Chapter Text
Saturday, July 18th - Rhys - 19 Years Old
“Nngh, fuck...Jack...”
“Tell daddy what you need, kitten.”
“Mmn...h-harder. More...”
Years ago, Rhys never would have slept with Jack after one of his hits. The blood that stained his clothes would just make him woozy, the idea of what had happened just hours ago would make his stomach churn and god, the headspace Jack would be in just terrified him. But now...now, he looks forward to Jack coming home after a hit. The blood no longer bothers him. The idea of what had just happened wasn’t really a big deal. And shit, Rhys always knew that he would wake up deliciously sore the morning after.
There were a lot of things Rhys would do now that he never imagined he would ever do. Jack was a damn bad influence and their relationship was absolutely fucked up. But fuck, he loved it.
Yeah...things weren’t always like this, not always this fucked up.
And that’s probably where this story should start.
***
Thursday, November 7th - Rhys - 16 Years Old
“So, how much do you want for it?”
“I...I don’t know. What the hell does it matter?”
“The more you pay me, the more believable it’ll look.”
Pursing his lips, 16 year old Rhys shifted on his feet, glaring down at the floor as he thought about his situation. He had already gotten into deep shit last month for stealing $50 from his parents so he could help Nisha pay for the weed she got. And that was just $50. August was no joke. Everyone at school heard rumors about how much he charged for a decent fake ID. But according to everyone who went to him, the prices were damn worth it. Fuck, if his parents freaked out over just $50...
“Maybe...$100 and a little something extra?” Eyebrows raised, Rhys’ teeth sunk into his lower lip with a hopeful look. He had heard from some of the girls that went through August that he accepted...certain other forms of payment. And Rhys had done it himself once or twice. The last time being with a bouncer at a new club everyone was raving about. Just a simple blowjob, nothing more. Rhys didn’t like the idea of using his body much more than that. Using his mouth? That was perfectly fine.
Though, August didn’t seem too keen on the idea. Scrunching up his nose, he merely stared at Rhys like he was crazy. “I’m not into dudes, kid.”
“Soooo, just close your eyes? Come on, just try it. And if you don’t like it, I can friggin’ figure something out to get another hundred. Okay?” Rhys crossed his arms over his chest with a soft huff. Not like that would ever happen though. He was damn confident in his blowjob abilities. And he knew August would soon see that he had every reason to be confident.
“I...shit, fine. If - if - I like it, $100 and a blowjob. If not, it’ll be $200 and you’ll get a decent ID.”
***
In the end, Rhys was able to happily walk down the street to the nearest bus stop with a sore jaw and multiple ideas running through his head as to how in the hell he’ll be able to come up with $100 in the next few days. The easiest option would be to...well, steal it. And probably make his parents hate him. To be completely truthful, he really wouldn’t want them to hate him. They’ve dealt with his shit for the past year without threatening to kick him out or do anything too major. They were good people and yes, there were times where Rhys...did feel bad for the shit he’s done to them. But he knew exactly why he was acting the way he was and he expected them to realize it too. Unfortunately, they hadn’t yet.
So, maybe taking the $100 from them would be the last resort. What else could he do? Maybe sell his blowjobs in school. $10 for a handjob, $30 for a blowjob. Knowing some of the closeted jocks, he would be able to get $100 in no time. Hm. Maybe he could do that as long as he was careful. The last thing he needed was to have any teachers finding out about him...well, whoring himself out for cash. He was already in deep shit for constantly skipping out on his math classes. It wasn’t that he hated math, it was just...okay, yeah, he fucking hated math.
But hey, didn’t everyo-
“Oof!”
Blinking rapidly, Rhys stumbled back with his hand pressed to his forehead. Why the fuck would there be a brick wall in the middle of a sidewalk? Was he just crazy? Did he somehow zone out and run into a building or something?
“You okay, kid?”
Mismatched eyes scanned the area in front of him, making him realize that no, he hadn’t completely zoned out and ran into a building. He had instead ran into some guy, a few inches taller than him and apparently with a very hard chest. A very...broad...kinda sexy chest. Ah, shit, this wasn’t good.
Once Rhys cleared his throat and lowered his hand, he forced himself to get past the mild embarrassment of suddenly running straight into someone to...at least try to explain himself. “Y-Yeah, I’m sorry, I, uh...guess I kinda just zoned out for a second there. So, um...sor...ry.” As soon as Rhys actually looked at the man’s face, any thoughts quickly flew out the window. This guy...was gorgeous. Shit, not even gorgeous. Handsome, perfect, totally fucka...ugh, he really needed to calm himself down.
But really...what were the odds that Rhys would run into his friggin’ dream guy so randomly? There had to be something wrong with this guy. Well...okay, except for the fact that he was most definitely older and Rhys was still in high school. But hey, things could be worked out, right? No, he had to snap out of it. He didn’t have the energy to worry about dating anyone. Even if this guy was totally unbelievably hot.
It wasn’t just his face. Though, his face was pretty damn nice. Rhys would seriously believe it if the guy said his face was sculpted from stone. A sharp jawline, gorgeous heterochromatic eyes (this was the first time he had ever met someone else with different colored eyes), high cheekbones, a nice pair of lips and...ah, shit, was he staring? He was totally staring. But fuck, he couldn’t help it. Even the scar on the guy’s face made him look so goddamn hot. And his body...shit. It was nice. Not too...big, from what he could see at least. Broad shoulders, broad chest (and hard, clearly), large hands that just...hngh.
“Uh...did you really hit your head that hard, kiddo?” Oh, and his voice was just pure sex. Fuck. Shit. He just asked something. Uh...right.
“Sorry, I, uh...you, um...sorry for...running into you?” Rhys offered an awkward smile as he tipped his head, one hand lifting up to rub at the back of his neck. “I was just zoning out and...yeah, I think I said that already. Okay. Well. I’m being awkward, I should probably just, uh...go...catch my bus.” Only to further embarrass himself, Rhys offered a pair of finger guns before he parted from the stranger. One part of his mind was screaming at him to stay and build up a conversation so he could at least know who the guy was. But the rest of his body wasn’t listening. Hastily making his way towards the bus stop in the distance, the teen grumbled under his breath, cursing himself for making such a fool out of himself in front of someone so freaking hot.
However, his movements began to slow when he heard a pair of footsteps directly behind him. He hesitantly looked back over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in question. “S-Sorry, did you...uh...okay.” Blinking in confusion, Rhys watched as the man continued to walk forward until he was right in front of him. From that point, the man turned around to walk backwards instead, being sure to face Rhys’ embarrassed self.
“What were you zonin’ out for, hm?” This guy actually...wanted to keep talking to him? Wow.... Fuck, okay, Rhys, snap out of it. He could have bad intentions and you do not want your dead body to end up in some random dumpster. After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Rhys followed the man as he walked backwards.
“Just...got a lot on my mind. That’s all.”
“Saw you coming out of August’s place. Got anything to do with that?”
Well, fuck. This guy wasn’t like...an undercover cop or anything, right? Shit, that would be just his luck, wouldn’t it? Nervously, Rhys glanced down at his feet, refusing to make eye contact as he shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno.”
The man responded with a booming laugh, one that nearly sent shivers down his spine. “Ah, come on, kid, I’m not gonna rat ya out. Hell, I’m the last person that would rat someone out for that. So, figuring out how the hell to pay for an ID or somethin’?”
Rhys felt a small bit of relief when the guy said he wouldn’t rat him out or anything. But still, he was wary. There’s no way someone would be having this kind of conversation with him without bad intentions. Shit, what did he just get himself into?
“How much, kid?”
“Huh?” Startled by the question, Rhys stopped in his tracks again to stare at the elder male, brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“How much do you need for the fake ID?” God, this guy was looking at him like he was crazy. Like it was totally normal to be asking this kind of thing. News flash, dude, not normal.
At first, Rhys just mumbled the amount under his breath, hoping the guy would just drop the subject so he could get on the bus and get home. As hot as he was at first (and still is), there was just something...weird about him.
Of course, life wasn’t gonna be that easy on him. The unamused look the stranger gave him in response pretty much told him that he knew what Rhys was trying to do. With a heavy sigh, Rhys gave in and gave the amount, being sure to leave out the, ah...alternative payment.
“One hundred dollars. Now, I need to get ho-”
“How about we talk about this over coffee, cupcake?”
Talk about...okay, what? What the hell was this guy talking about? What the hell was going on? Before Rhys even got the chance to comprehend what the fuck was happening, one of the stranger’s arms was draping over his shoulder and he was being led away from the bus stop. Uh uh. No. Rhys had a bad feeling about how this was gonna turn out and there was no way he was gonna let it come to that.
Gritting his teeth, Rhys extended his arm forward before ramming it back with his elbow jamming right into the stranger’s stomach. The stranger groaned out in pain and his arm fell from around Rhys’ shoulders, giving Rhys only a few seconds to put some distance between the two of them. And he didn’t waste a single goddamn second before he was pulling his drop point knife out of its sheath, its tip pointed straight at the man. Though he was visibly shaking, he felt like it was more from the rush of having the upper hand rather than being afraid. As long as the guy didn’t have a gun...he could win this fight, right? Wait, was it even a fight right now? No...he was just defending himself. Telling the jackass to back the fuck off. But if it turned into a fight, he was probably safe.
While doubled over and rubbing at his stomach, the stranger laughed out, almost sounding like he was in shock. “Damn, kid, where did you learn that?” In response, Rhys just blinked, caught off guard. Uh...’learn’ it? Did...Did he even learn it from somewhere? It’s not like he took any self-defense classes or anything. Not even any martial arts. Huh...guess it was just...instinct? Maybe?
Not sure how to answer, Rhys just stared intently at the older man, waiting for him to make a move. Uh uh, he wasn’t about to let his guard down. But...to his surprise, the guy just...stood up straight and grinned at him. What the hell was going on? Was Rhys having some weird dream and he didn’t know it? ‘Cause all of this was just...really weird.
“You have...a lot of potential, kiddo. And since you’re already putting yourself into illegal situations, I trust you wouldn’t tell a single soul if I told you a little secret.” This guy was dangerous. Rhys could tell just by the way the aura around him completely changed when his voice dropped down low, almost to a threatening growl. And...potential? What the hell did he mean by that? Shit, what the hell did he get himself into? Sure, he...he fucked with some illegal shit. The fake ID, blowing dudes way older than him to get what he wants, even trying some of the weed Nisha got when she offered. Though that was becoming more accepted, was even technically legalized a couple months ago. But at the time, it was still illegal and taboo to even mention it in public. Still...he had a feeling that none of that compared to what this guy was gonna tell him.
Not really having much of a choice, Rhys merely shook his head. He didn’t even trust himself to speak. His throat felt bone dry and his voice was surely going to crack if he even tried. The stranger was satisfied with the non-verbal answer, though.
Humming out, the man cocked his head and thoroughly looked Rhys over, to the point where even Rhys himself was uncomfortable with the attention and just wanted to hide himself. But eventually, the stranger spoke up, a hint of amusement in his tone at first. “You’re scrawny as shit. We’d have to work on that. But the way you fought me off, the way your stance is with the knife...could use a kid like you in Hyperion.”
That’s when Rhys felt like he was going to pass out. Everyone...everyone in this small little town knew about Hyperion. Hyperion and Atlas were the two largest mafia groups in the area, and rivals as well. But Hyperion...Hyperion was more successful. More brutal as well. While Atlas mostly dealt with drugs, narcotics and things like that, Hyperion had hitmen. They were fighters and they were all about money. If someone failed to pay Hyperion then...well...an obituary would be in the newspapers the next week. Rhys was smart enough not to mess with the mafia but...clearly, he somehow got himself right in the middle of it.
Swallowing thickly, Rhys began to lower his knife and carefully tuck it back into its sheath, assuming it was probably best not to be pointing a weapon at someone that’s part of Hyperion. There was a long, awkward silence between the two of them as Rhys continued to open and close his mouth, not sure what to say. Hyperion could use someone like him? What did that mean? He knew damn well this guy was proposing something but he was just...in too much shock to fully comprehend what that was.
It was only moments later when Rhys finally gathered up the courage to speak up. “So...w-what are you asking me?”
This time, a small smile played on the stranger’s lips, making him seem...far less intimidating and much more like the handsome, kind man from before. “I can take you under my wing, kid. Ain’t gonna get you into any real shit until you’re older but you can be trained until then. Learn how to shoot, proper defense lessons, show you how shit gets done, blah blah blah. Take real good care of ya.” As he spoke the last sentence, the stranger stepped towards Rhys, much to the younger’s dislike. Rhys’ instinct told him to pull his knife out again, but his brain screamed at him to be logical. This guy was part of Hyperion, pulling a knife out on him for a second time would surely get him into some deep shit. So, instead, he merely stood there, body completely tense and barely even breathing as the stranger reached up to pat his cheek with a calloused hand.
“I don’t need an answer right away. Need you to be 100% positive, ya know?” Still caught up in his shock, all Rhys was able to do was nod, his breath still caught in his throat from having this guy so close. If this was any other situation, Rhys would’ve tried to seduce the shit out of the guy. Just going by looks, he was still...very much Rhys’ dream guy. But of course, that had to be ruined by him being in the fucking mafia.
From that point on, Rhys just sort of...blocked out most of what the stranger had said. Something about seeing each other soon, not telling anyone...things like that were what Rhys just vaguely remembered. And vaguely remembered just nodding in response to anything he said, probably looking like a complete idiot.
Oh, his name though...he remembered that pretty clearly when he laid back in bed after finally getting home, contemplating the huge - and rather dangerous - offer he had been given. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to forget that man’s name even if he wanted to.
Jack.