt again.”

Well now I’m hard.

“Nice to see you too, Micha,” Soren yawns.

“Oh, yeah, you’re here,” he grumbles, and I whack him on the arm.

“What have I told you? Use your damn manners.”

“I’m getting a little sick and tired of having to pretend to be nice to people, Arlo.” Micha arches forward, examining Karma, and I see a flicker of unease in his eyes. “What happened?”

“We found Spiral—” I cut myself off with a snarl and shake my head. “We found Spiral fucking her unconscious. Said she’d been given some kind of drug or something.”

“He told me she felt pain,” Soren interjects. “If she’s never felt pain in her life, that’s probably what made her body override.”

“How do we know she’s alive right now?”

I shake my head. “We don’t.”

Micha turns away from us.

He can act as tough as he wants, but I see through his façade. He cares about this girl, maybe as much as I do, but he’s too darn stubborn to let his emotions show. Karma got pretty close to getting to him before when they were in our living room. If she wakes up, he’ll have no choice but to give in to her again. She’s also pretty stubborn.

“So, what’s your deal with Stitches?” Micha asks under his mask of nonchalance.

“Aside from the fact she’s the only person that can take my entire swollen cock?”

Micha grimaces. “Yeah, aside from… that.”

“I don’t think you humans could comprehend how long I’ve been alone. And Karma isn’t afraid or weirded out by me. She finds me interesting as a person, not as a test subject or a creature.”

“You don’t have anyone?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“No family or friends, not even neighbours. Until Karma. She’s not getting rid of me now.”

Whilst I can’t comprehend true loneliness, I can understand it. I’ve only ever had Micha. But we also have neighbours, shopkeepers, and each other. It must be hard being so lonely when it’s not a choice.

“My mum didn’t want me, and Arlo’s dad didn’t want him,” Micha mutters.

I’m not expecting it. We never talk about our childhoods, especially not to people we don’t know well. It’s too messed up for most people to comprehend.

“When our parents got married, they decided I wasn’t a priority, and Arlo…” He blows out a breath. “Arlo was better for something else.”

I know he can’t stand to talk about what happened to us. I hate to think about it. There was a time when I blamed Micha. Hated him. But I know now why he did what he did, and he doesn’t need to feel guilty, despite how badly I know he does.

He feels guilty that I saw it.

“You always took care of me. I’ve never had to work a day in my life because of you,” I whisper, and his shoulder touches mine as he leans in ever so slightly.

“You shouldn’t have to. You’re too pretty.”