Tough Vs Shy

"Tonight?!" Brian cried, as if someone had just told him to go kill his parents, "What do you mean tonight?!"

Matt immediately clasped his hands over Brian's mouth to silence him, preventing him from blurting out anything more that could give away their plan. The bigger man had wanted to run away for quite some time. There was no way his plans were being screwed over now by an overheard conversation.

"Shhhh!" Matt hissed quietly, "If anyone hears about this, we won't be going anywhere," He warned sternly. The smaller man nodded and fell completely silent, but his eyes gazed up at Matt, who removed his hands away from his mouth, "Now, do you want to do this or not?"

"Of course I do, Matt," Brian replied with a nod, "I want to be alone, with just you and me and those other guys, although I'll admit I'm not too keen on them..." He mentioned nervously.

A frown appeared faintly on Matt's face, and he shook his head softly, "Sweetheart, you don't need to fear those guys. They're just... They're not used to guys like you being around. You're the kind of guy they'd hang up on coat pegs by your underwear in the gym changing rooms. You're safe with me though. They touch you, and they die," He reassured firmly, rubbing Brian's arm softly.

"Alright," Brian finally agreed, "I'll do it. What should we pack?"

"Everything," Matt replied with a smile.

And so the pair began to pack. Brian stuffed all of his possessions into 3 suitcases and Matt assisted him. They still had to make another trip to Matt's house, but the older man already knew what excuse he'd give to Brian's mother when she asked where they were going.

Once they were done packing Brian's things, Matt redressed himself and approached the door. "Babe?" He called out quietly to the man at the other side of the room.

"What's up, Matt?" He replied, his eyebrows raising at the question.

"I'm gonna go home, pack my things and bring it over in the truck. When I get back with my truck, we'll pack your things and we'll leave. Don't say a word of our plan, alright? You do and we're screwed and you're dead," He explained briefly, his warning at the end sending a nervous shudder down Brian's spine. He gave a quick nod and approached Matt, giving him a tight hug before he left. Matt smiled and pressed a kiss to his head, the stepped out of the room without another word.

While Matt was gone, Brian quickly ran over a mental list of all his belongings. He knew that, once he left, there was no coming back. Search teams would scour the city for him and Matt, but no one would find the pair. They would be alone, with their friends, in a cabin up in he mountains. It was a wonderful thought, and yet Brian knew it would be hard for his parents. Losing their boy without explanation. He wanted to tell his mom everything, but Matt had said no and for good reason.

Then there was a knock at the door. Brian's eyebrows raised and he cautiously approached the door. Turning the door handle, he pulled the door open, the hinges giving a loud creak as they worked. On the other side stood his mother, a concerned look on her face.

"Brian?" She asked, curiously peeking into her son's room, noticing everything had been moved or had disappeared.

"Yeah mom?" He replied nervously, doing his best to keep his cool.

"Where'd your fr- Boyfriend go? He's been out over 20 minutes..." She explained. Brian did his best to prevent her peeking inside by stepping outside and closing the door behind him. Her concerns only grew at his actions.

"Mom, don't worry about Matt. He's just gone to get me and him some smokes, a new lighter and a few snacks." He answered smoothly. Matt had told him what to say as his cover, "Y'know what the queues at the corner store get like sometimes..."

The woman nodded, and she took a step back, preparing to head back downstairs to finish her own dinner with Brian's father, "Well... Alright, I'll be downstairs if you need anything sweetheart."

"I'll let you know if I do," Brian smiled and nodded. The moment she had disappeared down the stairs, he shot back inside and called Matt.

"Brian, what's up?" He responded, seemingly out of breath.

"Mom's getting suspicious. How long will you be?" Brian questioned quietly in a worried tone.

"5 minutes. Had to grab a few heavy things from the attic. Get ready, okay? I wanna get going as soon as possible."

Brian smiled and nodded, even though Matt couldn't see it, "Will do. I love you!"

"Love you too, handsome. See you soon."

Time flew by from that point. Matt arrived and they swiftly loaded everything up, before setting off into the darkness. Brian had been sure to confide his and Matt's plan with his mother, and she swore to keep it quiet, before reluctantly wishing the boys well on their journey.

Around 20 minutes in, Matt groaned as he had to pull into a nearby gas station. He pulled up beside the refill point and told Brian to stay in the car while he filled his tank up. Midway through the process, Matt noticed familiar cars pulling into the station. As he realised who they belonged to, he momentarily abandoned the pump and darted back into his truck.

"Brian! Get in the back, get down and cover yourself up! There's trouble about!" He hissed, helping to hurry him over the seats. Brian's shocked face was the last thing Matt saw before draping a blanket over him and climbing out of the truck. A small group of around 5 men hopped out of their cars and cheered upon seeing Matt.

It was his little "Tough Guy" crew.

"Sanders!" The tallest cried out. His height barely rivalled Matt's, but he was considerably tall at that.

"What's up, Jacko boy?" Matt chuckled, embracing the shorter man in a bear hug. He did the same with the rest of the crew before distancing himself slightly. They chatted for what felt like forever, before Jack noticed that Matt's truck was actually brand new, as opposed to his previous vehicle.

"Oh this?" Matt asked, a grin appearing on his face. He approached his truck and leaned against the back of it, running a long finger over the paintwork, "Brand new. Present from my dad, seeing as he's kicking me out of the house next month."

The guys stood and admired their best friend's pick-up, before Jack peeked inside and hooted out, "I wanna get in and test if the seats are as comfy as the last one!"

It caught Matt off guard. He wasn't expecting that.

"Uhm... Not today, dude. I've got a ton of shit in there and it's fragile-" Matt lied, nervously scratching his neck. He knew hat, if they found Brian, they'd both be ripped apart - Matt for being a "Traitor" and Brian for just existing.

"Awh, come on dude! Lemme in!" Jack whined, and with that, he gripped the door handle and swung it open, climbing inside.

Matt watched in horror, but kept his mouth shut. Inside the vehicle, Brian was as still as a statue. He laid on the floor of the car, almost beneath the front two seats and plunged into darkness by the black blanket Matt had tossed over him. He silently begged that no one would test the back seats, which had most of the bags stacked up on top of each other. The rest ere on the bed of the pickup, which were covered by the "Hood" that had come with the truck when it was bought. Clipped, locked and secured into place, everything underneath it was safe.

"Yessss! These seats are just like the old one! Are the back seats the same?" Jack grinned brightly. Matt's heart skipped a beat or two.

"Uhh, yeah, they are. There's fragile stuff back there though so you can try them another time, yeah?" Matt suggested hopefully, his fingers crossed behind his back. Luck wasn't on his side, nor Brian's however, as Jack hopped out of the front and headed to the back. Swinging the door open, he began moving bags and unknowingly dumping them on Brian. It took every bit of strength for Brian to to groan out or move, but then, the last bag, packed with equipment, joined the pile and Brian gave in.

"Huh..?!" Jack paused, looking down at the pile. He'd heard Brian's groan. The man was screwed. Jack pulled the bags off of the pile and back onto the seats and ripped the blanket from Brian's body, revealing him. The tough guy gasped, before hopping out and dragging the smaller man by his collar.

"HEY MATT! I FOUND SOMETHIN'!" He cried gleefully. To him, this was the jackpot. He had the perfect "Nerd" to beat the shit out of. The rest of the group gathered around and gave Brian evil grins. Matt stood and said nothing. He was powerless. He was fucked.

Brian cried out in horror, and he desperately tried to scramble away from the group. His attempts were in vain, for all 5 men had their hands on either his clothes or his body. The dragged him to the center of the station and they snickered, before Jack took control and held him in a headlock, "Come on Matt, let's see you kick this fucker's ass! He tried to hitch a ride in your truck, he's a stowaway!"

The muscular man slowly approached. Brian's eyes widened in fear. This was not the Matt he'd been happily chatting to a mere few minutes ago. This was Matt in his Tough-Guy-Kick-Your-Ass mode. He gave a brief glance of apology to his boyfriend. Their eyes connected. The smaller of the two pleaded to be spared. The taller shook his head sadly, and his fist crashed into his stomach.

The sound emitted was like a wolf getting his tail trapped in a car door. Brian howled in pain, as if all his organs had just burst inside his body, and his body went momentarily limp in Jack's grip. The gang cheered and encouraged their fearless leader to strike again. Matt hesitated, but his fist clenched again. The brief exchange of looks between boyfriends took place again, Brian more mortified and Matt more apologetic before, like a missile, his fist smashed into Brian's jaw. He crashed to the ground as Jack released his grip and dropped him.

He was finished. Matt refused to do anymore to the skinny man who laid helplessly on the ground, clutching his face with one hand and his stomach with the other. The gang cheered once more and congratulated their leader, before refueling their own cars and eventually disappearing back into the night from which they came.

Once they were out of sight, Matt dashed over to his love, crouching down and carefully rolling him onto his back to inspect the damage. Brian however, didn't see it that was and immediately began to back away in fear, his pained tears streaming down his face.

"Get away from me, you monster!" He screamed out, trying to make the distance between them as large as possible.

Matt felt his heart shatter in his chest, and he slowly followed, holding his arms out for him, "Brian! Baby, I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, of course you are! You didn't defend me, you fuckin' beat the shit out of me!" He cried out, "What kind of boyfriend does that?!"

"Sweetheart- I was trying to protect us both!" Matt insisted, "Those guys would have killed us both if I stood up for you!"

The words echoed around the pair, as if ghosts were taunting them both, mocking them both. Brian didn't care for Matt's excuses. He slowly rose to his feet and made his way out of the gas station and onto the long, slender strip of land on the roadside. Matt rushed to follow, but as he got close enough, Brian spun around and shoved him back, screaming "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" before turning away and continuing his journey. Shocked, the bigger man frowned, deciding that leaving Brian alone was perhaps the best thing. His instincts told him to scoop Brian into his arms and take him back to the truck.

And then he followed them.

Matt dashed after him, despite his bad leg, and scooped Brian into his arms Bridal style. The shocked man gasped and yelped whilst squirming at first, but as he realised he wasn't getting anywhere soon, he gave up. Matt carried him back to the truck and placed him inside the back, shifting the bags around to make room, and then he climbed into his seat. Brian refused to look up at Matt, for he was royally pissed off, but he had no strength to fight back.

"We're gonna stay here and get some sleep. I'll wake you in the morning..." The bigger man informed him. There was no response. He shrugged a little and leaned back in the driver's seat as he moved the truck to a space near the small building, an area surrounded by darkness and almost completely concealed by the night. He then turned off the truck and locked the doors. Leaning back, he sighed softly. He could feel Brian's anger radiating off of him, but at least they were safe.


At least they were safe and together, Matt thought. That's what mattered to him. They'd continue the rest of their journey the next morning, Matt decided.

Notes

Hey guys!
So sorry I haven't updated for a long time! I've been really busy and I've had no ideas!
I hoped to have this as the final chapter, but I had a few ideas I wanted to do and hopefully the next chapter will be the last!

Feedback is really appreciated!